Customer Reviews (1)

Put On Your Red Shoes and Dance
This is a gorgeous documentation of Bowie's world tour in 1984.I recommend this book in hardback for the collector.This tour was in a sense, Bowie's "comeback" from the '70s.Healthy from boxing, off drugs, tanned, blonde, and back into Buddhism, Bowie chose the best musicians to travel with him to the farthest reaches of the globe.The most interesting photos being shot in Asia.(There is a companion documentary on film, Ricochet, which is also excellent.) Bowie was again setting the sound for bands like Duran Duran (who were his backup group), and I remember Hall and Oates doing "Maneater" to Bowie's "Fame and "Let's Dance".David Bowie had just taken his own power by learning every aspect of the music business, and managing himself.He was still under the confines of his old management, who owned the rights to his older music.So Bowie cleaned up his act, wrote new music, and toured the hell out it because he'd just lost everything.He was living with a new sense of responsibility, having legally won custody of his son, Joey.So it was his son who was Bowie's primary companion, and his personal assistant, Coco Schwab, who helped him regroup and staff this tour.An amazing and early study of a rock artist who knew the breadth of his talents and moved forward, in spite of everyone and everything that might have tried to hold him down. ... Read more

Product Description
Bowie is a superbly illustrated account of the life and career of a rock icon. One of the great innovators, David Bowie created and inspired Glam-rock, Plastic Soul, the New Romantic Movement, Hard Rock, and half a dozen alternatives. A naturally restless talent, by the time the world looks like catching up, he has already moved on. Like a modern reality TV contestant, the young Bowie would have done anything for fame. Acting, playwriting, mime and dance were just some of his other activities while the music career developed. And yet as soon as success arrived, he hid behind different characters. He was Major Tom, he was Aladdin Sane, he was The Thin White Duke and, most famous of them all, he was Ziggy Stardust. It was only a matter of time before pop's first true chameleon turned his hand to films - including The Man Who Fell To Earth, Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence and Labyrinth - and theatre - where he won rave reviews on Broadway in The Elephant Man. And when he married international super model, Iman, the camera's turned on him as A-list celebrity on the red carpet. Today, in his 60s, his name resonates with every age group across the globe.In this book every phase of Bowie's extraordinary life is captured in almost 200 rare images from the vast and incomparable resource of the Getty Library collection. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Factual errors?
Caveat: I've not read this book. I'm adding this review because my glimpse at it via Amazon's "Look Inside" feature revealed a basic error of fact on p. 2, which makes me wonder about the level of scholarship involved.

To wit: Thompson cites 1979's _Just A Gigolo_ as Bowie's "big-screen debut", overlooking his performance in the leading role of Thomas Newton in 1976's _The Man Who Fell To Earth_.

I'd expect someone writing about Bowie to get this sort of detail right: it's not exactly an obscure fact. Can't comment on the book as a whole, but this isn't leaving me with much desire to read the rest.

One of the most comprehensive reviews of his entire career in print
Fans of rock musician David Bowie will want to have HALLO SPACEBOY: THE REBIRTH OF DAVID BOWIE, one of the most comprehensive reviews of his entire career in print. Bowie seemed on his way down back in 1987 when his album was dismissed by the music press and his latest tour deemed a disaster: nearly twenty years later he's reestablished - and reinvented - himself, and HALLO SPACEBOY follows this rebirth in detail. Interviews with fans, colleagues and associates accompanies a detailed discography and follows up on Thompson's initial MOONAGE DAYDREAM on Bowie in 1987.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch ... Read more

Product Description
Includes 18 big Bowie hits: 1984 * Boys Keep Swinging * Breaking Glass * Can You Hear Me * Fame * Golden Years * Heroes * It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City * Knock on Wood * Sound and Vision * TVC 15 * Wild Is the Wind * Young Americans * and more, plus a separate lyric section. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good for piano. Not for guitar.
I bought this thinking I would find those great guitar tabs. I was wrong. Thankfully I bought it used on this site and dirt cheap. Only a coupple "great" Bowie songs her. ... Read more

Product Description
15 songs: 1.Anyway,Anyhow anywhere 2.Sorrow 3.Don't bring me down 4.1984/bobo 5.big brother 6.Rebel rebel 7.Suffragette city 8.Watch that man 9.Cracked actor 10.young Americans 11.Fascination 12.After today 13.It's hard to ba a saint in the city 14.Tvc15 15.Wild is the wind ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The rarities make it worth
Issued as part of Rykodisc's Sound and Vision box set, this particular disc features previously unreleased tracks as "1984/Dodo", "After Today" (Outtake from the Young Americans sessions) and "It's Hard To Be A Saint In The City" (written by Bruce Springsteen). You also get the US Single Version of "Rebel Rebel" and the remixed version of "Fascination" which later was included on the Ryko edition of Young Americans. ... Read more

Product Description
The complete, behind-the-scenes story of the flamboyant glitter rock of the early 1970s.

David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Bryan Ferry, and Iggy Pop were the icons that defined the music known as glam rock. With outrageous getups and glitz cosmetic artistry, they were the gender-bending, trendsetting performers of the music movement that was centered in London but electrified the world. Now, in the first book of its kind, a rock music journalist takes a no-holds-barred tour of a chapter in pop music history that was as transient as stardust...and which influenced countless musicians in the decades that followed, including Prince, Madonna, Annie Lennox, Guns 'N' Roses, and others.

Published in time for the release of Todd Haynes' eagerly awaited film, Velvet Goldmine, Barney Hoskyns' GLAM! captures a thrilling, thoroughly over-the-top time in pop's life, an age of visual excess as rococo as it was space-age. From Oscar Wilde to Ziggy Stardust, from Liberace to Lou Reed and T Rex to Roxy Music, here is the flamboyant decadence, the androgyny, and the sheer unadulterated fun of the early Seventies -- in an incredible rock history that tells it like it was. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Wham bam
GLAM is not so much a book as it is an outline for a book.Still, it is a useful outline, providing a Cliff-Notes history of the Glam music in the early 1970's.GLAM does a good job of listing key Glam albums, chronicling significant events in the period, and describing the basic act of every major and most of the minor Glam acts.What's missing are deeper stories about the personalities of Glam, a serious treatment of the music (surely some of the music deserves serious treatment), or anything other than a superficial sociological explanation of what was going on.Yet this is not meant as a complaint.GLAM serves its purpose, is enjoyable to read, and functions as a really good outline.Now if only someone writes the real book.In the meantime, wham bam, thank you GLAM.

Wham bam
GLAM is not so much a book as it is an outline for a book.Still, it is a useful outline, providing a Cliff-Notes history of the Glam music in the early 1970's.GLAM does a good job of listing key Glam albums, chronicling significant events in the period, and describing the basic act of every major and most of the minor Glam acts.What's missing are deeper stories about the personalities of Glam, a serious treatment of the music (surely some of the music deserves serious treatment), or anything other than a superficial sociological explanation of what was going on.Yet this is not meant as a complaint.GLAM serves its purpose, is enjoyable to read, and functions as a really good outline.Now if only someone writes the real book.In the meantime, wham bam, thank you GLAM.

A good overview!!
This book is an excellent way to expose oneself to a period inrock history that we have had far too little exposure to here in the states. It's not terribly in-depth, but will provide a basic understanding of an extremely influential era. These artists opened a great many doors, and deserve a little more recognition than they have been thus far afforded.

Glitter Rock - Yeah!
This is a Great Book about Glitter Rock. If you just gonna buy one book this year buy this. It tells you about all the stars. New York Dolls, Marc Bolan, David Bowie.......

I was a bit disappointed.
Although I lived and experienced the Glam Rock era in the UK back in the early 70s, reading this book did little to rekindle my memories of that period. There is much emphasis placed on who influenced who and when andhow. For me, it was written in a somewhat stale manner. ... Read more

Product Description
Updated and redesigned editions of the classic guides to the music of the world s best known acts. Written by experts, each book examines every song in a given artist s recorded repertoire, making it an invaluable guide for collectors and fans alike. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Horribly biased, not worth paying money for
I picked this up at a used book store for a couple of bucks and frankly it isn't worth more than that. It has some nice photographs and bits of trivia but other than that it is simply a collection of Buckley's horribly biased opinions on each of Bowie's songs. Here's what he has to say about a track from Tin Machine II:

"This is pretty dull. Bowie and Gabriels try to be understated and wistful, but the song isn't up to it."

And that's ALL it has to say about it. If you want a book that really looks in-depth into the songs and albums and gives you an unbiased perspective on the history of the songs, go to Nicholas Pegg's encyclopedia. This book tries to be comprehensive and witty, but the author isn't up to it.

skip it
Obviously enough, Buckley had already written as much as he knows about Bowie in his definitive biography, which is definitely worth a read.This book has apparently just been shoved out there to make some more money; Buckley just provides a few very brief, random, chatty observations about the records. There's neither information nor interpretation, and this book is simply not worth reading, not even for dedicated fans.

Anyone seriously inerested in Bowie should instead try The Complete David Bowie by Nicholas Pegg, which is a mine of information.

nice to own
Although I don't agree with everything that David Buckley says on DavidBowie in this book, I would recommend it to any fan. This book contains asong-by-song analysis from everything on The Man Who Sold the World untilOutside. It also include a few words on some soundtracks and compilations.He does discuss the self titled David Bowie album and Space Oddity, but notin as much detail as everything else. This is a great book for any DavidBowie fan to own and I'm recommending it to YOU.

Makes an unfaithful fan faithful.
I'll admit it. I'm not the biggest Bowie fan. But after buying this book, you get drawn into the "Bowie-ness". Everyone should have a copy of this book. My friend reads it everytime he comes over. The book becomesan addiction.

Compact Delight
This CD-sized book is essential for the Bowiephile and indispensable for those just discovering Bowie's genius.This book lists all of Bowie's albums and singles with a synopsis/review of each. It also includes videos,films and soundtracks.The version I bought came with a CD containing aninterview.(A MasterTone MultiMedia product in association with OmnibusPress #8042)Scan code# 714151804225 ... Read more

Product Description
Based on interviews with family members, colleagues, lovers, and the previously silent William Burroughs, this unsparing yet even-handed biography guides the reader through the many personas, crises, and musical metamorphoses of David Bowie. 30 photos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Informative and Eye-Opening Book
I had never bothered to purchase biographies on my idols before, and the reason was simple: being true spawn of the MySpace generation, I naively thought that all the information you could possibly want was out on the web someplace, so buying books would be just a foolish waste of money. My opinion changed, however, when I discovered this book.

I was browsing Amazon for Bowie-related merch and found this. The online excerpt was what grabbed me--its narration of the turmoil Bowie expressed around the last 'Ziggy' concert very much shocked and interested me. Someone was selling a used copy for two dollars--an offer even an utter cheapskate such as myself couldn't resist--and I ordered it.

Being a rabid David Bowie fanatic, I relished the author's inclusion of fact after fascinating fact. It must have taken at least several years to compile the information. Eye-opening anecdotes about virtually every phase in Bowie's life, including often-neglected ones such as his youth and beginning stabs at releasing music, make this a highly informative read. Sandford goes into great detail on Bowie's cocaine-induced mental breakdown in the mid-seventies, which included behaviors as bizarre as repeatedly tracing swastikas on a fog-covered window, and repeatedly acting out the plot of "Rosemary's Baby."

I'd recommend this to just about anyone interested in learning about the man behind the phenomenal Bowie albums; however, the book tends to go back and forth between time periods, and the author generously applies the 'miscellaneous facts' element, which may bore readers who are more interested in a cohesive, story-like outline of Bowie's history.

Oh, yeah--there are several pages' worth of photographs included, several of which were taken when he was a boy, which readers might find interesting. All in all, a very well-constructed biography that deserves an honored place on any rabid Bowie fanatic's bookshelf.

Terrible...
Decidedly myopic and one-sided, the author's primary interest seems to be debasing the subject entirely using unsubstantiated rumors and dubious source material.There are far better, even-handed treatments available - look for the excellent "David Bowie: An Illustrated Record" by Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray.Crudely sensationalist at its best, and outright slanderous at its worst, Sanford's book would be at more at home amongst the supermarket tabloids than any thinking person's library.Absolutely terrible.

Fairly comprehensive biography of Bowie.
Christopher Sandford has done an admirable job of writing a biography onone of rock's more elusive icons, David Bowie. Having read most of theother biographies on Bowie in and out of print, I'd have to rank this onesecond best next to Peter Gillman's "Alias David Bowie."Gillman's biography has better photos and a superior in-depth account ofBowie's youth, but Sandford's is more up-to-date.

In "Loving theAlien," Sandford discusses Bowie's rumored schizophrenia, a trait heapparently inherited from his mother's side. (Previous biographers haveargued that if this is a fact, it serves to explain the many stage-personasBowie adopted during the '70's: Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Thin WhiteDuke, etc. Curiously enough, Sandford seems uninterested in this theory.)Bowie's half-brother, Terry Burns, clearly suffered from the mentalillness, which led him to take his own life in 1985. The song "Widthof a Circle" is supposed to be about Bowie's own battles withschizophrenia (or possibly Burns', depending on which biography you read).Whether or not it ever seriously affected him, Bowie seems to haveconquered it by his mid-30's.

Bowie also befriended many other rockstars and celebrities during the '70's. At one time, he was even friendswith Elizabeth Taylor and Oona Chaplin (the latter's family even falselypredicted that Bowie would marry her).

Sandford's biography is probablythe most well-written one yet on Bowie, as well as the most current.Strongly recommended for Bowie fans wishing to know more about the man.

Better detailed and explained than any of the rest!
When I bought this book, I figured I knew just about everything I needed to know about David Bowie. I knew all of his albums, his wives, favorite albums, all about his fellow musical friends (Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, etc.),the movie he has starred in, and so on. As a matter of fact, I came closeto not buying the book at all. But boy am I glad I did. Loving The Alien isthe by far the most down to the earth, well explained, and best researchedBowie biography out there today. I'm surprised that the author, ChristopherSanford was able to convince William Burroughs to talk to him. What setsthis biography apart from the rest is that it presents the information in afactual matter but also with a twist of Sanford's opinion mixed in. I foundthe reading very interesting and I finally realized that I knew hardlyanything about the exciting and unique David Bowie.

This book is the best biography of David Bowie ever.
I have read a lot about David Bowie, because I'm a huge fan, and I believe that this is the best biography written about him.It goes into such detail, you can't believe that it's all true.I actually ended uphighlighting parts that were so interesting, I would reffer to inconversations.I highly recommend this book.It will change anyone'slife. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Great idea...poor execution
I was really excited by this book as researching and attempting to reconstruct unreleased albums (think "Chrome Dreams" or the original proposed issue of "Blue) is an interesting hobby for me.Unfortunately, without the aid of the actual musician for many of the chapters the book is speculative at best.When the musicians are involved they come off as very one sided.Further complicating issues is Julianna Hatfield's remembrances in the last chapter make this chapter sturdier than the others and make it seem (along with author's introduction to the chapter) that the book may have been cobbled together simply to support this chapter.

The further issues in the back of the book are tired 2-8 page rehashes of commonly told stories that needed more fleshing out to hold interest.

If, as Mr. Leroy suggests there is a sequal to his book he might benefit by sticking more to one genre of music and getting more direct access.If impossible he might benefit from no access at all and simply researching the stories from other places and resources so as not to give the illusion of favoritism.There are many other albums (Smile, Gift Of Screws, Crystal Ball) which could, and should be further studied.Mr. Leroy could do many fans a favor by pushing his considerable talents towards these unreleased classics.

Bought this book for Chicago
Disclaimer:I bought this book to learn about Chicago's then unreleased album "Stone of Sisyphus" and I only read that chapter.

Chicago back in 93 recorded their unreleased album "Stone of Sisyphus".There were many stories floating around about this album to a point where it had become legend.I as many fans of Chicago got a bootleg copy of this album and it instantly became one of my favorites.I wanted to know more about the history of this album and how it came about and I was lead to this book by Dewayne Bailey, former guitarist for Chicago, who was interviewed for this book.It covers in detail a lot of the conflicts and it shows the love and care put into this album by the band and producer Peter Wolf who really worked to get the band back to their roots where they were creating this music and not a bunch of outsiders.If you want to get the closest thing to the true story of this album this is the book to get.

As a side note, Chicago has since released Stone of Sisyphus so it is no longer "Lost" but sadly the bootlegs sound much better and has a better mix so to me the real "Stone of Sisyphus" had not been released.

Too much of it is meaningless
When I saw "The Greatest Music Never Sold" in Borders yesterday, I was really curious. As something of a lover of obscure and little-known music, I was hoping for some details of, in Richie Unterberger's words, "artists who never got to record at all".

Instead, too much of "The Greatest Music Never Sold" deals with albums by mainstream artists who were past their commercial prime and could not have what they wanted released by major labels. Of these, the albums by Seal, Mick Jagger and David Bowie are most especially superfluous and offer absolutely nothing that will be remotely interesting to the serious music historian. The last Style Council album, whose rejection is very well-known and was actually hardly unexpected after "Confessions of a Pop Group" was a major commercial failure, is even less interesting. Even the Jungle Brothers' story seems too much like the probably common rejection by major labels of radical music following a major musical revolution and has very little that is interesting. The same is true of Brian Wilson, whose career since leaving the Beach Boys has been full of rejected recordings.

Adam Ant's "Persuasion" and Chicago's "Stone of Sisyphus" are much more interesting, especially the conflicts between band members involved in both the making and ultimate rejection of them.

The most interesting story, Juliana Hatfield's "God's Foot", really shows the difficulties major labels have had since the tightening of budget occurring simultaneously to the "punk revolution". The way in which Atlantic asked such a high price for "God's Foot" that there was no means for Hatfield to have it released, despite very lengthy efforts to find a label is something that would make "The Greatest Music Never Sold" worthy.

Unfortunately the sidelights at the back of the book add as little as most of the chapters to a book claiming to represent the greatest music never sold. I imagine any serious critic would have grave doubts about such a claim.

Includes chapter on Ray Davies' "80 Days" demos
This book includes a chapter on the demos Ray Davies recorded in 1987 of the songs he wrote for the musical "80 Days".Dan is pretty thorough in his research, interviewing playwright Snoo Wilson, director Des McAnuff and arranger Robby Merkin.Very informative, and highly recommended to any Kinks fan who wants to learn more about these songs.

Great Subject
I primarily bought this for the Juliana Hatfield chapter. Great subject with a lot of resources. The writing style sometimes leaves the story bit scattered so sometimes it's a bit tough to follow. Other than that great! Will buy volume two if Dan writes it. ... Read more

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interesting biog ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

FABULOUS!
what a great ,entertaining read; can't put it down! we want a sequal, with more on Wayne County and Cherry Vanilla....

Entertaining, biased, and confused
The authors of this book were not sure what they wanted it to be. On the one hand, it depicts Bowie as the epitome of persistence, a man who kept at it regardless of how many times he failed. On the other hand, it also paints him out as a guy who couldn't even wipe his own runny nose (caused, apparently,by the massive amounts of cocaine he was using). This book is entertaining, especially when it deals with Bowie's decadent antics (he apparently had a fondness for Asian boys and black women), paranoid fantasies (he thought Jimmy Page, among others, was using black magic to destroy him), and magnificent rise to the top.However, one must keep in mind that one of the authors, Tony Zanetta, was involved with Bowie at the business level, and cannot be considered an impartial source. Personally, I'm more interested in David's post-Ziggy career, but most of this book deals with the years up to 1972/3. Angela Bowie comes across as a flamboyantly royal pain in the rear, Iggy Pop is depicted as a useless junkie that David kept around for entertainment, and Tony Defries (the guy who managed Bowie until "Young Americans") is portrayed as a typical greasy music biz type. The only gripe that I have with this product is that I walked away from it not knowing Bowie any better at all. He is described as a generally nice guy, non-confrontational, hedonistic, prone to believe in himself as an alien, temperamental, sheltered, jaded, opportunistic...some of these characterizations are obviously a little contradictory. It's rather difficult to listen to Bowie's body of work and believe that the man described in this book created anything so fantastic. Still, unflaterring descriptions notwithstanding, I had to breathe a sigh of relief when Bowie finally hit it big at the end of the book. It's just a shame that the ten years of Bowie's life and career that preceded its publication (1976-1986) were blazed through in a few chapters at the end.

The real "Velvet Goldmine"
Henry Edwards was one of the 22 American journalists flown to London in 1972 especially to interview David and witness the Ziggy Stardust hoopla - even if he does not disclose in the book that the journalist whose 15-minute conversation with David is described in detail is himself. Tony Zanetta worked with David in the 70's as a MainMan employee and got a co-writing credit in this book for his collaboration. This may not be the best book ever written about Bowie (David Buckley's "Strange Fascination" will probably never be surpassed), but it does provide a fascinating angle of his life, especially in the so-called Ziggy years. And most of all, it is the book the movie "Velvet Goldmine" was based on. The book is never credited in the movie, but you just have to read it to realize the connection. Also, the book includes exclusive Polaroid pictures taken by Dana Gillespie which are quite revealing. There is a candid picture of David Bowie and Mick Jagger in 1974 which is literally worth a thousand words!

Entertaining
I found this book to be quite entertaining. True, it tends to focus on Bowie's betrayal of a variety of people who helped his career take off, but there's enough valuable information about his development as artist. Many of the colorful individuals who surrounded Bowie down the years are vividly described, as well as many interesting happenings. The black & white photographs (some quite rare) are truly impressive. The index, discography and bibliography of books and articles make a valuable contribution. It takes the Bowie story up to 1986, and the gossipy writing style is entertaining enough. Not a classic work, but not bad either.

A fantastic look into the life of David Bowie
Being a huge fan of David Bowie, I enjoyed this book emensly, getting a good peek at what Davids life was like.Very easily written, I found the book very hard to put down.When I was finished I was left with a feelingof satisfication and a very stronge(stronger?) desire to meet this man.Very highly recommended for a DB fan. ... Read more

Product Description
David Bowie's career has been one of the most colourful andintriguing in modern rock history. In Moonage Daydream Dave Thompson notonly looks into the man himself, as seen through the eyes of many of thepeople who surrounded him and helped to influence him, but alsocarefully chronicles every step of Bowie's career detailing everyconcert performance, all original compositions, and a completediscography. A must for every dedicated Bowie fan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Best since Black Book
This is the best book on db that I have seen since Black Book.The photos and text are excellent.The snippets of info describing the photos are great and very informative.You feel you know him a bit better after reading this boo ... Read more

Product Description
By printing the title "Professor of Aesthetics" on his visiting cards, Oscar Wilde announced yet another transformation—and perhaps the most significant of his career, proclaiming his belief that he could redesign not just his image but his very self. Shelton Waldrep explores the cultural influences at play in Wilde’s life and work and his influence on the writing and performance of the twentieth century, particularly on the lives and careers of some of its most aestheticized performers: Truman Capote, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, and David Bowie. As Waldrep reveals, Wilde’s fusing of art with commerce foresaw the coming century’s cultural producers who would blend works of both "high art" and mass-market appeal.

Whether as a gay man or as a postmodern performance artist ahead of his time, Wilde ultimately emerges here as the embodiment of the twentieth-century media-savvy artist who is both subject and object of the aesthetic and economic systems in which he is enmeshed. ... Read more