The Words and Music of David Bowie (The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection) Review

The Words and Music of David Bowie (The Praeger Singer-Songwriter Collection)
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This is a concisely-written book, covering Bowie's entire career from the beginning up to 2003's "Reality". It is not a book of lyrics or words, etc., by David Bowie. Fans continue to wait for a Bob-Dylan-like collection of lyrics and great photos from BOWIE (something like that we will pay for).
Be happy if you can find "The Music and Words of David Bowie" on Amazon for under $15.00. No photos here. However this is a great reference book for musicians and serious fans who want to understand this performing artist and his approach to music composition. BOWIE is paradoxical and mysterious, connecting melodies, stretching his own vocal range and angst around the sounds he creates. He often resorts to the strange and unexpected implementation of keyboards, horns, saxes. He was one of the first to choreograph "vogue" dancing to his songs. Bowie used dance-music as a way to go from jazz and rock sounding electronica... To a blend of modern drum-and-base-beats and trance-loops and mantras. (Yes, I'm a fan!)
I like this little academic book. The chapters are short, to the point, and easy to get through. It includes descriptions of sounds that were influential on Bowie throughout his career. This is interesting, as most fans know Bowie's brother Terry was a big influence. I find this book sensitively-written. It gives some guidelines to the steps and innovations Bowie was taking on his own to write. Bowie himself would get a kick out of this! But I recommend this book to other musicians and serious fans for the reason that it's a study of the space Bowie goes into, yeah? To write music.
I'm giving it 3 stars, because serious writers forget Bowie has a innate, fine sense of humor. And he has an appreciation for the absurd! After all these years, these virtues have kept Bowie at the top of his game.

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All Music Guide's Stephen Thomas Erlewine has written, Even when he was out of fashion in the '80s and '90s, it was clear that Bowie was one of the most influential musicians in rock, for better or worse. In this comprehensive analysis of David Bowie's career, author James Perone examines the many identities and styles Bowie has developed over the years, and in so doing provides a stunning chronicle of creativity at work.



Born David Jones in a London suburb in 1947, David Bowie changed his name in the late '60s to avoid confusion with the singer David Jones of The Monkees. This name change would turn out to be a highly prescient act: for in incorporating an exceptionally wide variety of styles, Bowie would become the most notorious chameleon of the rock era. Due in large part to his early success in the glam rock subgenre and his claims of homosexuality (dismissed by many writers as a ploy to generate public interest and record sales), Bowie raised serious issues about sexual orientation in rock music, regardless of whether or not his claimed homosexuality was genuine or part of his on-stage character. His regular use of theatrical personae also raises interesting issues concerning authenticity and the perception of authenticity in rock music.



Although Bowie has been primarily an album artist, his recordings of Fame, Golden Years, Let's Dance, China Girl, Blue Jean, and Dancing in the Streets, all made it into the Billboard top 10 singles charts. Of these, all but one was written or co-written by Bowie. Even more notable are the songs he wrote and recorded that have made an impact far in excess of their chart standing. These include Space Oddity, Rebel, Rebel, Changes, Modern Love, and Young Americans. From his early 1970s albums like Hunky Dory and The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars-in both of which he assumed the character of the fictional, androgynous Stardust-to Diamond Dogs, Heroes, Tin Machine, and Black Tie White Noise, Bowie's albums generated both significant word-of-mouth interest and some of the most contentious critical reactions of any artist of the rock era.

This long overdue investigation lets Bowie's artistry speak for itself. After a biographical introduction, chronologically arranged chapters discuss the singer's fascinating-and iconoclastic-body of work. A discography and annotated bibliography conclude the book.


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