David Bowie - Ashes to ashes

YouTube via marychild.

The question as to what synths were used for the end of Bowie's Ashes to Ashes came up on this VSE thread. The below was uncovered. I'm curious if this is actually in reference to the main line that runs through the song. Note Steve Strange of Visage (who also included Midge Ure and Billy Currie of Ultravox fame) is the left most extra of four when they first appear.

via Marching Pig on the VSE thread:
"Wiki has this to say:
'Perhaps Bowie's most sophisticated sonic work to date, its choir-like textures were created by Chuck Hammer with four multi-tracked guitar synthesizers, each playing opposing chord inversions; this was underpinned by Bowie's dead-pan, chanted background voices.'

Though, I've also read that they recorded it, and made 4 copies on tape; 2 were played "right side up", one backwards, and 2 were played with the "wrong/bottom side" up, again, with one of these backwards. Though, just thinking about that makes me think it's just plain wrong.


the page on Chuck Hammer, it says this:
"In March 1980, Hammer recorded guitar-synth tracks for David Bowie on the album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), including multiple textures across "Ashes to Ashes", 'Teenage Wildlife' and 'Up the Hill Backwards", all of which marked the earliest use of guitar-synth in Bowie's catalogue. The actual instruments utilized on these tracks included a Roland GR-500 with an Eventide Harmonizer. Textural tracks such as those on 'Ashes to Ashes' exhibited a multi-layered, approach, to recording and composing with the guitar.'"