David Bowie In The Last Century
Created | Updated Oct 28, 2008
David Bowie is one of the most enduring, most influential singer/songwriters of the last 30 years. His changing personae have defined glam rock and provided some of the most memorable pop songs of all time.
Born on January the 8th 1947 in Brixton, England, David Bowie's birth name was David Robert Jones. At school he acquired his famous differently coloured eyes in a fight when a boy stuck a compass in his eye. As a result one of his pupils is permanently enlarged. He began playing music when he was 12 and his first instrument was not the guitar, but the saxophone. He would later graduate with a degree in art from a technical college.
In 1965 David Jones changed his name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees. There was little chance of that, because while Davy was already world famous, David was struggling to find any success in the music business. He was a member of several bands which either failed to garner public attention or used up their 15 minutes quickly.
David Bowie's first top ten single was Space Oddity in 1969 (inspired by the moon mission of the same year) which peaked at number 5. The single would be re-released in the US where it enjoyed similar success. It was a modest beginning which he built into a career which has helped make him Britain's richest pop star (even more than Sir Paul McCartney, allegedly).
Bowie's diverse personae changes (Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust (again) and The Thin White Duke) make it clear that his self-ascribed nickname, The Chameleon of Pop, is accurate. Bowie was metamorphosing before the adaptable Madonna was a glint in a record producer's eye.
During his long career Bowie has famously performed duets with Mick Jagger (Dancing In The Streets) and Queen (Under Pressure). Some of his less well known collaborations include a version of 20th Century Boy with Placebo, The Little Drummer Boy with Bing Crosby (yes, Bu-bu-bu-Bing Crosby!) and Tina Turner (back in the days when Pepsi could still afford pop stars on its adverts).
But the Chameleon of Pop's talents extend beyond music and he has appeared in several films.
Bowie Films (incomplete listing)
1976 -- The Man Who Fell To Earth
1979 -- Just a Gigolo*
1981 -- Christiane F.*
1983 -- Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence
1983 -- The Hunger
1986 -- Labyrinth*
1986 -- Absolute Beginners*
1991 -- The Linguini Incident
1992 -- Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me
1996 -- Basquiat*
(* indicates Bowie sang on soundtrack albums of the same name)
His stage appearance in The Elephant Man also received critical acclaim.
Bowie continues to contribute to the musical world to the present day. He enjoys a huge on-line following and was the first artist to acknowledge the importance of the Internet by releasing the first ever web-only single, "Telling Lies" in 1997.
Bowie's Studio Albums (1967 -- 2000)
1967 -- David Bowie
1969 -- Man of Words, Man of Music (better known as Space Oddity)
1971 -- Hunky Dory AND The Man Who Sold The World
1972 -- The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
1973 -- Aladdin Sane AND Pinups
1974 -- Diamond Dogs
1975 -- Young Americans
1976 -- Station To Station
1977 -- "Heroes" AND Low
1979 -- Lodger
1980 -- Scary Monsters
1983 -- Let's Dance
1984 -- Tonight
1987 -- Never Let Me Down
1989 -- Tin Machine
1991 -- Tin Machine 2
1993 -- Black Tie, White Noise AND The Buddha Of Suburbia
1995 -- 1. Outside
1997 -- Earthling
1999 -- Hours
In addition to these studio albums there are many compilation, live and soundtrack albums which are dedicated to or feature David Bowie. It is a tribute to his genius that the non-Bowie-specific compilations are so numerous as to make a comprehensive listing of them impossible.
