On Jul 6, 5:09=A0pm, sigidu...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
> Little known fact: this couldhavehappened. =A0Sort of.
>
> Bowie and Paul Anka were both interested in a French song called
> "Comme d'Habitude", and both wrote songs based on it. =A0But Anka
> acquired the rights, so Bowie's version disappeared. =A0Anka's version
> was "My Way", which he wrote for Frank Sinatra.
>
> Okay, so the title is a bit of a tease, because Anka knew Sinatra and
> wrote the song just for him. =A0Bowie had never met Sinatra at that
> point (and they probably wouldn'thavelikedeach other much). =A0So,
> Bowie wouldn't write a "My Way". =A0OTL the song he wrote was the
> instantly forgettable "Even a Fool Learns to Love". =A0Very likely, if
> he gained the rights, he'd write that... and it would immediately
> disappear.
>
> But! =A0Two knock-ons. =A0One, Bowie never writes "Life on Mars". =A0LoM
=
was
> his /second/ take at writing a song based on "Comme d'Habitude", and
> it uses the same chord structure as "My Way". =A0You can sing the two in
> harmony, as seen in this remarkable video:
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DUxCj2MO02AE
>
> -- starting around 1:45 but, hell, view the whole thing.
>
> Bowie -- who was miffed at missing out on the fortune that Anka had
> made by buying the rights -- dedicated "Life on Mars" 'to Frankie'.
>
> I don't think removing this song willhavea /huge/ knock-on effect on
> Bowie's career, but it mighthavesome. =A0IMS it came near the
> beginning of his early-70s explosion of hits, when his career -- which
> up until then had seemed stalled as the one-hit-wonder kid who did
> "Space Oddity" (you know, the 'Major Tom' song) -- suddenly went
> straight to the stratosphere, with something like five #1 hits in less
> than two years. =A0I think taking one of his early hits out (second?
> third?) there'd be be some difference, though it would need a better
> Bowieologist than me to say just what.
>
> Oh, and we'd lose the song itself. =A0Which would suck, because it's an
> awesome song.
>
> Second knock-on: no "My Way". =A0Is this good or bad? =A0Sinatra's
career
> may never recover -- "My Way" was what gave him his second wind in the
> early '70s. =A0On the other hand, the rest of us won'thaveto listen to
> "My Way" at funerals and testimonial dinners for the next forty years.
>
> And, hey! =A0There would be no 'Sinatra Doctrine' for the Warsaw Pact
> countries in the last year or so of the Cold War. =A0Poor old Gorbachev
> (who musthavethought he was being very clever) wouldhaveto call it
> something else.
>
> Thoughts?
>
Needs more dooby
Also have you seen the Conchords? What if Bowie were fat....
http://graphjam.com/2008/06/19/song-chart-memes-preponderance/
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