Artist	Song
The Velvet Underground & Nico	I'm Waiting for the Man
from Gold: The Velvet Underground (2005)
Chuck Berry	Almost Grown
from The Definitive Collection (2006)
The Velvet Underground	White Light / White Heat
from Gold: The Velvet Underground (2005)
Chuck Berry	Around and Around
from The Definitive Collection (2006)
Jacques Brel	La mort
from Jacques Brel, vol. 4 : La valse à mille temps (2004)
The Rolling Stones	Let's Spend the Night Together
from Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (2005)
The Pretty Things	Rosalyn
from The Pretty Things (2011)
Them	Here Comes the Night
from Still On Top - The Greatest Hits (Deluxe Version) (2007)
The Yardbirds	I Wish You Would
from Shapes of Things - The Very Best of the Yardbirds (2006)
Pink Floyd	See Emily Play
from An Introduction to Syd Barrett (2010)
The Who	I Can't Explain
from The Who: Greatest Hits (2009)
The Merseys	Sorrow
from Unearthed Merseybeat, Vol. 1 (2007)
The Pretty Things	Don't Bring Me Down
from The Pretty Things (2011)
The Yardbirds	Shapes of Things
from Shapes of Things - The Very Best of the Yardbirds (2006)
The Who	Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
from The Ultimate Collection (2009)
Bruce Springsteen	Growin' Up
from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1984)
Jacques Brel	Amsterdam
from Infiniment (2004)
Eddie Floyd	Knock On Wood (Single Version)
from Knock On Wood (2005)
Bruce Springsteen	It's Hard to Be a Saint In the City
from Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J. (1984)
Nina Simone	Wild Is the Wind
from Verve Jazz Masters, Vol. 17: Nina Simone (1994)
Bertolt Brecht	Alabama Song
from Bertolt Brecht: Hommage (2009)
Iggy Pop	China Girl
from A Million In Prizes: The Anthology (2006)
Metro	Criminal World
from Metro (2010)
Iggy Pop	Don't Look Down
from New Values (Bonus Track Version) (1999)
The Beach Boys	God Only Knows
from Sounds of Summer - The Very Best of The Beach Boys (2003)
Iggy Pop	Tonight
from A Million In Prizes: The Anthology (2006)
Iggy Pop	Neighborhood Threat
from Lust for Life (1977)
Chuck Jackson	I Keep Forgettin'
from The Scepter Records Story, Vol. 1 (2006)
Martha Reeves & The Vandellas	Dancing In the Street
from The Ultimate Collection: Martha Reeves & The Vandellas (1998)
Domenico Modugno	Volare
from 20 Éxitos Originales pa' Lavar y Planchar (2006)
Iggy Pop	Bang Bang
from Arista Heritage Series: Iggy Pop (2000)
King Cole Trio	Nature Boy
from The Very Best of Nat King Cole (2006)
Pixies	Cactus
from Surfer Rosa (2003)
Neil Young	I've Been Waiting for You
from Neil Young (Remastered) (2009)
Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers	Pablo Picasso
from The Modern Lovers (2011)
George Harrison	Try Some Buy Some
from Living In the Material World (Bonus Track Version) [Remastered] (1973)

Comment:

These are the songs that inspired Bowie — one of the best songwriters of his generation — to put down his pen and pick up a mic. If his version of “China Girl” power-glides through the s-curves like a turbocharged Porsche, Iggy Pop’s original 1977 recording (cowritten with Bowie, incidentally) rumbles and growls like a Glaspak’d muscle car, throttle full open. And where Bowie’s cover of “See Emily Play” dives headlong into the shadows, Pink Floyd opens a window into acid-damaged genius Syd Barrett’s soul, with overblown Marshall stacks screaming cheek by jowl against a tea-and-crumpet, paisley-psychedelic vocal. Finally, who can resist a young Bruce Springsteen, donning his leather-jacketed rebel-rebel attitude in “Growin’ Up” while proving that Asbury Park isn’t all [i]that[/i] far removed from Hyde Park. But don’t stop there; from Chuck Berry to the Velvet Underground, from Nina Simone to the Rolling Stones, we’ve got all the songs that Bowie would one day glom, glam, and glitz in the process of making them his own.

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