My guess would be Wild is the Wind. though I maybe wrong on this.

What other rtracks come close or even more than this?

Edited by sonofsilence on 06/21/06 11:42 AM (server time).

Starman has an octave leap in its chorus.

Temperature's rising, but any idiot would know that...

Candidate/Sweet Thing is all over the place, from the low intro to the high of "I'm scared..." to the falsetto ending "it's got you!"

Yes, but in that one he cheated in order to get the highest and lowest notes.

"I don't think I'll change all that much."
- The future mrs K on married life

I have read somewhere that is true about the "It's safe in the city..." opening. For years I wondered about that since I could never properly emulate it and, of course, that only reinforced my respect for Mr Bowie as a singer. Oh welI...

I hadn't heard anything about the high end stuff, and this would surprise me because I could always reproduce those notes.

If I correctly remember a story Adam told me it was TW`s Einar who years ago started to discuss technical enhancement on Bowie's voice on that very track. The allegation reached the Bowie camp and Sailor himself replied and admitted to pitching up his vocals. I am sure Adam can and will say more when he comes along.

And I want to believe that a light's shining through somehow

I didn't suspect any enhancement at all. Go me.

"Don't Sit Down" - Finally, Bowie writes a song about his piles.
Black Vice have been in the recording studio. See the results. http://blackvice.cjb.net

I think the version of "John I'm Only Dancing ( again )" shows off his octave range very well.


London Bye Ta-Ta...

Does that mean the

"And the sages of the subway sit just like the living dead
As the tracks clack out the rhythm, the eyes fixed straight ahead"

part of It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City is fixed too? I always loved that part just because of the fact he got so low.

And what about the Baby Grace tape? Is that altered somehow!?

"Don't Sit Down" - Finally, Bowie writes a song about his piles.
Black Vice have been in the recording studio. See the results. http://blackvice.cjb.net

Alright then. I'll take that as a yes.

You make me very sad, Syndrome.

Oh, don't call me the authority on voice editing. I guess I replied to the wrong one there... Sorry. Anyway, I don't know about the Saint in the City cover. I hope it wasn't edited, and surely Bowie's voice can go that deep anyway?

"Don't Sit Down" - Finally, Bowie writes a song about his piles.
Black Vice have been in the recording studio. See the results. http://blackvice.cjb.net

Never mind, then. I thought you were just being a bastard by mocking me.

I'm inclined to think STARMAN has the greatest vocal range in the one song. It just climbs higher through the verse and the sections of the chorus. If you're going to sing it, it's a tricky one to get the key right.

I'd say 'Right'. It starts off very low and sensual and at the ending he uses very high notes.

This ain't no party
This ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around

What about 'Life on Mars?' or 'Teenage Wildlife'? The chorus in the former is considerably higher than the verses and the wailing at the end of TW is a pretty high register(even if it's falsetto)

rrrrrrrrrrrr.............

The Live Version of Stay on the Ryko Station to Station there is one bit where he starts from an incredibly high note and does a crescendo (I think that's what you call it) to a low note. those were the days when his vocals were at their peak.

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The Live Version of Stay on the Ryko Station to Station there is one bit where he starts from an incredibly high note and does a crescendo (I think that's what you call it) to an low note.

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You mean that "sta-A-ay!" thing? I hate that bit.

"Vasectomy is your friend." - RabbitFighter

I love it

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wailing at the end of TW is a pretty high register

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Oh! I didn't even think of that one. I've always loved that part of the song.

Another piece of teenage wildlife
oh oh oh oh oh

Great stuff.

You seem to be quite into Bowie at the moment. I am not sure if you've heard this......but some time ago, a user here named Einar did a pretty definitive cover of that song. You can here it hear.

BOWIE DOWNUNDER

I have a different recollection of what Bowie admitted to altering in Sweet Thing. I recall he said that he DID electronically enhance the high notes, but NOT the low notes. He then followed up with a little joke about how you wouldn't know it to look at him that he could sing so low, being the "skinny guy" that he is.

I always figured he was bullshitting, though. It seemed oddly convenient that a singer in his late 50s, who can clearly no longer reach his higher register, would claim that even at his vocal peak he was "cheating" to hit the high notes.

If he cheated at all, I'm sure he cheated on a few highs and a few lows. That's fine by me. Anything goes in the studio. But I'm not entirely sure Mr. B is entirely honest about what he did or didn't manipulate.

That said, he used to have amazing range back in the day without need for electronic enhancement. The high notes are impressive, but I've always adored Bowie's cavernous low notes. Very sexy.

zigbot

In my opinion, you can clearly hear that both the low and the high notes are enhanced.

On the original topic, did nobody mention Golden Years?

Laa.

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On the original topic, did nobody mention Golden Years?

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That was the one i was thinking about...
"Angels" very high, with the very low "come, get up my baby"...

Sounds great!

If you want to know me more...and my band !
That's my web site

In reply to:

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The Live Version of Stay on the Ryko Station to Station there is one bit where he starts from an incredibly high note and does a crescendo (I think that's what you call it) to a low note. those were the days when his vocals were at their peak.

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I actually prefer that version to the orginal. Also, Carlos' (it is Carlos Alomar, isn't it?) playing is fucking awsome.

Initially I thought that Golden Years may have been the one, but he obviously did a lot of similar "vocal gymnastics", especially in the 70s. Now that its been mentioned, I'd be inclined to think that the said live version of Stay is probably the one where he jumps the most octaves or whatever you'd call it.

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some time ago, a user here named Einar did a pretty definitive cover of that song.

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I witnessed Einar singing something completely different just a few days ago. I went to see a movie called "Berlin Song". It's a wonderful independent documentary about a handful of foreign songwriters who got stranded in Berlin in recent years and who tell their own stories of how they love the city as an inspiration. And when I sat there waiting for what was to come I suddenly realised that this tired looking guy in the opening sequence was named Einar Stenseng, and that it had to be TW's Einar because I remembered TW's Adam drinking with him in Berlin a few years back. And it was.

It's a beautiful film and every artist plays his or her personal song about Berlin and tells the story about their individual favourite place here. Einar's top spot is the bar he drank in with Adam, the Bellmann Bar in Kreuzberg. And in one of the film's best bits he plays his Berlin song, a ballad titled "I'm Cold", solo on piano in that empty bar. Very Tom Waits like, very cool.

Yeah, there's cool TWers everywhere!

Here is the link to the film site.

TW GOD OF FOOTBALL