howdy pop pickers
just another musical interlude, look you see, taking up precious, some may well say valuable, space here on the internet. thanks for reading (if you do), and i shall take it as a given that for some reason all other, more interesting stuff is presently unavailable.
mostly, or indeed even partly, this is all about how i came to listen to the album Butterfly by Barbra Streisand. yes, that one. both artist and album, with regards to that one.
no, i do not have the version of the Butterfly (or ButterFly as Barbs would appear to prefer it be styled) with the cover what has a fly on a chunk of butter. that is what i ordered, but instead came a version of the cover what seems to have elements of butterflies emanating from the mind of Barbs. and why not.
ostensibly, as in actually, ButterFly (to respect the wishes of Barbs) is, or was, the sixteenth studio recording to have been released by Barbs. not her finest hour is perhaps the most diplomatic way to give you a general overview of the quality of the record. but, more of that as we go. if you keep reading.
how is it that i came to not only be aware of this record, but went off and procured a copy of it from the great car boot sale area of the internet? as with a lot of things in my life, Bowie.
for some (valid) reason i was recently of a mind (so to speak) to listen to something a bit breezy, whimsical, fun and possibly uplifting. this is something one would rarely need to look further than Bowie's VH1 Storytellers performance. what it lacks in any (immediate) sense of "greatest hits" it amply amplified makes up for in top notch performance by an artist performing what songs he wants, how he wants.
as i have (probably) bored you with before (if you read other posts, that is) and shall probably not do so ever again, Bowie's storytelling part of Storytellers is a masterclass in deflection. rather than reveal too much about himself, he tells wonderfully amusing stories of other people instead, where his presence happens to be secondary or similar.
going somewhat non-linear, due to how i put the pictures up (i ordered them, so blame no one), that's the tracklisting for ButterFly. you can probably identify what the main crux or focus will, if by default alone, shall be, but to indulge. i am not sure that Guava Jam means what Barbs thinks it does, and if she does that is even more disturbing. unsure how Bob Marley felt of her cover. indeed, Love In The Afternoon is perfect for conjuring up scary images. also, her take on Since I Don't Have You kind of foreshadowingly in a retrospective future seeing way (?) vindicates the Guns N Roses version.
so, in a rare instance of Bowie saying something about Bowie during the Storytellers performance, David speaks at some (comparative) length about the Barbra Streisand cover of, yes, you spotted it, Life On Mars?. he does not speak in a favourable way, at all. to qualify his dislike, he cites one issue in particular, which is that the record was produced by her at the time boyfriend. Barbs' hairdresser boyfriend, that is. a most noble, skilled profession, but not one which tends to suggest an immediate grasp of the nuances and technicalities of music production.
weirdly, and by sheer co-incidence or statistical fluke (or what have you), i switched on the tele whilst i set about creating the little video thing below. and sorry for the lack of spoiler warning. anyway, on was a late 90s repeat of Wheel Of Fortune, hosted by Bradley Walsh during his most infamous phase; when he had a very dodgy and suspicious Oasis era Manchester haircut which did not suit at all. neither did his suit, in truth, but i am one to talk. how very strange that a puzzle to solve on Wheel Of Fortune should randomly relate to what i was messing about with at the time.
the Barbs interpretation of Life On Mars? was something that i could vaguely grasp at some sort of semblance of remembering hearing years ago, but had forgotten all about it. hence the prompted memory (or recall) by Storytellers and the wish to hear it again. to see, or hear, if it truly was as what David described, or if he was being a trifle protective.
above is a little snippet thing i knocked up. took f*****g hours it did, so someone please just play it, if only once. and once shall probably be enough. yes, i suppose it is a bit like the south america thing i knocked up some time ago.
it was, as you shall be aware if you have already played the above video thing (and i did encourage such), the point at which Barbs delivers the "sailors" line from the song that i, well, lost it. or the song lost me. maybe it just tickled me, or made me aware of why Bowie may not have cared for her versions all that much. yes, snippets of David delivering the line (both in studio and live variations) pepper the mix for balance, or clarity.
what you are looking at above (if you look) is an image of the inner parts of the booklet for the edition of the ButterFly CD what i obtained. interesting. whilst i was expecting some linear notes, so as to see how Barbs came to the decisions she did with the record, the record label instead provides you with a whole list of albums which you might have spent coins of money on rather than the one you did. kicking someone when they are down, i believe, is the expression.
usually it is so that when people do them "best, greatest and most important" lists of Bowie songs, as in top ten sort of things, Life On Mars? gets voted, selected, chosen or randomly picked as the finest, or features within the top three. fair enough, i suppose. i guess there is some way of choosing what is the best by whoever, but with Bowie i would not know how to narrow it down. mostly all good.
should you depart from this post (so to speak) and seek out a copy of ButterFly to listen to, please note that this is on you. yes, sure, there is a school of thought which says it's so bad it is good enough to check out for the novelty factor. but one might rather wish they had been to a different school entirely.
my thanks, as ever, for reading.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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