“Where have all poppa’s heroes gone? Living in New York, everyone” - Ian MacDonald in the New Musical Express, March 1975.
It had been a mighty long way from Brixton to Broadway, but David Bowie had finally made it in America. His Diamond Dogs/Philly Dogs tour of the US in 1974 had cemented his fame Stateside and Aladdin Sane had changed into.....???
Bowie himself called his Young Americans LP “plastic soul”, but what plastic it was! The title track alone was a masterpiece, telling the story of two youngsters who discover that the “American Dream” is not attainable for all. Including references ranging from Sgt Pepper to President Nixon, it was a big change from his earlier songs. Apart from Bowie’s voice, the most startling sound on the single was David Sanborn’s rasping saxophone.
Other soul searching songs on the album included Fascination, Somebody Up There Likes Me, Win, Can You Hear Me and Right. The two other tracks, however, had a John Lennon connection. The news that Bowie was recording a (frankly awful) version of Across The Universe had stirred the ex Beatle's interest which eventually resulted in the extremely funky Fame collaboration between Bowie, Carlos Alomar & Lennon that finished the LP.
In January 1975, the BBC aired a documentary in their Omnibus series called Cracked Actor. The programme made by Alan Yentob, featured David Bowie in America throughout the latter half of 1974 when he was taking copious amounts of cocaine and seemingly living on milk and chillies!
Soon afterwards a new career in a new town called when Nicolas Roeg wanted Bowie to play the role of Thomas Jerome Newton in his film of Walter Tevis’s outstanding novel, The Man Who Fell To Earth. The story concerned an alien who comes to Earth in an attempt to save the people left on his home planet which is dying from a lack of water. Bowie was perfect for the role of the alien who is ultimately driven insane by humanity.
Following this film, Bowie returned to Los Angeles to record his next album, Station To Station. Apparently, his already prodigious cocaine habit worsened yet he created some of his finest songs of the decade. The title track is a ten minute tour de force based lyrically on the Stations of the Cross.
Starting with the sound of a speeding train, the song gradually builds by adding piano, bass and Earl Slick's remarkable feedbacked guitar before Dennis Davis's drums signal the slow march towards Bowie's memorable first line:
"The return of the thin white duke, throwing darts in lovers eyes."
The first half of the song is a relentlessly circular, almost hypnotic five minutes before Davis’s drum break ushers in the second half which is faster and more upbeat. The crucial lines here seem to be:
“It’s not the side effects of the cocaine. I’m thinking that it must be love.”
The hit single Golden Years follows and is a fine mixture of funk that featured on the American TV show Soul Train at the time.
Word On A Wing finishes Side One and is a cascading ballad to God asking for possible salvation. TVC15 kicks off Side Two and at the time was referred to as being about a television set that ate Bowie’s girlfriend! The funk factor almost overloads with the next song Stay as the singer croons his doubts about commitment, but is overshadowed by the final couple of minutes where Carlos Alomar and Earl Slick trade guitar licks underpinned by George Murray’s bass. The lovely ballad Wild Is The Wind completes the album and is probably the best cover song that Bowie ever recorded. The song was originally sung by Johnny Mathis, but Nina Simone’s version seems to be more of an inspiration for David.
I saw Bowie and his band at Wembley Arena in May 1976 when he was touring as The Thin White Duke, and can attest to how great the songs and band were. However, it did seem a somewhat cold and emotionless evening, but of course this was before David finally decided to kick his coke habit and return to Europe to live.
What followed was perhaps his finest piece of work - Low. Originally titled New Music: Night and Day, the album was unlike most anything else I had heard when it was released in January 1977. The first side consisted of seven short songs (two of which were entirely instrumental) and Side Two contained four longer experimental soundscapes. There was also a big hit single taken from Side One that featured Mary Hopkin on backing vocals:
The last track on Side Two, Subterraneans remains one of Bowie's greatest achievements. Apparently a lament for the people of East Berlin left behind the Berlin Wall, the song features lyrics that seem almost like "normal" words, but not quite. One interpretation of one line could be perhaps "Shine bright failing star", but others may disagree.
Later that same year, Bowie released his next LP "Heroes". The title track was a huge success as a single and refers to a couple of lovers sharing an illicit kiss just outside the studio. Brian Eno had helped with the Low album and brought in Robert Fripp to play guitar on this one. His playing enhanced many of the songs, especially this one:
In 1979, the Lodger album came out. Although there are some fine songs featured, this LP still seems to be a step back from his previous works although the lead single, Boys Keep Swinging had a memorable video:
1980 saw the release of Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. A fine album that again showcased Fripp's guitar, it was also notable for being the final time Bowie would use the fantastic rhythm section of Carlos Alomar, George Murray and Dennis Davis. The LP also contained arguably his finest ever song:
Ashes to Ashes revisited Major Tom who was now "hitting an all time low". A big hit in the Summer of 1980, it was a fitting finale to a decade of brilliance. It would be three years before his next album (Let's Dance) came out. Produced by Nile Rodgers, it was his best selling LP and the title track, Cat People (Putting Out Fire) and China Girl were all top quality. However, 1984's Tonight marked a deterioration in quality overall and Never Let Me Down in 1987 really was an all time low.
Bowie took time out to record two albums as a part of the Tin Machine band before his next solo album (Black Tie, White Noise) was released in 1993. He made a number of good albums following this until Reality in 2003 seemingly marked the end of his studio output. However, a full decade later, David Bowie came out of "retirement" to release The Next Day. A fine return to form, it took most people by surprise and featured the wonderful song, taken as the first single from the album, Where Are We Now? which was released on his 66th birthday.
Three years later, Bowie's 25th studio LP came out on his 69th birthday. However, two days later, David Bowie died of liver cancer. The album is another adventurous departure from his previous work, encompassing jazz and many other genres, reflecting his desire to musically never stay still and is a emotional epitaph to the man himself.
However, we shall end this particular tale with that single from The Next Day. Bowie moved to Berlin in 1976 to escape the mad world of Los Angeles that was killing him. It was in the German city that he made some of his finest songs and it seems clear that he always looked back on those three years as some of his happiest times:
"The moment you know. You know, you know."
