While we're at it, who on earth was Freddy Burretti, and why should we care? A pretty cool single I picked up in a record store's import section in 1974 turned out to be a mystery to me for decades!
I can't get over how thin everyone was back in those days, and how great they could make those ultra fashions look. Bowie looked like a high fashion model.
Yep! Michael Acoustic has bought a Tune Tag mug, as has Andres, who also bought a Brad Ramone spiral notebook and Tune Tag candle! It's a Merch-a-Palooza......I think!
Thin is right, back then! And, Bowie was ever the fashion plate and style icon, as well as all his musical talent. In all his different identities thru the years, he treated his body like a musical instrument, too....knowing just how to "play" and dress it up to maximum impact!
What he was "trying to do" with Freddie is exactly the same selfless, altruistic giving that he showed Iggy for several years, including that one '78 (or so) Iggy tour where David travelled with him, but refused any equal stage time....he just wanted to play accompany him, playing electric piano half-way off the stage! I saw the Houston stop of that tour, and Bowie was, literally, half-on and half-off the stage, barely visible halfway behind the stage curtain!
I know.....Bowie: Every bit the rock god and legend, BUT he was so giving and selfless....SO self-confident, he knew helping wouldn't take anything away from him or his career. Others he helped included Dana Gillespie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Gillespie), and I bet he had a hand in every MainMan artist on the Defries roster, at least to some extent...maybe even Johnny Cougar!
Paul Macko got my Tune Tag logo started with Canva, and I tinkered with it and came up with the one you see now. If you were thinking about diving into Printify for your own store, now might be a good time, so you could get some tips'n'info from me and Dan Pal, who's had a store for a few weeks before I pulled my trigger!
Nice.....I had forgotten about Fanny! Yep, he gave them some mad props, as well as a band I had never heard before his "1980 Floor Show" on Midnight Special....the one with Marianne Faithfull.....and, I never heard from 'em since.....Carmen (actually called "flamenco rock")! But, he gave them a spot on that show! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_(band)
Thank YOU, Patrick! I was wondering if that was the case....just, generally. Whenever I read some Bowie history or career-span, rarely is that odd era mentioned. And, like most things about what I write, if it happened to me, like this one did, it adds a little more gravitas, and I love pulling history into how I lived through it at the time! Especially, as in this case, I was so clueless about it all for YEARS!! I had to "get even" with those elusive facts!!😁👍
My pleasure, Chris! I'm glad you enjoyed! As I noted, I was sketchily aware of this part of his life, but I also wanted to nail down the facts for myself, while also pulling back the curtain (for most fans) on this astoundingly altruistic (ultimately) side of Bowie, which didn't stop with his wanting to help Freddie! So much to praise and admire about David's incredible life!
What an interesting bit of rock history... and all this from a single you bought one random day in 1974! If I was a Bowie fan, I bet my curiosity would have been piqued as well, and I would also have fallen for the "Mr Arnold Corns" charade!
It's interesting (and understandable) how some very talented and highly successful artists sometimes need an "escape" from it all, so they record something in secret, or pretty much in secret. The legal complications brewing in the background added some helpful context as well.
While no expert in the genre, I can't help but feel, when listening to the single (the first video in your post) that this exact sound has been copied ad nauseam by indie rock bands for the last 25 years (and I would add: without adding anything new, but well... that might be too harsh to say 😂).
Thanks, Andy......The Corns single has always seemed to be shrouded in mystery....at least, in the '70s years immediately following, as Bowie blew up after Ziggy, and the AC single quickly became simply too far away in the rear-view!
Then, it just became a curiosity, with no scribe, seemingly, ever able to get the story right (and, certainly, never with any of the Freddie sub-plot/Defries/contract negotiations elements)! At the time, I remember it being referred to as "a short-lived band Bowie used to be in" to "a one-time Bowie pseudonym." Fine, which is it?!? This inquiring mind wants to know!
When I sold it (with everything else...promo LPs, promo items, you know the story!) on eBay at the turn of the century, I'd love to be reminded of how I phrased it in the description! Of course, Bowie's name was on it, so I knew it wasn't simply a "commons" single, like so many, granted, I had! But, that's the kind of thing where the market will dictate value, and I, likely just open-bidded it at $.99 or something, and maybe it sold for $10 or so....who knows?
Similar story as the Bowie, Andy, and I know you're (like me) a fan of musical serendipity! When I told you I was scribing this Tuesday's Tune Tag, yesterday (Saturday), here's what popped up (again, a VERY similar one-off, early-career record ala Bowie/Corns).....
Todd Rundgren: As an 18-year-old 1966 Upper Darby High School (Philadelphia suburb) grad, he joined a blues-rock band called Woody's Truck Stop. He was only in it for 8 months before he split to form The Nazz ("Hello It's Me," "Open My Eyes"....that last one's worth hearing: an early power pop classic/standard bearer)....I digress (often!😁).
(Todd was about to move on from The Nazz at this point, and was recording a couple albums basically as "Runt." I got fully turned on to Todd with his '72 "Something/Anything" album.
Cut to a Houston flea market, mid- to late-'70s. There were always a couple of tables with used albums a seller or two had rented out. Rifling through them, one Sunday, I came across the Woody's Truck Stop album, and immediately shouted to myself (in my head), "Whoa! Todd's first band!" More eye-balling liner notes and cover photos......"Hey, where's Todd? I KNOW he was in this band....I read it in CREEM!"
I bought the album and kept it in my collection for many decades, and really only surmising (until the '90s when I could 'net research!) that he must've left prior to WTS recording it! But, only yesterday was I able to nail down the exact timeline (as well as a photo of Todd in Woody's Truck Stop, on stage sometime during his 8-month pre-album tenure)!
So, there you have it! Through the mists of time and various 20th-century publications with little to no factual info to the dawn of computers, the 'net, and scads of info tidbits, we get to the bottom of it! Bowie and Todd: Two mega-superstar creators, both with careers that featured a curious, odd-ball jump-start (with vinyl "residue" extant), before each rocketed off into their respective stratospheres!
If all that weren't enough, Andy, a fascinating 2025 connection between those two awaits in the upcoming Tune Tag, this Tunesday! Cheers!🥂
Thank you for all these deets! You answered my follow-up question, which was how much was known or revealed and when. The ambiguity of band/pseudonym is particularly interesting. I gather many Bowie fans and followers didn’t even know the exact history behind it… well, they don’t need to look any further than FR&B!
The Todd story is mind-blowing, and so is the serendipity of you finally cracking down the mystery as you were publishing this Bowie piece. The music gods and goddesses love you, Brad! And for good reason!
Had Bowie not been so flabbergastingly wonderful, rock's historical landscape would have far fewer interesting tales to tell! Glad you enjoyed, Nic.....I THOUGHT this was a tidbit whose time had come to be completely exposed! Plus, after decades, once I discovered all the facts, I couldn't keep them hidden!😁👍 As I mentioned to Ellen, he was a giver, first!
Nice find, Brad! I mean, nice memory - you found a lot of cool stuff during those desperate deep-dives. I remember finding 2 or 3 bad records for every great record I found (no internet or recommendation system), so there was a ton of surprise music in my life. This reminds me of some of those little niche finds.
Always fun, definitely, Andrew.....the bin finds thru the decades! My advantage was that I knew the Bowie name by that time! I remember finding some rock mag articles and reviews of the single (and mentions), but no one had anything coming close to stories! And, confusion reigned over was this actually Bowie recording as, and if so, what's the deal with "Arnold Corns"?? We somehow got the feeling that this was, indeed, Bowie, recording with this name, but THAT's what we never knew at the time......why? Short of the 'net, the rock mags (I read many, routinely) helped me find oddball records, and certainly, imports!
Exactly. At least by the late 90s or early 2000s, you could maybe go to a computer and look up whether this was a Bowie side project or what, just by looking up their name. Back then, though? I may be much younger, but I share this moment of mystery/wonder with you, just having to dive in and make a purchase to see what's up!
And, with my dad's constantly bringing home promo albums since the '60s brought me an inside track like no other! That's where I learned about the same names popping up on all these different albums....like, there's people working at the studios, there are people to run the label, there's a whole industry out there! And, once I started recognizing names, I began to draw lines of similarity and connection to the sounds they were making, and why various artists wanted this person and that! The seeds of Tune Tag planted, no?😁👍
Hey, you have merch now! Very cool.
I can't get over how thin everyone was back in those days, and how great they could make those ultra fashions look. Bowie looked like a high fashion model.
Yep! Michael Acoustic has bought a Tune Tag mug, as has Andres, who also bought a Brad Ramone spiral notebook and Tune Tag candle! It's a Merch-a-Palooza......I think!
Thin is right, back then! And, Bowie was ever the fashion plate and style icon, as well as all his musical talent. In all his different identities thru the years, he treated his body like a musical instrument, too....knowing just how to "play" and dress it up to maximum impact!
What he was "trying to do" with Freddie is exactly the same selfless, altruistic giving that he showed Iggy for several years, including that one '78 (or so) Iggy tour where David travelled with him, but refused any equal stage time....he just wanted to play accompany him, playing electric piano half-way off the stage! I saw the Houston stop of that tour, and Bowie was, literally, half-on and half-off the stage, barely visible halfway behind the stage curtain!
Brad Ramone -- that's hysterical! Do they know they have a brother from a different mom and dad?
I see you're using printify. I looked into doing merch related to books a while back, but never moved forward with it. The t-shirt colors are great.
That Bowie, always helping people. Didn't he get he was a rock god?! Geez, bro, get with the program.
I know.....Bowie: Every bit the rock god and legend, BUT he was so giving and selfless....SO self-confident, he knew helping wouldn't take anything away from him or his career. Others he helped included Dana Gillespie (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_Gillespie), and I bet he had a hand in every MainMan artist on the Defries roster, at least to some extent...maybe even Johnny Cougar!
Paul Macko got my Tune Tag logo started with Canva, and I tinkered with it and came up with the one you see now. If you were thinking about diving into Printify for your own store, now might be a good time, so you could get some tips'n'info from me and Dan Pal, who's had a store for a few weeks before I pulled my trigger!
Ellen 'Endwell' Ramone, the sister they never knew they had. I like that idea for a logo. Or maybe the female Stone with pink instead of red lips!
I'll ponder on that but certainly appreciate the offer of advice. I seem to be way behind the curve, still struggling to get posts out on time.
Bowie helped Fanny as well. There are probably many more, but he didn't brag about it, just helped them out. Quite a guy.
Nice.....I had forgotten about Fanny! Yep, he gave them some mad props, as well as a band I had never heard before his "1980 Floor Show" on Midnight Special....the one with Marianne Faithfull.....and, I never heard from 'em since.....Carmen (actually called "flamenco rock")! But, he gave them a spot on that show! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_(band)
Just watched about half of this video about Carmen, quite a unique prog rock band -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3SueGq36nM
Some very interesting Bowie history I was unaware of. Thanks for enlightening me, Brad!
Thank YOU, Patrick! I was wondering if that was the case....just, generally. Whenever I read some Bowie history or career-span, rarely is that odd era mentioned. And, like most things about what I write, if it happened to me, like this one did, it adds a little more gravitas, and I love pulling history into how I lived through it at the time! Especially, as in this case, I was so clueless about it all for YEARS!! I had to "get even" with those elusive facts!!😁👍
Bowie.........MAN, what a fascinating cat, right?
A rare one of one, that's for sure.
What an amazing story. A life lived brilliantly. Thanks for this.
My pleasure, Chris! I'm glad you enjoyed! As I noted, I was sketchily aware of this part of his life, but I also wanted to nail down the facts for myself, while also pulling back the curtain (for most fans) on this astoundingly altruistic (ultimately) side of Bowie, which didn't stop with his wanting to help Freddie! So much to praise and admire about David's incredible life!
Just to have 1 of his stories!
What an interesting bit of rock history... and all this from a single you bought one random day in 1974! If I was a Bowie fan, I bet my curiosity would have been piqued as well, and I would also have fallen for the "Mr Arnold Corns" charade!
It's interesting (and understandable) how some very talented and highly successful artists sometimes need an "escape" from it all, so they record something in secret, or pretty much in secret. The legal complications brewing in the background added some helpful context as well.
While no expert in the genre, I can't help but feel, when listening to the single (the first video in your post) that this exact sound has been copied ad nauseam by indie rock bands for the last 25 years (and I would add: without adding anything new, but well... that might be too harsh to say 😂).
Bowie was a visionary, without a doubt.
Great post as always!
Thanks, Andy......The Corns single has always seemed to be shrouded in mystery....at least, in the '70s years immediately following, as Bowie blew up after Ziggy, and the AC single quickly became simply too far away in the rear-view!
Then, it just became a curiosity, with no scribe, seemingly, ever able to get the story right (and, certainly, never with any of the Freddie sub-plot/Defries/contract negotiations elements)! At the time, I remember it being referred to as "a short-lived band Bowie used to be in" to "a one-time Bowie pseudonym." Fine, which is it?!? This inquiring mind wants to know!
When I sold it (with everything else...promo LPs, promo items, you know the story!) on eBay at the turn of the century, I'd love to be reminded of how I phrased it in the description! Of course, Bowie's name was on it, so I knew it wasn't simply a "commons" single, like so many, granted, I had! But, that's the kind of thing where the market will dictate value, and I, likely just open-bidded it at $.99 or something, and maybe it sold for $10 or so....who knows?
Similar story as the Bowie, Andy, and I know you're (like me) a fan of musical serendipity! When I told you I was scribing this Tuesday's Tune Tag, yesterday (Saturday), here's what popped up (again, a VERY similar one-off, early-career record ala Bowie/Corns).....
Todd Rundgren: As an 18-year-old 1966 Upper Darby High School (Philadelphia suburb) grad, he joined a blues-rock band called Woody's Truck Stop. He was only in it for 8 months before he split to form The Nazz ("Hello It's Me," "Open My Eyes"....that last one's worth hearing: an early power pop classic/standard bearer)....I digress (often!😁).
Now, around this time, too, Woody's Truck Stop had signed a recording contract with Smash Records (a Mercury subsidiary), and recorded their lone album that was released in '69: https://www.discogs.com/release/3534536-Woodys-Truck-Stop-Woodys-Truck-Stop
(Todd was about to move on from The Nazz at this point, and was recording a couple albums basically as "Runt." I got fully turned on to Todd with his '72 "Something/Anything" album.
Cut to a Houston flea market, mid- to late-'70s. There were always a couple of tables with used albums a seller or two had rented out. Rifling through them, one Sunday, I came across the Woody's Truck Stop album, and immediately shouted to myself (in my head), "Whoa! Todd's first band!" More eye-balling liner notes and cover photos......"Hey, where's Todd? I KNOW he was in this band....I read it in CREEM!"
I bought the album and kept it in my collection for many decades, and really only surmising (until the '90s when I could 'net research!) that he must've left prior to WTS recording it! But, only yesterday was I able to nail down the exact timeline (as well as a photo of Todd in Woody's Truck Stop, on stage sometime during his 8-month pre-album tenure)!
So, there you have it! Through the mists of time and various 20th-century publications with little to no factual info to the dawn of computers, the 'net, and scads of info tidbits, we get to the bottom of it! Bowie and Todd: Two mega-superstar creators, both with careers that featured a curious, odd-ball jump-start (with vinyl "residue" extant), before each rocketed off into their respective stratospheres!
If all that weren't enough, Andy, a fascinating 2025 connection between those two awaits in the upcoming Tune Tag, this Tunesday! Cheers!🥂
Thank you for all these deets! You answered my follow-up question, which was how much was known or revealed and when. The ambiguity of band/pseudonym is particularly interesting. I gather many Bowie fans and followers didn’t even know the exact history behind it… well, they don’t need to look any further than FR&B!
The Todd story is mind-blowing, and so is the serendipity of you finally cracking down the mystery as you were publishing this Bowie piece. The music gods and goddesses love you, Brad! And for good reason!
Well, Brad, you did it again. I didn’t know anything about Arnold Corns or Rudi Valentino. Very interesting bit of history.
Had Bowie not been so flabbergastingly wonderful, rock's historical landscape would have far fewer interesting tales to tell! Glad you enjoyed, Nic.....I THOUGHT this was a tidbit whose time had come to be completely exposed! Plus, after decades, once I discovered all the facts, I couldn't keep them hidden!😁👍 As I mentioned to Ellen, he was a giver, first!
I know the song Hang On to Yourself, but I can’t quite place where from! 😁 Either way, it’s a great track—and as always, a great read, Brad!
It's had 30 covers, and here they are: https://secondhandsongs.com/work/58373/versions#nav-entity
Maybe one will look or sound familiar! Good luck!
And, thanks, Pe.....this was a fun one, and a long time finally coming forth!
Great story! I had never heard of Arnold Corns. Ronson was with him there too, eh?
Yeah....the whole of what would become, mere weeks later, The Spiders from Mars (minus Mark Pritchett)!
very cool!
Nice find, Brad! I mean, nice memory - you found a lot of cool stuff during those desperate deep-dives. I remember finding 2 or 3 bad records for every great record I found (no internet or recommendation system), so there was a ton of surprise music in my life. This reminds me of some of those little niche finds.
Always fun, definitely, Andrew.....the bin finds thru the decades! My advantage was that I knew the Bowie name by that time! I remember finding some rock mag articles and reviews of the single (and mentions), but no one had anything coming close to stories! And, confusion reigned over was this actually Bowie recording as, and if so, what's the deal with "Arnold Corns"?? We somehow got the feeling that this was, indeed, Bowie, recording with this name, but THAT's what we never knew at the time......why? Short of the 'net, the rock mags (I read many, routinely) helped me find oddball records, and certainly, imports!
Exactly. At least by the late 90s or early 2000s, you could maybe go to a computer and look up whether this was a Bowie side project or what, just by looking up their name. Back then, though? I may be much younger, but I share this moment of mystery/wonder with you, just having to dive in and make a purchase to see what's up!
And, with my dad's constantly bringing home promo albums since the '60s brought me an inside track like no other! That's where I learned about the same names popping up on all these different albums....like, there's people working at the studios, there are people to run the label, there's a whole industry out there! And, once I started recognizing names, I began to draw lines of similarity and connection to the sounds they were making, and why various artists wanted this person and that! The seeds of Tune Tag planted, no?😁👍
You cracked the code!