Alert icon
We're changing our privacy policy. This stuff matters.  Learn more  Dismiss

Rebel Rebel - David Bowie - Guitar Cover

Loading...

Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon
Upgrade to the latest Flash Player for improved playback performance. Upgrade now or more info.
4,449
Loading...
Alert icon
Sign in or sign up now!
Alert icon

Uploaded by on Jul 2, 2011

Guitar cover of "Rebel Rebel" by David Bowie from his album Diamond Dogs

--------------------------------------------------------
Chords available at Ultimate-Guitar.com
--------------------------------------------------------

David Bowie (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for five decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s, and is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth of his work.

Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture." The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.

In 1975, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number-one single "Fame", co-written with John Lennon, and the hit album Young Americans, which the singer characterised as "plastic soul". The sound constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. He then confounded the expectations of both his record label and his American audiences by recording the minimalist album Low (1977) - the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno over the next two years. The so-called "Berlin Trilogy" albums all reached the UK top five and garnered lasting critical praise.

After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes" and its parent album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps). He paired with Queen for the 1981 UK chart-topping single "Under Pressure", then reached a new commercial peak in 1983 with the album Let's Dance, which yielded the hit singles "Let's Dance", "China Girl", and "Modern Love". Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including blue-eyed soul, industrial, adult contemporary, and jungle. His last recorded album was Reality (2003), which was supported by the 2003--2004 Reality Tour.

Biographer David Buckley says of Bowie: "His influence has been unique in popular culture - he has permeated and altered more lives than any comparable figure." In the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29. Throughout his career, he has sold an estimated 136 million albums. In the United Kingdom, he has been awarded 9 Platinum album certifications, 11 Gold and 8 Silver, and in the United States, 5 Platinum and 7 Gold certifications. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him 39th on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and 23rd on their list of the best singers of all-time.

Rebel Rebel" was Bowie's last single in the glam rock style that had been his trademark. It was also his first hit since 1969 not to feature lead guitarist Mick Ronson; Bowie himself played guitar on this and almost all other tracks from Diamond Dogs, producing what NME critics Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray called "a rocking dirty noise that owed as much to Keith Richards as it did to the departed Ronno".

The song is notable for its gender-bending lyrics ("You got your mother in a whirl / She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl") as well as its distinctive riff, which rock journalist Kris Needs has described as "a classic stick-in-the-head like the Stones' 'Satisfaction'". Bowie himself later said, "It's a fabulous riff! Just fabulous! When I stumbled onto it, it was 'Oh, thank you!'" (Wikipedia, July, 2011)

Link to this comment:

Share to:

Uploader Comments (iamRottenRon)

  • Uh, I think the view counter is broken because it's only counting my view!

  • @AK47masterpiece

    Yeah, the public video counters can be pretty unreliable once they get over 300 views. They tend to get updated reasonably regularly (e.g., couple of times per day) but sometimes they get stuck for days and even weeks. Also views from different platforms such as mobiles and tablets and different geographies seem to be on different update cycles. It's also possible that you're the only one viewing the vid, so thanks. :-) Ron

  • @iamRottenRon I know! Seriously, it's been, like, two days and I've viewed this vid atleast 3 billion times and view counter hasn't gone up at all. Keep up the good work, I'm your #1 fan. You've inspired me to get out my old guitar and try to learn these songs again, thanks.

  • @AK47masterpiece

    Good to hear that you've picked up the guitar again. I always regretted stopping many years ago. One thing that really helped me this time around is ensuring that I play every day, even if it's just for a few minutes.Good luck and thanks a million for the support - Ron

  • AWESOME

  • @AK47masterpiece

    Thanks very much for your support, it really makes a difference - Ron

see all

All Comments (33)

Sign In or Sign Up now to post a comment!
  • I use a lot of that stuff

  • @TheSsalty

    Yes, all four of my David Bowie covers were flagged with content ID matches, e.g., "matched third party content" which indicates that the videos may include content that is owned or administered by specific entities. The videos are still available worldwide, however in some cases ads may appear next to the video. This is quite common when doing covers - Ron

  • Did you tube send you a e mail saying that you had copyrighted stuff in the vid?

  • @amarok45620

    Thanks a lot for viewing and the feedback, it's much appreciated. All the best - Ron

Loading...

Alert icon
0 / 00Unsaved Playlist Return to active list
    1. Your queue is empty. Add videos to your queue using this button:
      or sign in to load a different list.
    Loading...Loading...Saving...
    • Clear all videos from this list
    • Learn more