David Bowie - Absolute Beginners (Virgin)

From the forthcoming film with Patsy Kensit, Sade and the man himself, the song "Absolute Beginners" sounds a bit like something David Bowie was singing 14 years ago. There's some gentle strumming guitar, a lot of "be ba bowoos" (presumably because the film is set in the late '50s) and a lavish string arrangement for good measure. It seems a bit bland and then you find yourself humming it for the next half hour. Mmmmm... (Simon Braithwaite, Smash Hits, February 12, 1986)

If you're surprised, how do you think I feel? Never would I have believed that after the last two travesties of albums from a one time mega-god, he'd come up with a song that again captures the sensuality and sleek perfection his name once stood for. Once more, Bowie discovers the allure of the flat note, the sneering attraction of his nasal passages as the purveyors of song, and - most of all - how downright loin-tingling out-of-tune sax can be. Of course, it sounds like "Heroes" - but when he croaks "I absolutely love you" he's teasing your emotions on a level no-one else can. An absolute divinity returns. Single Of The Week. (Eleanor Levy, Record Mirror, March 8, 1986)

Bowie goes all soft and smoochy for the long awaited theme song from the even longer awaited film. Considering the secrecy this little gem has been shrouded in (I personally had to sell my body and my soul to the devil to obtain a copy!) it's a bit of an anti-climax - at first. Three or four plays and you'll be hooked. Did I say it was soft? I meant soft like an iron fist in a velvet glove. (Pat Thomas, No 1, March 1, 1986)