“Here comes my face, Out of the crowd”
We posted a piece back in March celebrating the 40th anniversary of Iggy Pop’s debut solo album, The Idiot.
Well, today is the 40th anniversary of Lust For Life, the follow up to The Idiot. Yes, it’s an Iggy Pop album, but it’s also an important part of David Bowie’s recorded history.
Bowie co-wrote seven of the nine tracks on the record and suggested the title Lust For Life, after having composed the riff on a ukulele with the Armed Forces Network staccato TV station ident for inspiration, as the pair watched TV one evening.
Bowie, Pop and engineer Colin Thurston produced Lust for Life under the pseudonym "Bewlay Bros."
Here’s the album’s personnel:
Iggy Pop – vocals
David Bowie – keyboards, piano, organ, backing vocals
Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar (lead on "Lust for Life" & "Turn Blue"), backing vocals
Ricky Gardiner – lead guitar, backing vocals, (drums on "Fall in Love with Me")
Warren Peace - keyboards and backing vocals on "Turn Blue"
Tony Sales – bass, backing vocals, (guitar on "Fall in Love with Me")
Hunt Sales – drums, backing vocals, (bass on "Fall in Love with Me")
Along with Bowie, the Sales brothers later made up three quarters of Tin Machine.
The album reached #28 on the official UK album chart and it might have performed far better if people could have actually bought the thing. RCA had shifted their pressing facilities to the production of Elvis Presley’s back catalogue following his death the previous month.
Nevertheless, it remained Iggy’s highest album chart position until the release of last year’s Post Pop Depression.
This is the tracklising for Lust For Life...
Side 1
Lust for Life
Sixteen
Some Weird Sin
The Passenger
TonightSide 2
Success
Turn Blue
Neighbourhood Threat
Fall in Love with Me
Bowie later recorded his own versions of Tonight and Neighbourhood Threat. He also performed the title track live occasionally during his 1996 summer festival shows.
Success was released as the single from Lust For Life, but ironically, it was a complete flop.
1977 was a great year for Bowie and Iggy with the releases of Low, The Idiot, "Heroes" and Lust For Life, four classic albums which just grow in stature as time passes.
In the unlikely event that you’re not already familiar with this masterpiece, listen here.
#BowieIggy #LFL40 #LustForLife40