Bowie por Bowie: Entrevistas y encuentros con David Bowie

by Sean Egan

Bowie por Bowie reúne las mejores entrevistas que ofreció David Bowie a lo largo de sus casi cincuenta años de carrera. Con más de treinta reportajes en los que Bowie se explaya en profundidad, este volumen es lo más cercano a una autobiografía relatada en tiempo real de una leyenda del rock y el pop.

Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, el cantante de plastic soul, El Delgado Duque Blanco, el glam rock, la sexualidad, las drogas, sus colaboraciones con Lou Reed y con Iggy Pop, los excesos que desembocarían en el extraordinario período musical de Berlín, la experimentación permanente, el éxito masivo en los años ochenta, la actuación en cine y teatro, la moda, las artes visuales, la controvertida banda Tin Machine, el esplendor creativo de mitad de los noventa: odiseas que lo llevarían a convertirse, sin duda, en uno de los músicos más influyentes del siglo XX y XXI, que hizo de la reinvención su bandera creativa.

Genres: Music, Biography, Nonfiction, Pop Culture, Art, Musicians, Autobiography

504 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

A freelance journalist, author and editor who writes about arts and entertainment (music, film, TV, comics and literature), social history (20th and 21st centuries) and sport (soccer and tennis history).

Reviews

[Dorcas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think there are some artists that refuse to be understood. And its almost a waste of time to try to delve into their psyche and discover what "makes them tick" because they themselves don't even know. And if they did, why should they spell it out to everyone?

Bowie is an artist, first and foremost. He thinks like an artist, performs like an artist and is ever changing like an artist. While reading this biography, Vincent Van Gogh kept coming to mind.

If you've ever read Van Gogh's letters to his brother Theo (published in the book "Dear Theo") you get a feeling for the kaleidoscopic thinking pattern Vincent possessed, and Bowie is very similar.

Why did you do such and such? Create such and such? What's up with the alter ego Ziggy Stardust? What were you thinking? Well let me save you some time. WHO KNOWS? Aren't we all allowed a neurotic moment now and then? There's no Big Hidden Agenda. No Mysterious Hidden Clues. An artist simply creates according to mood and inspiration. And the person/artist you see today will be hardly recognizable tomorrow. Its art. Appreciate it, like it, dislike it, whatever. It is what it is.

But then you wouldn't have a book.

This book puts together various interviews and snippets recorded throughout David Bowie's career. It's ok. But you're not going to learn much. For someone like David Bowie I think the best way to "see his soul" is through his work. Period.

About the interviews. They're not that good. They hail to the day when the journalist didn't give the interviewee much warning. They just throw questions willy nilly that the artist isn't prepared for. So the artist ums and ers and the man with the typewriter is left piecing together fragmented thoughts that make little sense and so ends up describing wardrobe choices and cigarette consumption to spice it up.

*I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The ecopy draft is riddled with problems. The font size changes continually and there is not.one.period.in.the.whole.book. None. I hope this is corrected or the author will not.have.one.sale.None.

[Dollie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long been a David Bowie fan. In 1973, when I was in high school, my favorite music to listen to was Cat Stevens, Neil Young and Jethro Tull (I still listen to all of them). Then in the summer of 1973 I heard Changes for the first time and I was an immediate fan, although it would be 30 years before I’d finally get to see him in concert, when he toured with Moby in 2002. My heart hurt when he died. (He was David Bowie, dammit! He was never supposed to DIE!) Reading this collection of interviews (32 of them) was so great for me because I heard his voice throughout the reading. The interviews were for various music magazines in the UK and US and took place from 1973-2003. Three things stood out for me – during every interview he was polite and attentive to the interviewer, he was a voracious reader and he loved being a father to his two children. Oh, and he smoked A LOT. Actually, a lot of the interviewers described him as charming. There appeared to always be a lot of laughter during the interviews, as well. He never failed to laugh at himself. The interviews showed that he was constantly changing – as a musician, as an artist and as a person. He mellowed nicely over the years. I will also add that when I did finally get to see him in concert, he was one of the most attractive men I’d ever seen. If you’re a Bowie fan, this is definitely a great book to read to get some insight into the real David Bowie.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good book, BUT the ARC was SUPER difficult to read because none of the interviews had end punctuation. I had to be a reading detective to determine where sentences began and ended. There was capitalization, but sometimes proper names or "I" is used in the middle of a sentence, which would throw me off. I was reading a different book while reading this one and I had to actually stop looking for the end of sentences in it, as the punctuation was provided in that book!

Other than that quibble, which I am sure was dealt with in the finished copy, not a lot to complain about in this book. There was one interviewer who was WAAAY too spacey for me to want to read his interview, so I skipped most of that one. Other than that, I learned quite a lot about David Bowie.

The concept of this book was pure GENIUS. Reading from his beginnings to his more recent interviews, the reader gets to understand Bowie as he grows as an artist, as a person and as a musician. It's a character study of 40 years or so of the life of a true character. An amazing artist, who was a consummate reader and who was honest about his mistakes and how he learned from them. He didn't shy away from his frailties, which made him strong. He wasn't perfect or a Rock God too big and high for the "little" people. He was down to earth and had a good head on his shoulders.

I love David Bowie's music. I try not to read or learn much about famous people, because honestly, I'm never going to meet them, why bother getting all hepped up about them or develop a silly girl-crush on them? So I didn't know much at all about Bowie when I started this book. Honestly, I had enough of a crush on him from Labyrinth, I didn't need to feed that childhood flame. Plus, he was married and I don't like crushing on men who belong to someone else. Even if I wouldn't act on it, it's just not right. Chicks before male anatomy part that rhymes with chicks.

But now that I did read this book, my heart is broken. He was an amazing person. He was a lover of books. Like to the point of carrying hundreds of books with him on tour. Of saying if he wasn't a musician or an artist, he would have been working with books in some capacity. He would never give up his wife or his library. Yup, I would have crushed HORRIBLY on Bowie had I known that before reading this book.

The world lost a wonderful man before his time. My sympathy to his wife and children. I can only imagine their loss.

This was a great book to show the ups and downs of a fantastic man who left this world too soon. 4.5 stars. Rounded down because the font and lack of end punctuation drove me bananas. It is a credit to this book and the subject matter that I didn't DNF it in frustration. I would recommend this to any fan of David Bowie, or anyone who wants to read a great character study of a most interesting man.

My thanks to NetGalley and Chicago Review Press for an eARC copy of this book to read and review.

[Mimonni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una raccolta di interviste tratte da varie riviste musicali che coprono il periodo della carriera di Bowie dagli inizi fino al 2003. Le interviste sono più o meno riuscite, ma le ho trovate apprezzabili in quanto trattano del processo creativo sia durante la scrittura che in sala di registrazione, dei pessimi rapporti che possono esserci tra musicista e case discografiche e delle interessanti e innumerevoli collaborazioni intrecciate nel corso dei decenni (soprattutto nel periodo migliore, i '70).
Le interviste sono spesso discorsive e spaziano su svariati temi e rendono il personaggio più simpatico di quello che, nel mio caso, immaginavo. Ad esempio Bowie è un grande appassionato di lettura e spesso fa citazioni letterarie.
Ultimo tratto, da non sottovalutare, è che queste chiacchierate mi sono parse oneste. Bowie stesso è il primo a criticare alcuni dei suoi album soprattutto del periodo anni '80 e a considerarsi un sopravvissuto del periodo della droga nel quale toccò il fondo rischiando seriamente di non uscirne.

Forse avrei tolto qualcuna delle ultime interviste tra fine e inizio millennio, ripetitive, ma mi sento comunque di consigliarne la lettura molto focalizzata sul mondo della musica e la cultura circostante e per nulla sul gossip.

[cabina3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Così si spengono le stelle: in uno scoppio assordante che noi non sentiamo, in una supernova di cui non scorgiamo che il più effimero dei bagliori,
nel silenzio.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Hex75 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Al termine della lettura di questa raccolta di interviste a bowie non può non esserci una sensazione di nostalgia: per un artista capace di essere sempre sul pezzo, di avere sempre opinioni come minimo interessanti e di essere capace di analizzare la sua opera (tra le più importanti della storia della cultura popolare), e anche per un giornalismo capace di sfidare il suo interlocutore cercando di entrare a fondo nel suo lavoro.
Al termine delle interviste degli anni '70/' 80 si sorride per la sua capacità di cambiare costantemente opinione sui suoi dischi e sul mondo (cocaine is a hell of a drug, dice un fortunato meme) mentre il bowie successivo - pacificato, forse- sembra essere più coerente ma capace lo stesso di sorprendere il lettore.
Una manna per i fan del fu ziggy stardust, forse non adatta a tutti gli altri o a chi del duca bianco conosce giusto gli hits, ma sopratutto un progetto raro nel panorama editoriale italiano: se ne vorrebbero altri volumi dedicati ad altri artisti...

[Izzy Larrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Siendo fanático de la música de David Bowie, con varios discos de su música en mis manos... cuando salió a la venta lo fui a comprar enseguida y lo devoré en pocos días. En el libro se recopilan varias entrevistas que Bowie fue dando en su vida, desde los 60s en adelante.
.
En estas entrevistas se muestra un recorrido por sus ideas que cambian constantemente, todo el tiempo, nunca fue el mismo. Fue Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, El Duque Blanco y a lo lejos, siempre escondido en sus alter egos aparece Bowie.
.
Recomiendo mucho este libro para adentrarse mas en su vida y sus pensamientos, pero sobre todo porque fue un grande de la música que dominaba el escenario como pocos.

[Polly Krize · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To read these interviews from the mid-70s and onwards serves to remind us of this singular talent. Hearing in his own words about the evolution of his music and his creations Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane makes us appreciate this eccentric, gifted loner all over again. Not a performer to pander to any audience, he stays true to his creative motivations and keeps us entertained and appreciative. An encounter indeed!

[Alessandra Bassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

molto interessante. Un po' frammentario, visto che si tratta di interviste. Uno sguardo ricco di aspetti diversi su di lui e sul suo mondo, ma anche sul resto del mondo e su quello che si muoveva nel corso degli anni. Ne esce che persona straordinaria era, affascinante, creativo, curioso e fondamentalmente buono.

[Vanyo666 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bowie certainly knew how to give a good interview. This book was very entertaining and even engrossing for a completist fan like me, even if (necessarily) it does get a bit dull when the same story is told again and again incrementally from subtly (or sometimes drastically) shifting points of view. It's the man's charm as exuded from the descriptions and transcriptions, the way he expressed himself at every stage of his career that makes the most interesting points.

To make a criticism of the book itself and its editorial criteria, I would have to know what interviews were left out in favor of those included, and I have no way of knowing that. But of course the book is mostly a pleasure and offers a treasure trove of references to other artists and works I have not heard about or paid attention to before (as is usually the case with Bowie interviews).

One consistently interesting thing for me is how confused, disoriented, miserable, and out of his mind he was when he made the universally adored records of his "halcyon" days. Not even remebering making a jewel like Station to Station? Wow, I find that hard to believe (and did he Nazi salute or was caught waving? LOL).

A side note about the more reviled records, or the people who only care for Ziggy and Aladdin as relevant and hate Tin Machine. Come on! I even like Tonight! Having become of discerning listening age around the time of Let's Dance and Tonight, that was the first Bowie for me, so they were not the huge disappointment they obviously were for the people who expected the second coming of Ziggy.

I only discovered the older records everyone seems to adore much later, first Heroes, then Low, then Scary Monsters and realized the stature of the Artist. It was only much later that I listened to the earlier "universally acclaimed" records. So I was not expecting his previous stuff from him.

In any case, for me, his best period begins with Outside (possible exclusion made of about half of Hours...) and ends with Blackstar, that magnum opus. Coincidentally, it is the period of his family life and maturity when I think he finally comes to his own as an artist and starts having more fun, enjoying life and his stature, following his own muse and reaching new heights for the glory and the fun of music. And also his interviews were more fun, I think.

[Kiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Era 1972 y un David Bowie veinteañero que acababa de ser padre por primera vez no tenía ninguna duda de lo que se le venía encima: «Voy a ser alguien muy grande, y eso es algo bastante aterrador en cierto modo. Porque sé que cuando alcance la cima y sea hora de desaparecer, habré dejado huella». Además se confesaba gay, incrementando así la ya abultada nómina de sentencias candidatas a encabezar el artículo. Todo ello se lo contaba a Michael Watts, periodista enviado por Melody Maker para intentar desentrañar algunas claves de Ziggy Stardust, personaje que irrumpiría en el panorama musical pocos meses después junto a su banda de acompañamiento, los Spiders from Mars, gracias a un disco que terminaría por convertirse en una de las obras más reconocidas y carismáticas del artista británico.

«Bowie siempre fue uno de los entrevistados más extraordinarios de la música pop», advierte el escritor y periodista Sean Egan en el prólogo de este Bowie por Bowie editado en Estados Unidos en 2015 y que Libros Cúpula publica ahora en nuestro país. A lo largo de sus más de 500 páginas —traducidas al castellano por Martín Abadía—, el libro recorre la vida y obra del influyente músico a través de una selección de treinta y dos entrevistas que abarcan desde sus comienzos a finales de los sesenta hasta el año 2003. En 2004, Bowie, coincidiendo con el lanzamiento del álbum Reality y su posterior gira de presentación —en donde sufriría un ataque al corazón que lo alejaría definitivamente de los escenarios—, delegaría en el productor Tony Visconti la tarea de relacionarse con los medios de comunicación, decisión que mantendría hasta su fallecimiento en enero de 2016.

Bowie utilizaría la música para dar rienda suelta a unas inquietudes que se irían incrementando con el transcurrir de los años. «Quería ampliar el contexto», le aseguraba en el año 2000 a John Robinson del New Musical Express. «Expandir el vocabulario por medio de las artes, del teatro. Siempre quise cambiar lo que yo percibía como música popular desde que era un muchacho. Pensaba que eso era más halagador para mi vanidad que vender muchos discos». Su desmedida ambición, unida a una galopante timidez (siempre según sus palabras), le llevaría a concebir personajes con los que terminaría confundiéndose. Sin embargo, y a pesar de que «generalmente representaba un papel», como reconoce el periodista Robert Hilbur, «aprendimos que siempre había una gema de verdad en lo que decía».

Volviendo a 1972, y con Ziggy ya vagando a sus anchas entre los terrícolas, Charles Shaar Murray se preguntaba cuál sería la próxima reencarnación del artista, a lo que Bowie respondía: «Todavía estoy totalmente metido en Ziggy. Probablemente tarde unos meses en borrarlo por completo de mi sistema, pero entonces crearemos otra máscara». Y así fue: poco después llegaría Aladdin Sane (1973), al que le seguiría la oscura y feroz criatura de Diamond dogs (1974) y El Delgado Duque Blanco, que protagonizaría los discos Station to station (1975) y Young americans (1976) coincidiendo con una fuerte adicción a la cocaína y confusas declaraciones sobre el fascismo. Lo cuenta aquí Bowie en reiteradas ocasiones: le salvaría la vida su traslado de Los Ángeles a Berlín de la mano de Iggy Pop, donde comenzaría a gestar junto a Brian Eno y Tony Visconti —y bajo la influencia de bandas como Can, Kraftwerk, Neu! o Kluster— la trilogía que a la postre compondrían Low (1977), “Heroes” (1977) y Lodger (1979).

Uno de los muchos atractivos del volumen lo hallamos en las constantes referencias a diversas personalidades procedentes de un amplio abanico de disciplinas artísticas, algunas de las cuales intervienen de forma directa en la conversación. Entre los suculentos encuentros que recoge el libro cabe destacar el que reunió a Bowie con Bruce Springsteen en 1974 o la charla, esta con más enjundia, que mantuvo con el periodista Steve Sutherland y Brett Anderson en 1993 poco antes de que vieran la luz, con tan solo una semana de diferencia, el primer disco de Suede y el decimoctavo álbum de Bowie, Black tie white noise. Ese mismo año aclararía en Rolling Stone las polémicas revelaciones de 1972 sobre su orientación sexual con otra afirmación para el recuerdo: «Siempre había sido, en realidad, un heterosexual en el armario».

Bowie supo rodearse de compositores, productores e instrumentistas que contribuyeron a perfilar sus distintas etapas sonoras. En ese sentido, H.P. Newquist indagaría a principios de 1996 en los guitarristas que lo acompañaron desde sus inicios, conformando una extraordinaria relación de músicos en la que encontramos a Mick Ronson, Robert Fripp, Stevie Ray Vaughan o Reeves Gabrels, figura esencial a la hora de configurar a Tin Machine a finales de los ochenta. Pocos meses después de su diálogo con Newquist, el propio Bowie ejercería el papel de reportero para entrevistar al diseñador Alexander McQueen, a quien había encargado el icónico traje largo con la bandera británica que luce, de espaldas a la cámara, en la portada de Earthling (1997).

Ante la inminente llegada de un nuevo milenio, Bowie, a sus cincuenta años, se muestra activo e ilusionado gracias a los numerosos proyectos en marcha; el teatro, la literatura, la moda o el cine —su faceta de actor acapara buena parte del material recopilado por Egan— continúan nutriendo un día a día que recibiría en el año 2000 a su hija Alexandria, fruto de la relación con la modelo y actriz somalí Iman, con quien había contraído matrimonio en 1992.

La tecnología se posiciona como cuestión significativa en las últimas charlas incluidas en el libro: «Internet es terriblemente adictivo», le reconocía a Linda Laban en 1997 para Mr. Showbiz. «Además, cuando entro, tengo la sensación de que hay que pasar por un montón de basura antes de encontrar algo verdaderamente interesante». En la misma conversación, Bowie examina una actualidad siempre propensa a vaticinar el fin del mundo: «Estamos viviendo una época de caos y fragmentación, y deberíamos acogerla positivamente y no estar asustados; no verlo como la destrucción de la sociedad, sino como el material con el cual la reconstruiremos. Es molesto ver a la gente caminar entre las ruinas y tratar de extraer absolutos una vez más. Es de veras perturbador. Nos estamos volviendo muy intolerantes y no es lo que queremos, ¿verdad?».

[Cesar · Rating 5 out of 5]

El año pasado leí el libro de Sean Egan "Bowie por Bowie" , una serie de entrevistas que abarcan casi toda su carrera, desde la etapa pre-Ziggy hasta "Reality", uno de sus últimos discos (en el libro me enteré que Bowie dejó de dar entrevistas alrededor de aquella época) El libro sirve para entender al artista, pero también a la persona, permitiéndonos seguir la evolución del inglés en ambos aspectos ya que las entrevistas-ofrecidas a diversas publicaciones- están ordenadas en orden cronológico. Dentro de todo lo interesante que podemos rescatar de cada entrevista hay algunos aspectos que me parecen reseñables. Lo primero es que por más que los discos de Bowie-sobre todo los de los 70's- sean definitivamente de los más trascendentes de la historia del rock&pop, por la infinidad de ideas que se desprenden de ellos, su disco definitivo fue , sin duda, el "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars " ya que cada entrevista, cada reseña de cualquier disco, terminaba mirando hacia aquel año 72', por la música, los conceptos y el estilo de vida que llevó como artista. Es interesante conocer más acerca de David, sus pocos prejuicios para acercarse a la realidad y absorber, transformar y comunicar ideas a través del lenguaje que él elegía. Sin duda, Bowie fue uno de los artistas que supo encarnar el post modernismo a través de su arte. Ahora, y lo segundo a recalcar, fue para mí una sorpresa leer en una de las últimas entrevistas del libro, que durante sus últimos años cuestionaba al postmodernismo que tan bien supo encarnar a través de sus personajes, mostrando un matiz espiritual que no sabía que tenía, y con una (casi) convicción de que la vida no puede ser solo el aquí y el ahora, como diciendo, "algo debe haber, ¿no?" Un artista absoluto que el día de ayer hubiera cumplido 76 años y mañana se celebra un año más que el Major Tom se fue a otra galaxia para nunca más volver. ¿O quizás sí?

[Melissa Gors-Schafer · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, David Bowie = rock god. Truly, one of the most talented, inventive and incredible entertainers ever. One of my very favorites.

This book is a collection of interviews done over the years, beginning in 1969 and only going to 2003, which was one of my cons about the book - it didn’t cover any conversations from his later years, after the touring, and when I thought he was the most interesting as a person.

I wish I could have given it 3 and a half stars, simply because it leaves out a huge chunk of time (plus it appeared to have been written in 2015 so, they could have come up with more recent interviews, I know I’ve read some in that time period) - I know he limited interviews in his later decades but, he didn’t forego them altogether, which was frustrating that this book didn’t examine the older and I think more multifaceted Bowie - but, for what they did have, it was well-documented.

Some of the interviews were admittedly a bit tedious so, I just read those for the gist of the particular discussion but, because it’s Bowie, anything is worth the read.

Still a loss that’s hard to fathom.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in a single day-- I thought such a large collection of interviews might take me longer, because even with my love for Bowie, it's just not the sort of thing I normally binge-read, and I was sure I'd find myself itching to put it down and reach for some short fiction... Not so! I devoured it over the course of the afternoon, and felt a brand new level of appreciation for some of the phases of his career.

I laughed, I cried, it changed my life (or at least the amount of time I would go on to spend listening to Tin Machine)

[Bicho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una colección de entrevistas a David Bowie que de algún modo sirven como una especie de recorrido por una buena parte de la carrera musical de este fantástico artista británico.
También podemos pensar a este libro como una especie de Grandes Éxitos, de entrevistas.
Obviamente, y dado que Bowie dejó de dar entrevistas en 2003, como registro de vida, o de carrera, es bastante incompleto.
Pero, obviamente, es un material imprescindible para todo fan.

[Toppy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The interviews provided good insight into the mind(s) of Bowie. He presents as intelligent and articulate. He's something of a philosopher of life, art and culture; not at all like the glam rock/pop image that I had in my head prior to reading this collection. Not surprisingly, there is considerable repetition as interviewers cover similar ground.

[Carlos Urquieta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy interesante colección de entrevistas que dan cuenta de las contradicciones, preocupaciones y divagaciones de una de las grandes personalidades del siglo XX.
Punto aparte resulta la curiosa animadversión del editor por ciertas obras de Bowie, que se hacen patente en introducciones a varias entrevistas al artista.

[Aomame* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Bowie era come Lsd nella rete idrica. Inoltre ha reso dannatamente cool i denti brutti e i capelli arancioni e il cantare con un buffo accento cockney, e così senza l'aiuto di nessuno ha inventato il punk rock"

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read of interviews Bowie participated in over his career.

[Joseph Raffetto · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5. Too many of the interviewers or journalists were weak or repetitive.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful selections of interviews (even if it didn’t include the infamous ‘75 disaster 😂), and all thoroughly enjoyable to read! Got more than a few new bits of info from this.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Realized very early I much prefer listening to Bowie's music than reading what he thinks about himself. Did not finish.

[Aurora · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5

[Bookend Family · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is a first for me. I am going to review two books, but I decided to review them together, at the suggestion of my wife, Stacy, who came up with the idea. I am blessed by that fact that she is not only my wife, but someone canny enough to see that putting these two books together gives me a rare opportunity; this review can not only inform you about these books, but can also tell you a bit about the artists who inspired them. So, here are two books, as different as night and day, about artists as different as night and day. Rock-n-roll fans, I give you a dream concert: Elvis Costello and David Bowie.

****
If you are like me, you might remember how it felt when you first heard Elvis Costello. My Aim Is True was a record that changed my view of the world, that made me punch out windows and shout out loud. Well, maybe not literally, but when I first heard “Blame It On Cain” I did kick an old Adirondack chair, damaging the leg. My dad always wondered how it got broke.
What you have to understand is that the radio was full of disco and the Bee Gees, and that if you wanted to hear someone like the Ramones or The Dead Boys or Richard Hell, you had to search for it. What Elvis Is King does so well is capture the spirit of that time.

Mr. Crouse obviously loved the time, the music, and the people who made it. He understands what made Elvis so special is that he had the angst and anger of other bands, but he also had a rare sense of melody and craft, along with smart lyrics. He does an exceptional job of showing how Elvis’ sensibilities were formed, and how he, and others like Nick Lowe and Ian Drury helped make an exciting new twist on a very old form.

Mr. Crouse makes the details come alive, with stories about the size of the stories and the size of the performer’s egos. All in all it’s an intimate and scrappy love-note about how and when an artist found his voice and started his career. Elvis Is King makes the case that My Aim Is True was a truly rare phenomenon, and an album that was absolutely the right sound at the right time. This book is not that, but it’s pretty darn close.

***

There are few characters in the rock-n-roll world as interesting as David Bowie. His changing personas are legendary, but more importantly, his music has changed as much. The one constant is that it is always interesting. In Bowie on Bowie it’s easy to trace the evolution of Bowie’s character, but the music isn’t there. It is a thought provoking work, because Bowie has always been an excellent subject for interviewers, but Sean Egan’s brief introductions don’t really add too much to make us see behind the interviews.

That Bowie is smart and compelling always comes through, but for some reason, the music isn’t evoked, giving this book an unfinished feel. In addition, I know that the book has to have some editing, but there are some excellent interviews left out, ones so good that I actually remember them, and I was looking forward to re-reading. Still, any Bowie is better that no Bowie.

Review by: Mark Palm
Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.com

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won my copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

I usually find collections of interviews a bit tedious, but despite the almost unavoidable repetitiveness in this book, it was surprisingly readable. Sure, every interviewer wants David Bowie to talk about the same parts of his life, so that you get his perspectives on his 1970's albums and shows when they are new, and in every few interviews for the rest of his life. After he had his bad drugs experience, that became one of the stories everyone had to get him to talk about, all the way up to recent interviews, and the two less inspired commercial pop albums he released in the 80's became the other story about Bowie, to the point that much of the book is telling and retelling these two episodes of Bowie's life. But each time the story comes across differently, depending on how sympathetic or interested or informed the interviewer is, and on Bowie's current perspective. The way the biography morphs over time was quite interesting to observe.

I wound up listening to most of Bowie's albums on spotify while reading this book. Really, for anyone my age or younger, who was not really old enough to buy music when David Bowie was a big deal, it is hard to get much out of this book without listening to the albums being discussed. Even the music industry people I know through my old music blog who live and breathe music and were alive and buying music in the 70's still may not actually remember the earlier albums without rehearing them. It is a fun thought, actually, and one that dovetails nicely with some of the conversations in this book, that we can, with Internet access and a free spotify account, listen to most of David Bowie's music whenever we wish. I found several songs while reading this book that I actually quite liked (I am not fond of "Let's Dance" or most of the other songs of his that are popular on US radio), and I would have liked to have spent some time chatting with Mr. Bowie myself, I think, about books, an area I had not known he was so fond of.

I definitely recommend this book to any readers who like music history, music, or biographies.

[Bunny · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love reading celebrity interviews. Not the tripe you find in the rag mags, the "close friend of" articles. I mean actual sit down interviews about projects. I used to subscribe to Interview magazine, where actors and artists were interviewed by friends or colleagues. The questions were interesting, intriguing, and never were the words "How's your sex life?" uttered.

On top of that, I am a huge music buff. When I subscribed to Rolling Stone magazine, back in the day when I actually listened to the radio, the interviews were pretty much the only thing I read. I skipped reviews entirely.

So, you would think this book would be right up my alley. It's Ziggy Stardust the Goblin King, being interviewed over and over again throughout his career. Awesome.

::smacks lips::

Yeah. Not so much.

The trouble is, when people write books about celebrities and quote interviews they've given, they snip away all the nonsense and detritus, and dive right into the meaty sound bytes relevant to the point in the artist's career. Each of these interviews has a tiny blurb ahead of it, but unfortunately, the format of this ebook* made it almost impossible to decipher where the blurb ended and the interview began, despite jarringly different font sizes.

I'm going to need to get my hands on the physical copy of this book to look through it and see if I like it better. Because it's really quite a shame how little fun I had reading this book.


* One is not supposed to hold the formatting of an ARC against the review, and I'm not. My review is based solely on the content. But this was such a miserable ebook to read. Setting aside the smaller AND BIGGER fonT siZES, there is little to no proper punctuation. The breaks between paragraphs are a real bitch to work out. It did not add to my reading enjoyment.

Again, I need to look at the physical copy of this book, and hope for a miracle.

[Matthew Hundley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A few week's before Bowie passed away I was listening heavily to Space Oddity and Hunky Dory. A couple songs caught my ear and I began realizing how much I didn't really know about Bowie. I reserved this book at that time. A couple week's later Black Star was released and I was intrigued with several of the lyrics on the new release - in particular how they tied back to some of his early musings on vinyl. The Saturday of the weekend Bowie died I picked up this book. And then upon the news I dove in. Interviews weaving back forty years or more. As Bowie quest for self began and the endless array of personas emerged. Always excited about current projects. Always dismissive of past projects. Dwelling very much in the present and future at the expense of the past. From time to time discussing his stage and screen rolls - from Elephant Man, to The Man Who Fell To Earth. Wives, children, religion, friendships - always skirting the margins of conversation. Over time a metamorphosis, yes, but a very deliberate one rooted in always asking, "Who am I?" and "Where am I going next?" All building up to a final number, a resurrection of his musical pursuits and a song ironically named Lazarus in which he croons: "Look up here, I'm in heaven; I've got scars that can't be seen; I've got drama, can't be stolen; Everybody knows me now." In this book you get insights into some of the scars and the drama and the reasons for the constant cross around his neck. Perhaps Bowie is staring down from heaven. And in his death, his name is made known via all the news channels; and this back catalog raised from tomb he so delicately placed it in. This is a worthy read for those seeking insights on Bowie. [And easily augmented with footage, interviews and documentaries on YouTube and elsewhere.]

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I originally received this book from the publisher via Netgalley over a year ago, and unfortunately put off reading it for far too long. It wasn’t until David Bowie passed away at the beginning of the year that I picked it up, and I’ve been reading these interviews off and on ever since.

Each interview provides readers with a look into who David Bowie was as both an artist and a person, and the articles span several decades–from 1969 to 2003 to be exact. Most of Bowie’s most famous interviews are included, in particular the interview he conducted with Melody Maker in 1972 where he stated that he was gay. It was quite fascinating to read about him over such a vast about of time and through all of his musical personas. Overall, as a huge David Bowie fan, I found this collection pretty enjoyable. But do I think you should purchase this book? Well, maybe.

There aren’t any new or never before read interviews, and I don’t think it would be difficult to find most (if not all) of these articles on-line. I think that my biggest complaint is that the book has no photographs. I feel that a least a few photos throughout would have been a nice touch and broken up some of the text well. The editor does include some background and insights as to preface to each interview to help put them into context, which some readers may appreciate. Mostly I think this would be a nice addition to a fan’s memorabilia collection, and my 3-star rating has more to do with the originality of the book rather than a lack of interest as a fan and/or reader.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book through Netgalley.

[Dragan Nanic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've got this book from my love for the last Christmas. At that time Bowie was alive and well (or so we thought). On the same day I found a great copy of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) on vinyl. It is one of the records that stayed with me from the first moment I've heard it. It also has not one but two of the songs I could listen to on continuous repeat: Ashes To Ashes and Up the Hill Backwards!
I had not started to read the book immediately as we were travelling and it is not exactly slim. In the mean time Bowie died. A shock it was, yet I was left in a strange vacuum. I have not felt sadness, somehow it seemed like I never felt that close to him. Rather paradoxically judged by the influence his art had on me from my early years and Ziggy Stardust that I listened to, breathed, imagined, dreamed. Inadvertently, he suggested that I can be myself regardless of the surroundings. I know I was not the only one.
This is a nice collection of interviews. Many of them confirm the same thing over and over - how impressive yet how ordinary and polite he was. At the same time almost all of them cannot avoid the talk about Ziggy and 70's - the time when he changed everything, redefining it for everyone. The best thing about the collection is the chronological order that hints on the persona of David Jones, the one that settled down with Iman and was happy living the life of family man.
Wonderful conversations with someone through whom I could only ever understand the ending of 20o1: A Space Odyssey and more, much more than that.