Bowie vs. Dylan

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ah

Bowie
53
41%
Dylan
77
59%
 
Total votes: 130

Bungo the Mungo

Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 08 Feb 2008, 08:04

Colour vs. black-and-white?
Sheen vs. dust?
A smile vs. a frown?
Marshmallows vs. stew?

VOTE AGAIN!
Last edited by Bungo the Mungo on 30 Oct 2010, 04:06, edited 2 times in total.

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Balboa
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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Balboa » 08 Feb 2008, 08:19

Dylan. Neither are my favourite artists, but I do own plenty by both.
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

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Brother Spoon
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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Brother Spoon » 08 Feb 2008, 08:25

Sir John Coan wrote:Colour vs. black-and-white?


Stick-out-your-eye cheap plastic 'buy me I'm for sale' neon vs all the colours in the natural world?

Sir John Coan wrote:A smile vs. a frown?


Condescending pantomime grimace vs Chaplin?

Sir John Coan wrote:Marshmallows vs. stew?


Ten million marshmallows forced down your throat till you've got a sandpaper tongue vs country pie?

Bungo the Mungo

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 08 Feb 2008, 08:29

Brother Spoon wrote:
Sir John Coan wrote:Colour vs. black-and-white?


Stick-out-your-eye cheap plastic 'buy me I'm for sale' neon vs all the colours in the natural world?


Oh hell yes! I used to hate going on school field trips to the forest to pick up acorns and make tree rubbings. I'd come back dirty and sniffly. The days at the planetarium were much more fun and left a stronger impression.

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Brother Spoon
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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Brother Spoon » 08 Feb 2008, 08:32

Sir John Coan wrote: The days at the planetarium were much more fun and left a stronger impression.


Where's the Pink Floyd option? :P

Oh man, I loved school trips to the forest! I'd get home all dirty and sniffly!

Piggly Wiggly

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Piggly Wiggly » 08 Feb 2008, 09:17

Oh, how I remember falling in love with Bowie and his music.

And, oh how I remember it losing its appeal.

There is something two dimensional about it which I can't quite identify.

Bungo the Mungo

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 08 Feb 2008, 09:19

A dead heat. Fairly strong reactions from both camps' detractors. Interesting.

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Balboa
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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Balboa » 08 Feb 2008, 09:23

Bourgeois Socks wrote:Oh, how I remember falling in love with Bowie and his music.

And, oh how I remember it losing its appeal.

There is something two dimensional about it which I can't quite identify.


This is me, although there might be a little more residual goodwill for Bowie - I just can't get excited by his music any more. It's pretty easy to admire the guy, but sitting down and listening to his albums has become less and less interesting to me as I have gotten older. Don't know why - sometimes it seems a bit, dunno, style over substance.
Of course, I was mostly stoned at the time.

Piggly Wiggly

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Piggly Wiggly » 08 Feb 2008, 09:29

Sir John Coan wrote:A dead heat. Fairly strong reactions from both camps' detractors. Interesting.


I mean, the first time I heard "Life On Mars" was live in concert (at 20 on unusually strong LSD), and I recall my subsequent love affairs with Ziggy..., Hunky..., Diamond..., and Station...... as well as standalones like "Space Oddity", "John, I'm Only Dancing", "Fame", and "Drive In Saturday".

But, it just didn't stick, and he seemed more and more like the sort of unimpeachable hero that people like Siouxie, Lenny Kravitz and Simon Le Bon would claim as a pre-punk influence.

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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby toomanyhatz » 08 Feb 2008, 09:42

Dylan fan though I may be identified as being- and I am- I don't love everything he does. That said he has at least ten songs that simply get under my skin on contact. Bowie has a few- "Heroes" and "Fantastic Voyage" are two- and lots of great music that gives me pleasure, but my appreciation for Bowie is generally more cerebral.
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Bungo the Mungo

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 08 Feb 2008, 09:45

Balboa wrote:...sometimes it seems a bit, dunno, style over substance.


Bourgeois Socks wrote:...the sort of unimpeachable hero that people like Siouxsie, Lenny Kravitz and Simon Le Bon would claim as a pre-punk influence.


These are the sort of things a bad critic like myself would say! Vaguely cynical comments that make you think 'yes...yes...', and perhaps nod your approval 'cos they set off certain negative faculties (if that's the right term). He did have a negative influence and could be held responsible for a whole load of crappy New Wave sub-genres.

But really, let's not forget the man's songs - all this stuff is peripheral, and neglects what we really should be focussing on here.

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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Beno » 08 Feb 2008, 09:59

Two artists who are rightfully acknowledged as being major league so this isn't an easy decision.

Bowie for me is the more exciting due to his ability to absorb new influences and change styles. Dylan is more self contained and to me is the better pure songwriter. That isn't to say Bowie hasn't written some great songs, it's just that Dylan has written loads more. Bowie to a degree also relies on his own performance whereas Dylan's songs have stood up on their own merits and have been covered by all manner of different artists and still sound great.

So Dylan it is, by a whisker.
Last edited by Beno on 08 Feb 2008, 10:20, edited 1 time in total.

&

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby & » 08 Feb 2008, 10:05

Dylan, of course. Who has time for that twatty fad-chasing musical magpie in these enlightened times, hm?

&

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby & » 08 Feb 2008, 10:06

Jimmy Jazz wrote:...but for single handedly creating one of the most impressive songbooks.

Bar that of Zimmerman's.

&

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby & » 08 Feb 2008, 10:07

Bourgeois Socks wrote:Oh, how I remember falling in love with Bowie and his music.

And, oh how I remember it losing its appeal.

There is something two dimensional about it which I can't quite identify.

Ah, thank you, thank you. How I remember revelling in the plastic decadence of Low. And how little it means now.

Piggly Wiggly

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Piggly Wiggly » 08 Feb 2008, 10:07

Don't know whether or not it is relevant - but the fact that The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix (among others) forged their own identities by covering one and not the other probably tips the scales more than we'd think.

Bungo the Mungo

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 08 Feb 2008, 10:13

Bourgeois Socks wrote:Don't know whether or not it is relevant - but the fact that The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix (among others) forged their own identities by covering one and not the other probably tips the scales more than we'd think.


They were too early for Bowie, of course. And I really do think JJ has a good point about Dylan's songs being more traditional and therefore more easily adapted to suit other vocalists. Distinguished tho' it may have been, he put out a hell of a lot of 12-bar boogie. Bowie hardly ever touched it.

Piggly Wiggly

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Piggly Wiggly » 08 Feb 2008, 10:17

Sir John Coan wrote:
Bourgeois Socks wrote:Don't know whether or not it is relevant - but the fact that The Byrds and Jimi Hendrix (among others) forged their own identities by covering one and not the other probably tips the scales more than we'd think.


They were too early for Bowie, of course. And I really do think JJ has a good point about Dylan's songs being more traditional and therefore more easily adapted to suit other vocalists. Distinguished tho' it may have been, he put out a hell of a lot of 12-bar boogie. Bowie hardly ever touched it.


Though he did submit "Jean Genie" to RCA on the same afternoon that Mike Chapman brought in the Sweet's "Blockbuster".

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Beno
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Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Beno » 08 Feb 2008, 10:32

Jimmy Jazz wrote:
Beno wrote:Two artists who are rightfully acknowledged as being major league so this isn't an easy decision.

Bowie for me is the more exciting due to his ability to absorb new influences and change styles. Dylan is more self contained and to me is the better pure songwriter. That isn't to say Bowie hasn't written some great songs, it's just that Bowie Dylan has written loads more. Bowie to a degree also relies on his own performance whereas Dylan's songs have stood up on their own merits and have been covered by all manner of different artists and still sound great.

So Dylan it is, by a whisker.


I don't know if that means anything. I'd sooner be inclined the other way round. If waht you say is true I would conclude
that a lot of Dylan's stuff is pretty generic if anyone could play them without quality loss. Isn't it a strong point of Bowie
that apparantly his delivery of his own songs is so strong and unique that few dare burn their fingers on it ?

Thanks for correcting my error.

It probably come sdown to whether you value songwriting over perforemance. With Dylan its not just that other bands have been able to do passable covers. For a number of artists you could go as far as to say that a Dylan cover is their best ever work and for me like Bourgeois Sock that does tip the balance. Maybe that is because they are generic, but I see it more that they are timeless.

Piggly Wiggly

Re: Bowie vs. Dylan

Postby Piggly Wiggly » 08 Feb 2008, 10:40

Beno wrote:Maybe that is because they are generic.


You would never say that about "All Along The Watchtower".

Or "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".

Or "Mr. Tambourine Man".

Or "It Ain't Me, Babe".


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