Hunky Dory - David Bowie

Hunky Dory was the 1971 release by David Bowie, the predecessor of the 'Ziggy Stardust' era. Peaking at number 3 in the UK album chart, it is the epitome of Bowie's early style, with songs such as Oh! You Pretty Things and (of course) Changes really standing out amongst the melee. It is one of Bowie's most popular albums, and is more easy-rock than the hard-rock of its predecessor, 'Man Who Sold The World. **Introduction** After reviewing The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars, I could hardly wait to review my favourite Bowie album of them all, Hunky Dory. Released almost 40 years ago, it is one of the classic albums of the 70s, ...  Read the complete review

The airbrushed cover shot of David Bowie on the cover of his Hunky Dory album in 1971 was clearly aimed at playing up to the impending "Is he gay?" controversy which Bowie himself used so archfully to further his career as a God of Glam Rock in the first years of the new decade. He stares wistfully out into some hazy half-distance like a mix between Greta Garbo and Lauren Bacall, smoothing his shoulder length hair away from his boy-girl beautiful face, tastefully created and craftily posed. It was clear that Bowie was committed to his future world domination and would do literally anything to ensure he made it to the top. It would be building too much ...  Read the complete review

The first time I came across Hunky Dory, I was 16 years old. The guy I fancied in the sixth form had rated it as one of his all time favourite albums. Little impressionable me, like your typical teenager girl,wanted to copy the hormone stirrer two years above me. Also, little impressionable me was something of a huge music fan. Having spent most of my early teens listening to The Beatles, it was inevitable that I?d check out other musical legends. By that point, Dylan had came and has since gone. Donovan hung healthily in there. The Stones were sinking their drug addled bluesiness into my psyche. Now it was Bowies turn. I had heard his music before, but had never really ...  Read the complete review

... in which David Robert Jones, music hall entertainer, late of Beckenham in Kent, pays affectionate tribute to those he has loved... David Bowie's 1973 'Pin-Ups' album was formally his tribute album, featuring covers of some of the biggest songs from the London scene of the mid 60s, but in many ways it was 1971's 'Hunky Dory' that was the REAL tribute collection. It variously paid homage to Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, the Velvet Underground, his wife Angie and his son Zowie, while Bowie also penned a massive hit for Peter Noone with the wonderful 'Oh! You Pretty Things'. Bowie himself had big single successes with ...  Read the complete review

In my experience the Bowie album that even non-fans find easily accessible, HUNKY DORY makes perennially amusing listening when you start thinking about just how many bands/albums have clearly been influenced by it (would Suede, for example, even exist if this album had never been made?) Songs like 'Changes' and 'Life On Mars' are, for me, forever-great songs, but hidden away here are other gems like the emotive piano-led 'Quicksand', and adrenalin-charged rocker 'Queen Bitch'. The lyrical tweeness evident on tracks like 'Kooks' may irritate some, but if you're in the right mood, this is a charming and engaging classic. ...  Read the complete review