My iPod has been on a David Bowie kick lately. The left side of my brain tells me that it’s just because I have boatloads of Bowie covers on my iPod and I’ve been spending lots of quality time in my car with my iPod lately. The right side of my brain insists it’s the Divine Invisible Hand Of Fate directing the content of yet another Cover Freak Post. Whatever the reason, they’re good songs.

The Big Mess Orchestra “Sound And Vision” (David Bowie)
This is one of my favorite arrangements of any song by anybody. You’ve got accordion, glockenspiel, tubular bells and tuba all working together perfectly. The Big Mess Orchestra is a mutant cabaret band out of Philadelphia.

Cocosuma “The Man Who Sold The World” (David Bowie)
I don’t know if this song qualified as a hit when it was first released. It probably became more popular after Nirvana played it on MTV Unplugged. This version is more fully orchestrated than Nirvana’s but dreamier than the original.

Beck “Diamond Dogs” (David Bowie)
It’s hardly a surprise to hear Beck covering Bowie. There’s a clear influence there, and Beck is the kind of game-changing innovator that Bowie once was. It’s a shame that after so many years of setting trends Bowie became just another follower of them. Maybe it’s just that I’m not interested in anything that Bowie has recorded since the early 80s, but I don’t see a whole lot of people covering Tin Machine.

Lassigue Bendthaus “Ashes To Ashes” (David Bowie)
My iPod coughed this up and it just blew my mind as all the electronic bleeps and twerps bounced around my car. Listen to this one on a good stereo if at all possible.

David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull “I Got You Babe” (Sonny And Cher)
This song is usually sung as a doe-eyed expression of youthful love and hope for the future. But there’s something about Marianne Faithfull’s world-weary cigarette-ravaged croak of a voice that makes it sound like Bowie’s a gigolo who married her for her money, despite the assertion that their money’s all spent before it’s earned.

This was recorded in 1973 for the Midnight Special TV show. Check out the video on Youtube, he’s wearing a red latex corset and black feathers, she’s wearing a nun’s habit. My understanding is that this was the last public appearance of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust.