David Bowie

David Bowie's career spans some 40 years, now, and has covered pop music, theatre & acting. He is an innovator, a risk-taker, and, like the Beatles, a brave interpreter of future trends but of all my heroes as a kid, it's David Bowie who remains my real enigma, in that...I can no longer grasp what it was that made his music so so captivating.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not deriding the man's achievements, they're immense...but I'm aware that Time has robbed me of the stardust that made him so very special through most of the 1970s.

It certainly wasn't the whole "I'm bisexual thing", I mean, I'm as hetero as an aircraft carrier's worth of sailors on a weekend pass in Manila! The whole girlie-glitter fashion thing didn't really phase me either, (interestingly enough, I always found the painted nails a bit gross), I just thought it was funny.

It certainly wasn't the lyrics, Bowie's "cut-up" style of random phrases thrown together, which then define their own meaning is a hit or miss affair, mostly missing, for me.

No, I think the sensible breakdown of Bowie would be:

• his sense of drama
• his unpredictability
• his innate ability to make himself "sound" as if he knew what he was talking about &
• the capacity to soak up influences from his environment

But beyond that, I consider Bowie's greatest skill was to take the the passion of his main collaborators...and transform them into something completely his own:

Ziggy Stardust          Guitarist Mick Ronson's honest English rock'n'roll
Aladdin Sane             Keyboard player Mike Garson's weird jazzy frills
Young Americans      Luther Van Dross understanding of vocal funk 
Station To Station     Cocaine
Low                          Brian Eno's synthesizer music
Heroes                      Robert Fripp's manic guitar
Let's Dance               Nile Rodger's funk & Stevie Ray Vaughn's blues guitar

I guess I see Bowie as:

• primarily a musician, a pretty good one and a fine tune writer
• an erratic, though sometimes excellent lyricist
• a brilliant arranger and
• an even better tactician

During the 1970s, David Bowie was shifting gear so fast, doing wild 180s, following his career was better than Grand Prix racing. The rock world (and teenage me) watched transfixed, just glad to have witnessed this master at work.

While certainly not a definitive retrospective, this is my take on one of Rock Music's greatest stars, David Bowie:  

Portrait Of A Young Man Looking For A Niche

The Early Years   

Grim stories, Love songs, Kids' songs, Existential worries...Bowie was experimenting with form and content 

Space Oddity  

Not a singer-songwriter of confessionals...but one of strange stories. Space Oddity the single, was a hit...but the album bombed until re-release in 1972

The Man Who Sold The World  

Did Bowie invent heavy metal? Producer Visconti says Bowie was hardly at the sessions, preferring to play with new wife Angie, so someone took the brave decision to move in that direction...but the album bombed again 

Hunky Dory  

With a new contract (at RCA), Bowie offered a song to ex-Hermans Hermit, Peter Noone, Oh You Pretty Things, which became an unexpected Top 20 hit. Bowie then started work on Hunky Dory, a grab-bag of commercial and uncommercial treats.

When Bowie casually mentioned during an interview that he was bisexual, his low-profile tour sold out and the music press openly started touting him as "the next big thing" 

The Glam Years:

Ziggy Stardust   

In hindsight, Ziggy Stardust was a strong but not spectacular, rather vague but well-loved Rock'n'Roll concept album: Extra-terrestial rocker saves...and is then consumed, by his earthly fans.

However, Ziggy gained Bowie massive exposure in the UK and started to break Bowie in the USA. Bowie's photographer, Mick Rock, covers the Ziggy tour extensively in his book, Moonage Daydream...

Mick Rock: Moonage Daydream

"...Moonage Daydream is the perfect book for any fan of David Bowie and Mick Rock or any fan of rock and the rock n' roll supergods..." Amazon reviewer Susan Fensten

"...this is a fabulous book for Ziggy-lovers. David is simply stunning in his satin, tat, mascara and rouge and you'd be a fool to pass by such beauty..." Amazon reviewer Fraggle

Aladdin Sane  

When the Ziggy show toured the USA, Bowie wrote of his impressions and the results were frequently really interesting, though the album was rush-released and marred by some filler. However, Guitarist Mick Ronson and new keyboard player Mike Garson shone in particular and the Bowie publicity machine kicks into top gear, breaking Bowie big-time in the USA...

Mick Rock: Glam! An Eyewitness Account

(N.B.: Glam has also been released under the title Blood And Glitter)

"...This book is an artistic series of glimpses into this beautiful era of music. It is not a history or a documentary but the collection of stunning candid and posed images, interspersed with short quotations and anecdotes (in addition to David Bowie's foreword.) These photographs are gorgeous and some of them are published for the first time in this book. The most space is given to David Bowie, but there are many beautiful images of Queen, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, some of Debbie Harry, Syd Barrett and many others (and) The Rocky Horror Picture Show, too! Amazon reviewer E. Ward

Pin Ups   

Though Pin Ups was seen as a cash-grab by many, a quick album with no great artistic merit...it was actually a wonderful capturing of the London LIVE "scene" of The Swinging Sixties with covers of songs by The Who, The Kinks etc.

The Cocaine Years:

Diamond Dogs   

Hoping to write a musical of the George Orwell novel 1984, Bowie dumped his backing band, The Spiders From Mars (with Mick Ronson) and instead went it alone with the help of session men. When he was refused permission to create the musical by Orwell's estate, he slid sideways and created Diamond Dogs...one of his bizarre post-apocalypse scenarios.  

Booked for a week in Philadelphia, Bowie recorded the shows for the resultant David LIVE album. The music showed distinct Puerto Rican influence...and Bowie seemed to be strung out on coke, captured in the  Cracked Actor documentary

Young Americans   

During the week in Philadelphia, Bowie used the remaining hours to lay down most of the tracks for his new album, Young Americans. The music shifted towards a bleak interpretation of Philly soul and produced Fame, a #1 hit single (actually recorded several months later in New York with the help of John Lennon)

Station To Station   

Taking way too much cocaine, unsettled by dabblings in witchcraft and having finished starring in his first movie, The Man Who Fell To Earth (see Bowie Movies), Station To Station...was, Bowie says, in hindsight, a cry for Home...not the U.K. in particular...but Europe

The Berlin Years

Low  

By the end of the Station To Station tour, Bowie was strung out and rested in the tense anonymity of Berlin eith friend and fellow drug fiend, Iggy Pop. They started to record two albums simultaneously, Iggy's The Idiot and Bowie's Low with ex-Roxy Music member, Brian Eno guesting on the sessions. 

Bowie's results, in particular, were sensational with one side of the album bleak tune-lets of sparse, clipped lyrics and the other side, grand, instrumental, synthesizer-based music. Critics loved the album but the general public seemed confused

Heroes  

Almost a year later, Bowie released Heroes, created on the same principles as Low...but more accessible. In fact, the title track became a still well-loved hit single. 

Bowie took Heroes on tour in a band that included guitarist Adrian Belew and keyboard player Roger Powell from Utopia, recording the LIVE album, Stage

The Actor:

Scary Monsters 

Bowie puts Major Tom out of his misery and tries to close the doors of the past

Let's Dance 

If there was ever a feelgood David Bowie album, Let's Dance was it. There were some cool videos and the unusual pairing of producer Nile Roger's funk with Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn produced a really interesting hybrid

Tonight 

While not one of David Bowie's more memorable albums, Tonight still had some highlights, including the mini-movie for the single Blue Jean

Never Let Me Down 

Judged by many critics and fans as Bowie's lowest ebb, Never Let Me Down biggest claim to fame was that one track, Too Dizzy, was so reviled by its maker that it's no longer on the CD. (Even funnier, I thought it was one of the best tracks on the album!)

Bowie resurfaced in the mid-1990s and released a number of successful albums, gaining a new generation of fans. However, I've bailed (space) ship and presently don't feel qualified to discuss his more recent work. Thanks for the good times, David. For those who wish to relive earlier times, I wholeheartedly recommend the superb David Bowie's Greatest Hits CD and DVD packages, dating from almost the beginning of his career...

David Bowie: Greatest Hits CD

"...If you're...looking for both the Bowie classics and some less-known tracks from throughout his career, than this is the compilation for you. With a whopping 38 tracks there's room for all the different periods of Bowie's extensive career, from the very early Space Oddity to recent goodies like the great I'm Afraid Of Americans..." Amazon reviewer doomsdayer520

"...EMI hand-tailored about a dozen versions of this release for each market it was released in. For instance, the US double disc version...differs from the UK version by ten songs. EMI has done its homework and crafted a unique listening experience for each country according to record sales and chart success on a country by country basis. When have you ever seen such dedication from a record label?..." Amazon reviewer L. Furr

"...covering an artist whose three decades of style-chameleon tactics constantly moved the outlines of rock music, these 38 selections have more to offer than dozens of other acts that have come and gone..." Amazon reviewer tim brough

David Bowie: Greatest Hits DVD

"...The Best Of Bowie double-DVD is a Bowie fan's dream come true. Magnificiantly packaged and spanning nearly every corner of his long career, Best Of Bowie includes classic vintage footage of David Bowie from various BBC TV programs as well as music videos dating from 1971 to 1999.

Additionally, the are a number of hidden 'easter egg' features scattered throughout the collection including a short interview with Bowie from 1973, alternate videos for Day-In Day Out, Blue Jean, Miracle Goodnight and Survive as well as a Mandarin version of Seven Years In Tibet and the full 20-minute Jazzin' For Blue Jean mini-movie..." Amazon reviewer Louie Bourland

"... What a bargain. 47 tracks and a playing time of 4hr 12mins..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer Mr. Paul Savoury

"...this is a remarkable 2 Disc set that shows the changes from the 25 year old with the cobalt blue guitar and rather shabby looking teeth in 1972, to the sophisticated superstar of the late '90s. Though the first few videos are rather simple in their presentation, he quickly learned the theatrical, unique style he is famous for with his space alien themes, outlandish costumes and his marvelous red hair..." Amazon.co.uk reviewer Alejandra Vernon

Movies:

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Bowie made a real stab at becoming a movie star. I've reviewed most of those that he starred in:

• The Man Who Fell To Earth
• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
• The Hunger
• Labyrinth

In 1980 Bowie also acted on Broadway in the stage adaptation of The Elephant Man:

• Rolling Stone talks to Bowie & the director of the play etc.
• The Sunday Times had a bit to say in a reasonably general article

Other Stuff:

In 1992, Bowie narrated Prokofiev's Peter & The Wolf, a young person's guide to the instruments of the orchestra with Eugene Ormandy conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra...

Bowie narrates Peter And The Wolf

"...The material is just wonderful. Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf is a gem. David Bowie does a nice job because he doesn't act like Bowie. Very understated..." Amazon reviewer Kai J. Kruse

For more info, see:

• wikipedia David Bowie
• a wonderful, nerdy Record Collector article on Bowie's early years, 1987
• interview with David Bowie friend and illustrator, George Underwood, on how he damaged Bowie's eye, 1973 
• a funny ad by Bowie for Vittel mineral water, sending up his different persona through the years, 1997
• NY Times interview with David Bowie, supporting his Heathen tour, 2002