Watch That Man

Song infobox
Name = Watch That Man


Artist = David Bowie
Album = Aladdin Sane
Released = April 13 1973
track_no = 1
Recorded = Trident Studios, London
9 December 1972 -
24 January 1973
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:25
Label = RCA
Writer = David Bowie
Producer = Ken Scott, David Bowie
prev =
prev_no =
next = "Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?)"
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"Watch That Man" is a song written by David Bowie, the opening track on the album "Aladdin Sane" from 1973. Its style is often compared to The Rolling Stones' "Exile on Main Street",Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.54] Nicholas Pegg (2000). "The Complete David Bowie": p.232] cite journal | last = Ben Gerson | title = Aladdin Sane| journal = Rolling Stone | date = 19 July 1973 | publisher = Rolling Stone | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/davidbowie/albums/album/283449/review/6067692 ] and is also notable for the discussion that its mix has generated among critics and fans.David Buckley (1999). "Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story": p.188]

Production

"NME" editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray considered "Watch That Man" the prime example of a collection of songs on "Aladdin Sane" that were "written too fast, recorded too fast and mixed too fast". They remarked on the "hurried shoddiness" of its production which "doesn't even sound like a finished mix".Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). "Bowie: An Illustrated Record": p.54] Co-producer Ken Scott however, speaking in 1999, defended the mix as the result of careful deliberation:David Buckley (1999). "Strange Fascination - David Bowie: The Definitive Story": p.188]

Music and lyrics

According to author Nicholas Pegg, "Watch That Man" could be taken as "one of Bowie’s most calculated changes of direction", to a more Stones-inspired dirty rock sound. Bowie himself suggested in the year of its release that it was a reminiscence of his introduction to the drug-fuelled American tour experience of late 1972. "Rolling Stone" magazine called it "inimitable Stones, Exile vintage. Mick Ronson plays Chuck Berry licks via Keith Richard, Garson plays at being Nicky Hopkins, Bowie slurs his lines, and the female backup singers and horns make the appropriate noises."

Live versions

* It was the opening track on the live album "Ziggy Stardust - The Motion Picture" from the farewell concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on July 3 1973.
* A live version from the 1974 tour was released on "David Live". This version was also released on the "Sound and Vision" box set and on the album "Rock Concert".

Other releases

* It was the B-side of the Italian release of the single "Let's Spend the Night Together" in June 1973.
* It appeared on the Japanese compilation "The Best of David Bowie" in 1974.

Cover versions

Lulu recorded the song in 1973, releasing it as the B-side of the single "The Man Who Sold the World", another Bowie track, on 11 January 1974. The band included Bowie on guitar, sax and backing vocals, Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, Mike Garson on piano, and Aynsley Dunbar on drums. Produced by Bowie and Ronson, it has been described as having "a mix and backing vocal performance that easily outstrips the original". [Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Op Cit: p.118] Lulu's cover of "Watch That Man" was also released on the albums "From Crayons To Perfume", "Heaven and Earth and the Stars" and "David Bowie Songbook" (various artists).

More recently, the indie band, the Fur Ones covered the song on the tribute album "Spiders from Venus: Indie Women Artists and Female-Fronted Bands Cover David Bowie" (2003).

Notes