Pin Ups

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Work

Pin Ups came out in 1973, soon after Aladdin Sane. The record company RCA wanted a new album for Christmas and David Bowie, exhausted after the Ziggy Stardust Tour, came up with a stopgap of covers of bands that had influenced him as a teenager. At the last show of the tour he had unexpectedly announced that it would be the last, which caused tension with the Spiders from Mars. Mick Ronson and Trevor Bolder took part, and the drummer Aynsley Dunbar replaced Woody Woodmansey. Recording took three weeks, in the summer of 1973 at the Château d'Hérouville in France, with Ken Scott as co-producer.

The selection contains songs by the Pretty Things, the Who, the Yardbirds, the Kinks and Pink Floyd, such as See Emily Play and Shapes of Things. The arrangements stay close to the originals, but sound like glam rock and proto-punk. The record went to the top of the British albums chart, but critics mostly found the covers inferior to the originals.

Listening

Track list

1. 1Rosalyn2:21Apple Music ↗
2. 2Here Comes the Night3:10Apple Music ↗
3. 3I Wish You Would2:48Apple Music ↗
4. 4See Emily Play4:13Apple Music ↗
5. 5Everything's Alright2:29Apple Music ↗
6. 6I Can't Explain2:15Apple Music ↗
7. 7Friday On My Mind2:57Apple Music ↗
8. 8Sorrow2:53Apple Music ↗
9. 9Don't Bring Me Down2:06Apple Music ↗
10. 10Shapes of Things2:54Apple Music ↗
11. 11Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere3:14Apple Music ↗
12. 12Where Have All the Good Times Gone2:41Apple Music ↗

30-second previews via Apple Music. Listen to the whole album on Apple Music ↗