David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He is 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 had a significant impact on popular music.
During his lifetime, English singer-songwriter David Bowie (1947–2016) released 26 studio albums, 9 live albums, 2 soundtrack albums, 26 compilation albums, 8 extended plays, 128 singles and 6 box sets. Since his passing, 1 further studio album, 13 live albums, 1 soundtrack album, 1 compilation album, 4 extended plays and 6 box sets have been released. Bowie also released 28 video albums and 72 music videos. Throughout his lifetime, Bowie sold roughly 140 million records worldwide. In 2012, Bowie was ranked ninth best selling singles artist in United Kingdom with 10.6 million singles sold. As of January 2016, Bowie has sold 12.09 million singles in Britain. In a period of 24 months since his death, 5 million records were sold in UK, 3.1 million singles and 2 million albums.
"Space Oddity" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips 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. One of the most musically complex songs he had written up to that point, it represented a change from the music hall-influenced sound of his debut to a sound akin to psychedelic folk and inspired by the Bee Gees.
David Bowie is the debut studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in the United Kingdom on 1 June 1967 through Decca subsidiary Deram Records. Produced by Mike Vernon and recorded from November 1966 to March 1967 at London's Decca Studios, the album followed a string of singles for Pye Records that failed to chart. Vernon hired numerous studio musicians for the album's sessions; Bowie and his former Buzz bandmate Derek Fearnley composed music charts for the orchestra using Freda Dinn's Observer's Guide to Music.
David Bowie is the second studio album by the English musician David Bowie, originally released in the United Kingdom on 14 November 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.
Major Tom is a persona of David Bowie's, referenced in songs "Space Oddity", "Ashes to Ashes", "Hallo Spaceboy", and "Blackstar." Bowie's own interpretation of the character evolved throughout his career. "Space Oddity" (1969) depicts an astronaut who casually slips the bonds of the world to journey beyond the stars. In the song "Ashes to Ashes" (1980), Bowie reinterprets Major Tom as an oblique autobiographical symbol for himself. Major Tom is described as a "junkie, strung out in heaven's high, hitting an all-time low". This lyric was interpreted as a play on the title of Bowie's album Low (1977), which was inspired by the withdrawal symptoms he suffered while undergoing treatment for drug addiction. Additionally, the choked and self-recriminating tone used in the lyrics "Time and again I tell myself I'll stay clean tonight" reinforces an autobiographical and retrospective interpretation. A short time later, there is another reversal of Major Tom's original withdrawal, turning 'outwards' or towards space.
Love You till Tuesday is a promotional film designed to showcase the talents of a 22-year old David Bowie, made in 1969. The film was an attempt by Bowie's manager, Kenneth Pitt, to bring Bowie to a wider audience. Pitt had undertaken the film after a suggestion by Günther Schneider, producer of German TV show 4-3-2-1 Musik Für Junge Leute for the ZDF network. The film ended up being shelved, and was not released until 1984, when it finally came out on VHS. A DVD version was released in the UK in 2005.
"Rubber Band" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded in October 1966 following Bowie's dismissal from Pye Records and helped secure him a record contract with Decca-subsidiary Deram Records, who released it as a single in the United Kingdom on 2 December of the same year. A departure from the mod-style sound of his previous releases, "Rubber Band" displays a style informed by vaudeville and British music hall – influenced particularly by British actor Anthony Newley. The lyrics tell the story of a man who goes off to war and, upon his return, finds his lover fell for a brass band conductor.
"The Laughing Gnome" is a song by the English singer David Bowie, released as a single on 14 April 1967. A pastiche of songs by one of Bowie's early influences, Anthony Newley, it was originally released as a novelty single on Deram Records in 1967. The track consists of Bowie meeting and conversing with a gnome, whose sped-up voice delivers several puns on the word "gnome". At the time, "The Laughing Gnome" failed to provide Bowie with a chart placing, but on its re-release in 1973 it reached number six on the British charts and number three in New Zealand.
"Love You till Tuesday" is a song written and performed by David Bowie. The first version of the song, recorded in February 1967, was included on Bowie's debut album. A second version, released as a single, was recorded on 3 June 1967 and released on 14 July 1967. The single garnered good notices from the music press but, like his earlier singles, failed to break into the British charts. It was his final new release for Deram Records.
"The Prettiest Star" is a song by the English musician David Bowie, originally released on 6 March 1970 through Mercury Records as the follow-up single to "Space Oddity". A love song for his soon-to-be wife Angie, it was recorded in January 1970 at Trident Studios in London and featured Marc Bolan on guitar, who was brought on by producer Tony Visconti. Despite praise from music journalists, the single flopped and failed to chart. Years later, Bowie rerecorded the track for his 1973 album Aladdin Sane. A more glam rock influenced take with lyrics matching themes on the album, Mick Ronson recreated Bolan's guitar part almost note-for-note. The remake was more well-received.
"The London Boys" is a song by the English musician David Bowie. It was first released as the B-side of the single "Rubber Band" in the United Kingdom on 2 December 1966. It was originally written and demoed in 1965 with the Lower Third for potential release as the artist's debut single for Pye Records but it was rejected. After a year of rewrites, he recorded a new version with a new band, the Buzz, which helped secure him a record contract with Decca-subsidiary Deram Records. Unlike the A-side, "The London Boys" retains the Mod feel of Bowie's previous singles. The dark lyrics concern a 17-year-old who leaves home for London and becomes embroiled in the Mod scene, turning to pills to fit in. Like his previous singles, it failed to chart. Decca later issued it as an A-side in 1975..
BBC Sessions 1969–1972 (Sampler) is a compilation album by David Bowie, released in 1996. This release is notable for the inclusion of "I'm Waiting for the Man" in a different BBC session take to the version released on Bowie at the Beeb.
Images 1966–1967 is a 1973 compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It comprises his 1967 self-titled debut album for Deram Records and various singles and B-sides recorded for Deram between 1966 and 1967.
The World of David Bowie is a compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, released on 6 March 1970 by Decca Records as part of their The World of... series following Bowie's success with the "Space Oddity" single. It primarily consists of material he recorded in 1967 for Decca subsidiary Deram, including all but four tracks from his debut album David Bowie, as well as three previously unreleased songs — "Karma Man", "Let Me Sleep Beside You" and "In the Heat of the Morning" — and the 1966 B-side "The London Boys". The tracklisting was approved by Bowie himself, while the sleeve photo was provided by David Bebbington. The album was reissued in April 1973 with a Ziggy Stardust-era sleeve photo.
Bowie – The Video Collection is a video album by David Bowie, released in 1993. It included most official music videos made by Bowie between 1972 and 1990.
The Sound+Vision Tour was a 1990 concert tour by English musician David Bowie that was billed as a greatest hits tour in which Bowie would retire his back catalogue of hit songs from live performance. The tour opened at the Colisée de Québec in Quebec City, Canada on 4 March 1990 before reaching its conclusion at the River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 29 September 1990, spanning five continents in seven months. The concert tour surpassed Bowie's previous Serious Moonlight (1983) and Glass Spider (1987) tours' statistics by visiting 27 countries with 108 performances.
We Were So Turned On: A Tribute to David Bowie is a David Bowie tribute album released worldwide on September 6, 2010, by Manimal Vinyl as a charity for War Child UK. The album features contributions from Duran Duran, Carla Bruni, Mick Karn, John Frusciante, Warpaint, Devendra Banhart, Vivian Girls, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, A Place to Bury Strangers and others.
"Let Me Sleep Beside You" is a song written and recorded by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was recorded on 1 September 1967 at Advision Studios in London and marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer Tony Visconti, which would last for the rest of Bowie's career. A departure from the pop and music hall-influenced material of Bowie's 1967 self-titled debut album and other singles for Deram Records, the song displays a more rock-oriented sound with a cello arrangement from Visconti. The impressionist lyrics also depart from Bowie's prior works, describing love using the act of sleeping together rather than through emotional attachment. The song was rejected by Deram for release as a single, purportedly due to the risqué title. It remained unreleased until 1970's The World of David Bowie compilation.
