David Bowie
Born
8 January 1947, Brixton, Greater London, United Kingdom
Died
10 January 2016, Manhattan, NY, United States
Member of
Arnold Corns, Band Aid, Bewlay Bros., The Feathers, The Hype, Davie Jones with The King Bees, Davy Jones and the Lower Third, The Konrads, The Manish Boys, The Riot Squad, Tin Machine
Notes
Father of Duncan Jones; married to Angela Bowie [1970-80] and Iman [1992-2016]; founder of ISO Records
Also Known As
David Robert Jones, Bowie, Davie Jones, Davy Jones, Tao Jones Index
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The Manish Boys / Davy Jones & The Lower 3rd [archival]
1979 • The Manish Boys / Davy Jones & The Lower Third
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tommo
"If someone asked me who the greatest recording artist of all time was, I'd say: "That's a stupid question, but the closest I can get to a single definitive answer is David Bowie". During his late-60s-to-early-80s prime, he released a phenomenal streak of highly creative, catchy and incredibly well written albums. During that time (and even after it) he reinvented himself over and over, yet always managed to leave a common mark on everything he made, resulting in an impressively diverse-yet-unified back catalogue. His influence over a multitude of modern artists is undeniable, and his classic albums still sound fresh and unique even decades after their original releases."
RYM Rough Guide for David Bowie
Biography
Bowie released his self-titled debut album in 1967. The album combined Bowie's influences into a unique sound, but it failed to chart or receive any significant praise. Bowie had his first hit in 1969 with "Space Oddity," the story of an astronaut named Major Tom. The song was featured on Bowie's second self-titled album. The album had a heavier folk influence than "Space Oddity," and was a commercial failure, despite some positive reviews. Around this time, Bowie met Angela Barnett, and the two were married within a year.
Bowie's third album The Man Who Sold the World, released in 1970, was a stylistic departure from his usual Folk and Psychedelia to a heavier rock sound, complete with dark lyrics dealing with themes of mental illness, war, greed, mythology, and science fiction. On the supporting American tour, Bowie met and was heavily influenced by Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.
Angie gave birth to the couple's son, Duncan Jones, in 1971. Shortly after, Bowie released his fourth album Hunky Dory. The album saw him adopt a kitsch aesthetic that would become the basis of the Glam Rock style. The album initially failed to chart.
Bowie’s next album, 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, was his first to embrace the glam rock style; it is a concept album dealing with the titular character, Ziggy, coming to Earth in its final days before the apocalypse. It was Bowie's first hit album, peaking at no. 5 in the UK charts, where it remained for two years. On and after an American tour in support of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie wrote a number of songs reflecting and commenting on what he observed. They constituted the 1973 album Aladdin Sane, his first UK no. 1 album. In late 1973, Bowie released Pin Ups, an album of covers of older Rock & Roll songs. Although one of his least acclaimed albums critically, it spawned the popular single "Sorrow."
In 1974, Bowie moved to Los Angeles. There, he began work on a new album, initially intended to be a Musical adaptation of George Orwell's 1984. The album, Diamond Dogs (1974), incorporated elements of R&B into the glam rock style. A supporting tour resulted in Bowie's first live album, David Live (1974). Bowie's interest in R&B continued and his next album; 1975's Young Americans was purely Soul music, alienating many of his long-term fans. The album, however, resulted in Bowie’s first U.S. no. 1 single – "Fame."
In 1976, Bowie officially broke into the world of acting, starting as extraterrestrial Thomas Jerome Newton in the Science Fiction film The Man Who Fell to Earth. The film — and Bowie's performance in it — were met with mixed reviews and little commercial success. However, the film went on to gain a significant cult following. His subsequent album, Station to Station (1976), is considered one of his all-time best, incorporating influences from Funk and Krautrock.
In late 1976, Bowie moved to West Berlin, living in an apartment with Iggy Pop. While there, Bowie quit the hard drugs he had been abusing for several years. In Berlin, he also met Brian Eno and began writing and recording. The first album to result from this partnership was 1977's Low, Bowie's most experimental to date. The record contained pop songs on its A-side and more experimental, Ambient-influenced music on its B-side. Bowie's next album, "Heroes", was released in the same year. Like Low, Heroes contained an A-side of Art Pop songs an a B-side of more Experimental and Ambient compositions. He subsequently embarked on the Isolar II world tour — the first tour in some time where he had not been hindered by his drug problems. It resulted in his second live album, Stage (1978).
In 1979, Bowie released the final album in his "Berlin trilogy": Lodger. The album was heavily inspired by the New Wave scene and ironically incorporated elements of various "world music" genres in an effort to parody Western racism and imperialism. Bowie subsequently moved back to the UK. He and Angela filed for divorce after ten years of marriage.
In 1980, Bowie released Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). The album drew on Post-Punk and New Wave, as well as the New Romantic scene. His next album, Let's Dance (1983), saw him move toward a more radio-friendly Dance-Pop sound. The next year, Bowie released another pop album, Tonight. It received lukewarm reviews, with Bowie himself going on to say he disliked it). But it also spawned the hit single "Blue Jean."
In 1986, Bowie starred in the children's fantasy film Labyrinth as Jareth the Goblin King, and he collaborated with Trevor Jones on the film's soundtrack. He returned to a more rock-influenced sound on 1987's Never Let Me Down. Similar to Tonight, the album was poorly received and was retrospectively criticized by Bowie. It was commercially successful, however.
In 1989, Bowie co-founded a new band, Tin Machine. Their self-titled debut album was a Hard Rock album with simple, straightforward lyrics dealing with the egalitarian, antiracist political views Bowie had expressed through more satirical and abstract means on prior albums. Tin Machine sold well but was critically panned; in particular, fans and critics were unwilling to accept Bowie as a member of a band. In 1991, Tin Machine released their second album, Tin Machine II. The album was much lighter than their previous attempt but did not fare any better critically. Shortly after the release of the live album Oy Vey Baby (1992), Tin Machine broke up.
In 1992, Bowie married Iman, a Somali-born model, and the two moved to New York. The 1990s saw Bowie incorporate more influences from electronic music into his work, including on Black Tie White Noise (1993), The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries - A Hyper Cycle (1995, a return to collaboration with Brian Eno), and Earthling (1997). In 1999, Bowie created the soundtrack for the video game The Nomad Soul, and re-recorded parts of it, along with some new material, for the album 'Hours...'. Hours signaled a return to rock for Bowie but received mixed reviews.
In 2000, Bowie and Iman had their first and only child together, Alexandria Jones. Bowie began work on a new album, Toy (Toy:Box), which saw him reworking some of his earliest songs. Toy didn’t see official release until 2021 but original songs recorded at the same time were released as Heathen (2002). Heathen was positively received, with many interpreting it as a concept album dealing with the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
Reality was released in 2003 to positive reviews, and a successful tour followed. After suffering a heart attack, Bowie temporarily retired from the public eye. He returned to the stage in 2005 but made only sporadic concert appearances thereafter.
Bowie made his return to music in 2013 with the acclaimed album The Next Day. Around this time, he was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer but chose not to make it public. He passed away on 10 January 2016, shortly after the release of his final album, Blackstar. A return to his earlier avant-garde experimentation, Blackstar carried a heavy Jazz influence and featured dark lyrics alluding to his illness and impending death. It was critically acclaimed and topped UK and U.S. charts.
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