to be pefectly honest, yes, i would agree, look you see. surely by this stage i have somehow exhausted all that i could possibly say on the rather smart band Tin Machine. but here we are, or at the least i am, once again on the anniversary of that time i saw them live.
as far as being a going concern it is of course that Tin Machine more or less ceased to be at some stage of 1992, or perhaps 1993 as and when the Oy Vey, Baby CD and VHS release, as it were, happened. or late 1992, if that's the time they came out, i don't recall but the copyright thing on them seems to suggest yes.
well, on the off chance that someone is interested - even if just to check that i still write something or other on the anniversary of the time i saw the band - let's see what i can come up with. if nothing else there's some stills of a video of what someone kindly gave me. yes, indeed, as per an earlier blog on this (but will no doubt also be dated 5 November), it is a video of the very gig that i was at.
there is every chance that the majority of people having a gander at this are them Google enthusiasts looking for pictures (and indeed video at the end) (and some links), so perhaps the text will be more minimalist than usual.
for what reason did Tin Machine come to an end? i've only ever seen two reasons given. no, i have no idea if either are genuine, "official" or even real. perhaps they are just speculation written in such a way to suggest authority and authenticity.
the first such reason was that David Bowie felt that the band, or if you will project, had done all that it could do, with the release of Oy Vey, Baby apparently being held as proof that the band could indeed "cut it live". by that i think, if Bowie even said that, the showed that he could be part of a band on stage and did not have to be, or become by default, the focus of attention. this you would think he proved when he toured with Iggy Pop as part of his band (with Hunt & Tony out of Tin Machine) in the late 70s, but who would i be but a fan when it comes to asking such?
much of that makes sense, really. you have to remember the world very nearly did not get Aladdin Sane, for Bowie felt that he had "said all that he could" with that form or style of rock with Ziggy Stardust. so, then, yes. maybe it all ended because Bowie felt it exhausted, or he was just plain bored and out of ideas.
the other presented reason is that it wasn't Bowie as such who brought Tin Machine to an end, but rather Hunt & Tony Sales. according to one report there was some speculative work, or at the least discussions, concerning a third Tin Machine outing. Hunt and Tony, in this version, were however the ones that were bored. these two mighty fine talented brothers are known for their passion for a harder edge, challenging form of rock. it is spoken that they grew weary of the idea of making the next step for Tin Machine "more commercial".
it makes sense, this. one of the main points of Tin Machine was to be successful, yes, acclaimed, to be sure, but not some huge corporate juggernaut. at the heart of the project was to rediscover, embrace and thrive on the unique experience of playing hard in smaller venues. had it all become something that was suited for audiences of a size that arenas and stadiums were meant for, well, it would have somewhat defeated the point.
any evidence of what a third album might have sounded like? not really. without linking to anything (you are clever, you can find them, trust yourself), there's some widely circulated "bootlegs" of outtakes and alternate versions from the Tin Machine II sessions. These were all recorded in Australia, Sydney to be precise, so maybe some engineer or something got the tapes and unleashed them on the net.
nothing on the tapes / mp3 downloads is all that interesting, not even to a fan like i. as is standard for demos, most of the well known songs off of Tin Machine II on them are simply slower and longer versions of the final product. two songs on the tapes never finished or released are Needles On The Beach and It's Tough. of one of them Hunt Sales (i think, sorry if it was Tony) can be heard saying "it's a hit, get Olivia Newton John in here to sing it". that would kind of give some credibility to the idea that the brothers Sales walked from the band rather than it being Bowie ending it.
i really, really seem to like bands that only release two albums, then. Tin Machine only made two. as was the case with Frankie Goes To Hollywood and, thus far, The Stone Roses. but i still hold out hope that, if not this year then maybe next, Christmas With The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses shall be recorded and released.
what did Bowie think of Tin Machine, in a retrospective sense? hard to gauge, really. in one interview, around the early 2000s or late 1990s i think, when asked what he was up to he answered something like "maybe i will do a Tin Machine retrospective box set". some took this to be flippant, self-depreciating or funny. i am not convinced.
yeah, that's the most subtle image i can do of the t-shirt that Bowie wore at the Tin Machine gigs which caused some upset. he put it on for the encore. strictly speaking, under England's quaint draconian laws, he could have been arrested for the obscenity. strangely the law allows for such to be spoken on stage as part of a performance, but not printed and worn. as i recall it Hugh Cornwell off of The Stranglers was threatened with arrest when he wore a t-shirt that had the "f" word done as the Ford logo.
so anyway, Bowie's thoughts on Tin Machine. all evidence suggests he had nothing but fond considerations of the songs done. you are at this stage referred to seek out a high quality bootleg recording from 1996 called A Night In Loreley. whilst ostensibly a gig promoting Outside, two songs intended for the next album (which would be Earthling) were done - Telling Lies and a re-recording of Baby Universal. also, the very same gig featured a cover of Lust For Life. this song, arguably, is the most famous and well known to feature Hunt & Tony Sales. no accident, surely, even allowing for Bowie's friendship with Iggy.
the story goes that Bowie felt Baby Universal was "too good a song" to be forgotten. he wished to revisit it and give it a bigger audience. not a new thing for him; he took Strangers When We Meet from The Buddha Of Suburbia and not just re-recorded it for Outside but issued it as a single, too. when singles actually meant something, which is now not the case.
above is either a big gap or, should your device and browser support it, a snippet of video from the end of the gig i was at. yes, that's David Bowie wishing you a good evening, and yes one of the voices squealing like a teenybopper (in fairness i was still in my teens) is mine.
getting back to the bit before the bit above, then, all accounts say that Baby Universal was given a re-recording for Earthling, with original guitarist Reeves Gabrels on it. alas, it didn't make it on to the album, and so far as i am aware the re-recording has never surfaced officially or as a bootleg. who knows, perhaps one day Reeves or someone that has a copy may share it.
this all differs greatly from how some journalists speak of Tin Machine. for a while - say late 90's to around 2013 - a really lazy, cheap thing for some music writers to do was to go "Tin Machine, ha ha ha, what a load of sh!t they must have been, let's look cool and trendy by mocking them". all that i have to say to that would probably be found in this post.
right, well, i seem to have said more than i thought i would. who knows, perhaps the 27th anniversary of me seeing Tin Machine will get some writing too, assuming i make it that far.
usually i don't mix my actual verk with this personal blog, but what the heck. for those constantly disappointed that the video won't work on their device, presumably that You Tube thing will. here, then, are some clips i made to show my VHS to DVD transfer work. and my audio cassette tape to CD / mp3 stuff too, for good measure.
Wogan appearance - You Belong In Rock N Roll plus interview
Paramount City- Baby Universal performance
Radio 1 Evening Session Interview 13 August 1991
that second one is of some interest as it has a rare sight - Bowie gets the words wrong for the first part, or at the least momentarily gets distracted and fumbles them somewhat.
and there we go, then. if you happened to be at the same gig as i was and this all brought back some wonderful memories then that would be amazing. in particular if you were at the gig on the stage, i suppose. that said, all who have found this to be interesting are most gratefully appreciated readers!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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