David Bowie’s revolu­ artist to move between tradition of artists like “I have complete sym­ To Bowie, the impor­ tionary career is that he musical genres - in Frank Sinatra and Judy pathy with anyone who tant thing was never has bent rock & roll con­ Bowie’s case, from the Garland, who both says, ‘Well, what exactly defining career bound­ vention in so many imag­ radical art-rock edges moved freely between is he?’ ” Bowie has said of aries; it was about max­ inative and contradicto­ oiZiggy Stardust to the various artistic disci­ his own career direction. imizing artistic pursuits. ry ways during the last anxious soul strains of plines, Bowie em­ “ ‘He sort of does abit of While he occasionally quarter century that he Young A m ericans to ployed a creative play­ this and a bit of that.’ shifted direction too fre­ has left many pop ob­ the icy techno rock of ing field that reached There’s the suspicion quently for his own good, servers asking them­ Low. But this English to Hollywood and, ul­ that anyone who hops Bowie produced some of selves if he was ever real­ singer/songwriter timately, to Broadway, around like that doesn’t the most probing and ly a rock & roller at all. didn’t simply explore where he starred in have a real sort of love affecting music of the It’s one thing for an musical genres. In the The Elephant Man. for any of it very much.” modem pop era. Writing about the scary monsters in ance. He went to Berlin his own life in a society that with producer Brian Eno was re-examining its values, and made three albums, Bowie foreshadowed almost Low, Heroes and Lodger, every important trend in pop that explored, with a chill­ - from the gender-bending ing detachment, the dark confusion of the glitter era to recesses of the soul. the soul-searching alienation Rejuvenated personally, of ’90s rock. Prince, Nine Bowie devoted much of the Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor and early and mid-’8os to the the late Kurt Cobain are lig h te r Let’s Dance pop among the artists who have bounce, earning him his saluted Bowie’s influence. greatest commercial suc­ Born David Robert Jones in cess But this restless artist London on Jan. 8,1947, Bowie was not comforted for long - who adopted his stage name by mainstream acceptance, to avoid being mistaken for andhe startled the popworld the Monkees’ Davy Jones in 1990 by vowing to stop developed interests in art and doing his old hits in concert. music as a youngster. He Reuniting in the studio began recording in the mid- in 1995 with Eno, Bowie ’60s, eventually exhibiting made an album, Outside, enough notoriety and prom­ that shoved him back into ise in England to be called adventurous rock terrain, everything from “the Oscar and he presented the music Wilde of rock” to “the Elvis live in a daring series of Presley of the ’70s.”; shows with Reznor, a ’90s By the time of his wonder­ artist with Bowie-esque fully varied Hunky Dory al­ vision and impact. bum in 1971, Bowie was at­ “ It was a way [for me to] tracting interest in America. start fresh in the ’90s,” In his landmark Rise and Bowie said of his decision to Fall ofZiggy Stardust and stop performing his early the Spiders From Mars al­ material. “As long as [the bum and tour of 197a, Bowie old hits] were around, they Opposite page: challenged sexual and social made it very safe for me, Bowie in the gown attitudes with a force that because I could always fall he wore to shock wouldn’t be seen again until back on them. By saying DJs and promo men Prince arrived on the scene goodbye to the songs, how­ on his first trip to ever, I am forcing myself to almost a decade later. America. This page For those who are confused depend on the new songs. I (from top): With by his creative crisscrossing, know that’s a bit of a suicide Bowie has been willing to mission if I don’t write new saxophone, an serve as a guide through his songs over the next few instrument he plays own colorful history. years, but it forces you to very well indeed; About Hunky Dory, Bow­ move forward.” the early tousled ie has said: “ There was afeel- On the new album and look; observing ing of optimism and enthusi- tour, Bowie has indeed lived "street people" for asm in the album that up to his own legacy and fashion inspiration. reflected my thinking at the moved on - just as he has time. There’s even a song helped rock itself move on 1m “Song for Bob Dylan” ] that for almost 30 years. laid out what I wanted to do If the radical changes in in rock. It was at that period Bowie’s personas and musi­ where I said, ‘OK [Dylan], if cal direction have confused you don’t want to do it, I many pop observers for much w ill.’ I saw that leadership of those 30 years, his in­ void. If there wasn’t some­ duction tonight into the one who was going to use Rock and Roll Hall of Fame rock & roll, then I’d do it.” should make his contribu­ ZiggyStardustwas Bowie’s tions clear to everyone. Be­ attempt to fill the void - and sides producing marvelous it was a massively important and inspiring music, the work, one that seemed to most important figures in speak of the obsession with rock also have set a standard stardom and the rock experi­ for young musicians to mea­ ence from the perspective sure themselves against. For of both the performer and decades these standards the audience. have been forged by the in­ Bowie became so person­ ductees - from Elvis Presley ally involved in rock’s fast- and Chuck Berry to Bob lane excesses in the early and Dylan and Jimi Hendrix - en­ mid-’fos that he eventually shrined by the Hall of Fame. had to withdraw almost David Bowie now takes totally from the pop scene to his rightful place among recover his emotional bal­ them. —Robert Hilburn.