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Jun 29, 2022Liked by Mitch Blum, CJ Kaplan

What took you guys so long to get to this one? Heartily agree for its inclusion. I also believe Bowie’s genius had a lot to do with the sum of its parts, namely Ronson. He had a lot to do with this album. His production skills are clearly evident in all those great albums he was involved with, even Morrissey’s ‘Your Arsenal’ which is a favourite of mine (don’t judge...) and coincidentally Bowie covers a song from that album later in his career.

Well done this week fellas!

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This album is still giving me gifts 50 years later. I thought about the song "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" a lot this week. And, in my head, I kept hearing the verse from the Stones' "It's Only Rock 'n' Roll" that talks about a "suicide right on the stage". I wondered if there was some kind of connection. Sure enough, there are several articles linking Ronnie Wood's lyrics to Bowie's song from Ziggy. And to top if off, Bowie himself provides backing vocals on the track. I love stuff like that!

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It took us a year just to debate Ziggy vs Hunky Dory, although Blackstar was also a dark horse contender. I was hoping we'd do the Laughing Gnome or Please Mr. Gravedigger but I guess Bowie's Austin Powers phase isn't for everyone.

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My memory of this album, when I first heard it in about 1980 (I was 14), is that it occurred to me that there was nothing particularly new about new wave. Yes, a perfect album and Ronson is indeed criminally underrated. A few minutes of David Live clearly illustrates what this material sounds like without him!

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