The obscure David Bowie song Noel Gallagher calls one of his favourites
Noel Gallagher, the visionary founder and primary songwriter of the iconic indie band Oasis, undoubtedly stands as a true trailblazer in British rock and roll. Defying all opposition, Oasis remains a paramount and influential force that the British isles have witnessed in recent memory.
As the band’s guitarist, Gallagher has crafted a repertoire of rock and roll anthems that have achieved a revered status. Yet, even the greats have sources of inspiration, and for Gallagher, that profound debt lies with the late, extraordinary David Bowie.
During an interview with Rolling Stone, Gallagher divulged a collection of cherished songs from the legendary Thin White Duke, each selection an absolute marvel, a pure embodiment of the Starman’s essence that merits admiration and celebration. Among the obvious choices, like ‘The Jean Genie’, ‘Let’s Dance’, and ‘Heroes’, one stands out as a particularly interesting choice with the much lesser known ‘In the Heat of the Morning’.
Originally recorded in 1967, ‘In the Heat of the Morning’ was the early years of Bowie during his psychedelic phase – featuring a blend of psychedelic and pop elements with catchy melodies and poetic lyrics, the song has a dreamy and surreal atmosphere.
Despite its initial commercial failure, Gallagher cites ‘In the Heat of the Morning’ as one of his all-time favourites. “This is very obscure. I don’t know anybody else that knows it, but it’s fucking amazing”, Gallagher said.
Adding: “The first person ever to play it for me was Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, years and years ago. I was like, ‘What’s that?’ And he says, ‘It’s fuckin’ David Bowie’. People talk about Bowie’s guises, or his looks, or his personas, but it’s little-known that he started off as a Scott Walker-type dude. This song is very mid-60s Britpop. Great organ sound, brilliantly produced. You should check it out”.
The song has become more appreciated over the years, particularly by the more die-hand Bowie fans, as it showcases Bowie’s early songwriting talent and willingness to explore different musical directions. The song’s artistic depth and experimental approach foreshadowed the eclectic and transformative career that he would go on to have in the decades that followed.
Perhaps rather surprisingly, though, is that song almost became a throw-away, with Bowie not being entirely sure about its appeal. According to his then-manager Ken Pitt, it was written at a time when he was frustrated by his lack of chart success. “One evening David was sitting watching television when suddenly he took his eyes from the screen and said to me “I’m going to write some top ten rubbish”,” Pitt said.
He added: “Nothing on television could have prompted this remark, so he must have quietly been pondering the problem of his unsold records, the movements on the screen becoming as flickering flames of a coal fire. ‘I don’t think you could ever knowingly write rubbish of any kind,’ I said. He laughed and replied ‘Wanna bet? You’ve seen nothing yet.’ And so he went away and wrote ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’, which was neither rubbish nor top ten material, but another very good song. He then wrote two other songs which he also indexed under ‘rubbish’, namely ‘ Karma Man’ and ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’”.
‘In The Heat Of The Morning’ remained unreleased until 1970, when Pitt selected the stereo mix for inclusion on the Decca compilation The World Of David Bowie. It was also released on the triple-CD version of the 2014 compilation Nothing Has Changed.
A new, slower version of the song was recorded in 2000 for the aborted Toy album, again produced by Tony Visconti.
