“Let’s Dance”, Let’s Dance, 1983
Rob Duguay
“Let’s Dance” is my personal favorite song because of how it incorporates different elements to the popular genre of the era. The track gave new wave a swift kick with the doo-wop intro, the big band horn section and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s impeccable skills on guitar. Let’s not forget that Let’s Dance was a huge stepping stone for SRV’s career before his successful debut Texas Flood was released a couple of months later in June. The song and the album entirely is a testament to how Bowie had the uncanny ability to musically adapt to the ever-changing musical landscape. He started out as the psychedelic space aged folk musician, he thrusted himself into the forefront of glam as the iconic Ziggy Stardust, became part of the art rock scene as the Thin White Duke and at this point he completed his transition into an original persona of himself that cemented his legend. His genius is best exemplified by the fact that with each incarnation he took on he was an artistic gamechanger. Bowie influenced his contemporaries and generations upon generations of musicians who came after him. He was rock music’s chameleon and nobody will ever be able to touch his knack for continuous innovation.