ONE LP PORTRAITS: MUSIC LOVERS: Jonathan Millar

“The record I’ve chosen is David Bowie’s “Heroes”, released in 1977 when I was 16. When it came out it was my first exposure to David Bowie, and the first Bowie album I bought.I was amazed by the difference between it and the other music I was listening to at the time,  mostly punk stuff like Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols and The Clash.“Heroes” was so different, somehow exotic and almost otherworldly. I became fascinated by the stories that emerged about the writing and recording process in Berlin and what was happening there at the time, the musicians involved, and the part it plays in Bowie’s “Berlin Trilogy” and his overall body of work. The sound of it intrigued me, and I started hearing echoes of it in lots of other things.  I sought out his other records, music that had influenced him,  and musicians he had himself influenced, which took me in many different and fascinating directions.I suppose the album began to gather dust, but I revisited it nearly 40 years after I first heard it. I was looking for a particular track for our wedding day, to play while my wife Caroline and I left our guests at the end of the reception. We chose the title track. “We can be heroes, just for one day” pretty much sums up how we felt that night, as our friends and family clapped and cheered us on our way out.”One LP Session: Jonathan MillarSession date: 1st Decemebr 2021Location: Lous & Clear, GlasgowArtist/ensemble: David BowieOne LP: HeroesReleased 14 October 1977Recorded July – August 1977Studio Hansa (West Berlin)Length: 40:19Label: RCAProducer: David Bowie, Tony Visconti
Jonathan Millar, David Bowie: Heroes

 

“The record I’ve chosen is David Bowie’s “Heroes”, released in 1977 when I was 16. When it came out it was my first exposure to David Bowie, and the first Bowie album I bought. 

I was amazed by the difference between it and the other music I was listening to at the time,  mostly punk stuff like Buzzcocks, Sex Pistols and The Clash. 

“Heroes” was so different, somehow exotic and almost otherworldly. I became fascinated by the stories that emerged about the writing and recording process in Berlin and what was happening there at the time, the musicians involved, and the part it plays in Bowie’s “Berlin Trilogy” and his overall body of work.  

The sound of it intrigued me, and I started hearing echoes of it in lots of other things.  I sought out his other records, music that had influenced him,  and musicians he had himself influenced, which took me in many different and fascinating directions. 

I suppose the album began to gather dust, but I revisited it nearly 40 years after I first heard it. I was looking for a particular track for our wedding day, to play while my wife Caroline and I left our guests at the end of the reception. We chose the title track.  

“We can be heroes, just for one day” pretty much sums up how we felt that night, as our friends and family clapped and cheered us on our way out.” 

 

One LP Session: Jonathan Millar 

Session date: 1st Decemebr 2021 

Location: Lous & Clear, Glasgow 

Artist/ensemble: David Bowie 

One LP: Heroes 

Released 14 October 1977 

Recorded July – August 1977 

Studio Hansa (West Berlin) 

Length: 40:19 

Label: RCA 

Producer: David Bowie, Tony Visconti