Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
    • Television
      • TV by Decade
        • TV – 1950s
        • TV – 1960s
        • TV – 1970s
        • TV – 1980s
        • TV – 1990s
      • Comedy
      • Drama
      • Kids TV
      • Variety
      • News & Sport
      • Advertisements
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • Music – 1950s
        • Music – 1960s
        • Music – 1970s
        • Music – 1980s
        • Music – 1990s
      • Artists – A to K
        • Artists – A
        • Artists – B
        • Artists – C
        • Artists – D
        • Artists – E
        • Artists – F
        • Artists – G
        • Artists – H
        • Artists – I
        • Artists – J
        • Artists – K
      • Artists – L to Z
        • Artists – L
        • Artists – M
        • Artists – N
        • Artists – O
        • Artists – P
        • Artists – Q
        • Artists – R
        • Artists – S
        • Artists – T
        • Artists – U
        • Artists – V
        • Artists – W
        • Artists – X
        • Artists – Y
        • Artists – Z
      • Artists – 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Playlists
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • Movies – 1950s
        • Movies – 1960s
        • Movies – 1970s
        • Movies – 1980s
        • Movies – 1990s
      • Movies – 0 to 9
      • Movies – A to K
        • Movies – A
        • Movies – B
        • Movies – C
        • Movies – D
        • Movies – E
        • Movies – F
        • Movies – G
        • Movies – H
        • Movies – I
        • Movies – J
        • Movies – K
      • Movies – L to Z
        • Movies – L
        • Movies – M
        • Movies – N
        • Movies – O
        • Movies – P
        • Movies – Q
        • Movies – R
        • Movies – S
        • Movies – T
        • Movies – U
        • Movies – V
        • Movies – W
        • Movies – X
        • Movies – Y
        • Movies – Z
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Artists - L to Z»Artists - T
    Artists - T Music - 1980s 3 Mins Read

    Tin Machine

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Tin Machine had its beginnings when Sara Gabrels, a journalist who had worked as David Bowie‘s press liaison person during his Glass Spider tour in 1987, slipped her boss a tape of her guitarist husband, Reeves, at the end of the tour.

    It was only when Bowie was back at home in Switzerland unpacking after the tour that he found the tape and played it. Before long, Gabrels – a seasoned guitarist with many years spent on the Boston rock scene – got the phone call of a lifetime.

    Soon, Bowie and Gabrels were working up an arrangement of Look Back In Anger for a charity performance, as well as writing songs together.

    Bowie had known brothers Hunt and Tony Sales for years and had played with them when they were backing Iggy Pop in the late ’70s. As the sons of American television personality Soupy Sales, the pair got an early start in show business, recording a single as Tony & The Tigers when they were children.

    Later they played with Todd Rundgren, Iggy Pop and others, and in the late 70’s Tony nearly died in a car accident.

    Bowie invited the other three to Switzerland where they became a bona fide band. Their self-titled debut album (1989) was an ambitious and often brutal piece of hard rock, offering sharp lyrics, raging guitar and a generally uncompromising edge. It sold approximately 900,000 copies worldwide.

    Hardly a disaster, but certainly a disappointment if judged against the sales of Bowie’s own catalogue.

    The second album, Tin Machine II (1991), recorded in Sydney, Australia, was a more varied piece of work, with drummer Hunt Sales singing two soul-influenced numbers, and the group demonstrating more musical delicacy on tracks like Amlapura and Goodbye Mr Ed.

    Much of the press the band received upon its release, was about the album cover, which featured traditional kouroi statues – Ancient Greek figures with their genitalia exposed (the cover was censored in the US, with the statues perversely neutered). That, and the fact that guitarist Reeves Gabrels played his guitar with a vibrator. He was banned from using it on Top of the Pops so he used an éclair instead!

    Tin Machine II was not universally lauded. One review of the album in Melody Maker ended with the memorable phrase, “Sit down, man, you’re a fucking disgrace.” The album did not chart.

    Many found the entire concept of Tin Machine ludicrous, seeing the group as a bizarre career move and desperate attempt at credibility on Bowie’s part.

    Others found it impossible to accept the – admittedly unusual – proposition that Tin Machine was not David Bowie‘s group, but a group in which Bowie was simply one of the members.

    David Bowie
    Vocals
    Reeves Gabrels

    Guitar
    Tony Sales 

    Bass, vocals
    Hunt Sales 

    Drums, vocals

    Related Posts

    • Morrissey
      Morrissey
      Stephen Patrick Morrissey was 13 when he fell in love…
    • Christian Death
      Christian Death
      Goth's unlikely tendency to flourish in the world's sunniest places…
    • Tickle, The
      Tickle, The
      Having grown out of the obscure mod rock band The…
    • Opal
      Opal
      Opal was formed by two of the leading lights of…
    • Tina Turner
      Tina Turner
      Tina Turner, who had struggled with her solo career since…
    • Kansas
      Kansas
      Kansas started out as a bar band playing cover versions…
    • Boston
      Boston
      Boston leader and guitarist Tom Scholz got a masters degree…
    • Ultravox
      Ultravox
      No other band in the select coterie of the New Romantics expanded…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleTintern Abbey
    Next Article Tina Turner

    Comments are closed.

    Follow us
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
    • Instagram
    You May Also Like
    • Double Life of Henry Phyfe, The
      1 9 6 6 (USA) 17 x 30 minute episodes Henry Wadsworth Phyfe (Red […]
    • Racket, The (1951)
      A big national crime syndicate moves into town, partnering with […]
    • Styx
      Formed in 1970 by drummer John Panozzo, his bassist brother […]
    • Friday the 13th, Part 6: Jason Lives (1986)
      A witty parody of a James Bond credits sequence immediately sets […]
    • My Son, Jeep
      1 9 5 3 (USA) 13 x 30 minute episodes My Son, Jeep had a brief […]
    • Target
      1 9 5 8 (USA) 41 x 30 minute episodes Premiering in March 1958, […]
    Twitter Feed
    Please note


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Popular Tags
    1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1975 1976 Action Figures Amicus Arcade games Australia Beach movies Beatles Blaxploitation Board games Britpop Canada Crime Disco Disney Doo-Wop Elvis Presley Girl groups Glam Goth Hammer Heavy Metal Irwin Allen Labels Merseybeat Mod revival Motown New Romantic New Wave NWOBHM Oi! One-hit wonders Power Pop Pub rock Punk Radio Scotland Ska Soul music Surf music
    Search Nostalgia Central
    Copyright © 1998, 2022 Nostalgia Central
    • About
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.