The reviews I read here call this an album of covers, which it is. But to call it that, merely that, misses the point.

Bowie has always been one to do something different, even if it is exactly the opposite of what was expected of him - something U2 has borrowed from. This album is indeed a tribute to the music that influenced Bowie during the British Invasion during the 60's, as the original LP liner notes explained. You hear The Who, The Kinks, Pink Floyd, Them... But no Beatles or Dave Clark 5. Bowie makes a very personal statement hear, not only by defying expectations of his audience as perhaps the most original songwriter of his generation, but by taking his favorite songs by the bands that influenced him and putting his stamp on them with the then-Bowie style that those bands had influenced.

When I was 16 in 1983 I would travel to Crow's Nest Records in Crest Hill, IL (long before "Crow's Nest Digital") to search their massive supply of records and other fandom paraphernalia, particularly the many U2 imports. You could get anything there - from Boomtown Rats to Soft Cell to Hüsker Dü. A staff member there noticed my selections and asked if I like Punk. "Yes." "Do you own 'Pinups'?" "What's that?" (Fearing that he was talking about some kind of bad magazine.)

He explained that Bowie's Pinups was the first Punk record, because it bridged the gap between the 60's bands like The Who and The Kinks and the Punk bands that they influenced, from Iggy to Bowie to Talking Heads to the Pistols. I don't know if I agree that it was definitely the first Punk album, anymore than I agree that Elvis' "That's Alright" was the first Rock 'n' Roll Record, but like "That's Alright", Pinups was a monumental record in my musicology. It turned me on to Bowie and then to each of the bands that Bowie saluted with Pinups, and a whole new world opened up to me beyond the Beatles and a connection was made that before bands like the Ramones and before Bowie was singing "Let's Dance" there was a music with an intense authenticity, fertile with sound that would inevitably plant itself in the hearts of musicians for generations.

Most point to Ziggy or Aladdin Sane. But this and The Man Who Sold The World have always been my favorite Bowie records. Ziggy, Sane and Diamond Dogs are right there as well, and now, with Outside and Heathen, Bowie rocks again.

Another note: This concept certainly influenced the Annie Lennox album, Medusa.

In 1973 David Bowie came out with an album of Covers called Pin Ups. The cover had himself and the model Twiggy dressed like Fembots from an episode of The Bionic Woman or some post Logan's Run version of clones. Anyway... most people don't remember this Bowie outing, sandwiched in between Aladin Sane and Diamond Dogs. Mostly tunes by The Who, Pretty Things and Syd's Pink Floyd, there are some cool stuff here. Rosalyn, I Can't Explain, Where Have All The Good Times Gone, Shapes Of Things & Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere. Overall a very enjoyable listen. The original Ryko re-issue had two extra tracks: Springsteen's Growin' Up & Port Of Amsterdam. Definitely worth it to find that edition.

Dig it!

In 1974, I would have rated this three stars. It seemed like just a decent filler album coming on the heels of the now-classic "Stardust" and "Sane" album. Now I see, once again, Bowie and the Spiders were just ahead of it all, for "Pinups" has aged quite well decades later. Here Ziggy and the Spiders from Mars do blazing glam versions of their favorite 60's Yardbirds, Who, Pretty Things, and Floyd-etc. hits. This Virgin 24 bit mastering is a big improvent over the early 90's Ryko versions, flushing out drums and bass, but there's no extra tracks.. No Bowie collection is complete without "Pinups". Get it.

Pin-Ups was dismissed as a toss-off when it was released and soon forgotten, but I loved it then and it's still one of my Bowie favorites. First, not surprisingly, Bowie displayed superb taste in his selection of 60s Brit rock--every one of these songs is an enduring classic in its own right. Then he and Mick Ronson buffed them up with that high-gloss yet stripped-down sound that made "Ziggy" such a revelation at a time when rock was getting awfully heavy and sludgy. The result is an LP that sounds fresh and timeless long after I never needed to hear great swatches of "Alladin Sane," "Diamond Dogs" and so on ever again. (What is it about art rock and prog-rock that makes them age so poorly? Is it because so much of it is overripe to begin with? I was adoring early Genesis at around the same time Pin-Ups came out, and I can't bear to listen to it now. The older I get, the more I just wanna hear three chords and a good hook in 2:30.) Harking back to the 60s in a way that prefigured (just barely) the punk 70s, Pin-Ups is a neglected early Bowie LP that really deserves rediscovery.

This is a great album. Bowie decided to cover some of his favorites tunes. I still can remember the day I arrived home with the vinyl version, back in the early 70's and the impression I got when I played it the fist time. It was raw rock 'n roll played 20 years in the future! Today, more than 30 later, it still sounds great and revolucionary! Is one of the best records of the era and one of Bowie classics!