Release date: October 19, 1973
Label: RCA Records
Production: David Bowie and Ken Scott
Length: 33:42
Genre: glam rock
Rating: 7/10
In 1973, rock’s legendary chameleon David Bowie put out “Pin Ups”, a pretty atypical covers album for him, aimed mainly at the American market. It was packed with covers of songs by British artists who weren’t nearly as popular in the US as they were at home and needed a bigger promotional push. The cover shows two androgynes, David in his Ziggy Stardust phase and the English supermodel Twiggy, famously rail-thin. With “Pin Ups”, Bowie wanted to introduce American audiences to songs by the favorite artists of his youth, led by Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, The Pretty Things, The Who, The Yardbirds and The Kinks, to name just some of the most notorious rock acts of the late sixties.
“Pin Ups” was Bowie’s last album with members of the cult lineup The Spiders From Mars. That means it’s the final appearance of the unforgettable guitar virtuoso Mick Ronson and the no less esteemed bassist Trevor Bolder (later of Uriah Heep and Wishbone Ash), both of them sadly gone today. Drummer Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey had just been replaced by the renowned Aynsley Dunbar, who already had some thrilling musical adventures behind him with legends John Mayall and Frank Zappa.
“Pin Ups” was David’s tribute to the musical era that defined England at the turn of the sixties, when the so-called British Invasion, with its mod-movement influences, started shifting into psychedelic rock, and which also had a huge impact on his early musical development. David especially nailed the cover of the Syd-era Pink Floyd evergreen “See Emily Play”, which sounds like it was made for his voice. Among the better covers were also the two bonus tracks, which only appeared on the 1990 reissue of “Pin Ups”: Springsteen’s “Growing Up” and “Port of Amsterdam”, originally performed by the Belgian singer Jacques Brel.
“Pin Ups” is one of the few Bowie albums you can’t call a rock classic, since it contains nothing but covers of his favorite artists from his teenage years, and it’s mostly interesting for anyone who wants to know who shaped his musical development. Still, every cover is interesting in its own way and makes for a nice tribute to a particular musical era that left a major mark on David’s creative development. You could say that for Bowie, “Pin Ups” was really just a short breather before he got down to making the hugely ambitious ‘transitional’ album “Diamond Dogs” (1974).
by: Peter Podbrežnik
track list:
1. Rosalyn
2. Here Comes the Night
3. I Wish You Would
4. See Emily Play
5. Everything’s Alright
6. I Can’t Explain
7. Friday on My Mind
8. Sorrow
9. Don’t Bring Me Down
10. Shapes of Things
11. Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
12. Where Have All the Good Times Gone
bonus tracks:
13. Growin’ Up
14. Port of Amsterdam
musicians:
David Bowie – vocals, guitar, tenor and alto saxophone, harmonica, arrangements, Moog synthesizer
Mick Ronson – guitar, piano, backing vocals, arrangements
Trevor Bolder – bass guitar
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
guest musicians:
Mike Garson – keyboards
Ken Fordham – baritone saxophone
G.A. MacCormack – backing vocals
Ron Wood – guitar on “Growin’ Up”
