I'm not sure where this has popped up from (I watched "The Man Who Fell To Earth" the other day, maybe that's it). I never listened to the radio much when I was a teenager. I don't know why not. It's not like I was outside playing football or being popular - I'm sure I was as alienated as all those people who tuned into John Peel. But I never did. I think I lacked the patience to be fiddling about with radio dials.When I was a kid though when this song used to come on the radio I absolutely loved it. I probably heard "Starman" and definitely "Space Oddity", oh and "Ashes to Ashes", but I don't think I connected them. The first time I really became aware of Bowie was with "Let's Dance", which I loved. I didn't understand the vilification (I still don't).
Back to "The Laughing Gnome". It's silly but no more so than "The Yellow Submarine" and it's stacks better than "Effervescing Elephant". The NME's campaign to get him to play it on his greatest hits tour was typically mean spirited but I do wish he'd just ripped into a stomping version of it rather than scrap the idea.
David Bowie: The Laughing Gnome
