In 1977 David Bowie and Brian Eno escaped London for Berlin, ostensibly to try and kick their heroin addictions. Legend has it that Bowie barely remembered the making of 1976’s Station to Station – hard to believe considering how excellent it still is. Regardless, the two collaborated on what became the Berlin Trilogy – Low, Heroes and Lodger. These notes will comment on the first two albums, since I argue that, while the songs for Lodger where written during this period, they embarked on a new direction that culminated in my favorite Bowie album, Scary Monsters.
Low and Heroes are seminal gems of what was two years away from being new wave music, just as Diamond Dogs anticipated disco by four years. The difference in the Bowie efforts is that his albums are still infused with depth and feeling. Each album has an upbeat first side, with a second side of instrumentals strongly influenced by Eno’s ambient music. The songs are gripping, and Bowie has never written more soul-stirring lyrics. This is epitomized in the title track, “Heroes,” which describes a loving couple embracing while shots are fired over the Berlin Wall. The story has it that Bowie came upon his producer, Tony Visconti, and a studio girl kissing near the wall one night, and developed the lyrics from there.
You’ll also notice on both albums how the drum beat “pops.” Bowie claims to be the first to run the downbeat tape backwards, a trick used by endless numbers of punk and new wave bands over the following decade.
Let me provide a few kudos other than mine. Philip Glass, the famous classical composer, was so impressed by the Berlin Trilogy that he wrote a symphony based on the music lines of Low. In addition, this past week New Music Express (London’s Rolling Stone), named the song “Heroes” the #3 best song of the last sixty years. Now go out and discover!
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