Product Description

David Buckley's unique approach to unravelling the Bowie enigma, via interviews with many of the singer's closest associates, biography and academic analysis, makes this unrivalled biography a classic for Bowie fans old and new. This revised edition of Strange Fascination comes at a time when Bowie is, once again, on a creative roll, and captures exclusive details about the tours, the making of the albums, the arguments, the split-ups, the music and , most importantly, the man himself. Also including exclusive photographic material, Strange Fascination is the most complete account of David Bowie and his impact on pop culture ever written.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #35656 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 688 pages

Review
ONE OF THE MOST AUTHORITATIVE BOWIE BOOKS YOU'RE EVER LIKELY TO READ' MOJO 'As a critique-cum-re-establishment of the David Bowie character, 'definitive' is pretty much it' The Guardian

From the Publisher
'You must think we out-of-towners are a strange and crazy bunch. Well,I guess we are. We dance a furious boredom',a young David Bowie wrote from his provincial bedroom to DJ John Peel in 1969. Five years later this driven, questing and flawed soul created his androgynous, fanatical rock star Ziggy Stardust as the ultimate revenge of the suburbs. Bowie's subsequent pioneering sexual experimentation, cracked actor showmanship and ability to embrace every musical genre from glam rock to drum'n'bass have made him into the biggest commerical success in rock history since the Beatles and The Stones. He is as much an icon in 2005 as he was during the 70's.

About the Author
David Buckley wrote a doctoral thesis on David Bowie and also wrote a CD-sized introductory guide to Bowie's back catalogue, The Complete Guide to the Music of David Bowie which was repackaged at Bowie's request as part of the media pack accompanying the star's 1995 album Earthling.

Customer Reviews

(Not so) Little Wonder
A wonderful trawl through the highs, lows and mediocrity of David's life and work.

David Buckley really knows his stuff and has interesting, and new - to me, a reasonably knowledgeable fan - observations to make about the myriad twists and turns of David's career.

As a teenage Bowie freak I finally lost interest during the 1980s when David seemed more interested in making money than art. Reading this book stimulated me to revisit his 1970s glory years, and to better understand how and why his career played out the way it did. I enjoyed reading the book with my iPod on, and listening to each track/album as David Buckley brought his expert analysis to bear. If you're reading this, you probably don't need me to tell you that David has enjoyed a musical renaissance since the mid-1990s which - his heart attack aside - gives the book an upbeat ending and a certain symmetry.

Some very random highlights:

- the impact of the Ziggy era and its contribution to Punk a few years down the line
- Mike Garson - keyboard maestro - who is asked at least once a week (1973-present) about his keyboard solo on Aladdin Sane
- David's prodigious mid-70s cocaine intake not getting in the way of creating the majestic Station To Station
- David's more bizarre duets
- how Glam kicked the cr*p out of the hippy dream
- and oh so much more

I think David Buckley is to be congratulated on a great achievement: a fascinating book that does its subject justice. Weighing in at nearly 700 pages it's more for the fan than the casual reader. And you don't need me to tell you that David Bowie is one of the late 20th century's most significant musical figures.

Bowie is the Ace Face of every Generation
This is without doubt the best book ever written about the greatest rock star and performer of all-time.
I loved every paragraph.
A great tribute to a living legend.