Isn't she lovely? (Hunky Dory - David Bowie)

Member Name: thehud

Product:	Hunky Dory - David Bowie
Date:	01/03/03 (325 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The songs, The playing

Disadvantages: Nothing major

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 Machiavellian wit into the plans of the man and his entourage to say that he had designed his path to the stars, but it would be easy to be fooled by the Bowie myth and his total mastery at reinventing himself to jump on the latest new wave, so great was his skill at self publicity.

Hunky Dory was a major step in that stairway to heaven, with Bowie at last capitalising on the notoriety and name he had achieved with the shock hit Space Oddity single. The album from which it had been drawn was limited and patchy, and he had followed up with a disappointing heavy metal album in The Man Who Sold The World. It took the ingeniously manufactured Ziggy Stardust album and myth to really catapult Bowie to the forefront of the pop universe, but Hunky Dory at least confirmed that the man had talent and would not just fade away.

As usual, Bowie added guitar, sax and piano to his vocals, and this time he was joined fleetingly by Rick Wakeman with some keyboard contributions. The future Spiders band was in attendance with Mick Ronson, Trevor Bolder and Mick Woodmansey featured on guitar, bass and drums, but the sound was more folk rock and ballad than standard rock and roll. They veered off into that direction for Ziggy, but Hunky Dory was a quite unique collection of songs, with Ken Scott producing
.

Aside from the quirky pop of Fill Your Heart by Biff Rose and Paul Williams, all the tracks were written by Bowie, and he combined outstanding pop with some wonderful rock music, although it was generally the former which were the more successful. The Man Who Sold The World was obscure and riff heavy, but had been disappointing and now Bowie opted for a lighter, more accessible feel, which was certainly more appealing. It certainly achieved chart success, peaking at number 3 in September 1972 and enjoying 69 weeks in the UK Top 50. Strangely it could only scrape a minor showing in the States, but Bowie's later albums put that right.

Overall, Hunky Dory was a warm and accessible album, with Bowie paying homage to any number of his heroes, including Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol, not just with individual tunes, but with the whole vibe and feel. He was now a more settled and confident individual and happy to move into new fields. Almost a happy family man, it was even hinted that Kooks was written for his new born son Zowie, although his marriage to model Angie did not last for long. Such humanity did not fit too well with the bisexual image he later adopted and was thrown away with the Ziggy myth, although that album certainly accommodated huge chunks of human warmth.

Hunky Dory contained some of Bowie's most popular hit songs, including Oh! You Pretty Things which provided Herman's Hermits singer Peter Noone with a huge hit record, oddly enough. Imagine the Space Pirate writing for the man who sang Mrs Brown you've got a lovely daughter! It was a much more fitting combination when he later worked with Mott the Hoople and Lou Reed, but it certainly brought Bowie some commercial success.

The album's opener, the sublime Changes, was also a huge hit record and got Bowie further recognition. Alternating between slow, almost spoken verses and bouncy, sing along choruses, it was enormousl
y addictive, although its subject matter could have been written around Bowie's development over the months that followed Hunky Dory's release.

Pretty Things itself was an odd choice for Noone to sing with its intriguing topic all about the ascent of Homo Superior, with Bowie clearly seeing himself as some kind of Superman, hinting at the future portrayal of Ziggy, Aladdin Sane and the Thin White Duke. It was a bouncy and highly commercial sound but still smacked of credibility and the two songs together kicked off Hunky Dory in quite splendid style.

Eight Line Poem was a bit of a mistake, with a rambling backing underneath Bowie's Americanised drawl, but soon gave way to the awesome Life On Mars? It was classic Bowie stuff and when released as a single in 1973 smashed into the top three. Its nonsensical lyrics were typical of Bowie's stronger material and when showcased with an enormous piano and strings backing captivated the interest as much as any of the man's greatest songs. Truly, truly, Life On Mars? marked the moment when the Bowie muse found itself. It was at the same time eccentric and manipulative, perfection itself, even down to the phone ringing as the track faded from hearing. This was strong stuff and clearly David Bowie was a force to be reckoned with.

Kooks was gentler and more throwaway, pop for a family man, which at the same time showed Bowie's warmer, more human side. Quicksand, though, was off into more unpredictable territory, still gentle and soothing, but exploring metaphor and mystery. It wasn't a classic, but was extremely appealing. Fill Your Heart was a bit of a mistake, but fitted in smoothly to the optimistic mood.

Andy Warhol was more experimental, with odd, disembodied percussion in the background and everyone in on the chorus. It was unlike much of the stuff that featured in the charts in those days and demonstrated Bowie's predilection for the unusual. I
t was by no means a classic, but good enough to sustain both mood and pace.

Song For Bob Dylan was another tribute song, but less successful. Bowie opted for his best Zimmerman impression, but shouldn't really have bothered. It was okay, just nothing that special. Queen Bitch was better, with Bowie going through his Velvets repertoire, but was again relatively disposable.

However, The Bewlay Brothers, which closed the album, was something completely different, an eerie echo of The Man Who Sold The World, with weird, other worldly vocals and subject matter. It's a bizarre, sinister song, nibbling away at your mind, and making you feel a little anxious. It's an unsettling feeling when Bowie really taps into the unusual and Bewlay Brothers is a great example of this approach. It's highly individual and an odd way to round off an album which had started off as one of the great pop masterpieces but which developed into a seriously disturbing collection of some of Bowie's finer moments.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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