Saturday, April 14, 2007

Never Let Me Down [Single] (1987)


"Never Let Me Down [Single]", David Bowie (1987)

The general consensus regarding 80s Bowie is simple: His career took a creative nosedive. Following "Let's Dance," the rest of the decade saw the artist meander through all manner of uninspired forays into r&b influenced 80s pap. This single, from 1987's "Never Let Me Down" album, is a clear illustration of that sad dynamic.

The big, synthetic drum sound that characterized a great deal of the decade's music is here, sadly. A monotonous, unrelenting, and downright dull beat pretty much makes the song just plod along aimlessly. What's more, the vocals are delivered at an irritatingly high pitch that will surely leave fans of Bowie the Crooner dismayed. The lyrics are terribly trite as well. The only upside to the song is the sax, which does a good job at adding a bit of sassyness to an otherwise dead tune.

The 12" single here, ripped from a rather dusty slab of vinyl, gives us way too many versions of the limp song. Why am I uploading it? Damned if I know. Here's what you get:

1. Never Let Me Down (Extended Dance Remix)
2. Never Let Me Down (7'' Remix Edit)
3. Never Let Me Down (Dub)
4. Never Let Me Down (Acapella)
5. Never Let Me Down (Instrumental)
6. 87 and Cry (Single Version)

All I can say is that "87 and Cry" sort of points towards Bowie's even more tragic Tin Machine venture. But that's another story...


Download (23.01 MB)

In unrelated news, I've added even more links to this page. Frankly, there are people out there with very hip stuff that I simply couldn't manage to ever get (maybe due to my age, geography or $[or lack thereof]). So be on the lookout for new links, since I will be updating them constantly. Go ahead and check them all out... just don't kill your bandwidth or hard drive. Adios!

5 comments:

Cygnet Committee said...

Good golly! Thanks so much for these mixes. I have most most of these but the dub, acapella and instrumental I missed.
Great music taste! I recognise quite a few of my fave artists among yours.
Cheers,
Cygnet

Anonymous said...

Congrats on choosing Bowie's worst album of all time and one of his worst songs as your representation of his oeuvre on this blog so far.

Señor Walter said...

And yet, its now available on various legal online outlets... with less hiss, no less!

. said...

i love this song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


thanks

Anonymous said...

you are so friggin´ great!!! love your blog¡ already discovered it today
: P any post about the process of rippin into digital these vinil gems??
regards