Record #752: David Bowie – Lodger (1979)

I received a great kindness the other day.

Some months back, my friend Billy commented on one of my posts about David Bowie and we got to talking about his Berlin Trilogy. I mentioned that I had never been able to find a copy of Lodger, the third (and perhaps oddest) in the run and put the conversation out of my mind.

But not Billy.

A few days ago, he showed up at my wife’s shop with a copy for her to give me. That is generous enough, but it went even deeper. As it turns out, many years ago, he had given away his record collection when he came to faith, and when he found out that I was missing this record, he tracked down the friend to whom he had gifted his records so that he could fill the gap in my collection.

That’s a rare gift, and in most cases, the music itself would be overshadowed by that generosity. But Lodger is just as odd and meandering as the tale that brought it to me.

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Record #606: Mott the Hoople – Mott (1973)

In 1964, when tasked with defining hardcore pornography, Justice Potter Stewart stated, “I know it when I see it.”

In many ways, glam rock faces the same taxonomic difficulty. I’m not sure I could ever dissect and identify the specific elements that make something glam rock. I have tried and failed many times to explain to someone what makes Electric Warrior by T. Rex such a perfect record. I just know that when glam hits, few things are sweeter.

And Mott by Mott the Hoople is sweet.

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Record #415: The Edgar Winter Group – They Only Come Out at Night (1972)

In the 1940s, in perhaps one of the greatest strokes of fate in rock and roll history, John and Edwina Winter—their real last name—gave birth to two sons with albinism.
They encouraged both sons—Johnny and little Edgar—to pursue musical pursuits.
The era of their birth, their albinism, and their nurtured talents paved the way for them to become mega stars in the glam rock scene in the 1970s.

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Record #149: Elton John – Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player (1973)

There is only one Elton John. Even when he is mimicking Bobby Vee (Crocodile Rock) or Van Morrison (High Flying Bird) or T-Rex (I’m Gonna Be a Teenage Idol), there is no mistaking his pounding piano chords or his smooth-as-smoke singing voice. Even between the hard rock of Midnight Creeper, the Caribbean opener Daniel, and the over-the-top symphonic blues of Have Mercy on the Criminal, every track is distinctly Sir Elton, even on an album that pushes the limits of what “distinctily Elton” means.