David Bowie: Serious Moonlight

This is a wonderful piece of work by "the thin white duke" himself, David Bowie. Done in Singapore, Bowie sings some of his best- and lesser-known songs. And, most interestingly of all, he's actually seen smiling during most of this performance (when he's not tired out). It's a great set of music videos, if you will. Of course, like any live concert, the songs don't sound as good as the albums, but they're still something to be seen. The song listing is (my favorites have an asterisk [*]):

*1. "Look Back In Anger" 2. "Heroes" *3. "What In The World" *4. "Golden Years" *5. "Fashion" 6. "Let's Dance" 7. "Breaking Glass" 8. "Life On Mars?" 9. "Sorrow" 10. "Cat People (Putting Out Fire)" 11. "China Girl" *12. "Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)" 13. "Rebel Rebel *14. "White Light, White Heat" *15. "Station To Station" 16. "Cracked Actor" 17. "Ashes To Ashes" 18. "Space Oddity" *19. "Young Americans" *20. "Fame"

this live performance film from the Serious Moonlight tour is Bowie at his finest...no gimmicks...the music stands on it's own...Bowie and his band are flawless...an outstanding collection of all his greatest songs...have watched this concert over and over and it never gets tired...the performance is very energetic and fresh...the stage costumes are spot on for the time...(mid 80's)...featuring one of the best recordings of Young American ever recorded...Modern Love..Fashion...Heros..Look Back in Anger...this film is an excellent archive of Bowies talent and enduring style...also note the title related surprise during the closing number of the concert...

I have always enjoyed Bowie's music, and am old enough to remember when most of the 18 songs on this video came out. So what. So I can say that what has always intrigued me about Bowie, besides his ever-changing tastes, is his choice of musicians. He chooses who he likes to play with.

His choice of musicians on this tour make me cringe. Sorely missing is his old mate, the dearly departed Mick Ronson, meister of the tasty guitar licks on most 70's Bowie. With him here are some dudes who sound influenced by the Flock of Seagulls. And worst of all is the drummer, Tony Thompson. This guy was in vogue in the 80's with most british pop singers. And what does he bring? Constant over-playing and a never ending collect of fills which he always rushes and ends prematurely on 4.

I was bored with this set severly, which is odd to say given Bowie's efforts of putting on a theatrical performance.

This amazing concert was filmed in Vancouver over two nights, originally released on HBO and then parlayed into the home video market. If anybody wanted to see Bowie at his commercial peak (at the time he was signed to EMI with a whopping $3 mil contract--the highest ever to date for a rock act) this was the chance if you missed him on his whirlwind Europe/US/Oceania/Asian globetrot.

Hot on the heels of "Modern Love," "Let's Dance" and "China Girl", plus a few odds and ends recorded in between this tour and his previous 1979 fluorescent light cage-themed jaunt, this act was clearly made for a video-age audience. With "Blade-Runner" inspired floor-to-ceiling clear plastic light columns, the groundbreaking use of vari-lights, and the band in costumes reminiscent of a 1920's Hong Kong dockyard, you'd think that would be enough eye candy for a 90-minute show. But the video goes one further with an intro filmed at a Hong Kong dockyard with the band in their "silly suits", and a bevy of asian models paid to fill up the front two rows to add spice to the entire theme. For a tour of that nature to blow out Duran Duran, The Police and Michael Jackson's tours as the most attended of 1983, you gotta mean business.

And Bowie not only blew out the rock world with the staged theatrics, he rocked the house with his trademark sound, blending funk, soul, experimental synth and glam rock into one big gumbo pot. Who else back then would have cleverly utilized Chic's drummer and LaBelle's bassist, horns from the Tower of Power, vocalists from Harry Chapin's recording sessions, in addition to his longtime guitar sidemen from the Diamond Dogs days? You will see Bowie as you've never seen before, making all of his previous mutations pale in comparison (plus a few afterward). On top of that, he is smiling and enjoying himself throughout the entire night. Utter charisma.

If you're in the mood to see David Bowie (circa early eighties) make a complete ass of himself, looking unbelievably smarmy in leisure suit and a bleached blonde blowdry, with hilariously awful stage production and video toaster-like special effects, this is the film for you.