Let's Dance - David Bowie

I fully stipulate that David Bowie is one of the most important and influential musicians of the rock era. However, a true Bowie aficionado would tell you that I am not worthy of being called a Bowie fan because my favorite Bowie album, in fact the only segment of his oeuvre that I listen to with any kind of regularity, is Let’s Dance (1983). My impression is that many Bowie fans view this as somewhat of an 80s pop sellout. (Admittedly, production by Nile Rodgers, who helped invent the Funk/R&B sound that would come to be called disco in the late 70s with his band, Chic, likely adds to this impression. But this is a feature, not a bug, in my view.) I view it as a genius pop album that never gets old even after massive radio overplay of its major hits (the title track, Modern Love, and China Girl – a remake of a Bowie/Iggy Pop tune). Bowie’s voice is all atmosphere, and that’s just the beginning here. The oblique lyrical references, excellent hooks, guitar work (including solos on several tracks by Stevie Ray Vaughan), mark this as possibly the best pop album of its era. Unfortunately, my favorite song from this album, Criminal World, is not on YouTube. So here’s an excellent live version of Cat People (used in the 1982 movie of the same title).