Art Decade
Encyclopedia
"Art Decade" is an instrumental by David Bowie
for his album Low from 1977
.
The song is named for a street Bowie had encountered in West Berlin
, whose name was a pun on the art deco
style. In fact, the song itself is, like the rest of the songs on the b-side of Low, a portrait piece of a certain location, in this case, West Berlin. Recounting his impressions, Bowie later called West Berlin "a city cut off from its world, art and culture, dying with no hope of retribution." As a result, the song is intentionally droll and slow, attempting a melancholy, depressing sound.
The song features a quick introduction on percussion and vibraphone, using a caravan-like drum sound to continue throughout the piece. Bowie's melodic portion of the composition is layered over the synthetic soundscapes of Brian Eno
, whose synthesizer
effects are reminiscent to those of the
No Pussyfooting album from 1973. The song is intentionally repetitive, half the song does not stray from an E major chord while a two note melody repeats over the sound of continuous effects.
Despite Bowie being credited solely for the song Brian Eno
has said he was responsible for saving the song from the out-take pile. The original piece was recorded on a piano, with both Eno and Bowie playing. "[w]hen we'd finished it he didn't like it very much and sort of forgot about it. But as it happened, during the two days he was gone I...dug that out to see if I could do anything with it. I put all those instruments on top of what we had and then he liked it and realised there was hope for it, and he worked on top of that adding more instruments."
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
for his album Low from 1977
1977 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977.-January–February:*January 1 – The Clash headline the gala opening of the London music club, The Roxy....
.
The song is named for a street Bowie had encountered in West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, whose name was a pun on the art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style. In fact, the song itself is, like the rest of the songs on the b-side of Low, a portrait piece of a certain location, in this case, West Berlin. Recounting his impressions, Bowie later called West Berlin "a city cut off from its world, art and culture, dying with no hope of retribution." As a result, the song is intentionally droll and slow, attempting a melancholy, depressing sound.
The song features a quick introduction on percussion and vibraphone, using a caravan-like drum sound to continue throughout the piece. Bowie's melodic portion of the composition is layered over the synthetic soundscapes of Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, whose synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
effects are reminiscent to those of the
No Pussyfooting album from 1973. The song is intentionally repetitive, half the song does not stray from an E major chord while a two note melody repeats over the sound of continuous effects.
Despite Bowie being credited solely for the song Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
has said he was responsible for saving the song from the out-take pile. The original piece was recorded on a piano, with both Eno and Bowie playing. "[w]hen we'd finished it he didn't like it very much and sort of forgot about it. But as it happened, during the two days he was gone I...dug that out to see if I could do anything with it. I put all those instruments on top of what we had and then he liked it and realised there was hope for it, and he worked on top of that adding more instruments."
Live versions
- A live version recorded on the Heroes tour at the Philadelphia Spectrum, April 28–29, 1978, was released on the live album Stage.
Other releases
- The live versions from Stage was released as the B-side of the single "Breaking GlassBreaking Glass (song)"Breaking Glass" is a song by the English singer/songwriter David Bowie. It was co-written by Bowie, bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis. Originally a track on Bowie's 1977 album Low; a reworked version was a regular on the singer's 1978 tour and a live version was used as the lead track...
" in 1978. - It was released as a picture disc in the RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
Life Time picture disc set.
Sources
- Greatorex, Johnathan. "Just a Mortal With Potential." Teenage Wildlife. Nov. 1996. 06 Mar. 2006 http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Interact/fc/misc/JG/index.html.
- Griffin, R. "Low." Bowie Golden Years. Jan. 2005. 06 Mar. 2006 http://members.ol.com.au/rgriffin/GoldenYears/Low.html.