Site Maintenance: “Stateside”

“Stateside” is one of the most infamous songs connected to Bowie. Bowie co-created it as part of Tin Machine, and he plays and sings backup on the song, but the lead singer is Hunt Sales. For many years, on listening to the album, “Tin Machine 2,” I didn’t have much of a reaction to “Statewide.” Its not a good song, but I don’t find it to be as offensive as some do. The crime, I think, is that it takes up space on what amounts to a Bowie album. Its the longest song on the album, and there’s an even longer version on Tin Machine’s live album, “Oy Vey, Baby” (ugh).

In the years since Bowie’s death, I have read enough of what other people think about this song to realize it occupies a place in the hearts of Bowie fans somewhere between the album “Tonight” and the movie “Just a Gigolo” (which is not to say a good place). On its own, my personal assessment has not changed much, but I have come to think that it, and the other Sales-fronted song, “Sorry,” detract from what would be a much better Bowie album simply by their absence.

In an odd way, I am reminded of the “Absolute Beginners” and “Labyrinth” soundtracks. Both contain multiple Bowie songs, but even more songs that did not feature Bowie. They are generally not thought of as Bowie albums per se, as opposed, say, to the “Buddha of Suburbia,” which is nominally a soundtrack but only contains Bowie music and very much is thought of as a Bowie album. The question, then, is how much of an album has to be Bowie in order for it to be a Bowie album? While there are many albums on which Bowie has a minority of songs, sometimes as few as one, “Tin Machine 2” is the only album with a majority of songs on which Bowie sings lead but someone else sings some (two). The point is that the bar is higher, and there’s an expectation of hearing Bowie singing. In this respect, “Statewide” and “Sorry” would be disruptive even if they were great songs. And they are not great songs, so the fan reaction is more negative than it would be if the songs appeared on a Hunt Sales album (in which case Bowie singing backups would be a treat).

I had to replace the original link I included for my 2016 comments and found this footage of the band rehearsing the song for this “Site Maintenance” series. In watching it, I’m reminded that it sounds better on its own. Still not great, but seeing the band at work is interesting.