David Bowie: Notes

Present: "The Next Day" released unannounced - album cover "Heroes" taken and white box overlayed with the album title in an Arial font 'The Next Day' on top

Alter-ego

Major Tom

The Thin White Duke
-> Self-reflexive in the song "Station to Station" and featured on the album "Station to Station"


Alladin Zane

Ziggy Stardust:
Self-referential, based on Vince Taylor and inspired by Japanese theatre Bauki (mime)
and the Spiders from Mars -> song
Rejects the idea that performer had relation to the real-life persona
Rock/glam rock music that went against 60s music
Short/catchy/aimed at the revolutionised independent young generation
Cross over appeal -> LGBT communities/young/old/different racial groups
Ambient/experimental/ballads

Moved to soul/funk/psychedelic rock/pop/electronic
Bowie 'Pin-Up' album cover with 60s fashion icon Twiggy

1974: Diamond Dogs based on the book '1984' by George Orwell e.g. Rebel Rebel
Toured in America and influenced by the soul scene and so transformed with stripped down versions/wore suits and adopted soul artist mannerisms
The album cover shows him as "half-dog grotesque" painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert -> controversial as it showed the "hybrid" of his genitilia on the other side of the vinyl cover

1975: Plastic Soul album
->Recorded a song with The Beatles' John Lennon called "Fame" and first artist to appear on the show "Soul Train" (began aiming at the black youth culture with RnB/funk music) - appeal to a different genre can be considered postmodernist

1976: Station to Station album
Funk genre/European sound
Inspired by the Kraftwerk (Germanic electronic band)
Album cover -> David Bowie inside the spaceship
Can't recall making the album at all -> Bowie was involved in heavy cocaine use
He was interested in conspiracy theories at this time/gave the 'Nazi' salute but in fact waving

1977-1979: The Berlin Trilogy ->
Moved to Berlin to reform after cocaine use

• Low
• Heroes
• Lodger

Worked with Brian Eno and went with Iggy Pop
Transformed to electronic pop
Iggy Pop's "Lust for Life" and "Idiot" were also contributed by David Bowie
Reused these later on in own albums "Let's Dance" and "Tonight"
No such thing as "uncool" prominant
"Casuals" in the late 70s adopted Bowie's look from Low

1976/77: David Bowie survived the Punk/Post-Punk sounds
Many other artist of the time struggled to move away from punk and changing social likes and dislikes
Major Tom -> Harlequin style/started new Romance movement to reject Punk and dress up instead
Recycled Major Tom's Space Oddity

"The Next Day" -> looking back at the Berlin Trilogy