i sometimes forget how brilliant this song is.
it brought it home to me again after hearing it played on the johnnie walker show the other day.
this is fast becoming one of my all time favourite songs and now i think my favourite on the aladdin sane.
a real rocker & i love the way the vocal is buried deep in the mix like he's having to shout to be heard over the hard rocking wall of sound.
it got me thinking how superb it would be to kick off a gig with this song, wouldnt it just really pump up the crowd.
its a perfect song as opener on the album and would be just as great to kick off as first song on tour don't you agree?
hard to believe this has only featured on 2 tours.

what would be your choice as a great opener for a tour?
I think this one would be hard to beat.

I totally agree ,I remember listening to it as a youngster and trying to understand the words ,its a really interesting song with a great sound !

a great riff - I turned it into a ringtone so Shakey tells me when my tea's ready.

Ah! Mr. Waite, the world of Magic is a mirror, wherein who sees muck is muck.
Aleister Crowley

i love watch that man....a great opener....i recall it was in a commercial a few years back...loved it in the commercial....

i think sunday on heathen is a great opener....

also 5ive years from ziggy is a great opener....

Five Years would beat it but it is a great song.

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Competition eh Doc ?

great touropener is Station to Station, beats watch that man by miles

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what a beautiful thread, tell the others.

Station To Station is cool ,but Watch That Man is a great track too, although not nearly as monumental for sure !

At the moment I'd guess most people would settle for Too Dizzy as a tour opener ?

The drum beat, stage in darkness then sudden spotlight on Bowie for FY would beat WTM as an opener for me Andy.

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Oh for sure as an opener Doc ,but WTM would be a great mid gig song !

Sorry Andy I misunderstood. I thought Lee was talking about the best song to open a gig.

WTM would be great in a gig as well.

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He possibly was Doc ,but I think he was generally singing the praises of the song too ?

Err I thought I all ready said it was a great song?? lol

I'm not sure what's happening - I'm offski to another thread.

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For me Quicksand was the best opener

I certainly enjoyed it at the Phoenix Festival Mick a wonderful contrast to the manic in yer face strains of Faith No More whom I really like too !

I really like that song but I think the best opening song is STATIONTOSTATION!

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Claude
http://www.myspace.com/claudio2011

I might be a minority but what about Look back in anger. I loved this for the serious moonlight shows.

Station To Station edges it for me but only just past Cracked Actor. Awesome guitar riff!

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webmaster@helden.org.uk
http://www.helden.org.uk

yeh i was as a opener for a tour it just launches straight into it whereas five years & sts build & build to an epic climax.
i agree both of these are fantastic songs and great openers for album & tour but watch that man for me steals it, as for one its so frenetic & would get the crowd going from the off & the other point is that it hasnt been performed since 1974 & would be great to hear what it would sound like now.
this song stayed with me the longest from first hearing aladdin sane from my mum probably back in about 1975.
and yes i was also singing its praises.

"Sunday" just misses it for me - it's got this long, slow build and gathers all this energy, but instead of going to a higher level (as in "Station To Station") the song simply ends.

Great lost opportunity. You could make the argument that it's more in keeping with the rest of "Heathen" that way, but I had these, you know, expectations.

Ah! Mr. Waite, the world of Magic is a mirror, wherein who sees muck is muck.
Aleister Crowley

Great post sylvianne! I agree Watch That Man would be an amazing opener. Just a hard rock, lighthearted beginning of the celebration. Did you know The Stones were so miffed that Bowie stole their Exile On Main Street sound for Watch That Man, that they returned the insult with their song, Luxury, on It's Only Rock And Roll. They stole the riff right back from Bowie! Bowie was so brokenhearted he started crying when he heard Luxury.

Luxury is not that great IMO though, certainly not a patch on Watch That Man

"Cracked Actor"



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Claude
http://www.myspace.com/claudio2011

It is a great opener. Though it would be even better hearing the vocals bought up in the mix.

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"Suspected of being a shoulder surfer
But he didn't know from shit
About challenge response systems"

werent apparently rca worried about that exact concern that the vocal was way down in the mix but bowie wanted it like that?
rca relented and decided to go that way.
think thats what makes the song actually its part of the songs uniqueness.
would be nice to hear as an alternative maybe, but cant imagine it any other way on the album, it just demonstrates how hard rocking that music is.
thats part of what really makes the song for me, its quite unique as a bowie song.

I'd love to have heard Rod Stewart cover
that Bowie song. I bet he'd absolutely kill it!
shhhhh, I can hear 'em now.
X^)

........nice

Ken Scott apparently mixed a version with Bowie's vocals higher in the mix at RCA's request. Would make a nice bonus track.

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and... what about STAY?



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Claude
http://www.myspace.com/claudio2011

Mist.

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, simply surrounded by assholes." - William Gibson.

go shakey go

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_USaz36uxg

stay is great claude but for me it has been done plenty already on many tours and i was thinking more in terms of a song that opens an album.

watch that man fits so well for me on more than one level.

width of a circle would be another cracker.

think of the many classic bowie songs that open a bowie album god there are some gems in there.

space oddity
changes
five years
sts
beauty & the beast
fantastic voyage
its no game
loving the alien
modern love
little wonder
future legend/diamond dogs
young americans
buddha of suburbia
rosalyn
day in day out
heavens in here
uncle arthur
baby universal
outside
thursdays child
width of a circle
watch that man
new killer star
sunday
the wedding
speed of life

are there any more, there are a few exceptions in there but generally there are some killer openers in there.

It's got to be Station To Station for me.

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http://mescalinedream.blogspot.com/
http://www.last.fm/user/shane140

Its No Game in terms of an album opener.....its sets the atmosphere for the album and is a real surprise when the vocal start

Cool picture of Edin, Michael

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"Humming Rheingold
We scavenge up our clothes"
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