David Bowie

Here am I floating in a tin can
Far above the World
Planet Earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do

Ziggy Stardust, was a superstar. A seemingly gigantic, ambisexual, spaceman rocker who swooped down on the teenage rock kids of the early 70’s and grasped them in his sweet, hot talons. Bowie held them firmly in his grasp until he totally and ceremoniously abandoned them in 1975 with the release of his “blue-eyed, plastic soul” album, “Young Americans.”

David Bowie (born David Robert Jones in 1947), in the south London suburb of Brixton. A teenage fight over a girl resulted in a blow to the eye that left his left eye paralyzed. The eye remained permanently dilated, leaving him with two different colored eyes.

Introducing David Bowie

Bowie met model/actress Angela Barnett. The couple married in March 1970, and welcomed son Zowie into the world, in 1971.

Bowie appeared on the cover of The Man Who Sold The World (1970), sprawled out on a couch, wearing what he referred to as his “man’s dress”; this move allowed for plenty of coverage in the pop music press, but the album failed to live up to sales expectations. The photo was replaced with a cartoon of a cowboy for the U.S. market.

Bowie made his first trip to the States and while in Texas, an outraged redneck pulled a gun on him when he saw Bowie in his “livelier clothes.” Later that year, he signed with RCA, and released Hunky Dory in 1971. The LP contained what would become one of several signature tunes, “Changes,” and was his first album to chart in the U.S.

A man of many faces.

In 1972, he introduced his latest incarnation — the persona of a rock ‘n’ roll alien from a distant world named “Ziggy Stardust.” In June, The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was released. The album cracked the UK top five, and became his first gold disc in the US. He kept busy writing and/or producing tracks for Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop and the Stooges.

1973 saw the release of his first no1, as Aladdin Sane topped the British album charts, and became his first American top twenty. On July 3, before a packed audience at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Bowie announced that he’ll no longer perform live concerts. As fans gasped in disbelief, he launched into “Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide.”

Diamond Dogs (1974), inspired by George Orwell’s futuristic-nightmare novel 1984, included the hit “Rebel Rebel.” His retirement from the stage didn’t last too long, as he embarked upon another world tour in 1974. Sporting sleek suits and brushed back hair, he entered what he referred to as his “Plastic Soul” period; his take on contemporary American R&B music.

Now residing in L.A., Bowie released Young Americans in the spring of 1975. The album contained his first no.1 single; “Fame,” co-written by John Lennon, topped the Billboard charts in September. Just a few weeks later, Bowie topped the UK singles chart with a reissued version of his first hit, “Space Oddity.”

In 1976, now referring to himself as the “Thin White Duke,” Bowie also made his first appearance in a major motion picture, playing a space traveller in The Man Who Fell to Earth.

He left the “plastic” world of L.A. for the more austere reality of Berlin in late 1976. There, he co-wrote and produced Iggy Pop’s first solo albums, The Idiot and Lust for Life (both in 1977). Collaborating with Brian Eno, Bowie co-produced the decidedly non-commercial Low (1977). He moved to Switzerland, where he and Eno finished production on Heroes (1977). Following the release of his second feature film, Just a Gigolo (1979), Bowie and Eno finished work on the album, Lodger.

He is commonly known as the chameleon of pop, predicting trends and adjusting his style and persona, Bowie has had a profound influence on rock music from the 1970s to the present. In addition to his musical career, Bowie has had success as an actor in films like The Man Who Fell to Earth

Albums
Hunky Dory (1971)
Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust (1972)
Aladdin Sane (1973)
Pin-Ups (1973)
Diamond Dogs (1974)
Young Americans (1975)
Station to Station (1976)
Low (1977)
Heroes (1977)
Lodger (1979)

Singles
Man Who Sold the World (1970)
Space Oddity
Changes
Starman
Ziggy Stardust
Suffragate City
John I’m Only Dancing
Jean Genie
Dive In Saturday
Life on Mars
Sorrow
Rebel Rebel
Rock and Roll Suicide
Diamong Dogs
Knock on Wood
Young Americans
Fame
Golden Years
TVC
Sound and Vision

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