Blue, blue electric blue...
It's hard to imagine just how very different 'Sound and Vision' sounded when compared to everything else on its release 23 years ago on the 11th of February 1977. The first single from the incredible 'Low', released the previous month on the 14th, 'Sound and Vision' was the obvious first choice from an album many considered far too inaccessible. Despite clocking in at just over three minutes the single was a hit even though the vocal didn't come in until half way through the track!
The B-side was just as astonishing. The instrumental 'A New Career In A New Town' could have been Bowie's theme tune, along with the A-side and 'Changes' of course. 'A New Career In A New Town' could have been re-christened 'Grooving With Mr Bo'...harmonicas, pianos and swirling synthesisers accompanied by a beat somewhere from deep in the future made this one of my favourite instrumentals of all time, if not the favourite.
The month most of us Bowie fans had to become accustomed to the sound of 'Low', did lessen the 'shock of the new' that was 'Sound and Vision' to some degree. Of course the gated drum is a sound everybody is now used to, but I will never forget how 'other' this record sounded way back then. The US and the UK didn't have a picture sleeve that the rest of the world was treated to, (surprise, surprise) which in most cases was just a re-crop of the 'Low' cover, the Belgian and Thailand versions being the obvious exceptions. Click on the US promo above for a look at the UK, Italian, Japanese and Spanish releases.
Drifting into my solitude........
Total Blam Blam - (European Correspondent)