David Bowie Biography

Hunky Dory was a magnificent album, yet a modest seller. Bowie took full advantage of his outrageous costume, striking vocals and treasure trove of new material revealed the artist in full flow. Up to this point, Bowie had experimented with diverse ideas, themes and images that coalesced effectively, though not necessarily coherently. The complete fusion was revealed in June 1972 on the album "The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars".

From here, David Bowie embraced the persona of an apocalyptic rock star whose rise and fall coincides with the end of the world. By this point, Bowie was deemed to have the Midas touch and his production talents brought rewards for his old hero 'Lou Reed' and a resurrected 'Mott the Hoople', who had there first hit with "All The Young Dudes". The track "Oh You Pretty Things" (off Hunky Dory) had already provided a hit for 'Peter Noone' and an equally unlikely artist 'Lulu', a Top 10 hit, courtesy of "The Man Who Sold The World". Meanwhile, Bowie had undertaken a world tour and achieved a UK no. 1 album with "Aladdin Sane", another concept of his great works. 'Sorrow' was also released in Amsterdam hitting the charts in the top.5, 'Pin Ups' followed a week later, with very good reviews. On January 5 1974, Bowie was voted top male singer in the British section of the 1973 'Melody Maker' poll with 'Gene Jeanie' and 'Drive In Saturday' voted two top singles, second to Robert Plant in 'World' vocal section. Bowie was also voted top producer and top composer in international sections, of that year! While still at his peak, Bowie shocked the rock world on 3rd July 1973, by announcing his retirement from the rock stage of London's Hammersmith Odeon, where he had performed for a number of years. It was later announced that in fact it was not Bowie who was retiring, but his now overused persona, "Ziggy Stardust".

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