Oh! You Pretty Things: Glam Queens and Street Urchins 1970-1976 takes its name from a
David Bowie song that can't be found among the 66 songs spread across the set's three discs.
Bowie himself is absent on this 2021 collection, but his presence is felt far and wide, bubbling to the surface on
Mick Ronson's version of the
Velvet Underground's "White Light/White Heat" -- a version very similar to the one
the Spiders from Mars played -- and
Lou Reed's
Bowie-produced "Satellite of Love," not to mention
Dana Gillespie's oddball cover of "Andy Warhol."
Ziggy Stardust provides the connective tissue between the arch art rock and the gutter sleaze on Oh! You Pretty Things, a compilation dedicated to the loud, weird murk of the pre-punk 1970s. Many of the names are familiar, as are some of the songs --
Ian Hunter's "Once Bitten Twice Shy,"
Tim Curry's "Sweet Transvestite," and the
New York Dolls' "Personality Crisis" provide anchors on each of the discs -- but the appeal of the compilation is how
the Kinks get revitalized when paired with
Duncan Browne and how the collection serves up weird, delightful discoveries and oddities from both high-brow glamsters and scuzz merchants. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine