David Bowie is 65 today. He shares his birthday with Elvis Presley (who would have been 78) and Stephen Hawking (who is 70).
Cue corny + tenuous links: Elvis and Bowie helped define rock while Hawking and Bowie are both fascinated by time and space. (Sorry – I couldn’t resist!)
For what it’s worth, this is my list of what I rate as his ten best albums and the ones that will guarantee his immortality:
1. Hunky Dory (1971)
2. The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (1972)
3. Low (1977)
4. Heroes (1977)
5. Aladdin Sane (1973)
6. Station To Station (1976)
7. Scary Monsters And Super Creeps (1980)
8. The Man Who Sold The World (1970)
9. Space Oddity (1969)
10.Let’s Dance (1983)
I like Hunky Dory the best because it seems his most personal album with songs about being a dad (Kooks); tributes to his own heroes – Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan & Velvet Underground; a celebration of change for its own sake (Changes) and an ambiguous statement about his sexuality (Oh You Pretty Things). Then there’s Life On Mars? (still my favourite song of his) and the album closes with The Bewlay Brothers.This song has always intrigued me because it is like a coded message of his own thoughts and is all the more fascinating through being indecipherable.
None of my favourite albums are from the last quarter century and although he hasn’t made a record since 2003’s Reality his influence is so present that he still ranks as a pivotal figure in the contemporary music scene. To my mind he is the perfect rock’n’roll star – human yet aloof, accessible yet enigmatic and stylish without being a slave to fashion.
It was good to see recent pictures of Bowie looking in rude health at a charity dinner in New York (meeting Rihanna!). I’d be perfectly happy if he doesn’t make any more records or do any come back tours; for my money he’s more than earned a contented retirement.
Many happy returns, David!
