发信人: KGB()
整理人: KGB(2000-04-08 12:30:31), 站内信件
|
David Bowie
b. David Robert Jones, 8 April 1947, Brixton, London, England. One of the great enigmas of popular music and certainly the most mercurial, Bowie underwent a veritable odyssey of career moves and minor crises before establishing himself as a major
performer. He began playing saxophone during his teens, initially with various school groups. School also contributed to his future pop star career in a more bizarre way as a result of a playground fight, which left the singer with a paralysed pupil
(being stabbed in the eye with a school compass). Consequently, he had eyes of a different colour, an accident that would later enhance his otherworldly image. In the early '60s, however, his style was decidedly orthodox, all mod clothes and R&B riffs.
Over the next few years, he went through a succession of backing groups including the King Bees, the Manish Boys, the Lower Third and the Buzz. In late 1966, he changed his surname owing to the imminent emergence of Davy Jones of the Monkees. During
that same period, he came under the wing of manager Kenneth Pitt, who would nurture his career for the remainder of the decade. A contract with the fashionable Decca subsidiary Deram saw Bowie achieve some high-profile publicity but subsequent singles
and a well-promoted debut album failed to sell. Bowie even attempted a cash-in novelty number The Laughing Gnome, but the charts remained resilient to his every move. Bowie persisted with mime classes while Pitt financed a television film, "Love You
Till Tuesday", but it was never shown on a major network. For a time, the star-elect performed in cabaret and retained vocal inflexions that betrayed a strong debt to his idol Anthony Newley.
As the '60s wound to a close Bowie seemed one of the least likely pop idols of the new decade. He was known only because of numerous advertisements in the British music press, as an artist who had released many records for many labels without success.
The possibility of re-inventing himself as a '70s pop star seemed remote at best, but in the autumn of 1969 he finally broke through with Space Oddity, released to coincide with the American moon launch. The novel tale of Major Tom, whose sojourn in
space disorientates him to such a degree that he chooses to remain adrift rather than return to earth, was a worthy UK Top 10 hit. Unfortunately, Bowie seemed unable to follow up the single with anything similarly clever and when The Prettiest Star
flopped, most critics understandably dismissed him as a one-hit-wonder. Only weeks before, the American duo Zager And Evans had scored a far bigger hit with the transatlantic chart topper In The Year 2525, the theme of which bore superficial
similarities to Bowie's tale, each dealing with possible future events and containing a pat moral. The fate of Zager And Evans (instant obscurity) weighed heavily over Bowie's fragile pop career while an interesting yet patchy album named after his hit
provided little clues to his future.
1970 saw a remarkable series of changes in Bowie's life, both personal and professional. His brother Terry had been committed to a mental institution; his father died and, soon after, David married art student Angela Barnett and finally he dispensed
with the services of his loyal manager Kenneth Pitt, who was replaced by the more strident Tony De Fries. Amid this period of flux, Bowie completed his first major work, an extraordinary album, titled THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD. With musical assistance
from guitarist Mick Ronson drummer Mick Woodmansey and producer Tony Visconti on bass, Bowie employed an arrestingly heavy sound, aided by the eerie synthesizer work of Ralph Mace to embellish his chillingly dramatic vocals. Lyrically, the album
brilliantly complemented the instrumentation and Bowie worked through a variety of themes including sexual perversion (The Width Of A Circle), mental illness (All The Madmen), dystopianism (Saviour Machine) and Nietzschean nihilism (The Supermen). All
these leitmotifs would be reiterated on later albums. The package was completed with a striking cover revealing Bowie lounging seductively in a flowing dress. The transvesticism again provided a clue to the future in which Bowie would habitually
disguise his gender and even publicize his bisexuality.
With the svengali-like De Fries aggressively promoting his career, Bowie was signed to RCA for a reportedly large advance and completed HUNKY DORY in 1971. The album was lighter in tone than its predecessor with Bowie reverting to acoustic guitar on
some tracks and exploring a more commercial, yet still intriguing, direction. There was the catchy Changes, the futuristic Life On Mars, tributes to Bob Dylan and the Velvet Underground, and the contrastingly celebratory Kooks and sombre The Bewlay
Brothers. HUNKY DORY was an excellent album yet modest seller. Bowie took full advantage of his increasingly hip media profile by embarking on a UK tour in which his outrageous costume, striking vocals and treasure trove of new material revealed the
artist in full flow. Up until this point, Bowie had experimented with diverse ideas, themes and images that coalesced effectively, though not necessarily coherently. The complete fusion was revealed in June 1972 on the album THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY
STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS. Here, Bowie embraced the persona of an apocalyptic rock star whose rise and fall coincides with the end of the world. In addition to the doom-laden breeziness of Five Years, there were the now familiar space-age
themes (Starman, Lady Stardust, Moonage Daydream) and the instant encore (Rock 'N' Roll Suicide).
By this point, Bowie was deemed to have the Midas touch and his production talents brought rewards for his old hero Lou Reed (TRANSFORMER and the single Walk On The Wild Side) and a resurrected Mott The Hoople who scored their first hit with All The
Young Dudes. The track Oh You Pretty Things (from HUNKY DORY) had already provided a hit for Peter Noone and an equally unlikely artist, Lulu, enjoyed a Top 10 smash courtesy of The Man Who Sold The World. Meanwhile, Bowie had undertaken a world tour
and scored a UK number 1 album with ALADDIN SANE, another concept work which centred on global destruction as its main plot. While still at his peak, Bowie shocked the rock world on 4 July 1974 by announcing his retirement from the stage of London's
Hammersmith Odeon. It later transpired that it was not Bowie who was retiring, but his now overused persona, Ziggy Stardust. Taking stock, Bowie took an unlikely detour by recording an album of his favourite mid-'60s songs. PIN-UPS proved a patchy
collection though there were some memorable moments including a hit reworking of the Merseys' Sorrow, a frantic reading of the Rolling Stones' Let's Spend The Night Together and an interesting cover of the Kinks' neglected song Where Have All The Good
Times Gone.
After recording a US broadcast television special at London's Marquee club titled 'The 1980 Floor Show', Bowie produced his next work DIAMOND DOGS. Having failed to receive permission to use the title '1984', he nevertheless adapted George Orwell's
famous novel as the basis for his favourite forays into dystopianism, sexuality and doomed love. There were even some delightful flashes from the novel neatly translated into rock by Bowie. Julia, described as 慳 rebel from the waist downwards?nbsp;by the
book's anti-hero Winston Smith, becomes the hot tramp of Rebel Rebel (itself a hit single). What the album lacked was the familiar sound of the Spiders From Mars and especially the cutting guitar work of Mick Ronson. A massive tour of USA and Canada
saw the 'Diamond Dogs' spectacle at its most excessive and expansive, but the whole project was hampered by the production budget. Beneath the spectacle, the music tended to be somewhat forgotten, a view reinforced by the release of the
critically-panned DAVID LIVE in 1974.
Bowie's popularity was as great as ever in the mid-'70s when he effectively righted the wrongs of history by taking Space Oddity to number 1, six years after its initial UK chart entry. That same year, he also enjoyed his first US number 1, Fame, which
featured the voice and co-composing skills of John Lennon. The song appeared on his next album, YOUNG AMERICANS, which saw the emergence of a new Bowie, successfully tackling Philadelphia soul. Meanwhile, there were significant changes in his business
life with Tony De Fries finally falling from favour amid an acrimonious lawsuit. During the same period, Bowie's often stormy marriage to Angie was about to be dissolved. As ever in Bowie's life, personal upheavals coincided with creative endeavour and
he was busy working on Nicholas Roeg's film The Man Who Fell To Earth, in which he was given the leading role of the displaced alien marooned on Earth. The movie received mixed reviews. Returning to London, Bowie was reprimanded in the liberal music
press for allegedly displaying a Nazi salute and suggesting that his home country needed a 憂ew Hitler? His fascist flirtation was partly provocative and perhaps related to the self-grandeur stemming from his heavy use of cocaine during the period.
The image was crystallized in the persona of the Thin White Duke, the icy character who came to life on his next album, STATION TO STATION. An austere yet opaque production, the album anticipated the next phase of his career when he would work with
Brian Eno.
The duo relocated to Berlin for a cycle of albums which displayed Bowie at his least commercial and most ambitious. LOW and HEROES, both released in 1977, were predominantly instrumental works whose mood was strongly influenced by Eno's minimalist
electronics. Surprisingly, segments from each album found their way on to a live album STAGE, a considerable improvement upon its predecessor, DAVID LIVE. Following a best-forgotten appearance in the movie Just A Gigolo, Bowie concluded his
collaborative work with Eno on 1979's LODGER. Generally regarded as the least impressive of the Eno triology, it nevertheless contained some strong songs, including Boys Keep Swinging and Repetition. Bowie's thespian pursuits continued with a
critically acclaimed starring role in the Broadway production of The Elephant Man. During the show's run in Chicago, Bowie released an album of new material which leaned closer to the rock mainstream. SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) was adventurous,
with its modern electro-pop and distorted electric guitar, provided by former King Crimson helmsman Robert Fripp. The album contained the reflective Ashes To Ashes, a fascinating track, which included references to one of Bowie's earlier creations,
Major Tom. Coincidentally, the Major brought Bowie his first UK number 1 since Space Oddity.
The early '80s saw Bowie taking on a series of diverse projects including an appearance in Bertolt Brecht's Baal, surprise chart collaborations with Queen (Under Pressure) and Bing Crosby (Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy) and two more starring roles
in the films The Hunger and the critically acclaimed Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. A switch of record label from RCA to EMI saw Bowie release his most commercial work since the early '70s with LET'S DANCE, produced by Nile Rodgers of Chic. In striking
contrast to his recent excursions with Eno and previous doom-laden imagery, the work showed Bowie embracing a new positivism with upbeat, uplifting songs that were both slick and exciting. Even his interviews revealed a more open, contented figure
intent upon stressing the positive aspects of life, seemingly without ambiguity. The title track of the album gave Bowie his third solo UK number 1 and effectively revitalized his recording career in the process. The Serious Moonlight tour which
accompanied the album, played to over two million people and garnered excellent reviews. That same year (1983) he had two further hits both narrowly missing the top spot in the UK charts with China Girl and Modern Love. In the meantime, Bowie's
influence could be detected in the work of a number of younger artists who had fallen under the spell of his various aliases. Gary Numan, the Human League, Japan and Bauhaus each displayed aspects of his music and imagery with varying results.
Similarly the New Romantics from Visage, Ultravox and Spandau Ballet to the New Pop of Culture Club were all descendants of the one time glam rocker and Thin White Duke.
Bowie followed up LET'S DANCE quickly with the anti-climactic TONIGHT which attracted universally bad reviews, but managed to spawn a hit single with Blue Jean. During 1985, Bowie was chiefly in demand as a collaborator, first with the Pat Metheny
Group on This Is Not America (from the film The Falcon And The Snowman) and next with Mick Jagger on a reworking of Martha & The Vandellas' Dancing In The Street for Live Aid. The following year was dominated by Bowie's various acting pursuits. The
much publicised movie Absolute Beginners divided the critics, but the strong title track provided Bowie with a major hit. He also starred in the fantasy film Labyrinth and sang the theme of the anti-nuclear war cartoon film Where The Wind Blows. 1987
saw Bowie return to his roots by teaming up with former classmate Peter Frampton for the 'Glass Spider' tour. The attendant album, NEVER LET ME DOWN was again poorly received, as speculation grew that Bowie was at last running dry of musical ideas and
convincing new personae. Never predictable, Bowie decided to put a group together in 1989 and called upon the services of Reeves Gabrels (guitar), Tony Sales (bass) and Hunt Sales (drums)梩he two brothers having previously worked with Iggy Pop and Todd
Rundgren. The unit took their name from the title song of their new album, TIN MACHINE, a set that displayed some good, old-fashioned guitar work, occasionally bordering on heavy metal. Bowie also took his band on the road with a tour of purposely
憀ow-key?nbsp;venues, Bowie expressing a desire to play in 憇weaty?nbsp;clubs and get back to his roots. It was an interesting experiment but neither the album nor the tour did much to increase Bowie's critical standing in the late '80s. Ironically, it was the
re-release of his back catalogue on CD that brought a more positive response from his followers and in order to promote the campaign Bowie set out on an acoustic 慻reatest hits?nbsp;tour. BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE was his strongest album in years and entered
the UK album charts at number 1. Enlisting Nile Rodgers again as producer the crisp production worked on stand out tracks such as the romantic Don't Let Me Down And Down, Cream's I Feel Free and Morrissey's I Know It's Going To Happen Someday. At the
beginning of the '90s this album served as a milestone and worthwhile tribute to a career that had encapsulated a staggering number of musical and image changes, spanning nearly 25 years.
-- -----------------------------------
HTTP://kgb.yeah.net [Detour d'Art] -----------------------------------
※ 来源:．网易 BBS bbs.netease.com．[FROM: 202.105.40.229]
|
|