FEW ‘artistes’ in pop music were as transformational as David Bowie. The British singer/songwriter, who died at age 69 Sunday in New York, experimented with various genres in a 50-year career.
For his 1984 album, Bowie tried a bit of reggae on the title song Don’t Look Down.
In an interview promoting the album, Bowie commented on the latter.
“I tried it every which way. I tried it jazz-rock, I tried it as a march, and then I just hit on an old ska-sounding beat, and it picked up life. Taking energy away from the musical side reinforced the lyrics and gave them their own energy. I think working with Derek Bramble helped because he played popper reggae bass lines,” he said.
David Bowie
An interesting local angle: Mark Pritchett, a former managing director of the Jamaica Observer was a member of Bowie’s band, Arnold Corns, for five years.Pritchett, who went by the stage name Mark Carr-Pritchard, co-wrote or played on classic Bowie songs like Mars,The Man Who Sold the World and Starman.
In an interview with the MaltaToday Magazine programme, Pritchett spoke about his years (1969-74) with the ‘Thin White Duke’.
“He was difficult to work with sometimes, but he was fantastic to work with most of the times,” he said.
Many Jamaicans became familiar with Bowie through his platinum-selling album,Let’s Dance, released in 1983. Produced by Nile Rodgers (of Chic fame) it contained the title song and China Girl.
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