70s david bowie vs 70s rod stewart

[Matt Wilson]

Egads, is that a camel toe?

[Bungo the Mungo]

Bowie by a longshot

stabbed in the BCB back.

i hope i never get to hear a member of the WCC whining about bowie's popularity on here ever again.

[The Modernist]

Well you've got 11 votes so far Adam, I'd say you've done well to get that many. Mind you I never underestimate BCB's numbingly predictable predilection for the "iconoclastic". You will always get people voting for the less favoured option just to be different.

[Sambient]

your favourite rather than most creative or influential etc (but feel free to comment on anyway).

See, I can't remove the creative and influential aspects so easily. Or maybe it just wouldn't change the vote for me.
Bowie.

[toomanyhatz]

Bowie by a longshot

stabbed in the BCB back.

i hope i never get to hear a member of the WCC whining about bowie's popularity on here ever again.

Bowie vs. Ronnie Lane- now that would be a contest!

I'm wishing this was a "who sucked more in the 80s" poll. I'd really have to think about that one.

[Bungo the Mungo]

Well you've got 11 votes so far Adam, I'd say you've done well to get that many. Mind you I never underestimate BCB's numbingly predictable predilection for the "iconoclastic". You will always get people voting for the less favoured option just to be different.

i'd say people are more afraid to vote against the BCB grain, G.

i'm lending my support in the hope that they'll vote for what's right.

[Beno]

Rod for me thanks. He never really had a chance taking the whole of he 70s but if you just took the first half of the decade I think objectively he would win. The score though is nonetheless very respectable.

Bowie is of course the most stylistically diverse across the whole of the decade. In the first half of the decade though his music, although great was pretty much all standard fair, the perceived variety is I think aided by the image changes. In the second half the musical innovation did start to keep up with the changes in image, although aided and abetted by outside support, such as Eno etc.

I don't but the fact that Rod was such a one trick meat and potates artist either. Pop, soul, folk and hard rock, he had a broader range than most vocalists. As a songwriter he was far from prolific but the quality is fantastically high. His quality as an interpreter of others' songs means that the cover versions he sings are always a lot more than filler.

[baggy shoe bulldog]

meat and potatoes

[Snarfyguy]

i'd say people are more afraid to vote against the BCB grain, G.

But the voting is anonymous.

[Jeff K]

When you stick 70's in front of Bowie he'll win against almost anybody. He owned that decade.

[Bungo the Mungo]

When you stick 70's in front of Bowie he'll win against almost anybody. He owned that decade.

No question.

[Ranking Ted]

When you stick 70's in front of Bowie he'll win against almost anybody. He owned that decade.

No question.

Indeed and in this instance its an embarrassing mismatch.

[Piggly Wiggly]

When you stick 70's in front of Bowie he'll win against almost anybody. He owned that decade.

No question.

Shakey could kick his ass quite handily.

But...lapsed as I may be, I saw a band perform several Bowie numbers a few months ago, and - song after song ("Moonage Daydream", "John, I'm Only Dancing", "Boys Keep Swinging") - I was drawn back in, if only for a few minutes. I think he had more songwriting mojo in the early 1970's than I give him credit for.

[Quaco]

Well you've got 11 votes so far Adam, I'd say you've done well to get that many. Mind you I never underestimate BCB's numbingly predictable predilection for the "iconoclastic". You will always get people voting for the less favoured option just to be different.

i'd say people are more afraid to vote against the BCB grain, G.

I think that if this is so, then it's deeper than a BCB issue, it would have to do with accepted notions of canonism and that kind of thing.

I think people are quite happy to be iconoclastic here ... then there are a lot of people who righteously vote in the classic manner ... and there are a bunch of people who won't vote for either and will say exactly why. This is a relatively safe forum for all sorts of odd views. BUT that isn't to underestimate the effects of the rock canon and all those top-100-albums lists. Sometimes, one thinks of these artists as a list of 3-4 great albums, a notion that certainly comes from the canon.

[Big John Gooly]

When you stick 70's in front of Bowie he'll win against almost anybody. He owned that decade.

No question.

Indeed and in this instance its an embarrassing mismatch.

I wouldnt say mismatch - there was a fair amount of ultra-high quality, genuine variety coming from Rod during this decade (You wear it well, Dance Sing or Anything, Killing of Georgie); Bowie was much much more of an innovator and inspired the next generation all down the line. I chose Bowie as well (of course you would) but if you put away all objectivity, I can see why you might set them up for a bit of a tussle in some respects. Both of em lost it now though.

[Jeff K]

Shakey could kick his ass quite handily.

I wouldn't say "quite handily" but he came the closest to matching Bowie's output during the 70's. Matt had a thread about the two them a couple of years ago and from what I recall, it was pretty even.

As for who 'owned' the 70's I'd rank them in this order...

Bowie
Young
Elton John
Springsteen
Rod Stewart

[toomanyhatz]

As for who 'owned' the 70's I'd rank them in this order...

Bowie
Young
Elton John
Springsteen
Rod Stewart

Commercially? Critically? Some combination thereof? 'Cause if you're talking commercially, certainly Elton tops them all. And (as much as we'd prefer to think otherwise) you'd have to put Steve Miller in there too. And critically there's Patti Smith, Lou, Cale, etc. And I'd add in Kevin Ayers if personal taste enters into it.

[Balboa]

Shakey could kick his ass quite handily.

I wouldn't say "quite handily" but he came the closest to matching Bowie's output during the 70's. Matt had a thread about the two them a couple of years ago and from what I recall, it was pretty even.

As for who 'owned' the 70's I'd rank them in this order...

Bowie
Young
Elton John
Springsteen
Rod Stewart

You would have to put Stevie Wonder in there somwhere.

[Ranking Ted]

No question.

Indeed and in this instance its an embarrassing mismatch.

I wouldnt say mismatch - there was a fair amount of ultra-high quality, genuine variety coming from Rod during this decade (You wear it well, Dance Sing or Anything, Killing of Georgie); Bowie was much much more of an innovator and inspired the next generation all down the line. I chose Bowie as well (of course you would) but if you put away all objectivity, I can see why you might set them up for a bit of a tussle in some respects. Both of em lost it now though.

I would say that, but I'm not being in any way objective. Objectively, I can see your points make a lot of sense and I understand the critical reputation of early Rod / Faces. However, I just don't like Rod Stewart despite grudgingly appreciating that he had his moments; his music, like Van Morrison's for that matter - that gutsy/sweaty soul-ish/folk-ish/pub-ish thing - just doesn't do it for me. Even on BCB - especially on BCB (home of the iconoclasticly hailed hero - hello, solo Macca) - Rod is given far too much credit for his above average boozy, goodtime amalgam of influences. If I was being mean, he's the 70s Paolo Nutini. As for anything he's done since around 75....Christ on a crutch.

Oops, ranted again.

[Jeff K]

As for who 'owned' the 70's I'd rank them in this order...

Bowie
Young
Elton John
Springsteen
Rod Stewart

Commercially? Critically? Some combination thereof? 'Cause if you're talking commercially, certainly Elton tops them all. And (as much as we'd prefer to think otherwise) you'd have to put Steve Miller in there too. And critically there's Patti Smith, Lou, Cale, etc. And I'd add in Kevin Ayers if personal taste enters into it.

Combination of popularity and critical praise. Yes, I neglected to include Stevie Wonder and he should be on my list too.