Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Bowie, David
Label: Decca Records
Released: 1967
Length: 37:07
Rating: 2.5/5
In 1967, with the British psychedelic scene at its peak, a talented twenty-year-old with a permanently dilated pupil in his left eye, the result of a scrap with a schoolmate who later became a friend, showed up as a solo artist. Right from the start, the oddly-featured young musician turned a few heads with his unusual stage name, David Bowie, though he’d have to wait two more years for his first real success. David Robert Jones picked the name so the media of the day wouldn’t mix him up with Davy Jones (The Monkees). Ironically, Bowie himself would soon become one of the most unique musicians in history. As one of music’s greatest chameleons and visionaries, David went on to enjoy colossal success in the seventies and became a glam-pop-art rock legend around whom a whole mythology grew. He probably had a good-humored laugh at his modest, fairly obscure beginnings later on, although in 2001, when he started work on the officially never-released album »Toy«, he re-arranged a few songs from his self-titled debut, which means he was by no means ashamed of those first steps.
David’s self-titled debut, which came out on the same day (June 1, 1967) as The Beatles’ masterpiece »Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band«, was a light-footed blend of baroque pop, folk and British music-hall burlesque, with orchestral arrangements (wind instruments especially) in the background, a touch of guitar, and pronounced black-humor lyrics full of youthful naivety and playfulness. Compared with his later, far more complex and challenging sonic standards, it was all ‘sheer innocence’. On the other hand, Bowie had an exceptional knack for crafting melodic arrangements very early on, and once he figured out how to combine that with complexity, he became a musical innovator and a ‘class of his own’ in sonic experimentation.
Satirical little numbers like the ‘Old English’-flavored »Uncle Arthur« and »Little Bombardier« brim with cheeky, mischievous playfulness, while on the romantic ballad »When I Live My Dream« Bowie successfully shows off his gentler side too. »We Are Hungry Men« stands out for its lyrics, as it’s the first time Bowie used the figure of a self-proclaimed messiah, one he’d return to in various guises over the years. The most ambitious track on the album, if not the best, is »Silly Boy Blue«, which roughly hints at where Bowie’s creative path would lead him next, so it’s no surprise it was one of the songs he re-recorded more than three decades later for the aforementioned »Toy« project.
Bowie’s self-titled debut, despite all its fiery ambition and boundless creative energy, was a commercial flop and had no especially thrilling highlights, even if it offered a fair bit of fun and humor. The disappointment that followed pushed David to take a year off before his next studio venture. During that time he got interested in the artistic avant-garde and learned how to turn a stage performance into genuine performance art, and he also first came up with the idea of turning himself into a half-real, half-fictional character. So he made good use of his short break from the scene: with the single »Space Oddity« in 1969 he made his big comeback and scored his first noticeable success, one the legendary artist would go on to build up by leaps and bounds with every sonic and visual transformation.
This review is dedicated to the memory of David Bowie (1947-2016).
Line-up
David Bowie – vocals, guitar, saxophone, arrangements
Derek Boyes – organ
Dek Fearnley – bass guitar, orchestral arrangements
John Eager – drums
Production
Mike Vernon
Track list
1. Uncle Arthur (2:07)
2. Sell Me A Coat (2:58)
3. Rubber Band (2:17)
4. Love You Till Tuesday (3:09)
5. There Is A Happy Land (3:11)
6. We Are Hungry Men (2:58)
7. When I Live My Dream (3:22)
8. Little Bombardier (3:24)
9. Silly Boy Blue (3:48)
10. Come And Buy My Toys (2:07)
11. Join The Gang (2:17)
12. She’s Got Medals (2:23)
13. Maid Of Bond Street (1:43)
14. Please Mr. Gravedigger (2:35)
