Life on Mars (my tribute to Bowie)

[Johnny Robbo]

Life on Mars was the first David Bowie track I ever heard. I was six years old and on one of the infamous "Top of the Pops" albums that I had back then, there was a cover of the song. For those who don't know about these albums, they had no connection with the TV show of the same name, but the idea was that the record company (the long since defunct Hallmark) would hire a load of session musicians to record a bunch of covers of recent chart hits. The albums would then sell for about half the cost of the K-Tel compilation albums (containing the original recordings) that were the 70s equivalent of today's "Now That's What I Call Music" compilation series.

Here is the sleeve of that album which turned me on to the music of David Bowie:



I listened to this album over & over on my mono Dansette record player in my bedroom, and the stand out track for me, even at that age was Life on Mars. It was just so dramatic sounding, it took my breath away. This tune has been a firm favourite of mine ever since – I've played in two different bands that covered it (at my insistence) and both times it always provided a great closer for the first half of the set.

I've dipped in and out of Bowie's music over the years. Some of it floats my boat, some doesn't. But the one thing you could always rely on was that he'd confound your expectations. Every new album brought a new dimension, and even the stuff that didn't grab you immediately would win you over in the end – Let's Dance being a prime example of this, in my case.

Anyway... here's my little tip of the hat to one of the most important figures in music & the arts from the past forty years. I recorded this by grabbing a free midi file from the web & tweaking it until I had a backer. I then played the lead parts using my Harley Benton Les Paul into the Vox Tonelab.

R.I.P. David & thanks for the music. You may be gone, but your music will stand forever.

John.

Update... just remixed the track as I was in a bit of a rush when I did it yesterday & I think it shows a little. Thanks for the generous comments, one & all

[The Gobi Desert Canoe Club]

A wonderful tribute to an incomparable musician and trend setter whose contributions to music will last forever. As ever your playing is impeccable, an inspiration to all guitarists everywhere.    Willie

[heg577]

You certainly captured the dramatic flavour of the song - some very tasteful guitar work.
Great post.

[thetworegs]

Good one John  .... I'd say I feel the same about Bowies music Not everything floated my boat but I did love those Ziggy years .... A fine tribute ...

[leighelse]

Thank you, John.

I was a big fan of The Man Who Sold The World album in the  early/mid seventies. Every Bowie album was something different, the cause of long and emotional consideration with friends (or at least those friends who were interested in Bowie).

This is a great tribute.

::Leigh

[kenny mac]

Excellent musicianship mate.
Brilliant stuff ,well done.

[SharksDontSleep]

Oh, how I remember this era. 
Bowie, T.Rex, Slade, Sweet, Gary Glitter (well before we knew the truth) and lots of others. Some songs lived forever, some for the moment & some were quite terrible.
Then there was the inimitable ToTP albums. I was one of the youngsters taken in by the scantily (for the the time) clad young lady & the affordable price. I soon found out that all wasn't what I thought it was, but I still played it to death anyway. The rumour amongst my friends was that some of the tracks were the real artists. They weren't, but if you listened to the LP (remember LP's) wearing rose tinted spectacles, you could nearly convince yourself that the rumours were true.
They definitely were the gullible years! 

As regards your tribute ... Nicely played JR ... And thanks for the memories.

[Groundy]

Brilliant Tribute John....
As always excellent guitar playing...
Really well done.....

Alex

[ODH]

Brilliant cover,  Johnny R. You're a talented guitar playing dude.

I can see why as a young lad you were turned on by the TOTP album. To the music, I mean.

[Kenneth]

As always Johnny, you're one of the best.