Laurie Anderson-- Not An Expert... Much, Much More

When Laurie Anderson first released her groundbreaking O Superman in 1981 she was a sculptor, a performance artist and an art professor in her native Chicago. I was a dj at a college station, KUSF, in San Francisco, and could never play the song enough times to satisfy my listeners-- or myself. Years later we both wound up at Warner Bros and she hooked up with-- and later married-- my friend. So I got to meet Laurie. I was in as much awe of her then as I was when I was a college radio dj. Thursday Digby told me Laurie did a short B.P.-oriented version of Only an Expert from her new album, Homeland on the David Letterman Show. The version linked in the last sentence is a clip directed by David Bowie and it really is stupendous and I suggest you listen to it. The reason I posted the Letterman version up top is because of the... well, the B.P.-ness. Watch the Letterman version and then sit back and watch the Bowie version. What a way to start the weekend! In fact... I won't even make you hit the link. Here it is, in all its glory: