Why David Bowie was called the "chameleon of rock music": Masks and the evolution of the many-faced musician

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Most musicians and bands choose a style for themselves and, if they get on a wave of success with it, they endlessly exploit it. Cardinally not like that (to my great regret "was", not is), I'm not afraid of this word, the great David Bowie. It seemed to his innovative ideas there was simply no end! His images changed with incredible speed, and at times were so fantastic that he rightfully earned the nickname "chameleon of rock music". Let's try to follow all the transformations of the musical innovator David Bowie, who turned the whole rock culture upside down.

David Bowie is a rock singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, producer, sound engineer, artist, and actor. There is so much of it! The legendary musician was born in London, on the same day as his idol Elvis Presley, only 12 years later - in 1947. His real name is David Robert Jones. This is not what the future cult figure of rock and roll should have been called! David adopted the pseudonym Bowie so that he would not be confused with David Jones of the Monkees.

David became famous, having released only his second album "Space Oddity". The self-titled single from this album became a hit in 1969. The song tells the story of an astronaut thrown into space, doomed to eternally revolve in the Earth's orbit. The extraordinary intellectual depth of Bowie's music and the characteristic sound of his voice gave rise to a whole line of followers in rock music.

So many musicians wanted to be like him. But how can you be like someone who changes so often? Copying one image of the great, but not at all terrible, David Bowie, could not make anyone even remotely like him. He is, without a doubt, absolutely unique, which is only one of his first images of Ziggy Stardust. The flamboyant controversial androgynous character and groundbreaking theatrical performances made a splash in the music scene during the 1970 concert tour. His next image of Aladdin Sane was a logical continuation of the character of Ziggy. I remember this image of such an electric boy with lightning on his face. Bowie graced the cover of his 1973 album of the same name with this image.

Bowie's sci-fi themes have always been central to his imagery. David Bowie's approach to music has often been compared to an actor's approach to filming. No wonder, this talent was also inherent in him, in 1976 Bowie played the main role in the film by Nicholas Horn "The Man Who Fell to the Ground." The hero of this story is an alien who tried to save his home planet with the help of people. But in the process, a guest from another world becomes so human that his mission fails.

From 1975 to 1976, Bowie transitions to the "Exhausted White Duke." The performance of rock ballads on stage made his image in this period too "human", or something.

Bowie crossed the fine line between internationally renowned musician and iconic figure with his 1986 role as the goblin king in Labyrinth. Despite the lack of box office success, this film has become an integral part of their childhood for many people.

Brian Henson, who worked on the film, said of Bowie: “He played the part so well! Such a vivid image of a spoiled, thoroughly rotten and selfish goblin king, created by David, as if ridiculed the very concept of a "rock star" in relation to himself. I think he kind of made fun of himself in such a fun way. "In one interview, David Bowie revealed the" secret "of the image of Ziggy Stardust. This character helped him solve the problem of his own feeling of "inadequacy." Bowie also humbly described himself as a "moderately good" singer and admitted that it was always easier for him to write for others than for himself. Therefore, he relied on such unusual and memorable characters in his musical work.

Some might say that David Bowie was just hiding behind a lot of masks. But no one can deny him courage. After all, every time, creating a radically new not only external image, but also the style, and the very concept of his music - he could fail. But without this he would not have been who he was: a revolutionary and an experimenter. Restless David!

On January 10, 2016, immediately after the release of his, as it turned out, the last album, the space chameleon guy left this Earth. And even now, almost 4 years later, the absence of David Bowie is quite acute.

More on the unique David Bowie in another our article.