Bowie Odyssey 72

Changes, 1972. Rock is now glam, kids are now droogs, and David Bowie is now Ziggy Stardust--the first openly bisexual rock'n'roll idol crashlanding into the gloomy blacked-out Britain of the three-day week. Perfect conditions to finally realise his dream of becoming the ultimate singing star, blowing minds, stages, and TV screens as he liberates a generation with tight satin, lip gloss, and the irresistible wham-bam of his Spiders From Mars. Music, fashion, and the old codes of gender will never be the same again. But as his runaway fame quickly blurs all lines between fantasy and reality, neither will David. The third volume in the Bowie Odyssey series places the reader in the screaming front rows of Ziggymania as Simon Goddard continues his entrancing journey through the decade Bowie changed pop forever.

He starts the decade a teenage pop idol. But the one-hit wonder who sang 'Space Oddity' is still very far from becoming the star who will one day define the 1970s. Not when he still has a band to find, a manager to sack, a mentally ill brother to save, a wife to marry and a rival called Marc Bolan to beat. Not when David Bowie still has no idea who or what David Bowie is. Starting at the beginning of Bowie's incredible ten-year odyssey changing the course of pop music, Simon Goddard's bold and expressionistic biography weaves time, space, rock'n'roll and social history to relive Bowie's 1970 - moment by vivid moment.

Britain, 1971. A land of hot pants, porn trials, angry bombs, and bitter protest. As Marc Bolan is crowned the kids' teenage saviour, the forgotten hope called David Bowie secretly gathers the arsenal for his own revolution in his bohemian retreat. New friends Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, and The Pretty Things among the London gay scene. New songs about life on Mars and cosmic messiahs. New fashions fit for the ultimate 70s superstar... In the sequel to Bowie Odyssey 70 (a Sunday Times Book Of The Year), Simon Goddard continues his groundbreaking VR narrative into the world inside and around Bowie, year by year, through the decade he changed pop forever.

He came from Outer Space... It was the greatest invention in the history of pop music – the rock god who came from the stars – which struck a young David Bowie like a lightning bolt from the heavens. When Ziggy the glam alien messiah fell to Earth, he transformed Bowie from a prodigy to a superstar who changed the face of music forever. But who was Ziggy Stardust? And where did he really come from? In a work of supreme pop archaeology, Simon Goddard unearths every influence that brought Ziggy to life – from HG Wells to Holst, Kabuki to Kubrick, and Elvis to Iggy. Ziggyology documents the epic drama of the Starman’s short but eventful time on Planet Earth... and why Bowie eventually had to kill him.

Named one of the best music books of 2017 by The Wall Street Journal An elegy to the age of the Rock Star, featuring Chuck Berry, Elvis, Madonna, Bowie, Prince, and more, uncommon people whose lives were transformed by rock and who, in turn, shaped our culture Recklessness, thy name is rock. The age of the rock star, like the age of the cowboy, has passed. Like the cowboy, the idea of the rock star lives on in our imaginations. What did we see in them? Swagger. Recklessness. Sexual charisma. Damn-the-torpedoes self-belief. A certain way of carrying themselves. Good hair. Interesting shoes. Talent we wished we had. What did we want of them? To be larger than life but also like us. To live out their songs. To stay young forever. No wonder many didn’t stay the course. In Uncommon People, David Hepworth zeroes in on defining moments and turning points in the lives of forty rock stars from 1955 to 1995, taking us on a journey to burst a hundred myths and create a hundred more. As this tribe of uniquely motivated nobodies went about turning themselves into the ultimate somebodies, they also shaped us, our real lives and our fantasies. Uncommon People isn’t just their story. It’s ours as well.

A unique and beautifully produced celebration of the iconic and beloved rock star, Bowie at 75 features a slipcased hardcover with a gatefold timeline, gatefold artwork, frameable pull-out gig poster, and a pull-out photo print! Hendrix, Joplin, Mercury…few rock artists garner as much adulation after passing as they did in life. In Bowie at 75, veteran rock journalist Martin Popoff examines David Bowie’s extraordinary life through the lens of 75 significant career achievements and life events, guiding you through all 27 studio albums, as well as a curated selection of earworm singles. But Popoff delves deeper to reveal the events that helped chart the course of Bowie’s career: Guest appearances with artists like Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Tina Turner, and Queen Key performances such as Live Aid Collaborations with an incredible roster of guitarists that included Mick Ronson, Adrian Belew, Robert Fripp, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Nile Rodgers, and Earl Slick Film and television roles Romance…and more. From his eponymous 1967 debut LP and ending with Blackstar, released just two days before his death, Bowie is regarded as one of the most influential musicians and performers of the previous five decades, during which he constantly redefined himself. In examining 75 touchstones, Popoff gives you a unique view of Bowie’s career arc from folkie to the breakthrough single “Space Oddity” to his flamboyant glam rock alter ego, Ziggy Stardust, and beyond. Illustrated with live concert and candid offstage photography as well as memorabilia including gig posters, 7-inch picture sleeves, and more, this incredible package also includes a gatefold timeline, a gatefold painting depicting “A Party of Bowies,” a previously unpublished 8×10-inch glossy print, and a pullout poster by famed gig poster artist Frank Kozik. The result is a stunning tribute to one of the most influential and admired stars in rock history—in a milestone year.

Find out how this English singer-songwriter and actor who constantly reinvented his look and sound became one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century in this new book from the #1 New York Times bestselling series. David Bowie, born David Robert Jones, wasn't just an incredible singer; he had an amazing talent for keeping his fans happily guessing about what he would do next. He alternated between musical genres with ease, established a successful acting career, and even created a legendary persona--the rocker alien Ziggy Stardust--that people still dress up as for Halloween each year. Author Margaret Gurevich takes readers through David Bowie's life and shows exactly why he is an inspiration to many people and is celebrated all over the world.

David Bowie's career as a pioneering artist spanned nearly 50 years and brought him international acclaim. He continues to be cited as a major influence on contemporary artists and designers working across the creative arts. This book, published to accompany the blockbuster international exhibition launched at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, is the only volume that grants access to Bowie's personal archive of performance costumes, ephemera, and original design artwork by the artist, bringing it together to present a completely new perspective on his creative work and collaborations. The book traces his career from its beginnings in London, through the breakthroughs of Space Oddity and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and on to his enormous impact on 20th-century avant-garde music and art. Essays by V&A curators on Bowie's London, image, and influence on the fashion world are complemented by Howard Goodall on musicology; Camille Paglia on gender and decadence, and Jon Savage on Bowie's relationship with William Burroughs and his fans. The more than 300 color illustrations include personal and performance photographs, album covers, costumes, original lyric sheets, and much more. Praise for David Bowie Is "Perusing David Bowie Is (V&A Publishing, distributed by Abrams), the exhibition's catalog, with its procession of poses and costumes and weighty essays tracking the cross-references to pop culture and high art, you get a sense of how much hard work it took to be Mr. Bowie." --The New York Times "The fans of 50 years or those making discoveries in retrospect will be intrigued by the accompanying book David Bowie Is that is far more than a fanzine."--The New York Times "Lends context and picks away at Bowie with such insight that it's a rare hagiography with soul." --Chicago Tribune "Combining top-notch articles on the singer/actor's life and work with official images and reproductions of his fashion and associated ephemera, the hefty, mango-colored book is nothing short of a treasure trove of all things Bowie; a one-stop smorgasbord for the eyes whose pictorials chronicle the groundbreaking star from Ziggy Stardust to Thin White Duke to Heathen and every personality in between." --Examiner.com