DAVID BOWIE

Yeah, so what - the cover is diabolical. But you know, I think this is a great record, far better than 'Space Oddity' which was released two years later. I've got the cd version of this which runs for almost 80 mins! and it includes 'The Laughing Gnome' and singles from that era of Bowie's that everyone seems to hate- Hooray! It's Bowie being Un-Bowie. A one off, scatty, light hearted masterpiece. It's got nothing on 'Ziggy' or 'Scary Monsters'. Take it for what it is - funny, goofy and cheery. It's not often you can say that about Bowie. The way in which the songs are structured always reminds me of Syd Barrett's Floyd - and no-one gave them a hard time about 'Piper at the Gates of Dawn' afterwards, did they? Fair enough, 'Sell me a Coat' and 'Silly Boy Blue' are a bit pants. Bowie even gets his sitar out on 'Come and Buy my Toys'. And on 'Please Mr Gravedigger' he's coughing and hacking away like Wilfrid Brambell's 'Albert Steptoe' while digging a grave for a ten year old girl that he's just killed! So cheer up misery guts and stop being so po-faced about this album. Bowie's biggest mistake with this record was the hideous front cover, not the music within!