Song of the Day 2/8: David Bowie, “Watch That Man”
That man is Elon Musk, and it behooves the Democrats to not just keep an eye on him, but to tie the Bloated Dotard to Musk’s unpopular, pasty-white ass at every opportunity. But be careful – he talks like a jerk but he could eat you with a fork and spoon.
David Bowie wrote “Watch That Man” after catching the New York Dolls in concert during the American tour supporting his breakout Ziggy Stardust album. The lead track to his follow-up LP, 1973’s “Aladdin Sane,” it shows the clear influence of not just the Dolls but the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street,” the inspiration for burying Bowie’s lead vocal in the mix. That choice came in for immediate criticism – influential British music magazine NME said it “doesn’t even sound like a finished mix,” and Bowie must have agreed. This was the only version of the original mix I could find. The music starts about 25 seconds in.
Bowie and engineer Ken Scott defended the original version. “When it came to mixing the track, to get the sort of power of it, I just put everything up front, which meant losing the vocal,” he explained. The record company asked for a new mix, but when they got it they opted to use the original. Yet every re-release of “Aladdin Sane” has been remixed to move Bowie’s vocals out front. This was the most recent effort, from the 2013 remastering of the album. I’m not convinced Scott was wrong.
The song has had just one notable cover. In 1974 Bowie connected with Scottish singer/actress Lulu for a cover of “The Man Who Sold the World,” at that point the overlooked title track from Bowie’s 1970 third album. Bowie and guitarist Mick Ronson turned it into a No. 3 UK single, with “Watch That Man” as the B-side.
