SOUNDTRACK: DAVID BOWIE-“The Laughing Gnome” (1967).
I have always liked David Bowie. Never loved him, but always liked his radio hits (and a bit more). Suffice it to say that I have never heard of “The Laughing Gnome” before reading about it in this book.
What a strange little song. I can’t tell if it came out before or after his debut solo record (he has the same haircut), but I gather it was released as a novelty record.
It’s a delightful little song. Very sixties mod with a healthy nod of dance-hall. The very different thing of course is that in the song, the main singer (Bowie) meets and sings with a sped-up-voiced Cockney “gnome.”
So the song is clearly a novelty song (what else would you call it?). Except that the production is really great and the music is really good too. Despite the gnome, the song isn’t really a “funny” song (well, there are jokes and puns, I guess). It’s certainly weird and certainly silly, but it holds up pretty well to repeated listens (even if the chorus is “ha ha ha hee hee hee I’m a laughing gnome and you can’t catch me”).
Bowie doesn’t really acknowledge the song anymore, although he did joke that he was considering performing it in a new ‘Velvet Underground-influenced’ style. Before that happens, hear the original
[READ: November 22, 2014] 1982
So yes, I know that Ghomeshi is in the midst of a scandal in which he is pretty undeniably a sexually abusive scumbag. I’ll say nothing more about that since things are still under investigation {formal charges were brought today]. But it doesn’t look good for Jian.
This is rather upsetting. For the women involved, obviously, but also for those of us who liked Jian and thought he was one of the good guys. Which I did. I loved Moxy Fruvous. I loved his solo album. I had a brief email exchange with him before he joined the CBC, and his show, Q was one of the best interview shows out there. He always seemed so nice and on the right side of so many issues. Ugh.
But anyhow, this is about the book, not him (although the book is about him as well). I only heard about the book when I was looking for news about his scandal (I had no idea he had written a book). The book is called 1982 because it is all about his life in the year 1982, a formative year in his childhood. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 