DAVID BOWIE

“Well, well, well, would you carry a razor

In case, just in case of depression?

Sit on your hands on a bus of survivors

Blushing at all the afro-Sheeners

Ain't that close to love?

Well, ain't that poster love?

Well, it ain't that Barbie doll

Her hearts have been broken just like you”

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

“C+”

Main Decade: 70's

Main Eras:

Psychedelia (1966-1969)

The Great Transition (1970-1980+)

 

Key Members:

David Bowie

 

Key Songs:

Space Oddity, Life On Mars? Heroes, Starman, Changes, Five Years, Moonage Daydream, The Man Who Sold The World, Ziggy Stardust, Ashes to Ashes, Suffragette City, Rebel Rebel, Modern Love, Aladdin Sane, Young Americans, Oh! You Pretty Things, It Ain’t Easy, Let’s Dance, su parte proporcional de Under Pressure, Lady Stardust, Quicksand, Diamond Dogs, Rock & Roll Suicide, Fame, The Width of a Circle, Queen Bitch, The Bewlay Brothers, Sound and Vision, Memory of a Free Festival, Silly Boy Blue…

 ​

Well, well, well… David Robert Jones, Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, The Chameleon, David Bowie, or whatever you want to call him, has been the biggest absence in The Cavern for quite some time now. For years, the general clamor roared for this monster of Rock, while artists and bands of lesser influence and history paraded by. Why did you take so long, Corvan? Why is it Intro #87 when you even give it more weight than Starostin does? I'll be honest, Bowie's discography is a real struggle for me. I've found it very difficult to enjoy entire albums like Hunky Dory and Rise and Fall, parts of Aladdin… but other albums of his are very challenging for me. I like a lot of his songs, but I'm far from being a fan, and knowing how much most of you appreciate him, reviewing him was, and still is, a huge risk on my part. I'm no expert on his music or his history. True, I'm a bit of an oddball. But that doesn't mean I'm mentally challenged and don't recognize the quality of his songs, that I'm not moved by the melody of "Life On Mars?", or that I don't consider "Space Oddity" one of the greatest gems of rock. I'm an oddball, not an idiot… I want to believe. So I'll take the risk to settle that debt.

​

David Bowie would, in a way, fill the role left vacant after the Beatles' breakup. I'm not comparing them in terms of style or size, but rather in that Bowie was also very astute, very calculating with his image. He explored a myriad of genres and styles, and like the Fab Four, he dominated his decade, setting trends. You can't exactly call him an innovator, since he didn't invent anything, but every movement he touched turned to gold, and he ended up influencing other musicians, perhaps being the most influential and diverse musical figure of the 70s. In his folk phase, he arrived quite late to the scene, which had already evolved and blended with other genres. He didn't invent psychedelia, and I'm not really sure if it even falls into that genre; "Space Oddity" would be more accurately described as space rock, and I don't know if Pink Floyd invented it either, but they were among the pioneers at least two years before Bowie. I'm also not sure if he invented glam rock. In fact, I've never been entirely clear on the whole Glam Rock thing, whether it refers to musical aspects or makeup, but Marc Bolan had already been doing his own thing with T. Rex for a while, although credit must be given to Bowie for taking it to another level with his Ziggy Stardust persona and the makeup, which I've always found unsettling. Then there's his dark Berlin trilogy, more focused on sonic textures and perhaps his greatest contribution to Rock, although—and this isn't just my opinion—the credit here also belongs to Brian Eno, his unwavering ally during this period. And a whole host of other genres he also explored, from Funk, Punk, Soul, Industrial, Electronic music and its various subgenres… with varying degrees of success. But basically, David Bowie is a Pop artist who adapts his work to the textures of his music, in the same way the Beatles did. He has a great sense of melody when he wants to, a very distinctive lyrical style, and he knew how to surround himself with the right people to compose the music for his creations, or at least he did on most of his albums. (It must be said that at one point Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, and David Bowie were all in the same studio, and in the same booth, recording Heros.) And above all, he knew how to use his image at every stage to enhance his work. In this respect, he's a true chameleon. Would Ziggy Stardust have had the same impact without the persona and all the trappings of his performances? It must also be said that, at times, David Bowie dictated fashion, not only musically, but also in terms of image.

 

Furthermore, he knew how to play with his sexual ambiguity, being, I believe, the first to do so, before Elton or Freddie. This is fundamental in a time and environment where it was taboo. Perhaps by gradually cultivating his androgynous appearance, he didn't care a fig about what people said. There are countless legends, one involving Mick Jagger, that we may never fully understand. Often labeled as bisexual, he himself has acknowledged that he's actually a closeted heterosexual, which is ironic since he opened the door to what was perhaps the last true revolution initiated by rock. Outside the rock world, acceptance, recognition, and admiration for gay people would only begin decades later.

​

The fact is, he's become one of the most iconic figures in rock history. It has to be said, he doesn't have a beautiful voice. But he knows his limitations, and in most cases, he focuses on using his resources and strengths, like his instrumentation and hooks, always adding interesting details or little twists. Somehow, his songs remain relevant. That is to say, even for me, who's been almost unfamiliar with his albums, I know a handful of songs by heart, and I made the list of standout tracks almost from memory. But I agree with Starostin that he lacks sincerity, and perhaps that's why I struggle to connect with his work. Bowie uses his music not as an end in itself (unlike the Beatles), but as a means to express or enhance the "character of the moment." His music, then, is an extension of the spandex and makeup; it's part of the mask.

 

He was born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947, in Brixton. From a young age, he was in the school choir and showed enthusiasm for the arts, especially music and dance. At age 9, he impressed his teachers with a dance performance. That year, his father brought home records of the Platters, Fats Domino, Little Richard, and Elvis. Young David was captivated by Rock & Roll. He got a ukulele and taught himself to play at the tender age of 10, along with his inseparable friend George Underwood. From that age, his sole aim was to be a Rockstar!

​

In the early 1960s, he began studying design and music. At the same time, he developed a passion for the jazz of Mingus and Coltrane, buying himself an alto saxophone. In 1962, at age 15, young David Bowie believed that love was worth a fistfight. He reminds me of myself! Well, the thing is, just like me, he got into a fight with his then-best friend, George Underwood, over a girl. In one of the scuffles, George accidentally jammed his ring into David's left eye. He almost lost his eye and had several operations at Farnborough Hospital. The result was that his left pupil remained permanently dilated. This would help him magnify that strange and ambiguous air about his characters, drawing us into his intense gaze that seems both blue and gray-brown. Bowie, then, doesn't have heterochromia, which is when you have eyes of different colors, since his eyes are blue. He has anisocoria, that is, asymmetry in his pupils, which gives him that feline look. After the incident, and even despite having to go under the knife, he and Underwood smoothed things over, and George became part of his early bands and later designed several of his most iconic album covers. I wasn't so lucky.

​

Around the middle of the decade, David went through a gazillion bands trying to ride the wave of Swinging London and later psychedelia. From the King Bees, where he appeared as Davie Jones, to the Konrads, Manish Boys, Riot Squad, The Buzz… In '66, the Monkees emerged (haha), with a singer named Davy Jones. Our David, thinking he'd be mistaken for someone else, changed Jones to Bowie, after the American explorer Jim Bowie, who popularized a knife bearing his name, and David Bowie began his solo adventure.

 

In April of '67, he released his first single, the bizarre "The Laughing Gnome," which seemed like a bizarre and psychedelic joke, with Alvin and the Chipmunks as special guests. Shortly after, he released his debut album, which is like a strange mix of Syd Barrett, Donovan, and Tom Jones. Imagine that. At least it showed considerable creativity, and it's perhaps his most transparent and sincere work, but the album is too strange, even for Bowie. Both the single and the LP failed miserably, and David stayed away from the studio for a couple of years. Around that time, he met the actor Lindsay Kemp at a festival in Edinburgh, who introduced him to the world of mime, something that might seem like a passing hobby, but which would be crucial for his performances in the 70s. With Kemp, he immersed himself in the study of dramatic arts, from avant-garde to mime, comedy, and dance, and from there Bowie conceived the idea of ​​presenting a "persona" to the world, one that would be immune to disappointments like the failure of his debut album. Kemp introduced him to Hermione Farthingale, with whom he created a musical-theatrical-poetic number and with whom he had a brief romance. Although he didn't record on his own during this period, he composed some songs for other artists and for commercials. In 1969, he was recording music for a documentary about himself (supposedly to launch his career) when he presented a new song to the producers, one that blew their minds. And it was no wonder. Based on Kubrick's Space Odyssey from the year before, "Space Oddity" was released five days before Apollo 11. Taking full advantage of the timing, it became the unofficial soundtrack of the first moon landing, and in my opinion, to this day, his best song. Capitalizing on the impact of the track, his second LP was released in November, showing progress over its predecessor, with less music hall and more folk influence with rockier undertones. The album wasn't a smash hit, but it was better received, and Bowie put together a band to accompany him on tour. They hadn't even started touring and he'd already fired the drummer, something that would become a habit. Bowie was always a perfectionist and a control freak of his sound, which led to a very high turnover of his musicians, and even managers. In April, he met Angela Barnett, with whom he fell instantly in love, and she began to influence his decisions, especially during the recording sessions for his third album, *The Man Who Sold the World*, released in 1970. This album was more accomplished and harder-rocking, a departure from folk and closer to the classic Bowie sound, if you will. Around that time, he married Angie and began to use his androgynous appearance, appearing in a dress for radio interviews, as seen on the cover of the UK version. During the American tour, he saw concerts by Iggy Pop and Lou Reed and began to develop a persona based on them, one who looked as if he had just landed from Mars…

​

In 1971, he released the superb Hunky Dory, a mature album in which he paid tribute to idols like Dylan, Warhol, and Reed. It wasn't a commercial success at the time, but it's one of his most melodic, emotive, sincere, and brilliant albums, a return to intelligent and balanced pop, with gem after gem. It would later gain popularity with the Ziggy Stardust craze, and it remains my favorite album. For the tour, he assembled a band they jokingly dubbed "The Spiders From Mars," with Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Mick Woodmansey on drums—perhaps his most iconic lineup.

 

His next move was to combine his androgynous appearance, his theatrical studies, and the influence of figures like Reed and Iggy Pop to create Ziggy Stardust, with his tight clothes, red hair, and tons of makeup. Bowie created a sensation in England with the Hunky Dory Tour, and in 1972 he released the legendary *The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars*, which combined the pop melody of Hunky Dory with the harder rock nuances of *The Man Who Sold…* With “Starman” as its spearhead, the album and the American tour finally transformed Bowie not just into a superstar, but THE superstar of the moment. Bowie-Stardust would become a worldwide phenomenon, creating a cult following in its own right. Around this time, David began to immerse himself in hard drugs. He became so immersed in the character that he couldn't tell when he was David Jones, David Bowie, or Ziggy Stardust. He himself would begin to doubt his sanity during this period. His shows became more provocative. *Aladdin Sane* from 1973 explores this madness, following more or less the same musical path as its predecessor, perhaps a bit more experimental and not quite as polished. That same year he would release Pin Ups, a cover album, after which he would disband the Spiders From Mars and hang up the Ziggy Stardust costume as a measure of self-preservation.

​

Bowie would undergo a transformation in his image and sound. He moved to the USA and released Diamond Dogs in 1974, embracing a Funk and Soul sound that was all the rage in the US at the time. In 1975, he released Young Americans, continuing the African American theme of its predecessor, and featuring a contribution from Lennon on one of his last recordings before John took a five-year hiatus to become a stay-at-home dad.

 

By 1976, Bowie had created a new persona, The Thin White Duke, visually an extension of Thomas Jerome Newton from the film The Man Who Fell to Earth, with impeccably styled blond hair. Continuing with Funk influences, the album Station to Station, released that year, began to incorporate synthesizer sounds, which would dominate subsequent releases. Around this time, Bowie was so immersed in drugs that he barely knew what he was saying and seemed to act almost entirely on autopilot. In interviews, supposedly while in character as The Thin White Duke, he even hinted at sympathy for fascism. During that year, he narrowly escaped death several times by surviving overdoses. In 1976, he moved to Switzerland, where he took a short vacation, visiting museums, learning more about German music (Kraftwerk and Krautrock), and detoxing from the pressures of fame. At the end of '76, he moved to Berlin, where he also realized that if he didn't quit drugs, he would die, and he managed to overcome his addiction. In Berlin, he shared an apartment with Iggy Pop, and Brian Eno soon joined the sessions for his next album, Low, a much more minimalist work focused on synthesizer textures with minimal lyrics, heavily influenced by German music. Even RCA, his record label, was nervous about its release. The album would achieve commercial success, despite everything, and although not everyone understood it, many would consider it his masterpiece.

 

Low would give rise to the famous Berlin Trilogy, completed with Heros (also from 1977), on which Robert Fripp contributed guitars, and which focuses on the Cold War represented by the Berlin Wall, and Lodger from 1979, which still retained minimalism but was more accessible, with drums and the incorporation of World Music. Around this time, he divorced Angie.

 

In 1980, he would take another turn. With Scary Monsters, he left the Berlin era behind, dyed his hair pink, and entered a pop and dance phase, with hints of New Wave and… well, we basically know what happened to all the sacred cows in the 80s, and Bowie would be no exception. While still releasing good songs and setting trends in terms of style, his albums would no longer be as accomplished or influential.

​

It's worth pausing to consider Bowie's backing vocal collaboration on Queen's "Cool Cat" in 1981. The song wasn't quite working out, so instead, they started jamming on a Roger Taylor track, tentatively titled "I Feel Like," which was still in development for Hot Space. For those who think it's entirely a Queen song, you can find demos of "I Feel Like" on YouTube. Bowie and Mercury began improvising on the vocal melody, and David added lyrics he was writing for one of his own songs. During the improvisation, Freddie added many nonsensical words, which added a lot of charm. Deacon then added an unforgettable bass line, and the five of them crafted another bridge, resulting in "Under Pressure," a fantastic track for both rock giants and perhaps one of the best collaborations in history. It goes without saying that "Under Pressure" revitalized Bowie's career after a string of unsuccessful singles in the late 70s. A year later, he released "Let's Dance," featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitar. Between 1989 and 1991, he indulged himself by forming a band called Tin Machine, a democratic experiment, with whom he released a couple of albums that didn't garner much attention. During this time, he realized he was a diva and liked to do everything his way. He later resumed his solo career, releasing albums that keep him relevant, but as mentioned, without the impact and power of the 70s. In 1992, he married supermodel Iman, with whom he is still married. In 2013, he broke a 10-year silence with "The Next Day," perhaps one of the best albums of that year.

 

Quite a character. Loved by millions, difficult for others to understand, his role in rock is undeniable. A chameleon, not only in terms of image but also in terms of music and lyrical styles, capable of reinventing himself and changing his persona from time to time. His extensive career and discography make it difficult to categorize him, especially for me, as I'm not a fan. In the words of someone who knows him much better, and with whom I completely agree: “David Bowie is on the border between gods and mortals. Sometimes he crosses the line to one side, and other times he crosses it to the other.” Considering the 70s, when he's on the side of the “gods,” I think B is the fairest. Ladies and gentlemen, with you the long-awaited Ziggy Stardust, The Thin White Duke, The Chameleon, or simply… David Bowie! 

​​

​

By Corvan  

Jul/14/2015

​