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Did you know?" column on
February 2, 2023. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that the music video for
David Bowie's "
Ashes to Ashes" was, at a cost of £250,000,
the most expensive made at the time? |
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Some will say that the story behind the song "Ashes to Ashes" is one of swearing off the song Space Oddity citation needed. The line "My mother said to get things done you better not mess with Major Tom" alludes to how he has overplayed the song and if he's going to make artistic advancements then he will drop the song. Also the line "Time and again I tell myself, I'll stay clean tonight, But the little green wheels are following me" says that he keeps telling himself the he will stop playing it but has become a slave of the song. This coincides with the drug addiction theme as well saying that he has become a slave of the song just as he has become a slave to his drugs. And with that he says, "Now I'm happy, hope you’re happy too". It was around this time that the song was dropped from setlists and not picked up until the Sound and Vision Tour (this is unconfirmed). Though the song hasn’t been played since Bowie's 50th Birthday Concert at Madison Square Garden and that in itself was a rare event.
Argh, the dodgy English threw me off... Nevermind.
Tom Prankerd
20:30, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
Towards the end of the first verse there are different lyrics being sung in the background. They go something like 'Songs that please the earth but leave the mind blown.....<something>...since 1974'.
Any ideas, anyone? Martyn Smith 20:46, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
I've always thought that the video contains references to a lot of other Bowie songs, on top of the Major Tom sub-text that we all know about. There's one shot of Bowie sinking and looking worried ("Quicksand"?) and then there's my mother, my dog and clowns ("Life on Mars"). There are others no doubt. Did I dream it? BaseTurnComplete 21:57, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
This page regarding Bowie also points in the direction of two other links about 'Ashes to Ashes'. There's likely to be a spin-off from BBC's Life On Mars also called Ashes To Ashes. Just givig a heads up that a disambiguation page may be required sometime soon.
Ashes to Ashes' intro was sampled in a fairly recent pop song performed by a female singer or group... I can't remember what this song was called, however. Anyone know? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.29.92.13 ( talk) 18:27, 5 April 2007 (UTC).
This article states: "With production costing £250,000, it was at the time the most expensive music video ever made and remains one of the most expensive of all time." The reference cited is from 1999 so is quite dated. Some sites state that several videos today (20 years later) get into the "seven figure" range every year, so suspect this article's claim is probably not even remotely true anymore. Actually, having just watched this video, it seems quite crude by today's standards.
Image:AshesToAshes3.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot 12:06, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
If you play this song (from a vinyl LP) at 45 rpm, it has a raggae beat. So, basically its a slowed down raggae song. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.70.155.3 ( talk) 10:23, 21 December 2007 (UTC) The Scary Monsters album was demoed in Jamaica. So you may have something there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.102.43.134 ( talk) 07:53, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
I've added a section on the borrowing of Bowie's original iconography for the TV series Ashes to Ashes. Can anybody think of a decent name for this section? I didn't called it "TV series" as I don't want to give the impression that the series is closely related to the video or the song. Graham and Pharaoh simply liked the images and borrowed them as a shorthand for the early 1980s. -- Tony Sidaway 19:42, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
I've moved the following, added to the main article by InPartnership at 15:54, 20 May 2011, to this more appropriate spot:
In response, the £250,000 is cited and comes from Bowie biogrpaher David Buckley, which is considered a reliable source. I agree it seems high for then and I've also seen £25,000 in another reliable source (possibly Nicholas Pegg, can't recall for sure). If a third reliable source could be found that confirmed either one of these figures then I'd be happy to use that one. Also I'd be happy to see the info about the fault-turned-effect in the article, but it'd need to be cited as well. Cheers, Ian Rose ( talk) 21:50, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
Everything I've read indicates the video was filmed on Southend-on-Sea beach, see for instance [1]. Presumably Steve Strange would know the difference between Hastings and Southend.
Is definitely produced by a Mellotron. Played by Bowie hiself? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.64.207.140 ( talk) 23:41, 15 October 2011 (UTC)
Why has the paragraph about Inchworm been deleted? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barakpick ( talk • contribs) 15:57, 11 September 2016 (UTC)
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I have removed the assertion that the set was featured in a 1979 parody of the song called 'Space Oddity' on the Kenny Everitt show. Firstly, the song was not even recorded until early 1980, so why would Kenny be parodying it? The public would not identify what was being parodied. Secondly, the set dates from 1980. The record was not even released until August of that year. Thirdly, the linked source no longer exists, and does not appear to have matched Wikipedia standards for citations.
( 86.176.53.142 ( talk) 13:16, 10 November 2022 (UTC))
GA toolbox |
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Reviewing |
Reviewer: K. Peake ( talk · contribs) 21:45, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
Good Article review progress box
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We are reunited once again; I will crack on with this tomorrow! -- K. Peake 21:45, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
The result was: promoted by
BorgQueen (
talk)
02:08, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
Improved to Good Article status by
Zmbro (
talk). Self-nominated at
15:00, 21 January 2023 (UTC).
Also, you don't need to repeat the phrase "music video", so I edited the hook appropriately. Daniel Case ( talk) 18:08, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
![]() | Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie song) has been listed as one of the Music good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it. | |||||||||
| ||||||||||
![]() | A
fact from this article appeared on Wikipedia's
Main Page in the "
Did you know?" column on
February 2, 2023. The text of the entry was: Did you know ... that the music video for
David Bowie's "
Ashes to Ashes" was, at a cost of £250,000,
the most expensive made at the time? |
![]() | This article is rated GA-class on Wikipedia's
content assessment scale. It is of interest to the following WikiProjects: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Some will say that the story behind the song "Ashes to Ashes" is one of swearing off the song Space Oddity citation needed. The line "My mother said to get things done you better not mess with Major Tom" alludes to how he has overplayed the song and if he's going to make artistic advancements then he will drop the song. Also the line "Time and again I tell myself, I'll stay clean tonight, But the little green wheels are following me" says that he keeps telling himself the he will stop playing it but has become a slave of the song. This coincides with the drug addiction theme as well saying that he has become a slave of the song just as he has become a slave to his drugs. And with that he says, "Now I'm happy, hope you’re happy too". It was around this time that the song was dropped from setlists and not picked up until the Sound and Vision Tour (this is unconfirmed). Though the song hasn’t been played since Bowie's 50th Birthday Concert at Madison Square Garden and that in itself was a rare event.
Argh, the dodgy English threw me off... Nevermind.
Tom Prankerd
20:30, 19 April 2006 (UTC)
Towards the end of the first verse there are different lyrics being sung in the background. They go something like 'Songs that please the earth but leave the mind blown.....<something>...since 1974'.
Any ideas, anyone? Martyn Smith 20:46, 28 August 2006 (UTC)
I've always thought that the video contains references to a lot of other Bowie songs, on top of the Major Tom sub-text that we all know about. There's one shot of Bowie sinking and looking worried ("Quicksand"?) and then there's my mother, my dog and clowns ("Life on Mars"). There are others no doubt. Did I dream it? BaseTurnComplete 21:57, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
This page regarding Bowie also points in the direction of two other links about 'Ashes to Ashes'. There's likely to be a spin-off from BBC's Life On Mars also called Ashes To Ashes. Just givig a heads up that a disambiguation page may be required sometime soon.
Ashes to Ashes' intro was sampled in a fairly recent pop song performed by a female singer or group... I can't remember what this song was called, however. Anyone know? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 86.29.92.13 ( talk) 18:27, 5 April 2007 (UTC).
This article states: "With production costing £250,000, it was at the time the most expensive music video ever made and remains one of the most expensive of all time." The reference cited is from 1999 so is quite dated. Some sites state that several videos today (20 years later) get into the "seven figure" range every year, so suspect this article's claim is probably not even remotely true anymore. Actually, having just watched this video, it seems quite crude by today's standards.
Image:AshesToAshes3.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.
If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.
BetacommandBot 12:06, 5 November 2007 (UTC)
If you play this song (from a vinyl LP) at 45 rpm, it has a raggae beat. So, basically its a slowed down raggae song. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.70.155.3 ( talk) 10:23, 21 December 2007 (UTC) The Scary Monsters album was demoed in Jamaica. So you may have something there. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.102.43.134 ( talk) 07:53, 16 September 2008 (UTC)
I've added a section on the borrowing of Bowie's original iconography for the TV series Ashes to Ashes. Can anybody think of a decent name for this section? I didn't called it "TV series" as I don't want to give the impression that the series is closely related to the video or the song. Graham and Pharaoh simply liked the images and borrowed them as a shorthand for the early 1980s. -- Tony Sidaway 19:42, 9 February 2008 (UTC)
I've moved the following, added to the main article by InPartnership at 15:54, 20 May 2011, to this more appropriate spot:
In response, the £250,000 is cited and comes from Bowie biogrpaher David Buckley, which is considered a reliable source. I agree it seems high for then and I've also seen £25,000 in another reliable source (possibly Nicholas Pegg, can't recall for sure). If a third reliable source could be found that confirmed either one of these figures then I'd be happy to use that one. Also I'd be happy to see the info about the fault-turned-effect in the article, but it'd need to be cited as well. Cheers, Ian Rose ( talk) 21:50, 20 May 2011 (UTC)
Everything I've read indicates the video was filmed on Southend-on-Sea beach, see for instance [1]. Presumably Steve Strange would know the difference between Hastings and Southend.
Is definitely produced by a Mellotron. Played by Bowie hiself? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.64.207.140 ( talk) 23:41, 15 October 2011 (UTC)
Why has the paragraph about Inchworm been deleted? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Barakpick ( talk • contribs) 15:57, 11 September 2016 (UTC)
Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie song). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
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Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot ( Report bug) 13:54, 19 October 2016 (UTC)
I have removed the assertion that the set was featured in a 1979 parody of the song called 'Space Oddity' on the Kenny Everitt show. Firstly, the song was not even recorded until early 1980, so why would Kenny be parodying it? The public would not identify what was being parodied. Secondly, the set dates from 1980. The record was not even released until August of that year. Thirdly, the linked source no longer exists, and does not appear to have matched Wikipedia standards for citations.
( 86.176.53.142 ( talk) 13:16, 10 November 2022 (UTC))
GA toolbox |
---|
Reviewing |
Reviewer: K. Peake ( talk · contribs) 21:45, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
Good Article review progress box
|
We are reunited once again; I will crack on with this tomorrow! -- K. Peake 21:45, 9 January 2023 (UTC)
The result was: promoted by
BorgQueen (
talk)
02:08, 25 January 2023 (UTC)
Improved to Good Article status by
Zmbro (
talk). Self-nominated at
15:00, 21 January 2023 (UTC).
Also, you don't need to repeat the phrase "music video", so I edited the hook appropriately. Daniel Case ( talk) 18:08, 21 January 2023 (UTC)