Not many artists’ music endures like David Bowie’s. But then, not many artists were like David Bowie. Like many, I found him just when I needed him. Sadly, not at the time of his greatest achievements, those mid-seventies golden years, but ten years later, and again, like many, he reminded me that it was alright to be who you are and, more importantly, become what you want to become. Different was good.
He created a world of modern lovers and new romantics for people like me, a world populated with other strange denizens, and you could join that world just by hanging around the B section of the local record shop. Here I found myself mixing with all manner of moonage daydreamers and pretty things, queen bitches and hot tramps, pin-ups and creatures of the night, scary monsters and young dudes. And it was as if , through those glorious albums, he was also reminding us of one important fact, “Oh no, love” You are not alone.”
And that is the well-chosen by-line for this second album in the Cult Classics series, this time a tribute to our hero’s sensational seventies output and coinciding with the anniversary of his landmark album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
If anyone’s work was ripe for reinvention, it was his; after all, reinvention was the name of his game, and nobody played it better. Here, Jordan Popky adds just the right amount of dreamscape vocals to Adam Tilzer’s neo-classical rendering of the song. The result is a song that is both a tribute and a reimagination, a familiar take and a fresh approach.
It’s a glorious celebration of the song, ebbing and flowing between grace and grandeur, between dream and drift, earthly delights and ethereal beauty. And if you think this is great …and how could you not…then Cult Classics Vol. 2: Oh No Love! You’re Not Alone will be just what the Thin White Doctor ordered.
