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Bowie Odyssey 75
Book by book, year by year, the ultimate literary trip through Bowie’s greatest decade.
With his first starring role in a feature film and his first number 1s on both sides of the Atlantic, 1975 ought to be David Bowie’s golden year. But away from the spotlight the suave soul boy of Young Americans is tumbling into a self-made hell of cocaine, witchcraft and the dark fantasies of his new fascist alter-ego, the Thin White Duke.
As David goes berserk in the Hollywood hills, back in the Britain he’s forsaken there’s a Nazi-crazed murderer stalking the streets where he was born, a masked rapist at large and a power-mad grocer’s daughter on the rise, while sappy nostalgia grinds pop to a standstill. But there are also restless scamps hanging around a certain King’s Road clothes shop, and David’s own drug-fuelled genius daring him to make the album of his life. The Seventies are about to reignite with a bang.
The sixth volume in Simon Goddard’s epic adventure through Bowie’s greatest decade, Bowie Odyssey 75 is an intricately plotted tour de force of rock’n’roll, crime, punishment, politics, punk – and a cautionary tale of tragicomic addiction.
With his first starring role in a feature film and his first number 1s on both sides of the Atlantic, 1975 ought to be David Bowie’s golden year. But away from the spotlight the suave soul boy of Young Americans is tumbling into a self-made hell of cocaine, witchcraft and the dark fantasies of his new fascist alter-ego, the Thin White Duke.
As David goes berserk in the Hollywood hills, back in the Britain he’s forsaken there’s a Nazi-crazed murderer stalking the streets where he was born, a masked rapist at large and a power-mad grocer’s daughter on the rise, while sappy nostalgia grinds pop to a standstill. But there are also restless scamps hanging around a certain King’s Road clothes shop, and David’s own drug-fuelled genius daring him to make the album of his life. The Seventies are about to reignite with a bang.
The sixth volume in Simon Goddard’s epic adventure through Bowie’s greatest decade, Bowie Odyssey 75 is an intricately plotted tour de force of rock’n’roll, crime, punishment, politics, punk – and a cautionary tale of tragicomic addiction.
192 pages, Paperback
Published July 1, 2025
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About the author
Simon Goddard
29 books35 followersSimon Goddard was born in Cardiff in 1971.
He is the author of over a dozen books, most prominently the Bowie Odyssey series.
He is not religious and ought not be confused with anyone of the same name on Goodreads who has written religious stuff.
agent: thenorthlitagency.com
He is the author of over a dozen books, most prominently the Bowie Odyssey series.
He is not religious and ought not be confused with anyone of the same name on Goodreads who has written religious stuff.
agent: thenorthlitagency.com
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 16, 2025
Borrowed book from Alloa Library
This was my first foray into Simon Goddard and his chronicles of David Bowie throughout the 1970’s, this was mainly because this part of Bowie’s life and career fascinated me and saw him create one of his greatest albums ( Young Americans) and his scintillating entrance into cinema with the extraordinary The Man Who Fell To Earth.
If you are expecting a straightforward chronological account of DB life and work in 1975 this is not it ,rather it is part portrait of Britain in the Seventies ,the emergence of Margaret Thatcher, a dark retelling of the Cambridge Rapist and of a series of murders of elderly women and a Priest in the UK that year ,alongside snapshots of Bowie’s disintegrating marriage,his attempt to free himself from his manager Tony De Fries,drug use,the film TMWFTE,the Y.A album,relationship with his mother
At times early on in the book I found the writing style a little florid ie “ as the night scrapes its dying heels through the muddy skies over Flood Street” but overall an interesting addition to the multitude of Bowie books.
This was my first foray into Simon Goddard and his chronicles of David Bowie throughout the 1970’s, this was mainly because this part of Bowie’s life and career fascinated me and saw him create one of his greatest albums ( Young Americans) and his scintillating entrance into cinema with the extraordinary The Man Who Fell To Earth.
If you are expecting a straightforward chronological account of DB life and work in 1975 this is not it ,rather it is part portrait of Britain in the Seventies ,the emergence of Margaret Thatcher, a dark retelling of the Cambridge Rapist and of a series of murders of elderly women and a Priest in the UK that year ,alongside snapshots of Bowie’s disintegrating marriage,his attempt to free himself from his manager Tony De Fries,drug use,the film TMWFTE,the Y.A album,relationship with his mother
At times early on in the book I found the writing style a little florid ie “ as the night scrapes its dying heels through the muddy skies over Flood Street” but overall an interesting addition to the multitude of Bowie books.
February 5, 2026
Goddard's beautifully realised character "David Bowie" reaches the nadir of his inverted arc in this traumatic, cinematically evocative portrayal of a Britain at its late 20th Century lowest, rampant with monsters. With every page and every book in this series, Goddard's grand plan becomes clearer in much the same way that John Doe's does in Se7en. If you were ever in any doubt that this is shaping up to be a towering version of the Bowie mythology, then this instalment should leave that doubt as disintegrated as The Thin White Duke's septum. Non-fiction at its most metafictional, printing the legend and then admitting it may well be complete bollocks. But never mind the bollocks, here comes 1976. God save The Duke.
October 19, 2025
Excellent 6th year of this series. Some absolutely essential parts in here, really well told. On a personal level, I wished Goddard had mentioned the Arcane series artworks that Bowie developed and had printed by the Master Printer of Los Angeles in 1975. But heck, wow some amazing prose in this book, and some great thoughts.
Another immersive Goddard experience! Knock out chapter on the Defries-Bowie Showdown. My salute xx
Immediately after I re-watched Bowie on Russell Harty show from 1975. Of course. Of course..it’s a classic!
Another immersive Goddard experience! Knock out chapter on the Defries-Bowie Showdown. My salute xx
Immediately after I re-watched Bowie on Russell Harty show from 1975. Of course. Of course..it’s a classic!
October 8, 2025
as with all the others, i really liked this latest in the series from Simon, its like a newspaper with the years contents in it but with the connection always around what Mr Bowie and some other musical artists around in that year... a very good year
April 8, 2025
Soooooo good
April 15, 2025
The chronicling of the year he descended into hell.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews