A name that comes to mind when talking composition, songwriting, and multiple musical personalities is David  Bowie.

The ‘Hunky Dory’ LP, with the hit, ‘Changes’ pulled Bowie from obscurity. ‘The Man Who Sold the World’ project screamed he would be a star. Not yet. It was scattered and there was no media hype, so until you heard ‘Ground Control to Major Tom…’ you might not have known who David Bowie was.

‘Space Oddity’ was the radio hit and made perfect sense, but every other song could easily have found two or more songs within each composition. There was a raw talent that filled his tunes with lyrical abandon, though he had not yet found a formula that was commercially viable.

‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars’ fell out of the sky and  put him over the edge, and suddenly everyone knew his name. By that time, every song had the emotion and excitement we all know and love. Believe it or not, most of the hit worthy tunes on that recording were about Marc Bolan of T-Rex fame.

If you listen closely to Bolan’s album Electric Warrior with ‘Bang A Gong’   you can hear David Bowie on backing vocals. Bolan’s spark burned out early and he died of a drug overdose. You will find David on Mott the Hoople’s ‘All The Young Dudes’  which he wrote, sang backup vocals on, and played some soprano sax. The song ‘Fame’  was co-written by Bowie and featured John Lennon on vocals. Freddie Mercury and David Bowie wrote and recorded ‘Under Pressure’, Queen’s only collaboration with another artist.

We can only wonder what he does with his time today. David is married to Imam, the Afro-Anglo Super Model and all the while enjoying the status and freedom that success and hard work brings.

When I think of David Bowie, ‘Ziggy Stardust’ says it all.  Find more at www.davidbowie.com and have fun!