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Music Books [Issue
#25]
:
By
Dave Thompson
Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth Of David Bowie
(Book
ECW)
While
most biographies of David Bowie focus on the enigmatic glam era of Ziggy Stardust,
Space Oddity or the Berlin period with albums of Low, Heroes, and Lodger, Thompson’s
book examines the iconic artist’s redemption from premature blandness.
Hallo Spaceboy serves as an excellent companion to his first critically
acclaimed Bowie bio, Moonage Daydream. While Bowie pursued appearing in children’s
films such as Jim Henson’s fantasy, Labyrinth, he had recently issued relatively
safe albums such as Let’s Dance and Tonight. Thompson’s second latest
volume starts with the Bowie’s creative nadir of 1987’s Never Let Me
Down and the Vegas-tinged accompanying tour. However, the author makes the argument
that Bowie eventually found his muse (perhaps when he reacquainted himself with
Brian Eno, the producer of the Berlin trilogy) beginning with Outside and continuing
with other works. Thompson also described Bowie’s successful ability to balance
a prolific career with a blissful domestic life married to supermodel, Iman. The
book’s title draws from the name of a track on the album. As an artist who
has probably reinvented himself more than anyone else in rock’s relatively
brief history, David Bowie’s transformation from bland pop auteur heading
for extinction into a cutting edge force to be reckoned with and revered into
well into his sixth decade.
Hallo Spaceboy: The Rebirth Of David Bowie
ECW
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