David Bowie: 12 of His Best Songs

Welcome to Open Up and Read, the newsletter from music journalist Jason Brow.

My first favorite David Bowie song was “Ashes to Ashes.”

I think I still have the Memorex cassette I used to record it off of CHOM 97.7 one day. I left the tape running after catching Radiohead’s “High And Dry,” meaning the tape is thirty years old. hell.

By that time, the “Ashes to Ashes” video was off MTV. It was probably even off VH1, which always seemed half a decade behind.

I knew of “Space Oddity” at that time (“Oh, the ‘Major Tom’ song, right?’) So hearing he was “strung out in heaven’s high” felt blasphemous. It also sounded so weird. The funky twang of the bass, that otherworldly sound (are those keys? did they make a guitar sound like that?).

In 2023, I interviewed George Murray, who created an entire atmosphere with his bass on the song.

"David molded [the bass] and shaped it after the natural sound was down,” he said. “I didn’t use any effects. I might have toward my later albums with him. But I think that was all David’s concept. I was experimenting with sounds in live performances, how to make the bass sound different, how to make it sound heavier or thinner.”

My second favorite Bowie song was “Little Wonder,” which 99.9 WBTZ played frequently. It’s from 1997’s Earthling. Bowie was enjoying a bit of mainstream resurgence, thanks to Nirvana covering “The Man Who Sold The World” for their MTV Unplugged performance years before. “Little Wonder” had the jungle/drum-and-bass sound of the day. I still think it’s wonderful.

Recently, I was talking with my friend (who runs the phenomenal Trauma Angel newsletter) about Bowie’s output during that decade. ‘90s Bowie might be the most underrated. He retreated from music after the flop of 1986’s Never Let Me Down, but came back with Black Tie White Noise, 1. Outside, and Earthling.

I think Bowie was settling into his role of working with those he inspired—look to “I’m Afraid of Americans” with Trent Reznor, for example.

Sadly, I am not familiar with Bowie’s post-2000 output. Around that time, I was getting into his classic work. I found copies of The Man Who Sold The World and Ziggy Stardust in the used CD bin at Albany’s Last Vestige (still one of the best stores ever). I’d put on “Five Years” whenever I was feeling depressed while living alone in Troy. It got played a lot.

Never saw David Bowie live. It’s a great regret, even more so on this, the tenth anniversary of his death.

I think that Bowie’s impact can be measured in the tribute performances that came after. Lady Gaga at the 2016 Grammys. Lorde at the Brit Awards. Anyone who sang “Life on Mars?” anytime over the following months. They all sorta didn’t get it. They weren’t horrible, but they didn’t resolve the void left by his death.

The same can be said for Prince, who died three months after Bowie. Good, but something missed the mark. The pain of loss is still there.

But how does one memorialize a mountain that has crumbled? How do you mourn a star after learning it burned out, and its flickering light is all that’s left?

Fitting, both Prince and Bowie are back in the headlines. Stranger Things used “Heroes” during its ending credits. At this point, “Heroes” during the end credits is a cliché we can retire. I know Regular Show did it in 2017 and Jojo Rabbit used the German version in 2019 (there’s also The Wallflowers’ version used for 2000’s Godzilla, which is fine).

(“Purple Rain” is reaching cliché levels, though I do appreciate Stephen Brodsky working it into Two Minutes To Late Night’s cover of “You Make Loving Fun.”)

In 2022, I wrote a piece about Bowie: “12 Of The Late Music Icon’s Best Songs In Honor Of His 75th Birthday.” It was later updated for his 76th. I got laid off later that year, which is why it remains outdated.

For the 10th anniversary of Bowie’s death, I’ve included it below. I probably would expand it to include “Fame,” “Modern Love,” and" Lazarus.”

When you’re done, check out my interviews with some Bowie associates:

• George Murray

• Carmine Rojas (who played on Let’s Dance) 

• Donny McCaslin (who played on Blackstar) and James Cameron Mitchell, of Hedwig and the Angry Inch fame.

Editor’s note: The intro paragraphs are a bit cheesy. Get through them, and you’ll be fine. And if you have rudimentary knowledge of Bowie, this might cover some familiar ground. What can I say? I was trying to mourn a mountain here. I did my best. Hopefully, it’s not too far off the mark.