188-565: Pin Ups (also referred to as Pinups and Pin-Ups ) is the seventh studio album by the English musician David Bowie , released on 19 October 1973 through RCA Records . Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a covers album , featuring glam rock and proto-punk versions of songs by 1960s bands who were influential to Bowie as a teenager, including the Pretty Things ,
376-559: A DVD of the September 1998 live netcast re-recording of S. F. Sorrow at Abbey Road Studios, with David Gilmour and Arthur Brown as guest players. They played a tour of the U.S. for the first time in decades. Original rhythm guitarist Brian Pendleton died of lung cancer on 16 May 2001 in Maidstone . Their ex-guitarist and keyboard player Gordon John Edwards, who also played for the Kinks in
564-489: A Grafton saxophone in 1961. He was soon receiving lessons from baritone saxophonist Ronnie Ross . He received a serious injury at school in 1962 when his friend George Underwood punched him in the left eye during a fight over a girl. After a series of operations during a four-month hospitalisation, his doctors determined that the damage could not be fully repaired and Bowie was left with faulty depth perception and anisocoria (a permanently dilated pupil), which gave
752-522: A Pin Ups sequel: he had compiled a list of songs he wanted to cover, some of which showed up on his later releases of Heathen (2002) and Reality (2003). The cover photo for Pin Ups reflected the theme of swinging London by featuring 1960s supermodel Twiggy , who had previously been name-checked on Aladdin Sane ' s " Drive-In Saturday " as "Twig the Wonder Kid". The photo was taken midway through
940-705: A Pretty Things fan, convinced Bowie to cover two of their songs. Other artists selected included the Yardbirds , the Kinks , Pink Floyd and the Who . The final tracklist includes the Pretty Things' " Rosalyn " and " Don't Bring Me Down ", Them 's " Here Comes the Night ", Pink Floyd's " See Emily Play ", the Mojos ' " Everything's Alright ", the Yardbirds' " Shapes of Things " and their rendition of Billy Boy Arnold 's " I Wish You Would ",
1128-654: A cover of the Kinks song " A House in the Country ". In December 1966 came the single "Progress", where the band were joined by a brass section . Pendleton left in December 1966 and was replaced on stage by Billy Harrison from Them . Stax followed in January 1967. Jon Povey and Wally Waller , both former Fenmen from Bern Elliott and the Fenmen , joined and made the band a five-piece once again. Their final album for Fontana Records
1316-668: A music video prototype for "Can't Stand the Pain", which also featured their manager, Morrison. Rarely screened at the time, the film can be found as a bonus multimedia item on the Snapper CD re-issue of Get the Picture . 1966 saw the R&;B scene fall into decline and the Pretty Things began moving away, flirting with soul music . In mid-1966, they made the UK Singles Chart for the final time with
1504-464: A sumo wrestling loincloth or simulating oral sex with Ronson's guitar. Bowie toured and gave press conferences as Ziggy before a dramatic and abrupt on-stage "retirement" at London's Hammersmith Odeon on 3 July 1973. Footage from the final show was incorporated for the film Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars , which premiered in 1979 and commercially released in 1983. After breaking up
1692-571: A "cult of Bowie" that was "unique—its influence lasted longer and has been more creative than perhaps almost any other force within pop fandom." The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), combining the hard rock elements of The Man Who Sold the World with the lighter experimental rock and pop of Hunky Dory , was released in June and was considered one of the defining albums of glam rock . " Starman ", issued as an April single ahead of
1880-631: A coherent style" to the dysfunctional nature of its recording, while Sandford acknowledges the album's lack of originality in the song arrangements. Doggett calls Pin Ups "an exercise in Pop Art", meaning it was "a reproduction and interpretation of work by [another artist], intended for a mass audience". James Perone, on the other hand, argues that Pin Ups predated the release of covers album by other English artists, such as John Lennon with Rock 'n' Roll (1975) and Elvis Costello with Almost Blue (1981) and Kojak Variety (1995). Perone also recognises
2068-625: A collection of American 45s by artists including the Teenagers , the Platters , Fats Domino , Elvis Presley and Little Richard . Upon listening to Little Richard's song " Tutti Frutti ", Bowie later said that he had "heard God". Bowie was first impressed with Presley when he saw his cousin Kristina dance to " Hound Dog " soon after its release in 1956. According to Kristina, she and David "danced like possessed elves" to records of various artists. By
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#17328587002442256-798: A collection of covers of his 1960s favourites, followed in October, producing a UK number three hit in his version of the McCoys 's " Sorrow " and itself peaking at number one, making Bowie the best-selling act of 1973 in the UK. It brought the total number of Bowie albums concurrently on the UK chart to six. Bowie moved to the US in 1974, initially staying in New York City before settling in Los Angeles. Diamond Dogs (1974), parts of which found him heading towards soul and funk ,
2444-510: A contract with Mercury Records and its UK subsidiary Philips , who issued "Space Oddity" as a single on 11 July 1969, five days ahead of the Apollo 11 launch. Reaching the top five in the UK, it was his first and last hit for three years. Bowie's second album followed in November. Originally issued in the UK as David Bowie , it caused some confusion with its predecessor of the same name, and
2632-589: A cover of the Merseys ' song " Sorrow " as the lead single , Pin Ups was a commercial success, topping the UK Albums Chart , but received negative reviews from critics, who criticised the songs as generally inferior to the originals. Retrospective reviewers have described it as uneven, while others believe it had a good premise, but suffered from poor execution. Bowie's biographers have noted it as an experiment in nostalgia . Some publications have regarded it as one of
2820-405: A departure from the acoustic guitar and folk rock style established by his second album, to a more hard rock sound. Mercury financed a coast-to-coast publicity tour across the US in which Bowie, between January and February 1971, was interviewed by media. Exploiting his androgynous appearance, the original cover of the UK version unveiled two months later depicted Bowie wearing a dress. He took
3008-470: A disagreement with EMI, left the label. Like his audience and his critics, Bowie himself became increasingly disaffected with his role as just one member of a band. Tin Machine began work on a second album, but recording halted while Bowie conducted the seven-month Sound+Vision Tour , which brought him commercial success and acclaim. In October 1990, Bowie and Somali -born supermodel Iman were introduced by
3196-447: A failure, it is also a collection of great songs, most of which are given a more than adequate, and always loving, treatment. Maybe the fairest conclusion to draw is that Bowie can't sing any other way, did the best he could, and the result isn't all that bad." In the NME , Ian MacDonald felt that by not differentiating the songs from the originals, the renditions lack value, ultimately stating
3384-451: A false impression of a change in the iris' colour, erroneously suggesting he had heterochromia iridum (one iris a different colour to the other); his eye later became one of Bowie's most recognisable features. Despite their altercation, Bowie remained on good terms with Underwood, who went on to create the artwork for Bowie's early albums. Bowie formed his first band, the Konrads, in 1962 at
3572-419: A farewell tour. The group (May and Taylor accompanied by Woosey, Holland and Greenwood) recorded a live session for BBC Radio 6 Music show Marc Riley on 17 July 2018 at Maida Vale Studios performing versions of "Same Sun", "You Can't Judge A Book", "She Says Good Morning", "Mister Evasion" and "Rosalind". Phil May died, aged 75, on 15 May 2020 following complications after hip surgery. 22 May 2020 saw
3760-461: A free festival in a local park, the subject of his song " Memory of a Free Festival ". Pitt attempted to introduce Bowie to a larger audience with the Love You till Tuesday film, which went unreleased until 1984. Feeling alienated over his unsuccessful career and deeply affected by his break-up, Bowie wrote " Space Oddity ", a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom . The song earned him
3948-401: A fundraising single, which went to number one in the UK and number seven in the US; its video premiered during Live Aid. Bowie took an acting role in the 1986 film Absolute Beginners , and his title song rose to number two in the UK charts. He also worked with composer Trevor Jones and wrote five original songs for the 1986 film Labyrinth , which he starred in. His final solo album of
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#17328587002444136-412: A group with Bowie and guitarist John Hutchinson named Feathers; between September 1968 and early 1969 the trio gave a small number of concerts combining folk, Merseybeat , poetry and mime. After the break-up with Farthingale, Bowie moved in with Mary Finnigan as her lodger. In February and March 1969, he undertook a short tour with Marc Bolan 's duo Tyrannosaurus Rex , as third on the bill, performing
4324-426: A limited-edition single release version of Placebo 's track " Without You I'm Nothing " with Bowie's harmonised vocal added to the original recording. Bowie, with Gabrels, created the soundtrack for Omikron: The Nomad Soul , a 1999 computer game in which he and Iman also voiced characters based on their likenesses. Released the same year and containing re-recorded tracks from Omikron , his album Hours featured
4512-517: A look back in musical time." Robert Hilburn was also positive in the Los Angeles Times . Describing it as a "light, unpretentious, high-spirited album", he hailed Pin Ups as "one of the year's most inviting albums" and one that deserves special attention. Pin Ups continues to receive mixed-to-negative reactions in later decades. When reviewing the album as part of the 2015 box set Five Years (1969–1973) , Pitchfork 's Douglas Wolk
4700-480: A low-key release, had almost no promotion and flopped commercially, reaching number 87 in the UK. Nevertheless, it later received critical praise as Bowie's "lost great album". Reuniting Bowie with Eno, the quasi-industrial Outside (1995) was originally conceived as the first volume in a non-linear narrative of art and murder. Featuring characters from a short story written by Bowie, the album achieved UK and US chart success and yielded three top 40 UK singles. In
4888-423: A melding of the persona of Iggy Pop with the music of Lou Reed , producing "the ultimate pop idol". A girlfriend recalled his "scrawling notes on a cocktail napkin about a crazy rock star named Iggy or Ziggy", and on his return to England he declared his intention to create a character "who looks like he's landed from Mars". The "Stardust" surname was a tribute to the " Legendary Stardust Cowboy ", whose record he
5076-630: A mime act. Continuing the divergence from rock and roll and blues begun by his work with Farthingale, Bowie joined forces with Finnigan, Christina Ostrom and Barrie Jackson to run a folk club on Sunday nights at the Three Tuns pub in Beckenham High Street. The club was influenced by the Arts Lab movement, developing into the Beckenham Arts Lab and became extremely popular. The Arts Lab hosted
5264-511: A move that provoked mixed reactions from both fans and critics, Bowie chose Nine Inch Nails as his tour partner for the Outside Tour . Visiting cities in Europe and North America between September 1995 and February 1996, the tour saw the return of Gabrels as Bowie's guitarist. On 7 January 1997, Bowie celebrated his half century with a 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden at which he
5452-531: A mutual friend. He recalled, "I was naming the children the night we met ... it was absolutely immediate." They married in 1992. Tin Machine resumed work the same month, but their audience and critics, ultimately left disappointed by the first album, showed little interest in a second. Tin Machine II (1991) was Bowie's first album to miss the UK top 20 in nearly twenty years, and was controversial for its cover art. Depicting four ancient nude Kouroi statues,
5640-558: A number of cover songs, including three Pop covers and the 1966 Beach Boys hit " God Only Knows ". The album bore the transatlantic top 10 hit " Blue Jean ", itself the inspiration for the Julien Temple -directed short film Jazzin' for Blue Jean , in which Bowie played the dual roles of romantic protagonist Vic and arrogant rock star Screaming Lord Byron. The short won Bowie his only non-posthumous Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video . In early 1985, Bowie's collaboration with
5828-552: A number of records and released under the alias Electric Banana: Electric Banana (1967), More Electric Banana (1968), Even More Electric Banana (1969), Hot Licks (1970), and Return of the Electric Banana (1978). The initial releases featured one side of vocal and one side of instrumental tracks. Subsequent releases of these albums generally keep the true identity of the band secret. Pretty Things reformed in late 1971. Wally Waller, who had become assistant producer at EMI,
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6016-442: A one-off single release, " Under Pressure ". The duet was a hit, becoming Bowie's third UK number-one single. Bowie was given the lead role in the BBC 's 1982 televised adaptation of Bertolt Brecht 's play Baal . Coinciding with its transmission, a five-track EP of songs from the play was released as Baal . In March 1982, Bowie's title song for Paul Schrader 's film Cat People
6204-464: A professional career as a musician in 1963. He released a string of unsuccessful singles with local bands and a self-titled solo album (1967) before achieving his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart with " Space Oddity " (1969). After a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust . The character
6392-569: A promotions officer for the children's charity Barnardo's . The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, on the boundary between Brixton and Stockwell in the south London borough of Lambeth . Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child—and a defiant brawler. From 1953, Bowie moved with his family to Bickley and then Bromley Common , before settling in Sundridge Park in 1955 where he attended Burnt Ash Junior School. His voice
6580-439: A radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. Young Americans was a commercial success in both the US and the UK and yielded Bowie's first US number one, " Fame ", a collaboration with John Lennon . A re-issue of the 1969 single "Space Oddity" became Bowie's first number-one hit in the UK a few months after "Fame" achieved the same in the US. He mimed "Fame" and his November single " Golden Years " on
6768-406: A record of cover versions as a "stopgap" album. On the final date of the tour, 3 July, Bowie unexpectedly announced that "this is the last show we'll ever do". The announcement drove a wedge between Bowie and his backing band, the Spiders from Mars – Mick Ronson (guitar), Trevor Bolder (bass) and Woody Woodmansey (drums) – specifically Bolder and Woodmansey, who were unaware of
6956-452: A song with lyrics by the winner of his "Cyber Song Contest" Internet competition, Alex Grant. Making extensive use of live instruments, the album was Bowie's exit from heavy electronica. Hours and a performance on VH1 Storytellers in mid-1999 represented the end of Gabrels' association with Bowie as a performer and songwriter. Sessions for Toy , a planned collection of remakes of tracks from Bowie's 1960s period, commenced in 2000, but
7144-917: A successful European blues tour in late 1990 with Stan Webb 's Chicken Shack and Luther Allison . This outfit included drummer Hans Waterman (formerly of Dutch rock group Solution ), bassist Roelf ter Velt and guitarist/keyboardist Barkley McKay ( Waco Brothers , Pine Valley Cosmonauts , Jon Langford , the Mekons ) on guitar. This line-up regularly toured the European mainland until late 1994. May and Taylor, together with former Yardbirds drummer Jim McCarty , recorded two albums in Chicago as Pretty Things/Yardbird Blues Band. They were The Chicago Blues Tapes 1991 and Wine, Women, Whiskey , both produced by George Paulus . May and Taylor, along with Barkley McKay (credited as Barclay Mackay), also recorded one album with members of
7332-544: A suitable property, but found themselves confined to their hotel, under curfew: the 1992 Los Angeles riots began the day they arrived. They settled in New York instead. In 1993, Bowie released his first solo offering since his Tin Machine departure, the soul, jazz and hip-hop influenced Black Tie White Noise . Making prominent use of electronic instruments, the album, which reunited Bowie with Let's Dance producer Nile Rodgers, confirmed Bowie's return to popularity, topping
7520-694: A superstar, charting at number two in the UK and number eight in the US. It also spawned a UK number ten hit in a cover of Eddie Floyd 's " Knock on Wood ". After a break in Philadelphia , where Bowie recorded new material, the tour resumed with a new emphasis on soul. The fruit of the Philadelphia recording sessions was Young Americans (1975). Sandford writes, "Over the years, most British rockers had tried, one way or another, to become black-by-extension. Few had succeeded as Bowie did now." The album's sound, which Bowie identified as " plastic soul ", constituted
7708-489: A time during Station to Station 's recording sessions and later said he remembered "only flashes" of its making. His sanity—by his own later admission—had become twisted from cocaine; he referenced the drug directly in the album's ten-minute title track. The album's release was followed by a 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -month-long concert tour, the Isolar Tour , of Europe and North America. The core band that coalesced to record
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7896-561: A time of uncertainty, a time when many cast backward glances as pop entered its first retroactive phase". In the Spin Alternative Record Guide , critic Rob Sheffield agreed, characterising the album's "Swinging London oldies" as "atrophied nostalgia". In 2013, in a ranking of Bowie's albums up to that point, Gabriela Claymore of Stereogum placed Pin Ups at number 18 (out of 25), calling it "The only one of Bowie's '70s records you can safely call 'inessential'. She felt it
8084-467: A week his howls could be heard through the locked attic door." Michael Lippman, Bowie's lawyer during the negotiations, became his new manager; Lippman, in turn, was awarded substantial compensation when he was fired the following year. Station to Station (1976), produced by Bowie and Harry Maslin, introduced a new Bowie persona, the Thin White Duke of its title track . Visually, the character
8272-473: Is the recipient of numerous accolades , including six Grammy Awards and four Brit Awards . Often dubbed the "chameleon of rock" due to his constant musical reinventions, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Rolling Stone ranked him among the greatest singers, songwriters and artists of all time. As of 2022, Bowie was the best-selling vinyl artist of the 21st century. David Robert Jones
8460-713: The A Reality Tour , with an estimated attendance of 722,000, grossed more than any other in 2004. On 13 June, Bowie headlined the last night of the Isle of Wight Festival 2004 . On 25 June, he experienced chest pain while performing at the Hurricane Festival in Scheeßel , Germany. Originally thought to be a pinched nerve in his shoulder, the pain was later diagnosed as an acutely blocked coronary artery , requiring an emergency angioplasty in Hamburg. The remaining fourteen dates of
8648-572: The Inmates and Matthew Fisher of Procol Harum under the name Pretty Things n' Mates. It was released in 1994 as A Whiter Shade of Dirty Water (reissued as Rockin' the Garage ). The early 1990s were taken up with a battle against EMI. This was over unpaid royalties stemming back to a deal EMI set up with Motown subsidiary Rare Earth in 1968. The band never received any royalties from Rare Earth nor had received any monies from EMI for many years. The band won
8836-527: The Isolar II world tour , bringing the music of the first two Berlin Trilogy albums to almost a million people during 70 concerts in 12 countries. By now he had broken his drug addiction; Buckley writes that Isolar II was "Bowie's first tour for five years in which he had probably not anaesthetised himself with copious quantities of cocaine before taking the stage. ... Without the oblivion that drugs had brought, he
9024-614: The Pat Metheny Group , " This Is Not America ", for the soundtrack of The Falcon and the Snowman , was released as a single and became a top 40 hit in the UK and US. In July that year, Bowie performed at Wembley Stadium for Live Aid , a multi-venue benefit concert for Ethiopian famine relief. Bowie and Mick Jagger duetted on a cover of Martha and the Vandellas ' " Dancing in the Street " as
9212-636: The Paul Verhoeven film Showgirls was re-recorded for the album, and remixed by Trent Reznor for a single release. The heavy rotation of the accompanying video, also featuring Reznor, contributed to the song's 16-week stay in the US Billboard Hot 100 . Bowie received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 12 February 1997. The Earthling Tour took place in Europe and North America between June and November. In November, Bowie performed on
9400-562: The UK Singles Chart in 1964 and 1965: " Rosalyn " No. 41, " Don't Bring Me Down " No. 10, and the self-penned "Honey I Need" at No. 13. They never had a hit in the United States, but had considerable success in their native United Kingdom and in Australia, New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands. Their appearance and behaviour were provocative, with May claiming to have the longest hair in
9588-469: The Ziggy Stardust Tour , Bowie was exhausted from the extensive touring schedule. His manager at the time, Tony Defries , was negotiating for larger royalties with Bowie's music publisher and recommended he not record any new compositions until negotiations were finished. Although he had intended his next project to be an adaptation of George Orwell 's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), he devised
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#17328587002449776-469: The lead single "Sorrow", featuring a cover of Jacques Brel 's " Amsterdam " as the B-side, on 12 October 1973; it had been delayed from its original release date of 28 September. The single was a commercial success, peaking at number three on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for 15 weeks, becoming one of his biggest hits. Pin Ups followed suit a week later on 19 October, issued with
9964-818: The 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle . He also continued acting; his roles included Major Jack Celliers in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth (1986), Phillip Jeffries in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Andy Warhol in the biopic Basquiat (1996), and Nikola Tesla in The Prestige (2006), among other film and television appearances and cameos. He ceased touring after 2004 and his last live performance
10152-552: The Arts Lab, Visconti on bass and Mick Ronson on electric guitar. Known as Hype , the bandmates created characters for themselves and wore elaborate costumes that prefigured the glam style of the Spiders from Mars. After a disastrous opening gig at the London Roundhouse , they reverted to a configuration presenting Bowie as a solo artist. Their initial studio work was marred by a heated disagreement between Bowie and Cambridge over
10340-584: The BBC's Children in Need charity single " Perfect Day ", which reached number one in the UK. Bowie reunited with Visconti in 1998 to record "(Safe in This) Sky Life" for The Rugrats Movie . Although the track was edited out of the final cut, it was later re-recorded and released as "Safe" on the B-side of Bowie's 2002 single " Everyone Says 'Hi' " . The reunion led to other collaborations with his old producer, including
10528-577: The Beatles worked on the White Album . In March 1968, drummer Skip Alan left the group. Twink replaced him to help the band to complete the album. In March 1969, the British music magazine NME reported that Motown Records vice-president Barney Ales had visited London to sign the Pretty Things as the U.S. label's first British act. S. F. Sorrow was commercially unsuccessful, with no immediate release in
10716-583: The Easybeats ' " Friday on My Mind ", the Merseys ' " Sorrow ", the Who 's " I Can't Explain " and " Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere ", and the Kinks ' " Where Have All the Good Times Gone ". Bowie had also considered re-recording his 1966 single " The London Boys " but the idea was discarded. The songs on Pin Ups feature the same arrangements as the originals, albeit performed in glam rock and proto-punk styles. Regarding this, Bowie explained: "We just took down
10904-425: The February 2001 and February 2003 concerts to support Tibet House US at Carnegie Hall in New York. In October 2001, Bowie opened the Concert for New York City , a charity event to benefit the victims of the September 11 attacks , with a minimalist performance of Simon & Garfunkel 's " America ", followed by a full band performance of " ' Heroes ' ". 2002 saw the release of Heathen , and, during
11092-461: The King Bees, was not commercially successful. Dissatisfied with the King Bees and their repertoire of Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon covers, Bowie quit the band less than a month later to join the Manish Boys, another blues outfit, who incorporated folk and soul—"I used to dream of being their Mick Jagger ", he recalled. Their cover of Bobby Bland 's " I Pity the Fool " was no more successful than "Liza Jane", and Bowie soon moved on again to join
11280-472: The Konrads and joined another band, the King Bees. He wrote to the newly successful washing-machine entrepreneur John Bloom inviting him to "do for us what Brian Epstein has done for the Beatles —and make another million." Bloom did not respond to the offer, but his referral to Dick James 's partner Leslie Conn led to Bowie's first personal management contract. Conn quickly began to promote Bowie. His debut single, " Liza Jane ", credited to Davie Jones with
11468-617: The Lower Third after the single's release, partly due to Horton's influence, and released two more singles for Pye, " Do Anything You Say " and " I Dig Everything ", both of which featured a new band called the Buzz, before signing with Deram Records . Around this time Bowie also joined the Riot Squad ; their recordings, which included one of Bowie's original songs and material by the Velvet Underground , went unreleased. Kenneth Pitt , introduced by Horton, took over as Bowie's manager. His April 1967 solo single, " The Laughing Gnome ", on which speeded-up and high-pitched vocals were used to portray
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#173285870024411656-461: The Lower Third, a blues trio strongly influenced by the Who . " You've Got a Habit of Leaving " fared no better, signalling the end of Conn's contract. Declaring that he would exit the pop music world "to study mime at Sadler's Wells ", Bowie nevertheless remained with the Lower Third. His new manager, Ralph Horton, later instrumental in his transition to solo artist, helped secure him a contract with Pye Records . Publicist Tony Hatch signed Bowie on
11844-414: The Pretty Things celebrated their 50th Anniversary Tour with dates in the UK and Europe. The band's studio album, The Sweet Pretty Things (Are in Bed Now, of Course...) , was released on 10 July 2015. This is the first album recorded with touring members Greenwood and Woosey. In 2018, the band announced that they were splitting up at the end of the year. All dates throughout 2018 were billed as part of
12032-405: The Queen singer's death the previous year. As well as performing " ' Heroes ' " and "All the Young Dudes", he was joined on "Under Pressure" by Annie Lennox , who took Mercury's vocal part; during his appearance, Bowie knelt and recited the Lord's Prayer at Wembley Stadium. Four days later, Bowie and Iman married in Switzerland. Intending to move to Los Angeles, they flew in to search for
12220-463: The Russian/Polish border for possessing Nazi paraphernalia. Matters came to a head in London in May in what became known as the " Victoria Station incident". Arriving in an open-top Mercedes convertible , Bowie waved to the crowd in a gesture that some alleged was a Nazi salute , which was captured on camera and published in NME . Bowie said the photographer caught him in mid-wave. He later blamed his pro-fascism comments and his behaviour during
12408-432: The Spiders, Bowie attempted to move on from his Ziggy persona. His back catalogue was now highly sought after: The Man Who Sold the World had been re-released in 1972 along with Space Oddity . Hunky Dory 's " Life on Mars? " was released in June 1973 and peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart . Entering the same chart in September, his 1967 novelty record "The Laughing Gnome" reached number six. Pin Ups ,
12596-418: The UK and Prince often causing chaos wherever he went. The band later blamed their lack of success in the US on the fact their management opted for a tour of the Southern Hemisphere in July–August 1965. During their two weeks in New Zealand, they caused so much outrage in the media that the New Zealand Parliament addressed the issue of granting entry permits to musicians such as the Pretty Things. The band
12784-605: The UK and number 20 in the US, and yielded the UK hit singles " Boys Keep Swinging " and " DJ ". Towards the end of the year, Bowie and Angie initiated divorce proceedings, and after months of court battles the marriage was ended in early 1980. The three albums were later adapted into classical music symphonies by American composer Philip Glass for his first , fourth and twelfth symphonies in 1992, 1997 and 2019, respectively. Glass praised Bowie's gift for creating "fairly complex pieces of music, masquerading as simple pieces". Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980) produced
12972-489: The UK chart and spawning three top 40 hits, including the top 10 single " Jump They Say ". Bowie explored new directions on The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), which began as a soundtrack album for the BBC television adaptation of Hanif Kureishi 's novel The Buddha of Suburbia before turning into a full album; only the title track " The Buddha of Suburbia " was used in the programme. Referencing his 1970s works with pop, jazz, ambient and experimental material, it received
13160-410: The UK chart, where it reached number two. Bowie himself did not promote it, instead touring with Pop as his keyboardist throughout March and April before recording Pop's follow-up, Lust for Life . Echoing Low ' s minimalist, instrumental approach, the second of the trilogy, "Heroes" (1977), incorporated pop and rock to a greater extent, seeing Bowie joined by guitarist Robert Fripp . It
13348-408: The UK. Dressed in a striking costume, his hair dyed reddish-brown, Bowie launched his Ziggy Stardust stage show with the Spiders from Mars —Ronson, Bolder, and Woodmansey—at the Toby Jug pub in Tolworth in Kingston upon Thames on 10 February 1972. The show was hugely popular, catapulting him to stardom as he toured the UK over the next six months and creating, as described by David Buckley,
13536-539: The UK. The Ziggy Stardust Tour continued to the United States. Bowie contributed backing vocals, keyboards and guitar to Reed's 1972 solo breakthrough Transformer , co-producing the album with Ronson. The following year, Bowie co-produced and mixed the Stooges ' album Raw Power alongside Iggy Pop. His own Aladdin Sane (1973) was his first UK number-one album. Described by Bowie as "Ziggy goes to America", it contained songs he wrote while travelling to and across
13724-518: The US during the earlier part of the Ziggy tour, which now continued to Japan to promote the new album. Aladdin Sane spawned the UK top five singles " The Jean Genie " and " Drive-In Saturday ". Bowie's love of acting led to his total immersion in the characters he created for his music. "Offstage I'm a robot. Onstage I achieve emotion. It's probably why I prefer dressing up as Ziggy to being David." With satisfaction came severe personal difficulties: acting
13912-467: The US release was instead titled Man of Words/Man of Music ; it was reissued internationally in 1972 by RCA Records as Space Oddity . Featuring philosophical post- hippie lyrics on peace, love and morality, its acoustic folk rock occasionally fortified by harder rock, the album was not a commercial success at the time. Bowie met Angela Barnett in April 1969. They married within a year. Her impact on him
14100-497: The US variety show Soul Train , earning him the distinction of being one of the first white artists to appear on the programme. The same year, Bowie fired Defries as his manager. At the culmination of the ensuing months-long legal dispute, he watched, as described by Sandford, "millions of dollars of his future earnings being surrendered" in what were "uniquely generous terms for Defries", then "shut himself up in West 20th Street, where for
14288-428: The United States. The work received only modest support from EMI , and its depressing narrative probably did not help sales. The American release, on Motown's Rare Earth Records label, came out more than a year late, leading to the impression that S. F. Sorrow was merely following the trend set by the Who's Tommy . 1969 saw the band feeling disillusioned by the failure of S. F. Sorrow and that June, Taylor left
14476-501: The Who , the Yardbirds and Pink Floyd . The album was recorded from July to August 1973 at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville , France following the completion of the Ziggy Stardust Tour . It was Bowie's final album co-produced with Ken Scott . Two members of the Spiders from Mars backing band contributed, guitarist Mick Ronson and bassist Trevor Bolder , while Mick Woodmansey
14664-548: The World ". The Pin Ups personnel contributed to the recording. Pin Ups was the first of two "1960s nostalgia" albums that Bowie had planned to release. The second would have contained Bowie covering his favourite American artists, but was never recorded. Rumoured tracks to have appeared for the project include the Stooges ' "No Fun", the Lovin' Spoonful 's " Summer in the City " and Roxy Music 's " Ladytron ". Bowie also considered making
14852-664: The accompanying video, renowned as one of the most innovative of all time. While Scary Monsters used principles established by the Berlin albums, it was considered by critics to be far more direct musically and lyrically. The album's hard rock edge included conspicuous guitar contributions from Fripp and Pete Townshend . Topping the UK Albums Chart for the first time since Diamond Dogs , Buckley writes that with Scary Monsters , Bowie achieved "the perfect balance" of creativity and mainstream success. Bowie paired with Queen in 1981 for
15040-425: The age of 15. Playing guitar-based rock and roll at local youth gatherings and weddings, the Konrads had a varying line-up of between four and eight members, Underwood among them. When Bowie left the technical school the following year, he informed his parents of his intention to become a pop star. His mother arranged his employment as an electrician's mate. Frustrated by his bandmates' limited aspirations, Bowie left
15228-452: The album "unsatisfying, too cluttered musically and over-produced". A writer for Sounds magazine also reacted negatively, declaring that Bowie "used R&B as a prop, not a springboard". In Christgau's Record Guide , veteran critic Robert Christgau found the idea of the record good, but its overall execution subpar. On the other hand, Billboard responded positively, stating that, "there's humor in this music if you want to take it as
15416-458: The album and tour—rhythm guitarist Carlos Alomar , bassist George Murray and drummer Dennis Davis —continued as a stable unit for the remainder of the 1970s. Bowie performed on stage as the Thin White Duke. The tour was highly successful but mired in political controversy. Bowie was quoted in Stockholm as saying that "Britain could benefit from a Fascist leader", and was detained by customs on
15604-428: The album as an experiment in nostalgia , which Doggett states "was already emerging as one of the dominant themes of the early seventies". Furthermore, Pegg writes that "it remains perhaps glam rock's most cogent expression of its own inherent nostalgia, an affectionate reminder of the process that had led to the charts of 1973." Meanwhile, Buckley states that the album "began an era of pop archeology" and that it "came at
15792-440: The album explored more serious subjects, and found Bowie paying unusually direct homage to his influences with " Song for Bob Dylan ", " Andy Warhol " and " Queen Bitch ", the latter a Velvet Underground pastiche. His first release through RCA, it was a commercial failure, partly due lack of promotion from the label. Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits covered the album's track " Oh! You Pretty Things ", which reached number 12 in
15980-431: The album was released by Esoteric Recordings on 30 April 2012. Tolson died in April 2016. On 30 April 2012, a re-imagining of S. F. Sorrow , entitled Sorrow's Children and featuring covers by contemporary bands of each track, was released on Fruits de Mer Records , only on vinyl and in a limited edition of 700. The album included an interview with May and Taylor, and had a live version of "Loneliest Person". The latter
16168-529: The album went platinum in both the UK and the US. Its three singles became top 20 hits in both countries, where its title track reached number one. " Modern Love " and " China Girl " each made number two in the UK, accompanied by a pair of "absorbing" music videos that Buckley said "activated key archetypes in the pop world... 'Let's Dance', with its little narrative surrounding the young Aboriginal couple, targeted 'youth', and 'China Girl', with its bare-bummed (and later partially censored) beach lovemaking scene...
16356-534: The album were recorded by guitarist Pete Tolson before the arrival of a new bass player, Jack Green , who only contributed backing vocals. Silk Torpedo was the first British album release on Zeppelin's own label Swan Song . It charted in the lower reaches of the Billboard Hot 100, for the first time in the band's history. Jimmy Page later remarked: "The Pretty Things were a band that were really changing their music and had done because they probably did one of
16544-438: The album's musical influence, stating that Bowie's version of "Here Comes the Night" was a forerunner in the post-punk and new wave sound of the late 1970s and early 1980s, presaging songs such as Culture Club 's " Karma Chameleon " (1983). Furthermore, he contests that "Here Comes the Night" foreshadowed the soul oriented directions of Young Americans (1975) and Station to Station (1976), while "See Emily Play" evokes
16732-579: The album, was to cement Bowie's UK breakthrough: both single and album charted rapidly following his July Top of the Pops performance of the song. The album, which remained in the chart for two years, was soon joined there by the six-month-old Hunky Dory . At the same time, the non-album single " John, I'm Only Dancing " and " All the Young Dudes ", a song he wrote and produced for Mott the Hoople , were successful in
16920-540: The announcement in advance. The two were also unhappy upon discovering pianist Mike Garson , who joined the tour after Aladdin Sane , was being paid more than them. Shortly after the tour's end, Woodmansey was fired by Garson over a phone call. For the recording of the covers album, Bowie brought back Garson, Ronson and the Aladdin Sane players Ken Fordham and Geoffrey MacCormack . Session drummer Aynsley Dunbar replaced Woodmansey and Bolder returned after Jack Bruce of
17108-401: The avant-garde experimentations of the artist's late 1970s Berlin Trilogy . Being a collection of cover versions, it will never have the compelling allure of [Bowie's] other 1970s work, but [ Pin Ups ] remains a superb, energetic and greatly underrated throwaway, showcasing a band of musicians operating at the height of their powers. — Nicholas Pegg , 2016 Some biographers have analysed
17296-562: The band Cream declined. Pin Ups was Bowie's tribute to bands that had inspired him as a teenager. Bowie later explained: "These are all bands which I used to go and hear play down the Marquee between 1964 and 1967. I've got all these records back at home." According to the biographer Chris O'Leary, he chose the tracks by "going through a stack of 45s in his rooms at the Hyde Park Hotel before leaving for France". The musician Scott Richardson,
17484-483: The band recruited a sixth member, Gordon John Edwards (born 26 December 1946, Southport , Lancashire ). A versatile musician, Edwards could play the guitar as well as the keyboards, and he also sang. In 1974, Pretty Things were one of the first acts signed by Swan Song Records , the label created by Led Zeppelin , and Peter Grant became their manager. Stuart Brooks left the band before the recording of their first album for Swan Song, Silk Torpedo . The bass lines on
17672-419: The band. A new line-up emerged around May and Taylor with Frank Holland on guitar, Jack Greenwood on drums and George Woosey on bass. In June 2009, May, Taylor, Waller, Povey and Alan reunited to receive the "Heroes" award at the annual Mojo Awards ceremony. Waller, Povey, Alan and Tolson reunited in the middle of 2010 to re-record Parachute , to commemorate its 40th anniversary. Using the byline 'The XPTs',
17860-508: The basic chord structures and worked from there ... Some of them don't even need any working on – like 'Rosalyn' for example. But most of the arranging I have done by myself and Mick, and Aynsley too." The author Peter Doggett writes that only two tracks, "I Wish You Would" and "See Emily Play", contained varied arrangements from the originals. Pin Ups was recorded at the Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville , France, in sessions lasting for three weeks from July to August 1973. The venue
18048-572: The basis that he wrote his own songs. Dissatisfied with Davy (and Davie) Jones, which in the mid-1960s invited confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees , he took on the stage name David Bowie after the 19th-century American pioneer James Bowie and the knife he had popularised . His first release under the name was the January 1966 single " Can't Help Thinking About Me ", recorded with the Lower Third. It flopped like its predecessors. Bowie departed
18236-452: The best covers album ever in 2023. Eder states that today it is still dismissed by many as just another covers album, including Wolk, who in 2015 described it as "quick-and-sloppy". Pin Ups has been reissued several times, on vinyl and other media. The album was first released on compact disc by RCA in the mid-1980s. In 1990, it was reissued by Rykodisc with two bonus tracks: a cover of Bruce Springsteen 's " Growin' Up " (recorded during
18424-428: The best covers albums. It has been reissued numerous times and was remastered in 2015 as part of the box set Five Years (1969–1973) . By 1973, David Bowie was at his commercial peak. At the end of July, five of his six albums were in the top 40 and three were in the top 15. Bowie's most recent LP, Aladdin Sane , came out in April, but his label, RCA Records , wanted a new album by Christmas. Having just completed
18612-407: The best singles way back in the day with 'Rosalyn'. That's wild! That's serious! And then they'd gone through S. F. Sorrow and the music that they were doing on Swan Song was incredible. It was the sort of band that, when someone said, 'Oh, some tapes have come in,' I was keen to hear what they'd done, because it was always so good! Good writing, good performance from everybody. A fine band." During
18800-461: The book Moonage Daydream : "I chose the performance photos for the back cover as they were favourite Rock shots of mine. I also did the back cover layout with the colour combination of red writing on blue as it again hinted at Sixties psychedelia." A discarded idea for the sleeve came from photographer Alan Motz, who "wanted to shoot Bowie metamorphosing into an animal". This idea would be used for Bowie's next album, Diamond Dogs (1974). RCA issued
18988-534: The catalogue number RS 1003, only six months after his previous album Aladdin Sane . On the album sleeve, Bowie was simply referred to as "Bowie". In America, the advertising campaign read: " Pin Ups means favourites, and these are Bowie's favourite songs. It's the kind of music your parents will never let you play loud enough!" The album's release coincided with former Roxy Music singer Bryan Ferry 's covers album These Foolish Things . As Ferry had recorded his album weeks before Bowie began work on Pin Ups , Ferry
19176-539: The chords from Bowie's early composition "All the Young Dudes" played backwards, and "Red Money" took backing tracks from The Idiot 's "Sister Midnight". The album was recorded in Switzerland and New York City. Ahead of its release, RCA's Mel Ilberman described it as "a concept album that portrays the Lodger as a homeless wanderer, shunned and victimized by life's pressures and technology." Lodger reached number four in
19364-479: The cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station . In 1977, he again changed direction with the electronic -inflected album Low , the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno that came to be known as the Berlin Trilogy . "Heroes" (1977) and Lodger (1979) followed; each album reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in
19552-537: The debut The Pretty Things ( UK Albums Chart #6) and S. F. Sorrow (the first rock opera ), four EPs and 15 UK singles, including the Top 20 UK Singles Chart " Don't Bring Me Down " and " Honey I Need ". They reformed later in 1971 and continued through to 1976 issuing three more studio albums, and reformed once again from 1979 to 2020 releasing another five studio albums finalising with Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood . The group were formed by vocalist Phil May , who
19740-508: The decade was 1987's Never Let Me Down , where he ditched the light sound of his previous two albums, instead combining pop rock with a harder rock sound. Peaking at number six in the UK, the album yielded the hits " Day-In Day-Out ", " Time Will Crawl " and " Never Let Me Down ". Bowie later described it as his "nadir", calling it "an awful album". He supported the album on the 86-concert Glass Spider Tour . The backing band included Peter Frampton on lead guitar. Contemporary critics maligned
19928-412: The decades." Despite mixed reactions overall, some publications have praised Pin Ups as a covers album, calling it one of the finest in the genre. Pierre Perrone of The Independent and the writers of NME would classify Pin Ups as one of the best cover albums in 2013 and 2019, respectively, with the former describing it as "[t]he covers album that launched a thousand copycats." Radio X called it
20116-459: The dress with him and wore it during interviews, to the approval of critics – including Rolling Stone ' s John Mendelsohn , who described him as "ravishing, almost disconcertingly reminiscent of Lauren Bacall ". During the tour, Bowie's observation of two seminal American proto-punk artists led him to develop a concept that eventually found form in the Ziggy Stardust character:
20304-519: The drumstool in time for the band's return to Abbey Road to start work on Parachute , which kept the psychedelic sound. Shortly before the release of Parachute , Unitt left to rejoin the Edgar Broughton Band and was replaced by Pete Tolson, former guitarist for Eire Apparent . Despite much stage work and acclaim, their records were still failing to sell at all well. With Tolson, they released two singles before disbanding in mid-1971. During
20492-419: The effort, Pin Ups remains a slight affair." In the context of Bowie's entire career, Eder views Pin Ups as an artistic statement, in that it represented a "swan song" for the Spiders from Mars and an "interlude" between the first and second phases of his international career, with his next album Diamond Dogs being the end of his glam rock era: "It's not a bad bridge between the two, and it has endured across
20680-500: The end of the following year, Bowie had taken up the ukulele and tea-chest bass , begun to participate in skiffle sessions with friends, and had started to play the piano; meanwhile, his stage presentation of numbers by both Presley and Chuck Berry —complete with gyrations in tribute to the original artists—to his local Wolf Cub group was described as "mesmerizing ... like someone from another planet". Having encouraged his son to follow his dreams of being an entertainer since he
20868-490: The establishment of Rock Against Racism . In August 1976, Bowie moved to West Berlin with his old friend Iggy Pop to rid themselves of their respective drug addictions and escape the spotlight. Bowie's interest in German krautrock and the ambient works of multi-instrumentalist Brian Eno culminated in the first of three albums, co-produced with Visconti, that became known as the Berlin Trilogy . The album, Low (1977),
21056-951: The film Stealth . He returned to the stage on 8 September 2005, appearing with Arcade Fire for the US nationally televised event Fashion Rocks, and performed with the Canadian band for the second time a week later during the CMJ Music Marathon. He contributed backing vocals on TV on the Radio 's song "Province" for their album Return to Cookie Mountain , and joined with Lou Reed on Danish alt-rockers Kashmir 's 2005 album No Balance Palace . Pretty Things Pretty Things were an English rock band formed in September 1963 in Sidcup, Kent , taking their name from Bo Diddley 's 1955 song " Pretty Thing ", and active in their first incarnation until 1971. They released five studio albums, including
21244-457: The gnome, failed to chart. Released six weeks later, his album debut, David Bowie , an amalgam of pop, psychedelia and music hall , met the same fate. It was his last release for two years. In September, Bowie recorded " Let Me Sleep Beside You " and " Karma Man ", both rejected by Deram and left unreleased until 1970. The tracks marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer Tony Visconti which, with large gaps, lasted for
21432-487: The group. Pretty Things recruited guitarist Victor Unitt from the Edgar Broughton Band to replace Taylor. During the summer of 1969, they recorded an album for a young French millionaire Philippe DeBarge, which was intended only to be circulated among his social circle. The acetate has since been bootlegged . In 2010, it was picked up by Mike Stax, owner of 1960s music magazine Ugly Things . He unearthed one of
21620-405: The hard rock quartet Tin Machine . The line-up was completed by bassist and drummer Tony and Hunt Sales , who had played with Bowie on Iggy Pop's Lust for Life in 1977. Although he intended Tin Machine to operate as a democracy, Bowie dominated, both in songwriting and in decision-making. The band's 1989 self-titled debut album received mixed reviews and, according to author Paul Trynka ,
21808-555: The high-budget stage production was filmed by Alan Yentob . The resulting documentary, Cracked Actor , featured a pasty and emaciated Bowie: the tour coincided with his slide from heavy cocaine use into addiction, producing severe physical debilitation, paranoia and emotional problems. He later commented that the accompanying live album, David Live , ought to have been titled "David Bowie Is Alive and Well and Living Only in Theory". David Live nevertheless solidified Bowie's status as
21996-478: The horror film The Monster Club (1981). Throughout the 1980s, May and Taylor kept the band's name alive with a rotating cast of supporting musicians, touring extensively in continental Europe, especially Germany where they retained a loyal fanbase. In 1987, they released Out of the Island , a live-in-the-studio album consisting of new recordings of songs from their catalogue which was their first CD release. They did
22184-499: The late 1960s, the group made some extra money by recording for music library company DeWolfe. Some of these songs ended up in low-budget films including What's Good for the Goose (1969) (which the band also appeared in), The Haunted House of Horror (1969), Dawn of the Dead (1978), and a couple of softcore porn films. Not intended for official release, these songs were later compiled on
22372-399: The late 1970s, Bowie had three number-one hits: the 1980 single " Ashes to Ashes ", its album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) and " Under Pressure " (a 1981 collaboration with Queen ). He achieved his greatest commercial success in the 1980s with Let's Dance (1983). Between 1988 and 1992, he fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine before resuming his solo career in 1993. Throughout
22560-426: The late 1970s, died on 28 February 2003 due to depression-related suicide. In 1999, they released the studio album Rage Before Beauty and in the early 2000s, they released several compilation albums , a live album and DVD . In 2003, Alan Lakey's biography of the band, Growing Old Disgracefully , was published by Firefly. The book dealt with the long and involved history of the band, and paid special attention to
22748-493: The latter's drumming style, leading to his replacement by Mick Woodmansey . Not long after, Bowie fired his manager and replaced him with Tony Defries . This resulted in years of litigation that concluded with Bowie having to pay Pitt compensation. The studio sessions continued and resulted in Bowie's third album, The Man Who Sold the World (1970), which contained references to schizophrenia, paranoia and delusion. It represented
22936-645: The legal case, the result being that in 1993 EMI gave them back all their master tapes, copyrights and an undisclosed sum of money as settlement. This dispute is covered in detail in Alan Lakey’s biography Growing Old Disgracefully. On friendly terms again, the 1967 line-up decided to return with the addition of Pete Tolson, Taylor's replacement in 1970, just like they had done in 1980 on Cross Talk . After much rehearsal, Tolson grew disillusioned and quit with Frank Holland taking Tolson's place. Their label, Snapper Music, issued remastered CDs with many bonus tracks, plus
23124-497: The legal proceedings issued against EMI in the 1990s. Skip Alan suffered heart problems in 2001 restricting his commitment to the band, with Mark St. John (real name Anthony Ibbotsen and not to be confused with former KISS / White Tiger guitarist of the same name) deputising on the drums as required. In mid-2007, the Pretty Things released their eleventh studio album Balboa Island on Zoho Roots . Disillusionment with manager St John meant Waller and Povey were unable to continue with
23312-411: The minimalist, ambient nature of its two predecessors, making a partial return to the drum- and guitar-based rock and pop of his pre-Berlin era. The result was a complex mixture of new wave and world music , in places incorporating Hijaz non-Western scales . Some tracks were composed using Eno's Oblique Strategies cards: "Boys Keep Swinging" entailed band members swapping instruments, "Move On" used
23500-621: The most fiercely original of all England's glam rockers, so an album of covers didn't make any sense and was especially confusing for American fans," further criticising the song choices as unknown. Eder did praise Bowie's cover of "Sorrow" as a "distinct improvement" over the original. More positively, Dave Thompson called Pin Ups "the underrated classic in David Bowie’s glam-era crown". Bowie's biographers have given Pin Ups mixed reactions. Buckley describes it as "uneven but beloved by many". O'Leary attributes its "scattershot feel" and "lack of
23688-593: The new record label, Victory , deemed the cover "a show of wrong, obscene images" and airbrushed the statues' genitalia for the American release. Tin Machine toured again, but after the live album Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby (1992) failed commercially, Bowie dissolved the band and resumed his solo career. He continued to collaborate with Gabrels for the rest of the 1990s. On 20 April 1992, Bowie appeared at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert , following
23876-520: The number one single " Ashes to Ashes ", featuring the textural guitar-synthesiser work of Chuck Hammer and revisiting the character of Major Tom from "Space Oddity". The song gave international exposure to the underground New Romantic movement when Bowie visited the London club "Blitz"—the main New Romantic hangout—to recruit several of the regulars (including Steve Strange of the band Visage ) to act in
24064-512: The period on his cocaine addiction, the character of the Thin White Duke and his life living in Los Angeles, a city he later said "should be wiped off the face of the Earth". He later apologised for these statements, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s criticised racism in European politics and the American music industry. Nevertheless, his comments on fascism, as well as Eric Clapton 's alcohol-fuelled denunciations of Pakistani immigrants in 1976, led to
24252-410: The photograph, as they did not want a man appearing on their front cover, so Bowie opted to use it as the album cover instead; de Villeneuve later recalled Vogue being infuriated by the decision. The original LP's rear sleeve featured two photos by photographer Mick Rock , one of a concert shot from the Ziggy tour and another of Bowie wearing a double-breasted suit cradling a saxophone. Bowie wrote in
24440-407: The record failed to live up to expectations and predicted that "unless he puts a banger under his own behind, I can foresee nothing but artistic frustration for Bowie in the next few years." Loraine Alterman of The New York Times was also negative, saying the album "suffers from too much style and technique and not enough musical substance". Discussing Pin Ups as a whole, Record Mirror found
24628-422: The recording of Savage Eye , the follow-up to Silk Torpedo , tensions arose between the members of the band, with May finding himself at odds with newcomers Edwards and Green over the band direction and writing credits . After the release of Savage Eye , May did not show up at a major London gig, and he was fired soon after. Alan, Edwards, Green and Tolson tried to form a new band called Metropolis, but Swan Song
24816-471: The recording sessions at a Paris studio by Twiggy's then-manager and partner Justin de Villeneuve ; he recalled in 2010: "Twiggy and I had first heard David mention her on Aladdin Sane ... We loved the album so much I called David and asked him if he would like to do a shoot with Twiggy. He jumped at the idea." Twiggy recalled in her autobiography In Black and White that she was "really quite nervous" meeting Bowie, but "he immediately put me at ease. He
25004-455: The release of two tracks from an upcoming "stripped back, acoustic-driven" album recorded by May, Taylor, and Mark St. John before May's death. The album, Bare as Bone, Bright as Blood , was released in September 2020. On 9 May 2023, Jon Povey died at the age of 80. Influenced by Bo Diddley , Pretty Things were a key part of London's blues rock scene and a beat , R&B , rock and roll and garage rock band. From 1967 to 1975,
25192-524: The rest of Bowie's career. Studying the dramatic arts under Lindsay Kemp , from avant-garde theatre and mime to commedia dell'arte , Bowie became immersed in the creation of personae to present to the world. Satirising life in a British prison, his composition "Over the Wall We Go" became a 1967 single for Oscar ; another Bowie song, " Silly Boy Blue ", was released by Billy Fury the following year. Playing acoustic guitar, Hermione Farthingale formed
25380-504: The rest of the 1960s, building his own Bryan Morrison Agency. This agency represented Pink Floyd among many other bands. Forming a partnership with songwriter Jimmy Duncan, he got the Pretty Things a recording contract with Fontana Records in early 1964. At this point, Viv Andrews was replaced by Viv Prince , a more experienced drummer who had played with Carter-Lewis and the Southerners . Pretty Things' first three singles appeared in
25568-619: The same role over an extended period, it became impossible for him to separate Ziggy Stardust—and later, the Thin White Duke—from his own character offstage. Ziggy, Bowie said, "wouldn't leave me alone for years. That was when it all started to go sour ... My whole personality was affected. It became very dangerous. I really did have doubts about my sanity." His later Ziggy shows, which included songs from both Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane , were ultra-theatrical affairs filled with shocking stage moments, such as Bowie stripping down to
25756-475: The school's most gifted pupils to the arts, a regime so liberal that Frampton actively encouraged his own son, Peter , to pursue a musical career with David, a partnership briefly intact thirty years later. Bowie's maternal half-brother, Terry Burns, was a substantial influence on his early life. Burns, who was 10 years older than Bowie, had schizophrenia and seizures , and lived alternately at home and in psychiatric wards; while living with Bowie, he introduced
25944-569: The second half of the year, the Heathen Tour . Taking place in Europe and North America, the tour opened at London's annual Meltdown festival, for which Bowie was that year appointed artistic director. Among the acts he selected for the festival were Philip Glass, Television and the Dandy Warhols . As well as songs from the new album, the tour featured material from Bowie's Low era. Reality (2003) followed, and its accompanying world tour,
26132-661: The sessions for Diamond Dogs and featuring Ronnie Wood on guitar) and "Amsterdam", the B-side to "Sorrow". This reissue charted at number 52 on the UK Albums Chart for one week in July 1990. It was remastered in 1999 by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios for EMI and Virgin Records , and issued on CD with no bonus tracks. It was again remastered in 2015 for inclusion on the box set Five Years 1969–1973 by Parlophone and rereleased separately, in 2015–2016, in CD, vinyl and digital formats. Pin Ups
26320-484: The songs as generally inferior to their original counterparts. In Rolling Stone , Greg Shaw was unfavorable, believing that all the tracks were underproduced and Bowie's vocal performance was the album's "true failure", further saying his "excessively mannered voice" was "a ridiculously weak mismatch for the material" and that they were mixed too high to give the tracks the "edge" or "punch" they need to be effective. He concludes his review by saying, "while Pin Ups may be
26508-595: The studio". A version of the Velvet Underground 's " White Light/White Heat " was recorded during the sessions but went unreleased; Bowie donated the backing track to Ronson for his 1975 solo album Play Don't Worry . The Beach Boys ' " God Only Knows " was also attempted during the sessions, but was left abandoned. The sessions were put on hold in mid-July for the recording of the Scottish singer Lulu 's covers of Bowie's tracks " Watch That Man " and " The Man Who Sold
26696-410: The studio, he tuned everybody's instruments, he worked on all the arrangements ... [he had] a tremendous burden on him;" he also grew wary of his future after the collapse of the Spiders. Scott was facing personal issues on top of pressure from his management company to leave over MainMan not paying him royalties, while Bowie had, in O'Leary's words, an "increasingly remote and truculent attitude in
26884-552: The time David arrived in 1958, as rich in arcane ritual as any [English] public school . There were houses named after eighteenth-century statesmen like Pitt and Wilberforce . There was a uniform and an elaborate system of rewards and punishments. There was also an accent on languages, science and particularly design, where a collegiate atmosphere flourished under the tutorship of Owen Frampton . In David's account, Frampton led through force of personality, not intellect; his colleagues at Bromley Tech were famous for neither and yielded
27072-465: The title track on Marc Bolan's television show Marc , and again two days later for Bing Crosby 's final CBS television Christmas special, when he joined Crosby in " Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy ", a version of " The Little Drummer Boy " with a new, contrapuntal verse. RCA belatedly released the recording as a single five years later in 1982, charting in the UK at number three. After completing Low and "Heroes" , Bowie spent much of 1978 on
27260-476: The tour as overproduced, saying it pandered to the current stadium rock trends in its special effects and dancing, although in later years critics acknowledged the tour's strengths and influence on concert tours by other artists, such as Prince , Madonna and U2 . Wanting to completely rejuvenate himself following the critical failures of Tonight and Never Let Me Down , Bowie placed his solo career on hold after meeting guitarist Reeves Gabrels and formed
27448-424: The tour were cancelled. In the years following his recuperation from the heart attack, Bowie reduced his musical output, making only one-off appearances on stage and in the studio. He sang in a duet of his 1971 song " Changes " with Butterfly Boucher for the 2004 animated film Shrek 2 . During a relatively quiet 2005, he recorded the vocals for the song "(She Can) Do That", co-written with Brian Transeau , for
27636-467: The two acetates and had it mixed and mastered and then as a piece de resistance , had the classic Pretty Things line-up, which Dick Taylor had just left at the time of the recording of the tracks with DeBarge, record a song entitled "Monsieur Rock" ( Ballad of Philippe ) a bonus track for this release on Ugly Things UTCD-2207. Twink left at the end of 1969 to form the Pink Fairies . Skip Alan returned to
27824-596: The younger man to many of his lifelong influences, such as modern jazz , Buddhism , Beat poetry and the occult . In addition to Burns, a significant proportion of Bowie's extended family members had schizophrenia spectrum disorders , including an aunt who was institutionalised and another who underwent a lobotomy ; this has been labelled as an influence on his early work. Bowie studied art, music and design, including layout and typesetting. After Burns introduced him to modern jazz, his enthusiasm for players like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane led his mother to give him
28012-490: Was 50,000 more than Aladdin Sane . Upon release, it spent 39 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at number one, remaining there for five weeks, matching the performance of Aladdin Sane . It brought the total number of Bowie albums concurrently on the UK chart to six. In the US, the album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart and remained on the chart for 21 weeks. O'Leary writes that Pin Ups
28200-404: Was a bit apprehensive, but Bowie's record turned out to be very different. I myself was always very anxious to be different from other people ... and to forge my own furrow." In the event, both albums were released as planned and charted on the same day, 3 November 1973. In the UK, Pin Ups came at the height of Bowie's popularity there. The album had advance copies of 150,000, which
28388-436: Was a contractual obligation produced by Steve Rowland and the subject of controversy, since Emotions was laden with brass and string arrangements arranged by Reg Tilsley. EMI producer Norman Smith expressed interest in working with them and at the end of September 1967, the Pretty Things signed to EMI's Columbia label . In November 1967 they released "Defecting Grey", a psychedelic effort that failed to sell. This
28576-509: Was a toddler, in the late 1950s David's father took him to meet singers and other performers preparing for the Royal Variety Performance , introducing him to Alma Cogan and Tommy Steele . After taking his eleven-plus exam at the conclusion of his Burnt Ash Junior education, Bowie went to Bromley Technical High School . It was an unusual technical school, as biographer Christopher Sandford wrote: Despite its status it was, by
28764-477: Was an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, particularly for his innovative work during the 1970s. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, and his music and stagecraft has had a significant impact on popular music . Bowie developed an interest in music from an early age. He studied art, music and design before embarking on
28952-487: Was an ever-present until his death in 2020, and guitarist Dick Taylor , who left before the end of their first incarnation but rejoined for the entirety of the third, with John Stax (bass), Brian Pendleton (guitar) and Pete Kitley who was replaced on drums by Viv Prince before any recording began. There have been many personnel changes with Peter Tolson (guitar), Jon Povey (keyboards) and Skip Alan (drums) being involved in all three incarnations, while bassist Wally Waller
29140-419: Was an extension of Thomas Jerome Newton, the extraterrestrial being he portrayed in the film The Man Who Fell to Earth the same year. Developing the funk and soul of Young Americans , Station to Station ' s synthesiser-heavy arrangements were influenced by electronic and German krautrock . Bowie's cocaine addiction during this period was at its peak; he often did not sleep for three to four days at
29328-438: Was annoyed at the perceived copying of his project, calling it a "rip-off". According to Sandford, he allegedly went to his label Island Records to request they file an injunction to prevent Pin Ups from being released before These Foolish Things . Instead, O'Leary writes that Bowie phoned Ferry to inform him of Pin Ups and requested permission to record a Roxy Music song. Ferry later told biographer David Buckley, "At first I
29516-424: Was at a charity event in 2006. He returned from a decade-long recording hiatus in 2013 with The Next Day and remained musically active until his death from liver cancer in 2016. He died two days after both his 69th birthday and the release of his final album, Blackstar . During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at over 100 million worldwide, made him one of the best-selling musicians of all time . He
29704-565: Was born on 8 January 1947 in Brixton , London. His mother, Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns), was born at Shorncliffe Army Camp near Cheriton , Kent. Her paternal grandparents were Irish immigrants who had settled in Manchester . She worked as a waitress at a cinema in Royal Tunbridge Wells . His father, Haywood Stenton "John" Jones, was from Doncaster , Yorkshire, and worked as
29892-510: Was chosen after being recommended by Marc Bolan , whose band T. Rex who had just recorded Tanx there. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and marked the final collaboration between the two. According to O'Leary, rehearsing consisted of playing the band the original track a few times before recording began. Tensions were high during the sessions. Bolder, believing he was unwanted, recorded his bass parts quickly and left. Richardson recalled Ronson overworking himself: "He did everything in
30080-418: Was considered "adequate" by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder . At the age of nine, his dancing during the newly introduced music and movement classes was strikingly imaginative: teachers called his interpretations "vividly artistic" and his poise "astonishing" for a child. The same year, his interest in music was further stimulated when his father brought home
30268-515: Was essentially a "new Bowie album" in America since only three of the original tracks that were released as singles had reached the top 40. Sandford writes that by Christmas 1973, the album was selling 30,000 copies a week. Upon release of the massive commercially successful Let's Dance (1983), Pin Ups returned to the UK chart again, peaking at number 57. Pin Ups received primarily negative reviews from music critics on release, with many criticising
30456-509: Was everything I could have hoped for and more". During the shoot, Bowie and Twiggy had different skin tones, which Aladdin Sane make-up designer Pierre Laroche balanced out using make-up masks. Twiggy found the final result "enigmatic and strange", later calling it one of her favourite images and "possibly the most widely distributed photograph ever taken of me". The photo was originally slated to appear in Vogue magazine, who were apprehensive towards
30644-406: Was expecting another success following Young Americans and Station to Station . Bowie's former manager Tony Defries, who maintained a significant financial interest in Bowie's affairs, had tried to prevent the album from being released. Upon its release in January 1977, Low yielded the UK number three single " Sound and Vision ", and its own performance surpassed that of Station to Station in
30832-662: Was followed three months later by a double A-side single, "Talking About the Good Times" / "Walking Through My Dreams". That single marked the beginning of sessions for the S. F. Sorrow album. Released in December 1968, it was the first rock opera , preceding the release of the Who 's Tommy in May 1969. It was recorded between December 1967 and September 1968 at the Abbey Road Studios , while Pink Floyd were working on A Saucerful of Secrets (also produced by Norman Smith) and
31020-439: Was given during the tour. Bowie later covered "I Took a Trip on a Gemini Space Ship" on 2002's Heathen . Hunky Dory (1971) found Visconti supplanted in both roles by Ken Scott producing and Trevor Bolder on bass. It again featured a stylistic shift towards art pop and melodic pop rock , with light fare tracks such as " Kooks ", a song written for his son, Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones , born on 30 May. Elsewhere,
31208-407: Was immediate—he wrote his 1970 single " The Prettiest Star " for her —and her involvement in his career far-reaching, leaving Pitt with limited influence which he found frustrating. Having established himself as a solo artist with "Space Oddity", Bowie desired a full-time band he could record with and could relate to personally. The band Bowie assembled comprised John Cambridge, a drummer Bowie met at
31396-676: Was involved in the first and third. The group recorded stock music for film soundtracks which were issued as the Electric Banana series of albums, and collaborated with other artists and bands in the 1990s, such as Pretty Things & the Yardbird Blues Band, and Pretty Things 'N Mates . Pretty Things were preceded by Little Boy Blue and the Blue Boys, which consisted of Dick Taylor , fellow Sidcup Art College student Keith Richards , and Mick Jagger , among others. When Brian Jones
31584-720: Was joined in playing his songs and those of his guests, Lou Reed, Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters , Robert Smith of the Cure , Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins , Black Francis of the Pixies , and Sonic Youth . Incorporating experiments in jungle and drum 'n' bass , Earthling (1997) was a critical and commercial success in the UK and the US, and two singles from the album—" Little Wonder " and " Dead Man Walking "—became UK top 40 hits. The song " I'm Afraid of Americans " from
31772-441: Was never actually banned from re-entering New Zealand, contrary to what can be read in some sources. The first of what would be many personnel changes over the years also began, with Prince, whose wild antics had become too much for the other members to endure, being the first to go in November 1965. He was replaced by Skip Alan . In early 1966, the band made a short film The Pretty Things on Film ; it featured live footage and
31960-561: Was not interested in offering them a contract and they went their separate ways. Edwards briefly joined the Kinks for their Misfits tour, while Green became a member of Rainbow for a few weeks before launching a solo career. The 1967 line-up of Alan, May, Povey, Taylor and Waller reformed in 1978 for a one-off gig in the Netherlands. Adding Pete Tolson, the six-piece recorded Cross Talk for Warner Bros. Records in 1980. The new wave sounds did not improve their sales figures, and Pretty Things split up again in 1981, after an appearance in
32148-453: Was now in a healthy enough mental condition to want to make friends." Recordings from the tour made up the live album Stage , released the same year. Bowie also recorded narration for an adaptation of Sergei Prokofiev 's classical composition Peter and the Wolf , which was released as an album in May 1978. The final piece in what Bowie called his " triptych ", Lodger (1979), eschewed
32336-462: Was once again playing guitar, with May singing and playing harmonica . They recruited John Stax on bass and harmonica, Brian Pendleton on rhythm guitar, and Pete Kitley on drums. Kitley was soon replaced by Viv Andrews, also known as Viv Broughton . Bryan Morrison , a fellow student at the Art College where May and Taylor studied, was recruited as their manager. Morrison was to manage them for
32524-468: Was out of place coming off of Aladdin Sane , but stated, "For what it is, it's quite good". Following Bowie's death in 2016 , Bryan Wawzenek of Ultimate Classic Rock ranked all of his 26 studio albums from worst to best, placing Pin Ups at number 21. He praised the song choices as "excellent", describing "Sorrow" as the highlight. However, he found that Bowie went "way, way, way over the top" on every other track. He concluded by stating: "In spite of all
32712-461: Was quickly dismissed as "pompous, dogmatic and dull". EMI complained of "lyrics that preach" as well as "repetitive tunes" and "minimalist or no production". It reached number three in the UK and was supported by a twelve-date tour . The tour was a commercial success, but there was growing reluctance—among fans and critics alike—to accept Bowie's presentation as merely a band member. A series of Tin Machine singles failed to chart, and Bowie, after
32900-415: Was recorded at their gig at London's 100 Club in December 2010, at which they played the whole of their first album. In 2012, the band returned to New Zealand for the first time since the bad publicity of 1965. They also toured Australia and were reunited with original bass player, John Stax, for their Melbourne shows. This was the first time May, Taylor and Stax had played together since 1967. In 2013
33088-483: Was recorded in France and took influence from krautrock and experimental music and featured both short song-fragments and ambient instrumentals. Before its recording, Bowie produced Iggy Pop's debut solo album The Idiot , described by Pegg as "a stepping stone between Station to Station and Low ". Low was completed in November, but left unreleased for three months. RCA did not see the album as commercially viable and
33276-506: Was recruiting for his own band, all three joined Brian and Ian Stewart and were dubbed " Rollin' Stones " by Jones in June 1962. Because there were too many guitar players in the band, Taylor switched to bass. He quit the Stones five months later, when he was accepted at the Central School of Art and Design in London. Phil May , another Sidcup student, convinced him to form a new band. Taylor
33464-492: Was reissued as a limited edition half-speed mastered LP to celebrate its 50th anniversary on 20 October 2023. Album credits per the Pin Ups liner notes and biographer Nicholas Pegg . Production Shipments figures based on certification alone. David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( / ˈ b oʊ i / BOH -ee ),
33652-610: Was released as a live album in November 2018. On 27 June, he performed a concert at the BBC Radio Theatre in London, which was released on the compilation album Bowie at the Beeb ; this also featured BBC recording sessions from 1968 to 1972. Bowie and Iman's daughter, Alexandra, was born on 15 August. His interest in Buddhism led him to support the Tibetan cause by performing at
33840-494: Was released as a single. A collaboration with Giorgio Moroder , it became a minor US hit and charted in the UK top 30. The same year, he departed RCA, having grown increasingly dissatisfied with them, and signed a new contract with EMI America Records for a reported $ 17 million. His 1975 severance settlement with Defries also ended in September. Bowie reached his peak of popularity and commercial success in 1983 with Let's Dance . Co-produced by Chic 's Nile Rodgers ,
34028-455: Was replaced by Aynsley Dunbar on drums. Following a surprise announcement at the end of the tour that the Spiders were breaking up, tensions were high during the sessions, which was reflected in the tracks. The album cover, featuring Bowie and 1960s supermodel Twiggy , was taken in Paris and originally intended for Vogue magazine. Released only six months after Aladdin Sane and preceded by
34216-555: Was replaced by Stuart Brooks (born January 1951, Hertfordshire) (ex- Black Cat Bones ). They signed with Warner Bros. Records and released Freeway Madness at the end of 1972. Although Waller was no longer a member of the band, he produced the album under a pseudonym and contributed lead vocals to the song "Over the Moon". The album was commercially unsuccessful. In 1973, David Bowie recorded two of their songs, "Rosalyn" and "Don't Bring Me Down", on his album Pin Ups . Around this time,
34404-514: Was shelved due to EMI/ Virgin 's lack of faith in its commercial appeal. Bowie and Visconti continued their collaboration, producing a new album of completely original songs instead: the result of the sessions was the 2002 album Heathen . On 25 June 2000, Bowie made his second appearance at the Glastonbury Festival in England, playing almost 30 years after his first. The performance
34592-461: Was spearheaded by the success of " Starman " and its album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (both 1972), which won him widespread popularity. In 1975, Bowie's style shifted towards a sound he characterised as " plastic soul ", initially alienating many of his UK fans but garnering his first major US crossover success with the number-one single " Fame " and the album Young Americans (both 1975). In 1976, Bowie starred in
34780-561: Was sufficiently sexually provocative to guarantee heavy rotation on MTV". Then-unknown Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan guested on the album, featuring prominently on the title track. Let's Dance was followed by the six-month Serious Moonlight Tour , which was extremely successful. At the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards Bowie received two awards including the inaugural Video Vanguard Award . Tonight (1984), another dance-oriented album, found Bowie collaborating with Pop and Tina Turner . Co-produced by Hugh Padgham , it included
34968-456: Was the only album recorded entirely in Berlin. Incorporating ambient sounds from a variety of sources including white noise generators, synthesisers and koto , the album was another hit, reaching number three in the UK. Its title track was released in both German and French and, though only reached number 24 in the UK singles chart, later became one of his best-known tracks. In contrast to Low , Bowie promoted "Heroes" extensively, performing
35156-531: Was the product of two distinct ideas: a musical based on a wild future in a post- apocalyptic city, and setting George Orwell 's Nineteen Eighty-Four to music. The album went to number one in the UK, spawning the hits " Rebel Rebel " and " Diamond Dogs ", and number five in the US. The supporting Diamond Dogs Tour visited cities in North America between June and December 1974. Choreographed by Toni Basil , and lavishly produced with theatrical special effects,
35344-498: Was unfavorable. He cited sloppy execution and the overall idea "more interesting in theory", believing that all the originals were "vastly" superior and Bowie added nothing interesting to any of them. He further believed that it didn't help that the Spiders from Mars were falling apart when recording it. Bruce Eder of AllMusic similarly found the album to be out of place with Bowie's output up to that point. He continued, " Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane had established Bowie as perhaps
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