This Is Not America

There was a period in my life where I'd guess I listened to David Bowie at least 20 or 30 hours per week; for about 18 months, he was very nearly the only artist I listened to, or at least 90% of my total listenings. And this is one of my very favorites of his, and has been since the first time I ever heard it, when I had to track down a then hard to find 45. And yet now years will go by without my thinking of it, due to it not being on one of his regular studio albums or his Changes compilation. And that's a shame, because it's pretty amazing.

Even removed from the film for which it was written and recorded, I think it still holds up—it hasn't dated nearly as poorly as I might have though, its shimmery sound and dancey groove holding up surprisingly well. Sure, it has 80s keyboards, but the dominant instrument is the bass and that's one instrument that never seems to age. Bowie's vocals are pretty much always welcome and is Pat Metheny the least heroic guitar hero ever? If you didn't know, would you ever guess he was one of the most important jazz guitarists in history? Would you even notice the guitar on here?