David Bowie FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Rock's Finest Actor

by Ian Chapman

Overview

David Bowie was one of the world’s most famous rock stars. But, as David Bowie FAQ shows, he was also far more than that. After spending the latter part of the 1960s searching for the best medium through which to express his artistic aspirations—and trying out several performing arts in the process—he experienced fleeting but significant success in music with the top-ten UK hit “Space Oddity,” released at the time of the successful Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

Subsequently he achieved true international fame in the early 1970s through playing the role of the androgynous alien rock-star Ziggy Stardust. From here he went on to a career that spanned five decades, exploring numerous artistic disciplines, challenging societal mores and conventions, and building a platform of constant change and reinvention. Whereas most rock stars would find a winning formula and rigidly stick to it to avoid alienating their fans, David Bowie made stylistic variation his cornerstone—an entirely new and model for rock stardom.

But David Bowie was more than a rock star. Reflecting an approach to art that knew no boundaries, he also made his mark in movie acting, legitimate stage acting, and more. There was a unifying factor in all of the roles he played, regardless of medium, because even from childhood he’d felt himself to be an outsider, alienated and estranged. Bowie’s fans quickly recognized this quality in him, and it created a bond that went far beyond the usual star-fan relationship. Through David Bowie, fans found themselves able to accept their sense of difference as a positive thing rather than a negative one. David Bowie didn’t simply entertain people—he empowered them.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781617137068
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/06/2020
Series:	FAQ
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	1,049,254
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ian Chapman is a senior lecturer in music and convener of the performing arts degree program at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. He has written or co-written nine books to date on a variety of topics relating to popular music and popular culture. Chapman is also a freelance motivational speaker who specializes in the transformative power of the performing arts, drawing upon techniques practiced by artists such as David Bowie that can be used both on the stage and in everyday life to develop self-empowerment and self-confidence.

Table of Contents

Foreword ix

Introduction xi

Acknowledgments xv

Part 1 The Works

1 David Bowie, Songwriter: Pinning Down the Artist's Approach 3

2 "My Brother's Back at Home with His Beatles and His Stones": David Bowie Destroys the 1960s 9

3 "The Monster Was Me": David Bowie's Outcasts, Aliens, Freaks, and Misfits 16

4 David Bowie and Art: A True Artist in Every Sense of the Word 24

5 The Gnome Returns: Hauntings from the Past 31

6 Pinups: A Reappraisal of David Bowie's Surprise Covers Album 36

7 Taking On Sgt. Pepper: How the Beatles Demolished Bowie's Debut Album 43

8 "Space Oddity": The Story behind Bowie's First Taste of Success 47

9 Toy Story: The Lost Album 55

10 Musical Beginnings: The Early Bands 58

11 Rock, Theater, and Mime: The Uniqueness of David Bowie's Artistic Palette 63

12 Hidden Gems: Lesser-Known David Bowie Songs That Seriously Rock 71

13 "Sound and Vision": A Lesson from Mr. Bowie in Matching Cover Art to Music 83

14 "Hooked to the Silver Screen": David Bowie the Movie and TV Actor 95

15 The Elephant Man: David Bowie's Triumph in Legitimate Theater 108

16 What's in a Name?: Why David Jones Became David Bowie 112

17 Facts: A Summary of U.S. and U.K. Single and Album Chart Entries 116

18 Let's Dance: Why David Bowie's Most Successful Album Polarizes Fans 122

19 "The Prettiest Star": How David Bowie Made Glam Rock His Own 126

20 A Stylistic Smorgasbord: David Bowie's Tour of Musical Styles 135

21 "Fa Fa Fa Fa Fashion": David Bowie's Influence on the World of Fashion 144

22 The Managers and Coco Schwab: The Important Nonmusical Connections 150

23 The Low Album: David Bowie's Biggest Gamble and RCA's Nightmare 158

24 The Musical Family: Identifying Some of David Bowie's Most Important Collaborators 164

25 Tin Machine: David Bowie's Attempt at Becoming One of the Boys 171

26 The Art of Pretense: Becoming a Real Star by Acting Like One 176

Part 2 The Man

27 Family Life: Peggy, John, Terry, Angie, Iman, Duncan, and Alexandria 187

28 Drugs: David Bowie's Cocaine Years 195

29 Religiosity: Just What Did David Bowie Believe In? 199

30 The Eyes Have It: The Story behind Bowie's Alien Eyes 203

31 Words of Wisdom: A Selection of David Bowie's Best Quotes 207

32 "Not Sure If You're a Boy or a Girl": Gay, Bi, Straight-Who Cares? 215

Part 3 The Legacy

33 Changing Lives: David Bowie-How He Influenced Millions of Fans 223

34 Apocalypse Anyone? How David Bowie United a Fearful Generation 229

35 Like-Minded Artists: How Do Madonna, Prince, and Lady Gaga Compare? 238

36 Bouquets and Brickbats: What Reviewers Have Said about David Bowie through the Years 246

37 Bowie's Awards: Nominations, Acceptances, and Polite Refusals 256

38 The Bowie Legacy: A Summary of What He Left Behind 260

39 "The Stars Are Out Tonight": Celebrity Tributes to David Bowie 267

40 Signing Off: Blackstar and the Artist's Final Words 275

Selected Bibliography 281

FAQ Selected Listening 283

Index 285