How to Appreciate the Work of David Bowie

Often described as “chameleon-like,” singer David Bowie has been as successful at repeatedly reinventing himself, while still remaining musically relevant.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Early years. Bowie, born David Jones, spent several years playing pop and folk, he finally scored a hit in 1969 with “Space Oddity,” a song which had the good fortune to be released at the same time as the Apollo 11 voyage.

2. The 1970s. In 1970, Bowie appeared on the cover of his album “The Man Who Sold the World” wearing a dress. A few years later he declared in an interview tha he was bisexual, a move that guaranteed lots of publicity. In 1972 he released “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars,” a concept album about an androgynous Martian rock star. The album was a cornerstone of the glam rock movement. He retired the character in 1973 a few months after the release of “Aladdin Sane.” During this period he produced albums for Iggy Pop and Lou Reed. He continued with glam on 1974's “Diamond Dogs,” then explored soul on 1975's “Young Americans,” an album that yielded the hit “Fame.” With the release of “Station to Station” in 1976 he took on a new persona, that of the “Thin White Duke,” a Weimar-era, Gitane-smoking cabaret singer. He also courted controversy by making some pro-fascist statements and giving a Hitler salute at a train station. In 1976, he moved to Berlin in order to kick his cocaine addiction. With Brian Eno, Tony Visconti and Iggy Pop he produced three experimental albums, “Low” (1977). “'Heroes'” (1977) and “Lodger” (1979).

3. The 1980s. The year 1980 saw the release of “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)” which yielded the hits “Ashes to Ashes” and “Fashion.” (These songs were made into early music videos.) In 1983, he released the hugely popular “Let's Dance;” hit singles from the album included the title track, “China Girl” and “Modern Love.” The album also introduced the world to young guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. The new healthy, sun-tanned, suit-clad Bowie persona was his most accessible yet; he even dismissed the bisexuality of previous years as a passing phase. His other albums in the 1980s were largely forgettable. From 1989 to 1991 he was involved in the rock quartet Tin Machine.

4. The 1990s to present. Bowie spent much of the decade exploring industrial and electronica music, worked with Trent Reznor and reunited with Brian Eno. His albums during this period included “Black Tie White Noise, (1993), “Outside” (1995) and “Earthling” (1997). He married supermodel Iman in 1992 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. His twenty-first century albums included “Heathen” (2002) and “Reality”(2003).

5. Acting and other interests. Bowie has had a second career as an actor in such films as “The Man Who Fell to Earth (1980),” “The Hunger” (1983), “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” (1983), “Absolute Beginners” (1986). “Labyrinth” (1986), “The Last Temptation of Christ” (1988), “Basquiat” (1996) and “The Prestige” (2006), and in theatrical productions of “Baal” and “The Elephant Man.” Bowie has long been involved in the art world, as a painter, collector, promoter of new artists, well as editor and contributor to the magazine “Modern Painters.”