It’s Gonna Be Me!
1974 soul
What a voice! What vocal performances we have here!
What an album this could have been!.....maybe this will be put right when the Defries litigation period is over and Dave, (Dave are you listening?) sorts through the mass of material he has lying around.
Mind you, there's not much wrong with the Young American session, is there? If you bump into Lennon and he offers some time you take it, if you're a Beatle fan.
So, with Tony Visconti back in London with the finished album, whatever the title, complete with wonderful string arrangements (which did surface a couple of years ago) Bowie changes the track line-up to include the Lennon tracks. So we get a no.1 record, Fame, and Across the Universe (much-maligned, though a bit out of place here) but what's omitted is recording-homicide!
The Sigma sessions have developed a kind of mystical quality over the years, but it's amazing what transpires, if the stars align. So Bowie takes a break from breaking America on one of the most expensive theatrical productions ever, paid out of his own pocket and unbeknownst to him! And that, after half of the set crashed into a Miami swamp!
So when you need a rest, when you need a break from your manager who is ripping you off, when your throat's killing you, what do you do? You go and make one of the best R 'n B records ever and then put it down as "relentless plastic soul." And then strip off some of the best soul tracks to boot (vinyl records have a limited time-span and that's provided a magic degree of quality-control over the years in pop music). However, music sacrilege was committed when Visconti got the dreaded call to hold the masters.
’It's Gonna Be Me’ was toured in September '74 and still sounds like a spectacular masterpiece amid the Doggy songs. It's never a ditched demo, as many presume, but an astonishing recognition of black American music through the Bowie eye, indebted to his colleagues in the studio and his fond knowledge of soul and r 'n b. Visconti has never recovered from the shock of its exclusion nor of missing the Lennon sessions.
The vocal performance (both live and in the studio) predates the confidence of the Station to Station classics, Wild is the Wind and Word on a Wing, and reminds the listener of the edgy but epic Sweet Thing on the Dogs album. This is someone with a sore throat who's found a new toy and is now not afraid to use it. It pretty-much informed most of the UK New Wave bands at a stroke, though it became excruciating in the hands of people like Spandau Ballet! (I too have prejudices).
Structurally, it's brilliant and sounds like an improvisation which of course it is not. Lyrically, too, it's impressive, introverted but not egocentric, a man who's starting to feel really lost in the grip of global fame. Not nice. It does not feel like self-pity nor self-loathing, which would be understandable and that adds to the poignancy. There's a desperation in the rendition and a resilience which is quite astonishing. But the playing....understated everything with magnificent backing singing, the pauses, the crescendos, inspirational. This is a masterclass of writing and recording.
Now there are several tracks missing from this session and different versions of released songs which add to the wonder of these sessions. A double album would probably do history justice, even though listening time increases to unrealistic lengths for some. Not I. Bring on The Gouster, After Today, Who Can I Be Now, The Young American et al.
Dig out those tapes, Dave, even before all the magic Ronno Ziggy concerts.
Fascination is not plastic, but a powerhouse - would make a great long funk track.
Win is breathtaking. Imagine what people would say if they heard Lulu singing Can You Hear Me!
"Hey! Jack!"