Bill Fay vs David Bowie
Posted: June 22nd, 2009 | Author: knot | Filed under: I ♥ moozik | 2 Comments »
I’ve just been listening to Bill Fay’s two wonderful albums from the early 70s and something occurred to me again as it always does on hearing the bonus tracks “Screams In The Ears” & “Some Good Advice” (Bill’s 1967 single). Namely, that stylistically they share a massive amount with what Bowie was doing at the time, a whimsical vaudevillian singer-songwriter approach with a strong sense of melody, curious lyrics and even the same Newley-esque sarf London twang. Gawd they were even on the same label – wonder if they knew eachother?
Anyway, it makes me wonder what kind of musical career would have developed for Bill if he’d ended up in the same position Bowie did a few years later. And maybe 10 years ago someone would be hailing Bowie’s debut as some sort of unsung classic…
Just a thought really.
From what I know of Bowie, he never misses a trick. He absorbs from everyone, so was probably aware of what Fay was up to. I’m intrigued by the games Bowie plays with revealing his influences. He talked up Iggy, Burroughs, VU, Warhol and so on in the early 70s but never let on how huge an influence Scott Walker was until very recently. I guess, he only really discusses these people to associate himself with their cred and cachet.
Yeah, he kept the Scott Walker thing very quiet although I suppose you could certainly detect a hint of his vocal style in the earnest bellowing of parts of “Lodger” and “Scary Monsters”.