Mick Ronson - "Growing Up and I'm Fine"


From the July 1974 issue of Crawdaddy, courtesy of MickRonson.com:

When Bowie announced his retirement from the stage, it seemed for one dismal moment that those wonderful Spiders from Mars would be out pounding the pavement. Then the word leaked that Ron-o was hard at work on a solo lp. The first question anyone had was answered when it was discovered that, though David had written some songs for his axe-man, he was staying away from the studios. One could guess that the song-writing would be good. One could guess that with Ronson behind the dials, the production would be good. But no one could guess that Ron-o could sing almost as well as his ex-boss.

'Love Me Tender,' the opening cut and single on Slaughter, is an abortion that proves one thing: Ronson can sing, sounding at times like an androgynized Tony Bennett and at times like a macho version of La Bowie. That, it seems, is the image he's trying to present. The Elvis cover shouldn't be taken too serioiusly. No 45 choice has ever been well made within the confines of Mainman, so why should anyone expect this one to be better?

'Growing Up and I'm Fine' and 'Only After Dark' are among the finest cuts to ever emerge from the Bowie unit. Mick is his own man, but he's learned well. He's taken some of Bowie's vocal nuances and uses them to the best effect, giving a Bowie song the type of reading that Bowie couldn't.

In fact, the only thing that's wrong with this album is that Ronson is not rocking out. When one thinks back on his amazing work on cuts like 'Moonage Daydream,' it seems strange not to hear any fast work here. He gets funky on the 'Slaughter On Tenth Avenue' instrumental that closes the album, but nowhere does he churn faster than warp two. It's a pit, 'cause he's done it before.


Yes, but what is Slaughter on 10th Avenue really? Why, it's a love story for everybody to listen to.