David Bowie: Finding Fame, also known as David Bowie: The First Five Years, is a 2019 British documentary written and directed by Francis Whately.[3] The film explores a period of David Bowie's career starting in 1965, around the time he dropped his stage name of Davie Jones in favor of Bowie, to 1973, when he dropped the Ziggy Stardust persona. It premiered in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2019 on BBC Two, and made its debut in the United States on 9 August 2019 on Showtime.
The film is the final installment in a trilogy of Bowie documentaries. It examines a period of Bowie's early career from 1965 through 1973. It features archival footage of interviews with Bowie; commentary from his collaborators in the early days; exclusive interviews with two of his former girlfriends; and unseen footage from the BBC. It also highlights his first hit in the United Kingdom, "Space Oddity" in 1969, and his groundbreaking performance of "Starman" on Top of the Pops in 1972.
As in his previous documentaries, director Francis Whately used Bowie's own words, archival footage and commentary from friends and colleagues.[6] Whatley said making the documentary, gave him a chance to "tell the story of the singer's earlier years, which was previously denied him".[7] He said that when he was directing one of the episodes for the BBC Two series, the Seven Ages of Rock, he wanted then to cover Bowie's earliest years, but was denied the opportunity by BBC executives.[7][8] Whately said he was "delighted" when he was finally green-lit by BBC to make this film. He believes this early period he covers in the film "is a lost period", and "it stands up and makes sense of everything that went after ... because it's about a man trying to make it. It's a man picking himself up off the floor".[7] Whately was able to snag some exclusive interviews as well for the film, featuring Bowie's cousin Kristina Amadeus, and former girlfriends Dana Gillespie and Hermione Farthingale.[7] The film also marked Lindsay Kemps last interview, just ten days before he died.[9] Photographer Ray Stevenson is interviewed too, who only took black-and-white photographs of Bowie in the 1960s, because as he put it; "why would I waste colour on someone who wasn’t going anywhere?"[9] Some of the rare footage shown, includes; his 1973 gig in Hammersmith, West London, where Bowie famously announced that it was the Spiders From Mars' last show; the announcement stunned bass guitarist Trevor Bolder, and drummer Mick Woodmansey, who had no idea that Bowie was going to make that declaration,[10] and the film also includes audio from a 1971 Glastonbury performance.[7]
Phil Lancaster, interviewed early on in the film, was a bandmate from Bowie's fourth band he was part of in 1965, The Lower Third. He tells the story of when they auditioned for the BBC; they performed three numbers, "Out of Sight", "Baby that's a Promise" (original song written by Bowie) and "Chim Chim Cher-ee". The panel who judged their audition, wrote a scathing review of their performance, saying among other things; "amateur sounding vocalist who sings wrong notes and out of tune", and the band is "very ordinary too, backing a singer devoid of personality", referring to Bowie. The talent selection group who wrote the report was responsible for ensuring that groups met its quality standards, before they were put on BBC radio.[11][12]
In another interview to NME, his childhood friend George Underwood, who played guitar and sang vocals with Bowie in the band – Davie Jones with the King Bees (Bowie was still using his real name, David Jones, at the time), tells the story of how in 1962, he is the one who gave Bowie "those mismatched, alien eyes".[6] Underwood says that Bowie cockblocked him when they both fancied the same girl. Underwood tells how Bowie sabotaged a date that he had set up with her, and then later he hears Bowie bragging about his "conquest on a bus" with her. Understandably mad, Underwood says, "it wasn't really my style, but I just walked up to him and hit him".[6] Underwood recalls that a week later his dad delivers him the bad news that Bowie has been taken to Moorfields Eye Hospital, and might lose an eye. Underwood said he "was in bits, it was horrible, but it all ended up alright in the end, didn't it".[6] As a result of Underwood's punch, Bowie ended up with a permanently-dilated pupil[13] that "gave Bowie those extraterrestrial, Ziggy Stardust eyes". Underwood says that Bowie told him later that "he did him a favour".[6] The King Bees first single, "Liza Jane", turned out to be a flop for the young Bowie.[6]
Unreleased demo of "Space Oddity", with both Bowie and John Hutchinson singing lead vocals.
The film also documents his first hit in the UK, "Space Oddity".[14] In January 1969, a demo of "Space Oddity", was recorded, that is vastly different from the album version. In this early demo, it features Bowie and British guitarist John Hutchinson sharing the lead vocals.[15] Hutchinson says Bowie "wrote it as a song for two people, Ground Control and Major Tom, Bowie would sing the lead and I would come up with the easiest way for me to sound right as the harmony voice".[16] The demo song also had different lyrics, instead of hearing the phrase "lift-off" (in the final released version); the lyrics heard are "blast-off!".[15][16] Additionally, the lyrics, "I'm floating in a most peculiar way" (in the final released version), are replaced with "Can I please get back inside now, if I may?"[15] Bowie's longtime American record producer Tony Visconti said when he first heard the demo, he didn't like it, so he handed it off to Gus Dudgeon to produce. Visconti said what makes the song work is "drama, the first thing you hear is an ominous 12-string guitar fade up from nothing ... it's drama and you are sucked into it".[16] He goes on to say that they used, at the time, a "revolutionary" new instrument, the stylophone for the song. Rick Wakeman, who played the mellotron on the track, says Bowie wanted it because he wanted it to "sound not like strings, but like strings, and I knew exactly what he meant".[16] He also jokingly stated, "which I have nicked ever since to use on Yes records", when he was the keyboardist for the band.[16] Bowie said when he wrote it, he thought it was related to himself a lot more than anything he'd written up until then. He's heard on archival footage in the film, clarifying;
There was something about it that touched areas of my fears about my own insecurities socially and maybe emotionally. This feeling of isolation that I had ever since I was a kid, was really starting to manifest itself. I think the isolation of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey made itself very obvious when I wrote the song Space Oddity, because for the first time, I really felt a sense of how you could write as an isolationist. I thought, well, gee, I am Major Tom. Here I am in my own cosmic space and nobody can possibly understand what it's like to be out here on this umbilical cord attached to my craft.[16]
In July 1969, the final version of "Space Oddity" was finally released.[15] It was Bowie's first hit, reaching number five on the UK charts.[17][14] Visconti says when the single hit the charts, that's where the change came, where he started seeing himself as a star.[16] Hutchinson, who is heard on the demo, says by the time it was finally released, he had already left the band and was in a drawing office by then.[16] The song was also notably used on British television as background music for the moon landing in 1969. Bowie later mused – "I'm sure they really weren't listening to the lyric at all; it wasn't a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing ... of course, I was overjoyed that they did ... nobody had the heart to tell them: Um, but he gets stranded in space".[14]
In January 2019, Whately reported that Bowie's debut of his Ziggy Stardust character on ITV's British television series, Lift Off with Ayshea, had been found.[18][19] Whately said "for fans, it is something of a 'Holy Grail', because it was long thought to have been erased".[12] Whately said the newly discovered footage had been recorded by a fan at the show, but due to the degradation of the video tape, it had to be gradually "baked" in a special apparatus, to ensure it could be restored to a suitable quality for playback. Whately said he hoped it would be ready in time for the film's release.[12] According to music journalist, Mark Savage from BBC News, "Bowie's performance of "Starman" on Top of the Pops in 1972 is considered a watershed moment in musical history".[12][19] Savage reported that when Bowie puts his arm around Mick Ronson during the performance, it "shocked viewers and ushered in an era of glamour and androgyny".[12] Bowie said he wrote the song "in about 15 minutes, I used every cliched phrase I could think of to do with star men and people in space, and 'let the children boogie and all that' ... shove it in, three minutes and on a nice tune".[20] As to how the original footage from the show was destroyed, Ayshea Brough, the host of Lift Off, explained that they had requested a technician to digitally transfer the tapes.[18] She said that they had marked the ones intended for wiping with a X, but the technician did the exact opposite, and wiped all the tapes without a X, destroying "years of my life and performances, and everybody else's performances".[18] When the film was released a month later in February, the footage from Top of the Pops was used in the segment about "Starman".[20] In 2024, additional unseen footage of "Starman" was discovered that had been filmed by Mick Rock during the 1972 to 1973 United Kingdom tour of Ziggy Stardust.[21]
The Guardian highlights another scene in the film where Bowie is asking members of The Lower Third to wear makeup, in order to emulate "groovy mod bands in London", who Bowie thought looked cool. But as Denis Taylor recalls, Graham Rivens, the bassist, said: 'fuck that', "which is why the world has never heard of The Lower Third".[1][22]
Release
The film had its premiere on 9 February 2019 on BBC Two, and then made its debut in the United States on 9 August 2019 on Showtime. As of December 2024, it is also available for streaming on multiple platforms.
An inoffensive pleasant nothing. There is no entertainment in anything they do. It's just a group, and very ordinary too, backing a singer devoid of personality.
BBC review of David Bowie and The Lower Third (23 November 1965)[28]
Carol Midgley of The Times wrote that "while many documentaries about dead geniuses comprise galleries of gushing talking heads competing for superlatives, this was largely about failure". She says the film "detailed meticulously how hard Bowie grafted from the 1960s while facing repeated rejection, flops, poor sales and bored audiences .... the BBC's 'talent selection group' had dismissed him as 'devoid of personality' ... yet Bowie doubled down and worked harder, emerging to stupendous fame as Ziggy Stardust". She concluded by stating "Whately's access to quality interviewees and exquisite rare footage revealed an adorably shy, modest megastar ... and that a film highlighting his failures did not undermine his icon status, and in some ways enhanced it, shows how safe is Bowie's crown".[27]
In his review for The Guardian, Stewart Jeffries said "there were some pretty tough moments in the film". In particular, he points to Bowie's attempts at miming, which Lindsay Kemp referred to as "a lot of shit". He highlights another moment in the film where Bowie convinced members of his band Riot Squad to do a new take on the Velvet Underground's "I'm Waiting for the Man"; "they performed a sort of homosexual conga on stage while, unless I misheard, Bowie sang: 'I'm just waiting for a good friendly behind' ... sweet, but probably not what Lou Reed meant at all".[1]
In his five star review for The Arts Desk, Howard Male stated, the film "is a hypnotic, multilayered work that's never self-indulgent and always completely engaging, the film could stand alone as a perfect introduction to the thin white enigma, in fact it may even be the best of this admirable trilogy, it's certainly the most touching".[24] Roison O'Connor was lukewarm in their review for The Independent, they question "whether any of his fans really want to 'make sense' of David Bowie". They point out that "like Prince and Kurt Cobain, Bowie's allure is that he is, above all, an enigma, who as much as we relate to or adore, will never truly understand, and the film admitted as much, with its final impression of Bowie being one of a man who was, essentially, unknowable, so the fact Whatley is attempting – unsuccessfully – to undo that in his final documentary, is rather odd in itself".[26]
Suzi Feay wrote in the Financial Times, that out of the three documentaries Whately has made about Bowie, this one "is by far the most intriguing, with new interviewees, previously unheard audio, touching family photos, all painting a suggestive portrait of an anxious, withdrawn childhood and youth".[25] New York writer Benjamin Smith said "Whately knows his subject well and coaxes his story out of his friends and collaborators with skill and affection, what emerges is a portrait of a man who knew what he wanted from an early age and used the ensuing years to bring it into clearer focus".[29] Peter Crawley of The Irish Times opined that "it's sobering to wonder, though, if an artist of Bowie's magnitude could emerge again – one given the opportunity to fail, and fail again, towards success ... perhaps creative restlessness persists no matter what, and for that reason Whately leaves us with the public immolation of Ziggy Stardust, singing "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" ... there was someone else David Bowie needed to be".[30]
David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, 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.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is the fifth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott and features Bowie's backing band the Spiders from Mars — Mick Ronson (guitar), Trevor Bolder (bass) and Mick Woodmansey (drums). It was recorded from November 1971 to February 1972 at Trident Studios in London.
"Space Oddity" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips and Mercury Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album, David Bowie. Produced by Gus Dudgeon and recorded at Trident Studios in London, it is a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom; its title and subject matter were partly inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Bowie's feelings of alienation at that point in his career. Its sound departed from the music hall of his debut album to psychedelic folk inspired by the Bee Gees; it was one of the most musically complex compositions he had written up to that point.
David Bowie is the second studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in the United Kingdom on 14November 1969 through Mercury affiliate Philips Records. Financed by Mercury on the strength of "Space Oddity", the album was recorded from June to October 1969 at Trident Studios in London. Gus Dudgeon produced "Space Oddity", while Tony Visconti produced the rest of the album. It featured an array of collaborators, including Herbie Flowers, Rick Wakeman, Terry Cox and the band Junior's Eyes.
"Suffragette City" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally released in April 1972 as the B-side of the single "Starman" and subsequently appeared on his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972). The song was later reissued as a single in 1976, with the US single edit of "Stay" as the B-side, to promote the compilation album Changesonebowie in the UK. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded by Bowie at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars, consisting of Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey, at a late stage of the album's sessions. The song was originally offered to English band Mott the Hoople, who declined it and recorded Bowie's "All the Young Dudes" instead. It is a glam rock song that is influenced by the music of Little Richard and the Velvet Underground. The lyrics include a reference to Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange and the lyric "Oooohh wham bam, thank you, ma'am".
"Starman" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was released on 28 April 1972 by RCA Records as the lead single of his fifth studio album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded the song on 4 February 1972 at Trident Studios in London with his backing band known as the Spiders from Mars – comprising guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick Woodmansey. The song was a late addition to the album, written as a direct response to RCA's request for a single; it replaced the Chuck Berry cover "Round and Round" on the album. The lyrics describe Ziggy Stardust bringing a message of hope to Earth's youth through the radio, salvation by an alien "Starman". The chorus is inspired by "Over the Rainbow", sung by Judy Garland, while other influences include T. Rex and the Supremes.
Cracked Actor is a 1975 television documentary film about the musician David Bowie, made by Alan Yentob for the BBC's Omnibus strand. It was first shown on BBC1 on 26 January 1975.
"Changes" is a song by the English musician David Bowie from his 1971 album Hunky Dory. RCA Records then released it as a single from the album on 7 January 1972. Written following his promotional tour of America in early 1971, "Changes" was recorded at Trident Studios in London between June and July that year. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it featured Rick Wakeman on piano and the musicians who would later become known as the Spiders from Mars—Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey.
The Life Aquatic Studio Sessions Featuring Seu Jorge is an album by Brazilian musician Seu Jorge. It is a collection of David Bowie songs Jorge recorded in Portuguese for the soundtrack to the film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
"Moonage Daydream" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was originally recorded in February 1971 at Radio Luxembourg's studios in London and released as a single by his short-lived band Arnold Corns in May 1971 on B&C Records. Bowie subsequently re-recorded the song later that year with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey—for release on his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The re-recording was co-produced by Ken Scott and recorded at Trident Studios in London in November 1971. The re-recording is a glam rock song that uses melodic and harmonic hooks, as well as percussion and guitar influenced by heavy metal. On the album, the song directly introduces the character Ziggy Stardust, who describes himself as a bisexual alien rock superstar who will save the Earth from the impending disaster described in the opening track "Five Years". It features saxophone played by Bowie and a guitar solo and string arrangement by Ronson.
David Bowie (1947–2016) held leading roles in several feature films, including The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Just a Gigolo (1978), Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983), The Hunger (1983), Labyrinth (1986), The Linguini Incident (1991), and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Films in which he appeared in a supporting role or cameo include The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Zoolander (2001).
"Ziggy Stardust" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie from his 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, he recorded it at Trident Studios in London in November 1971 with his backing band the Spiders from Mars—comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey. Lyrically, the song is about Ziggy Stardust, a bisexual alien rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. The character was influenced by English singer Vince Taylor, as well as the Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Kansai Yamamoto. Although Ziggy is introduced earlier on the album, this song is its centrepiece, presenting the rise and fall of the star in a very human-like manner. Musically, it is a glam rock song, like its parent album, and is based around a Ronson guitar riff.
"Cracked Actor" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, released on his sixth studio album Aladdin Sane (1973). The track was also issued as a single in Eastern Europe by RCA Records in June that year. The song was written during Bowie's stay in Los Angeles during the American leg of the Ziggy Stardust Tour in October 1972. Co-produced by Bowie and Ken Scott, it was recorded in January 1973 at Trident Studios in London with his backing band the Spiders from Mars – comprising Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Woody Woodmansey. A hard rock song primarily led by guitar, the song describes an aging Hollywood star's encounter with a prostitute, featuring many allusions to sex and drugs.
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars is a 1979 British documentary/concert film by D. A. Pennebaker. It features English singer-songwriter David Bowie and his backing group the Spiders from Mars performing at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on 3 July 1973, the final date of his Ziggy Stardust Tour. At this show, Bowie made the sudden surprise announcement that the show would be "the last show that we'll ever do", later understood to mean that he was retiring his Ziggy Stardust persona.
George Underwood is a British artist and musician. He is best known for designing album covers for numerous bands in the 1970s and his collaborations with long-term friend, singer-songwriter David Bowie.
On 10 January 2016, the English musician David Bowie died at his Lafayette Street home in New York City, having been diagnosed with liver cancer 18 months earlier. He died two days after the release of his twenty-sixth and final studio album, Blackstar, which coincided with his 69th birthday.
Ziggy Stardust is a fictional character created by English musician David Bowie, and was Bowie's stage persona during 1972 and 1973. The eponymous character of the song "Ziggy Stardust" and its parent album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), Ziggy Stardust was retained for Bowie's subsequent concert tour through the United Kingdom, Japan and North America, during which Bowie performed as the character backed by his band The Spiders from Mars. Bowie continued the character in his next album Aladdin Sane (1973), which he described as "Ziggy goes to America". Bowie retired the character in October 1973 after one final show at The Marquee in London.
Francis Whately is a British television producer, director and series director who started his career in 1998 and worked for BBC for over 20 years. The documentary films he directed were mainly about music. He produced David Bowie: Finding Fame (2019), David Bowie: The Last Five Years (2017), Rock ‘n’ Roll Guns for Hire: The Story of the Sidemen (2017), Judi Dench: All the World's Her Stage (2016), Kim Philby – His Most Intimate Betrayal (2014), David Bowie: Five Years (2013).
David Bowie: The Last Five Years is a 2017 British documentary that tells the story of the last five years of David Bowie's career. It was produced and directed by Francis Whately. The film uses unseen footage of Bowie, and commentary from a wide variety of friends and colleagues. It was first broadcast on BBC on 7 January 2017, and was then released on HBO on 8 January 2018. The film received generally positive reviews.
David Bowie: Five Years is a 2013 British documentary produced and directed by Francis Whately The film explores five years in David Bowie's career which saw him redefine himself as an artist in 1971, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1983. The documentary made its premiere on BBC Two in May 2013. The film received mixed reviews.
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