David Bowie - A&E BIOGRAPHY - USA TV - 04 November 2002 (Superb Documentary Special)

the 30-ton affair a funny that they didn't mention about a mask for November 4th 2002 biography with Harry Smith David Bowie thirty years after Ziggy Stardust the man who fell the earth remains one of rock's most vital and challenging artists David Bowie has made a career of changing the way music is written and performed at age 55 he shows no signs of slowing down this October he played one concert in each of New York City's five boroughs the sold-out shows saw him perform songs from his new CD heathen alongside classics like life on Mars and ashes to ashes Bowie says playing live still makes the hairs on his arms stand up a condition to which his millions of fans can surely relate [Music] he was braver than your usual rock star was he a girl was he a boy what was he thinking nobody has ever broken the rules as he has David Bowie's unique talent made him an icon in the world of popular music his fearless approach to everything from art and fashion to acting and sexual roleplay made him a rock and roll revolutionary he battled social prejudice personal tragedy and even drug addiction I thought who are you what have you become but his key to survival was almost constant change he could reinvent himself every couple of years but if he didn't make great records people wouldn't be interested David's role has been monumentally expanding the concept of what a pop star or rock star or an entertainer can be [Music] [Applause] David Bowie began his wildly unconventional life in an ordinary working-class London neighborhood for the conservative post-war residents of Brixton playing by the rules was the key to success but by rejecting conformity David Bowie would ironically become Brixton's most famous native side now Ziggy played [Music] the creator of rock-and-roll spaceman Ziggy Stardust arrived on earth on January the 8th 1947 he started life as David Robert Jones and though his given name was fairly run-of-the-mill the household he grew up in was far from conventional his parents Haywood Jones and Peggy burns were unmarried David was the couple's first child together and each of them already had other children from previous relationships in fact it wasn't until David was 8 months old at Hayward and Peggy were Wed David's mother was an assertive no-nonsense woman who worked part time as a movie theater usher ed David's father once harbored his own show business aspirations his first wife had been a singer but his efforts to launch her career had failed by the time David came along Hayward Jones had become a public relations man for an orphanage his father was a small quiet quite studious man very gentle very sweet I never heard him raise his voice his mother she was a little sterner I know he loved his father very much and I he was probably closer to his father than to his mother David also shared a strong bond with his half brother Terry Byrnes Terry was a real big brother to David he was a bright guy they had a lovely symbiotic relationship Terry was very much his best friend and he loved him very much David idolized his brother Terry was David's protector and often helped his shy little brother cope with a dark cloud that hung over the Jones family a number of their mother's relatives suffered from schizophrenia some had been institutionalized others had committed suicide it's been fairly well recorded that my family is pretty rampantly it's the word I think I'm not so sure how much of it is madness and I think that there's not an awful lot of as an awful lot of emotional spiritual mutilation goes on in my family respecter of mental illness haunted young David and was rarely discussed outside the Jones home although he didn't fully understand the ongoing problem David felt it made him different from other children in 1956 nine year old David lost daily contact with his brother when Terry enlisted in the Royal Air Force a year later the Jones family moved to the London suburb of Bromley where David soon made new friends he was always a great thinker and a great worker out of things and he was a neat tidy little boy kind of boy that mum likes you to bring home the well-behaved youngster quickly fit into the suburban setting and joined a local Boy Scout Troop soon after we enrolled we started talking about music straightaway David loved all things American especially the country's latest export rock and roll [Music] we were listening to the stuff that was out and that shocked our parents Elvis Presley and Fats Domino and Little Richard Little Richard was different from every other performer on the music scene [Music] [Applause] [Music] was androgynous almost effeminate looks and sexually suggestive lyrics made him more at landish and more subversive than any of his contemporaries young David Jones found the combination both fascinating and inspiring I want to be a white Little Richard of eight or at least his Sackler David it's already sort of prepared himself a family you know even when I met him at 19 you know he was kind of already going that direction in 1958 David began attending Bromley Technical School where art was his favorite subject soon after his brother Terry returned from military service he shared with eleven-year-old David his newfound love for the beat poets and Jack Kerouac iconic tale of nonconformity on the road he also gave David a taste of what life was like outside of middle-class Bromley Terry was the one who took him to London for the first time and played a role in introducing him to different forms of music Terry showed David London's bohemian sofa district where they listened to jazz rhythm and blues acts in nightclubs before long david was making music of his own by taking up the guitar and the saxophone I wanted to be a musician because it seemed it seemed rebellious it seemed subversive David also began experimenting with his look his appearance was always a little bit out of the way from the point of view normal school dressed his hair was always lightened and cut short David was into fed's I mean though might only last a few days or even hours although david prided himself on being a maverick he was just like many boys when it came to the opposite sex a crush on a girl named Carol led to a brawl with his best friend my fist and his face made contact it's really unfortunately caused a bit of damage to his eye like that was not the intention at all David was rushed to the hospital where doctors feared he might lose the sight in his left eye it took three operations to repair the damage those surgeons were able to prevent blindness david's pupil remained permanently dilated as a result he appeared to have eyes that with different colors later on david said to me i did him a favor so i mean a lot of people think it's gonna and interesting things that have two different colored eyes the injury kept david out of school for three months and during that time his feelings of being an outsider became more intense I felt often ever since I was a teenager so adrift and so not part of everyone else with so many dark secrets about my family in the cupboard that I probably they kind of made me feel very much on the outside of everything but rather than dwelling on his feelings of alienation David threw himself even further into music but he loved rock and roll he also enjoyed listening to show tunes performed by cabaret singer Anthony newley when I was a teenager I sincerely wanted to write musicals for the West End of a Broadway the music was David's greatest passion he also loved clothes in the more outrageous the better I would be a mod walking around Bromley in my mud clothes and he would be an arty type walking around in his art school type clothes with his art school chums we used to walk around for me twine pulling as many birds as we could thinking that we were God's gift talking about being famous by 1962 a new group called the Beatles was creating waves in Britain and fifteen-year-old David set out to make some noise of his own that summer the budding rocker began testing his talent in a series of bands his first the Conrad's covered pop tunes and lasted about a year he and friend George Underwood next formed an R&B group the king bees with David now calling himself Davy Jones the band even cut a single it went nowhere when the King bees broke up soon after George Underwood set his sights on becoming a graphic artist but David was devastated by the split he says what for you you've got your art for me this is my life I know what you meant it's like sort of he committed himself and he's gotta go there's no turning back with the Beatles invasion of American the growing popularity of Britain's newest sensation the Rolling Stones David was even more determined to find fame as a musician his next ban was the mannish boys and he had a plan to make sure people heard more from the group than just their music the rebellion of the longhairs is getting under way a seventeen year old David Jones has just founded the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to long-haired men well I think we're all fairly tolerant but the last two years we've had comments like darling and can I carry a handbag thrown at us I think it's just had to stop now the media hype helped the mannish boys land several respectable gigs but eventually they too broke up in 1965 still calling himself Davy Jones the singer joined his fourth rock band the lower third but at the time there was another Davy Jones on the music scene in order to avoid confusion with the future Monkees member David looked to American history in his search for a new sharp-edged surname he saw this character Jim Bowie with a bowie knife and that name stuck in his head in September of 1965 at the age of 18 David Bowie was born but it will be years before the singer would find the fame he craved the kind of Fame that young men from Bromley could never ever dream up [Music] by 1966 the London scene was in full swing from the fashions of Carnaby Street and the world's first supermodel Twiggy the music of the WHO and the yardbirds a new youth culture had transformed the cities once button-down lifestyle at Samia David Bowie released his first solo single do anything you say though the song which Bowie also wrote failed to register on the charts it did help him get a manager the 19 year old was signed by Ken Pitt but once being the British represented it for such stars as Judy Garland Frank Sinatra and Duke Ellington ken was a lot older than us and he must have been at least 20 years old and in a showbiz kind of icon in the sense of theatre one of Pitts first suggestions was proposed to put together a cabaret act featuring nightclub standards and show tunes David at first like the idea and began rehearsing but he soon decided he wanted to do more than sing other people's material and went back to writing and recording his own music but David's career frustrations paled in comparison to a devastating development in his personal life his 29 year old half brother Terry began exhibiting signs of schizophrenia David told me he was prone to fits fits of violence you know outbursts of violence but his emotions would be controlled by drugs at the time Terry's mental state worsened it wasn't long afterwards that he was committed to an institution and David began to worry that the illness might eventually afflict him as well in September of 1966 David's manager lined up a contract for him with Darren records in light of Terry's situation the good news was bittersweet but David was reassured about his career and his parents especially his father were delighted David's father was very supportive he would encourage him a lot with his son music unfortunately David's debut album entitled David Bowie sold Paul a singer was discouraged but his manager had more plans for him n Pitt convinced his client to pursue acting in addition to music and in 1967 David was cast as a drawing that comes to life in the short film the image [Music] David discovered he loved acting and that fall he began studying with performance artist Lindsey Kem who had been taught by famed mine Marcel Marceau Lindsey probably was the biggest single influence on David Lindsey taught him so much about the stage about projection about makeup about clothing while working with Kemp Bowie met Hermione farthingale a refined young woman from a middle-class family David instantly fell for the doe-eyed dancer and it wasn't long before the two were living together in the summer of 1968 David teamed up with Hermione and friend John Hutchinson the former group called feathers the trio used a mixture of music dance and poetry and their performances at venues around London the following year Ken Pitts financed a short promotional film to showcase Bowie's singing and acting talents love you till Tuesday was built around several of David's songs but David was devastated when Himani broke up with him during production explaining that she felt overwhelmed by the intensity of their year-long relationship he was pretty upset that his girlfriend had just left brokenhearted actually bless his heart she was obviously very important they were trying to doubt his pain by focusing on a new venture in 1969 he helped organize the Beckenham arts lab the performance workshop was run out of the back of a local bar and gave various artists a chance to showcase their material they would also continue to develop his own ideas if he wants earlier he'd seen the futuristic adventure 2001 a Space Odyssey and had been inspired to write and record a song called Space Oddity the tune was the tale of an astronaut named Major Tom who is lost in space the single was released in July of 1969 just days before the first manned moon landing ground controls made its arse commencing countdown engines on to check a commission and may God's love be with you [Music] Space Oddity was heard repeatedly in Britain during the week Neil Armstrong walked on the moon and David was ecstatic [Music] but the song quickly slid down the charts in the US the record received almost no airplane the fleeting taste of success both tantalized and frustrated David luckily a new woman in his life helped distract him from his disappointment Angie Barnett was an eager aspiring singer who set out to play a role in shaping her new boyfriend's career she was a very foot forward American girl who was larger than life in her approach as members of the counterculture movement of the late 1960s David and Angie rejected the traditional rules of romance though they were a committed couple they were free to date others if they wanted soon after meeting David and Angie traveled to Malta for an international music competition David's song when I lived my dream from his debut album had been entered in the contest and was singled out as Best produced record it was the first award he'd ever won he took it home to his dad so he could sort of legitimize look dad I won this award I'm not just a sole long ahead wanker but within days of David's receiving his first professional recognition as an artist his father Hayward Jones died of pneumonia following a sudden illness David took it like like a man he went and arranged all the funeral arrangements and he took the responsibility from his mother and he was quite amazing the way he handled it if he had any emotional response he was careful not to show it in September 1969 as David was coping with the loss of his father Space Oddity renewed momentum and climbed the British charts reaching number five [Music] almost immediately David tried to build on the success of the song by releasing a second album as before sales were disappointing like Major Tom David Bowie's Rock and Roll dreams seemed to be drifting away but by taking a controversial approach to performing the singers career would soon be launched into a whole new orbit [Music] you are watching David Bowie on biography David Bowie's first hit single Space Oddity was considered by many to be a novelty song even so the 22 year old performer held on to his dreams of Fame and set out to live the life of a rock star in the fall of 1969 David and his girlfriend Angie rented a 30 room mansion in London and invited several friends to live with her we were about seven people we were like college kids we had parties and all kinds of strange people came in it was really nice was like a hubbub of creativity in 1970 as Bowie planned his next move the rock world was stunned by the breakup of the Beatles followed closely by the drug-related deaths of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin by now drug use was common among musicians and fans alike David himself experimented as did singer Lou Reed who pulled no punches in writing songs about the trend Bowie admired Reed's music which pushed the boundaries of rock and roll by exploring themes of unconventional sex cross-dressing and social unrest Lou rave was very important for all of us that thought we were very hip in those days that's for sure Lou was because Lou was out of the box Lou Reed and his group The Velvet Underground were part of Andy Warhol's artists consortium the factory David was intrigued by Warhol's revolutionary approach to creating art but the singer's fascination with American avant-garde artists didn't stop there he was also a fan of a raucous over the top rocker named Iggy Pop nobody ever said they liked deaynna Stooges you just didn't admit to that in 1970 unless you were cross-dressing or on some sort of drugs or it just dropped out of life or high school really david was drawn to Iggy's wild nature and in time bowie would incorporate aspects of the American avant-garde into his own work David is a master of embracing and a number of disparate elements and then fusing them into something totally unique in the spring of 1970 David formed a new group with the tongue-in-cheek name the hype the band included Mick Ronson John Cambridge and Tony Visconti I went on the stage and a white leotard I was hyped man and David was rainbow man wearing like all these diaphanous scarves like hanging from his wrists and all that David found that performing as a fictional character gave him more freedom to express himself through music [Music] I was not a natural performer I didn't feel at ease on stage but I felt really comfortable going on stage as somebody else and it seemed a rational decision to keep on doing that but audiences who saw the hype didn't like the costumed band members they were yelling at us the whole time calling us [ __ ] and whatever you know whatever filthy homophobic name you can think of David was upset by the crowds response but sexual slurs were not enough to make him retreat into more safe styles of performing one months later in his childhood home of Bromley the maverick artist made a surprisingly conventional move when he married Angie David's mother attended the ceremony but the wedding didn't change the rules of David and Angie's open relationship following his marriage the singer took a bold step in his professional life when he ended his four-year affiliation with his manager Ken Pitt this new thing this kind of psychedelic rock thing which was happening in the late 60s ken had no idea what this is about and David you know being a young man he saw the future of flash before his eyes and Ken Pitts didn't quite fit into that Bowie's soon signed with the new manager lawyer Tony DeFries was in sync with David when it came to music and promotion he said I'm gonna make you as big as a skyscraper Tony DeFries would have painted sparrows yellow and so Demers Canaries Angie also played a role in helping David breakup from the growing crowd of aspiring rock stars she suggested that a husband assume a more androgynous look and soon David was wearing feminine clothing even dresses I don't think he would have won a dress without Angie's encouragement she said that it's okay to do this she's outrageous she's a very outrageous woman and David definitely needed a dose of outrageousness in his life at the time Bowie's new cross-dressing style quickly captured the attention of the press who seemed to be more interested in David's sexual preferences than in his music you'd see it in the tabloids at the time that was you know wowy-powy and people rose yelling him are are you a boy or a girl David appeared on the cover of his next album the man who sold the world with long locks and wearing an elegant gown one reporter had commented that the singer looked more like Lauren Bacall than a rock-and-roll star David laughed off the taunts and innuendos and surprised the public even further in May of 1971 when he and Angie welcomed a son Zoe Bowie David was thrilled to be a father but there was little time to enjoy his new child his career was finally gaining momentum and within weeks he was scheduled to travel to New York the signed a lucrative contract with RCA [Music] David's first album with his new label was hunky-dory which included the hit single changes [Music] not long after releasing the song Bowie made an announcement that changed the way the world looked at him in an interview in the trade paper Melody Maker a flamboyant new star declared that he was gay that was incredibly brave very brave there was some kind of British horror shock horror outrage in the press as there always is but I felt mammoth in oh yeah good for you [Music] with the media attention hunky dory record sales jumped and David Bowie's career took a quantum leap the timing was impeccable so it's debatable whether it was calculated or not but he certainly used it he used it definitely it brought more attention to the music which was the desired effect the gender-bending mystique of David Bowie was now firmly established the cross-dressing bisexual with a wife and child was the talk of the music industry but David Bowie's next outrageous move would surprise even his growing legion of fans he was about to transform himself yet again and forever changed the face of rock and roll in 1972 Jesus Christ Superstar was rocking audiences on Broadway Pioneer 10 was launched into space carrying messages for potential extraterrestrial life-forms and a burglary in Washington DC started a scandal that would force President Richard Nixon out of office [Music] that's a mia 25 year-old david bowie took all the elements he'd learned about the performing arts and fused them together to create a daring new stage persona Ziggy Stardust she played guitar jamming good [Music] too far began to the special man it's been one of the inspirations for David's character was a 1950s American rock singer named Vince Taylor [Music] he was out of his gourd totally flipped and the guy was not playing with a full deck Taylor was convinced that there was a connection between himself UFOs and Jesus Christ during one performance Taylor announced that he in fact was Jesus Christ and it was the end of Vince his career and everything else and it was that and his story which really became one of the essential ingredients of Ziggy [Music] Ziggy's BAM the spiders from Mars included Mick Ronson Trevor bolder and make Woodmansee the bold new act shocked conservatives but there were tens of thousands of teenagers and young adults who were instantly drawn to Ziggy's other worldliness people started to get interested cuz he looked so strange different Ziggy was essentially like a brilliant collage of a lot of different elements there was a bit of Lindy kemp mime stuff as a little war hole there was some kabuki and there was a whole lot of David Bowie [Applause] [Music] [Applause] now sticky played guitar [Music] the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust on the spiders from Mars proved to be David's breakthrough album it hit stores on June the 9th 1972 and went gold soon after Ziggy came at the right time you could feel the buzz in the air it was like bigger than David bigger than the band bigger than the record company was almost like something that was meant to be in history one of the keys to Ziggy's success was Bowie's complete dedication to his extraterrestrial creation but I do play it all it's worth Hector Bowie's androgynous rock-and-roll spaceman helped launch the era of glam rock in the late sixties in the early 70s everything had become aesthetically quite pedestrian and you had a lot of bands like like Crosby Stills Nash and young who I love but they looked like farmers and I think the glamour on people looked at it and said you know what let's be glamorous it wasn't so much what he was wearing it was just a feeling he was pulling across you know it was him at his actual self that was like that and a so strong David was the king the Queen the Prince whatever you want to call him or but the glam he was its finest hour its most potent force the outrageous nature of Ziggy kept David in the news and Bowie fed the friends he with more than just his appearance when photographer Mick Rock snapped the highly suggestive picture of David and guitarist Mick Ronson Bowie recognized another chance for star making publicity David said let's buy a full-page in Melody Maker it was an important shot for David he was like Pete Townsend smashing the guitar or Jimi Hendrix setting it on fire and that set the cat among the pigeons very nicely oh it was bigger than ever and his manager Tony DeFries set out to capitalize on David's new faith in the summer of 1972 DeFries launched mein math a management company with Bowie as his star client David was also becoming known for the songs he wrote and produced for others his song all the young dudes was a hit for Mott the Hoople and the Lou Reed chart-topper walk on the wild side was co-produced by David in September of 1972 Ziggy Stardust descended on America allo David wasn't yet a big success in the United States Tony DeFries felt that if you spent like a star people would believe you were a star as a result more money was going out and was coming in during the American tour everyone was staying at the Plaza Beverly Hills hotel room service 24 hours a day roley's getting their underpants laundered lunatics were running wild and and no one was saying no the hype was maintained and the bills were being paid with unearned advances that Tony DeFries secured from RCA Records I think that was Tony DeFries genius he got these guys to okay and cough up all kinds of money for that that was not making them much money at that point in time as the American tour progressed David began to be put off by his wife Angie's ongoing efforts to direct his career and their relationship became strained she would help organize things but once a show got to America it all started to go to another level in terms of the development of what was going on and I don't know that she ever learned how to handle it that well Ziggy's journey across the United States was a critical success but unchecked spending made the torah' financial disaster even so when Bowie returned to England he was treated like a conquering hero what David's fans didn't know was that their idol had less money in his pockets than native but that didn't keep David from indulging in recreational drug use and David's narcotic of choice was cocaine right at the beginning there wasn't much of that going on after America they started to be a lot more as David's cocaine habit escalated the resulting weight loss combined with mental stress gave rise to the title of his next album a lad in Shane the lad inside was well you know I think it was a reflection of what he was going through it was starting to work on his head and you know some lad London lag going off his rocker very slowly but having an interesting time doing it to promote Aladdin Sane Bowie headed off on a 100 day world tour the first performances were at Radio City Music Hall during one show David collapsed on stage it was the ultimate in drama because the encore number was rock-and-roll suicide and after the song ended he fell on the floor yeah definitely went unconscious for a while and then of course the doctors and nurses came and he was fine but it was scary in spite of the incident David continued his grueling schedule after completing the US leg of the tour the band headed to Japan then on to Russia and back to England when Bowie returned home he learned that a lad insane was number one on the charts the news should have made him happy but it didn't in the midst of all the Ziggy Stardust hype David Bowie felt he had lost his way still waiting for times running wild a million dead-end street sir every time I thought I'd God it made it seem the taste was not so sweet all the feedback was coming to Ziggy Stardust I mean not to David Jones from Brixton so he had created this alter ego and the alter ego took over his entire life David continued to play to sold-out houses throughout Great Britain including London's Hammersmith Odeon on July the 3rd 1973 but in the audience's surprise at the end of the show the 26 year old rock star made a startling announcement not only is it not only is it the last show of the tour but it's the last show that will ever do him thank you less than a year and a half after creating Ziggy Stardust the shock rocker was giving up the character that had brought him Fame and fans were left wondering if David Bowie was just another shooting star before his time thank you very much buh-bye we love you with Iggy Stardust did indeed rise and fall just as predicted in the title of 26 year old David Bowie's hit album had become a burden to him and he he the only way to deal with it was to shake it off completely Ziggy Stardust was gone but certainly not forgotten the character continued to influence new musicians and was even an inspiration for a West End glam rock musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show opened in June of 1973 and was later made into a cult classic feature film come and see what's on the slab in July 1973 where we had five albums in the top forty three of them in the top 15 which was unprecedented for a solo artist the singer's self-imposed retirement didn't last long that for well Gladys Knight & the Pips cher and the Rolling Stones were topping the Billboard charts David released pinups a tribute to some of his favorite British pop stars from the 1960s he also set out to create a rock musical based on George Orwell's 1984 21 songs were written before David found out he couldn't secure rights to the book David will always start a project with this idea and it will grow and it will evolved in it it'll always end up to be something bigger or maybe a little bit different [Applause] [Music] David incorporated the 1984 concept into his next album Diamond Dogs the first single from the LP was rebel rebel [Music] hot bowie continued to act the rebel in his personal life although he was still married to Angie David started a serious relationship with singer Ava cherry whom we'd met while touring she was just a young girl Lana I can be and you know you're on the road you know and he was always promiscuous along with Angie they had a lifestyle that suited certain things initially David's wife seemed fine with the arrangement but when Bowie moved to New York and began living with Ava Angie's feelings changed she was jealous she was upset and even though she was doing what she wanted to do for her it wasn't a two-way street it was like I want to play around but I want you to be faithful to me by now Bowie's method of writing songs was as unconventional as his marriage he'd begun using a device he called cut-ups a technique inspired by writer William Burroughs he would basically cut out words from an article from a newspaper book wherever I tried doing it with divers and things I've used this method only on a couple of actual songs but I've used it for more than anything else is igniting anything that might be in my imagination it's not because you're short of ideas necessarily it's because it puts you into territories that you wouldn't otherwise get into you wouldn't be led there by your own taste David continued his efforts to break the rules when he began planning the tour for Diamond Dogs he envisioned an elaborate stage that would combine music mime and dots Chloe wanted performance artist Tony Basel to choreograph the show and his manager Tony DeFries spared no expense in his efforts to woo her when I was taken to dinner David wasn't there but there were several people with us and the money that was being thrown around was a lot of money even more money was spent on the production itself and when the tour debuted in Montreal in June of 1974 it unlike anything audiences have ever seen he was just willing to do theater rock-and-roll dance story everything it was very expensive like I can't see how they could have made a penny I just think money was just going and going and going when he was focusing on at that particular time was his creative flow David is a hands-on person on a creative level but when it came to the business I'm not quite sure if David was really involved but Tony DeFries was all business when he found out how much money the show was losing he canceled the scheduled London dates this action quickly got David's attention and he met with his manager to find out exactly what was going on with his finances David was shocked to learn that over the years most of his earnings had been used to pay back the ongoing advances the fries had been securing from RCA I do remember Tony saying being in the room once when Tony gave some paperwork to secretary and said take it to David don't worry he'll sign anything I think it was a big slap in the face for him because you know you look back and you see the body of your work and at some point you want to see how much money you've made from that body of work and there was nothing there for him David believed that he and DeFries were partners in Manman management and had expected to share in the company's profits but to freeze inform David that he alone was the owner of the operation Bowie was no more than another one of main man's growing number of clients David's cuz he dis brain wasn't there his brain was you know the lake picture stardom they moving the culture but obviously the chickens came home to roost at a certain point at the age of 27 David Bowie was flat broke the groundbreaking Rockstar had achieved worldwide success but now he would have to keep working and keep reinventing himself just to survive in 1974 David Bowie found himself in serious financial trouble the rock star realized that developing an interest in the business side of his art was critical to his survival on the music scene he quickly scaled back production on his extravagant Diamond Dogs tour but although David was now cautious about how money was being spent on the concerts his limited personal funds were still being depleted by his ever-growing cocaine habit whose diet often at the time was you know cocaine and milk so it was sort of pure white experience there's a fly floating around in my milk and it's fun it is a foreign body in it you see and he's getting a lot of milk it's kind of how I felt the destructive effects of David's addiction kept him underweight and paranoid about the world around him [Music] behind us like Ziggy Stardust and Vince Taylor before him David Bowie was falling apart he was playing with the whole idea of self-destructiveness and about what can what can happen to two people when they take drugs and you know he lived dangerously but even under the influence David was still exploring the boundless range of his creativity he started work on his next album young Americans by revisiting a childhood passion rhythm and blues he's a man studied American R&B make no doubt about it definitely had a big influence for him growing up in England so this was just a natural process to become involved with you know musicians of color so his backup singers included Robin Clarke his girlfriend Ava cherry and Luther Vandross that's that's cool that's cool excellent gotta do it this way to get it David called his new musical plastic so plastic sold just purely comes out of his sense of humor that's poking fun at Hey look at me I can do it too and I'm not black so I'm not a soul brother but he managed to capture what it was he needed to capture [Music] David recorded most of the songs for young Americans a little over a week the speed at which he worked was due in no small part to his cocaine use it was the 70s people were using cocaine thinking that it wasn't a bad drug right okay in the last sections honestly that was the word on the street so we were all sucked into that I was worried for his health he was very very thin his face was as white as a sheet of paper and he was scary-looking but damn it he'd go in front of the microphone and he sang beautifully after completing the initial recording sessions for young Americans David collaborated with guitarist Carlos Alomar and friend John Lennon on a single for the album fame was especially personal for David through it he expressed some of his frustrations about his finances and management [Music] it was actually written about his relationship with Tony DeFries it is the smokescreen that was created by the freeze it's the illusion of Fame sort of like we think one thing is happening but you turn around in your pockets empty you think you're a star but then you find out that you can't pay your rent fame became David Bowie's first number-one hit in America but its success only further reminded him of his unhappiness with Tony DeFries John Lennon was an old pro when it came to dealing with managers and agents and counsel David on what he should do when John found out what was happening he said you need to take control of us David followed the former Beatles advice and took legal action to terminate his contract with DeFries David was able to get out of the deal by agreeing to grant the freeze a portion of the royalties from records made during the term of his contract with Manman management young Americans was David's biggest selling album in the u.s. today and made him a bona fide star in the all-important American market but the career high point was soon followed by another personal love in 1975 the 28 year old singer moved to Los Angeles where his cocaine habit finally caused him to lose touch with reality Los Angeles was one of the worst periods I think in my life and I got into a lot of emotional spiritual travel there he told the story of waking up one morning in Los Angeles in the gutter some gutter I didn't know which gutter I thought if I don't do something about this I'll die in June of that year David took a break from music when an acting opportunity came his way director Nicolas Roeg was casting the part of an extraterrestrial in his latest film David's name was among those suggested for the leading role physically David was perfect for the man who found who earth a film about a space alien trying to save his proud stricken planet he just looked like a person from another planet at that time he had the kind of strawberry red hair with the blonde streaked and is very very thin and the two different colored eyes although Bowie had limited acting experience Nicolas Roeg felt David could handle the complexities of the role but the director was concerned about David's reputation as a drug user when Nick Ryan went to first meet him he said that during the movie he would not be doing any drugs so fine with us it's a fantastic movie about power [Music] David Bowie stars in the man who felt worse a man who fell to earth was only a modest success at the box office but David's thoughtful performance earned him critical praise in 1976 David released his next album station-to-station and unveiled yet another performance guys the elegant thin white duke the character was a far cry from the androgynous Ziggy Stardust he was doing the clean chiseled look the outfits were made specifically to give him a long lean look station the station was David's highest charting album since Diamond Dogs and included the top single golden years [Music] don't let me hear you say light taking you nowhere revenue from the LP and income from his top-selling greatest hits collection changes won Bowie put David back on solid financial ground he soon moved his wife and son into a spacious home near Montreux Switzerland where his earnings could be sheltered from taxes but David and Angie did not live as husband and wife a few months later David set out on his own and took a small apartment in Berlin there he tried to kick his longtime drug habit there was a lot less doping going on and he's living over an auto parts store with no central heating yes so everything becomes a little more basic a little more homemade by of necessity David's creative drive was reenergized in the new simpler environment while in Berlin he produced Iggy Pop's album the idiot he'd done some really creative work on the idiot as a musician for me basically it says Iggy Pop and his band most of his band is just David Bowie overdubbing himself in 1976 as the glam influenced and drug saturated world of disco was being embraced by the mainstream David Bowie was struggling to stay clean and sober he was also determined to remain true to his art and set out to create yet another unconventional style of music you are watching David Bowie on biography while living in Berlin David Bowie continued to experiment in his search for a completely original sound the result was an album called low [Music] the sherry sherry it was a kind of experiment in seeing what kinds of emotions pop music could cope with you know could it deal with despair and hysteria and idiot Glee as well as the things that pop had dealt with up until then but the avant-garde Lowe stumped record industry executives and David's fans alike even if you didn't like it was kind of important that it was a step that was going to make a difference you know it really was the album that found the soul on the machine that found a way to make something haunting and human out of electronic music hello sold poorly but rather than scrapping his experimental new style David made two more LPS which were also intended to break the pop music mode lodger and heroes the title track from heroes became a hit for day [Music] just more one in addition to exploring new modes of music David time to indulge his lifelong love of painting David would just sit in his flat and smoke and paint and and write a song I think he wanted to make sure he was continually doing something productive and creative he was always thinking that way in December 1977 the now 30-year old rock star surprised his fans when he appeared with Bing Crosby on a family Christmas special for CBS I'm Big O I'm pleased to meet you you're the one that sings right well right or wrong I sing either way what would I sing - oh good in fact I've got a six-year-old son and he really gets excited around the Christmas holiday thing we just thought to leave it David Bowie with Bing Crosby what a marriage born King to see Bing was made more contemporary by it and at that point David wanted to diminish his role in the whole kind of underground renegade you know lifestyle finest give sweeping the Bing Crosby special overflowed with traditional family cheer but ironically Bowie's own home life was miserable his marriage to Angie had deteriorated to the breaking point a lot of things happen that were pretty unsavory as far as arguments and disagreements and you know just turmoil in their relationship and David didn't want to expose his son to them [Music] David took Zoey to Berlin for Christmas while Angie celebrated the holiday in the US with friends when Angie returned to Switzerland on January the second she was dismayed to discover that her husband and son was still away angry and depressed she attempted suicide Bowie was alarmed and became concerned about his wife's mental health and her ability to care for their child at a point in a marriage you have to take a stand rather gonna go with it or you gonna say this has got to stop there was a time when everything had to stop for the sake of knowing the open marriage was now closed you know he survived I've moved on David's marriage to Angie was formally dissolved in 1980 in the settlement David won sole custody of Zoe who now preferred to be called Joe he said I'm gonna bring up my son and that's a bold move to do for somebody in entertainment he totally became both parents - - Joey and he was great the newly single father was determined to be a positive role model for his son but there was one problem Bowie had yet to completely overcome his substance abuse let's be real about addiction it doesn't just happen all cyanide was gonna stop sometimes it happens that in a gradual level David did not want his son to see him in a certain condition and I think that eventually made it so that he was able to back off and back off and back off because when you have things going right for you you don't even need that kind of high in the fall of 1980 David moved to New York where he made his Broadway debut in the Elephant Man the versatile performer starred as John Merrick a man afflicted with a grotesque disfiguring disease the Elephant Man that appealed to me because of my I have a sort of eclectic thing about freaks and isolationists and alienated people sort of I kind of gather information on people like that without the use of heavy makeup David portrayed the deformed outcast by manipulating his voice and twisting his body into a misshapen stance every night his earlier training as a mime helped him achieve the desired effect [Music] you must display yourself for indifferent then like I did that is not my self mr. Merrick that is an illusion this is myself audiences were captivated and Broadway's toughest critics gave Bowie high marks for his work during the run of the Elephant Man Bowie released his 17th album scary monsters and super creeps included the single ashes to ashes with lyrics alluding to an earlier chapter of David's life Bowie revived Major Tom for the song and described the lost spaceman struggle with drug addiction to promote the single he created a video version of the story [Music] times [Music] [Applause] - is to ashes is an incredible sonic because he was playing off his own myth I think it's deeply personal but it's also incredibly public because it's a way of exercising that ghosts visual interpretations of songs were nothing new but the complex imagery of the ashes to ashes music film helped put Bowie at the vanguard of the rock video revolution I think David Bowie's influence on early music videos was probably the greatest influence of all he wasn't frightened to do something that was surreal he wasn't frightened to go back to French silence surrealist movies he wasn't frightened to do anything on December the 8th 1980 David was shattered to learn the news that John Lennon had been shot and killed by a deranged fat outside his New York City apartment building he loved John they were great friends and David was broken he was just it was like he lost his brother death of John devastated him the circumstances of Lennon's death send shockwaves through the entertainment community three weeks later when his run in the Elephant Man ended David left New York and returned to Switzerland where he mourned the loss of his friend and former collaborator in 1982 David threw himself back into acting when he starred as a rapidly aging vampire in The Hunger opposite Susan Sarandon and Catherine Deneuve but before the film was released David received the disturbing news that his beloved brother Terry who was still institutionalized had jumped from a window in an attempted suicide Terry survived before and David rushed to see him characteristically David said little to friends about his brother's situation as far as mentioning his family it wasn't something that he readily did nor was it something that we we brought ourselves into a brought up in 1983 Bowie starred in the world war two drama Merry Christmas mr. Lawrence playing the remorseful major celia's David tapped into his heartbreaking experiences with his own brother David betta canticle Jackson yes and he was well described as a soldier soldier and he was haunted by the fact that he believed that he let his young brother down I'm pleased to see you really Jeff I wanted to come don't apologize but I've wronged you badly how many water these things [Music] I need to I remember this one there was once every five years that's all I'll be back before in flowers again hello Merry Christmas mr. Lawrence received mixed reviews David's performance was singled out as one of the highlights of the film after successfully carving out a name for himself as an actor David felt ready to again focus on his music but this time he would push his own boundaries and shock both critics and fans alike David Bowie was about to embrace the mainstream you are watching David Bowie on biography [Music] by 1983 the music video was all the rage in the recording industry that year 36 year-old David Bowie signed a five-year contract with EMI records and made several videos to showcase his songs [Music] [Applause] [Music] let's dance went into heavy rotation on MTV the new cable outlet designed to showcase music videos the single was an overnight sensation and rocketed to the top of the charts [Music] video killed certain radio stars but Bowie was one of this rock stars from an earlier generation who was perfect for MTV he just has that majestic presence that made him a star for a new generation the let's dance album went platinum just eight weeks after its release in addition to the title song the LP produced two other top 20 hits China girl and modern love [Music] [Applause] [Music] what was cool about those days is that you could put on a record by David Bowie and it was accepted as a dance record it was accepted as a as a as a song that could make people move [Music] David's fanbase exploded the esoteric artist who had always been lightyears ahead of his time was now right in sync with popular culture people who had never before listened to David Bowie portlets dance by the millions [Applause] [Music] the let's dance period was very very accessible and it was accessible even to people like me kind of getting on in life at that point it was very much more popular and wide appeal than he normally appealed to David's latest musical experiment made him a household name the tour to promote his new album was seen by more than two and a half million fans one of his concerts was at Hammersmith Odeon where Bowie had put Ziggy Stardust to rest 10 years earlier the rock singer David Bowie is performing tonight entirely for the benefit of Brixton the charity show benefited the multiracial Brixton neighborhood community association which served the area where he had been born the conditions they were never that great Allen's but it's definitely gone but not worse over the years he just looks as though being left there and forgotten and that's really sad the working class boy from Brixton now had the fame and fortune he'd always dreamed of and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it he had homes in four countries and projected a polished high fashion energy [Music] by 1984 David found himself topping the charts in the company of pop stars like Tina Turner Phil Collins and Michael Jackson Bowie's moved to the mainstream even included an announcement that he was exclusively heterosexual it's a testament to Bowie that people found it strange he slept with women I remember saying why did we care so much I mean ultimately who he sleeps with is less interesting than doing it's music with McDavid Bowie's new middle-of-the-road image changed his direction in more ways than one for the first time in his career the musician began writing songs that weren't necessarily from his heart it seemed obvious that the Bailey tonight Manny's give people what they want and so I started giving people what they wanted [Applause] [Music] in the fall of 1984 David released tonight [Music] the sales of the album was strong music critics felt the record was creatively bankrupt [Music] but bad reviews would soon become the least to Khloe's concerns in January of 1985 David received the shocking news that his brother Terry had committed suicide David was overwhelmed with grief when he died and the whole thing happened I think that David withdrew and he didn't really share that with anyone Nora I don't think he wanted to so it was very difficult period knowing that as friends we wanted to reach out but we didn't want to bring up a subject that might cause him undue distress the loss of his brother was heartbreaking for David but later that year he put his own problems aside in order to bring attention to the plight of people starving in Africa he was one of dozens of rock stars who performed at the Live Aid concert at London's Wembley Stadium [Music] an audience of one and a half billion around the world watched the event on live television or heard it on radio daven and his friend mick jagger also premiered a new video on the show [Music] dancing in the streets soared to number one with all the profits going to benefit live eh [Music] David continue to target mainstream audiences when he returned to acting in 1986 he starred in the movie musical absolute beginners and later he played Jarrett the Goblin King in Jim Henson's fantasy adventure labyrinth although David wrote music for each of the films and scored a hit with the title song for absolute beginners both movies failed at the box office in 1987 David released never let me down which he promoted on the flashy last spider tour [Music] but the show's production numbers costume changes and special effects that most audiences code was just a sort of David Bowie does Vegas version of himself it was such a spectacle that it was completely boring I was like totally like what I have this is so on rock and roll [Music] David Bowie's brief love affair with the mainstream was coming to an end it just dried me after snart is completely because I wasn't used to doing that what I'm used to doing is being very stubborn obscure confrontational in my own indulgent way and enjoying every second of it in three short years david bowie's career had reached spectacular heights yet in the process he come dangerously close to tarnishing his sterling reputation as an avant-garde musical artist but the prolific performer would soon take off in yet another new direction and this time David Bowie would find success on his own terms what is your favorite David Bowie song visit biography.com and take our Quick Poll in 1988 David Bowie surprised everyone when he formed a new act called tin machine [Music] it wasn't heavy metal I think what it was was rock and roll it was just David Bowie once again reinventing rock'n roll in a way that he could give a damn about [Music] pin machine drew some facts but most people didn't know what to make of David's group a lot of people tell you Tim machine was a joke there's nothing but it really fulfilled its mission in allowing David Bowie to get re interested in making music and in trying to communicate something with the music that music was I think his response to what later would become alternative rock [Music] David found created fulfilment with Tim machine and was looking for the same kind of stability in his personal life for two years he dated American Ballet dancer Melissa Hurley and even made plans to marry her but ultimately the 43 year old singer and the 22 year old dancer grew apart and split up in 1990 David was introduced to international fashion model in MA at a small dinner party arranged by a mutual friend before the night was over David has set his sights on a new romance he claims that he knew immediately I was the one it took me maybe a week after six months together the lovestruck rock star proposed to his girlfriend over a candlelight dinner in Paris David courted me very old-fashioned way which was such a delight people don't expect things like that from him you know they think he's so hip and happening and you know but he is a truly a truly an old-fashioned gentleman in April of 1992 David and Amman were married first in a civil ceremony and again six weeks later at a lavish wedding in Florence Italy David's now 20 year-old son Joe served as his best man at his wedding there was Brian Eno Bono and Yoko Ono and I thought there's a guy waiting to happen II know Ono and Bono how often you know do you get all three of those at one waiting David swept me off my feet and I'm still off my feet he has managed somehow I don't know miraculously to have my heart flutter when he walks into the room still so yes he's definitely the one he's definitely my one in 1993 David's marriage to a man inspired him to release his first solo project in five years Black Tie white noise was a very personal album for David it included jump they say the song he wrote about his brother Terry suicide [Music] [Music] it had been more than seven years since Terry's death and it had taken David nearly that long to come to terms with the tragedy one almost gets a sense of Terry is this ghostly figure in his whole career this sort of the past that he was fortunate enough not to take that always seems to be a part of his work the fine line between madness and insanity and his music has you know walked that line at times [Music] in 1994 David Bowie was making a name for himself in a new field the world of fine arts painting had been a creative outlet for the musician since childhood David has a great passion for art and in the Fine Arts people you know anything having to do with David they get excited about David's accomplishments as an artist and art connoisseur were recognized when he was appointed to the editorial board of the highly regarded magazine Modern Painters on the music front David was invited by MTV to play on their concert series unplugged unlike other rock stars who had done acoustic versions of their classic hits on the program David wanted to perform only new material this approach failed to fit the format of the show and he chose not to appear I think that artists should stand up for what they believe in he said some things to me that I call Bowie isms that I keep to this very day and he would say things to me like Niall if you come from art you'll always be art Boies choice to put art history first was also evident in his next project outside was a concept album about art and murder [Music] when David makes a song as he doesn't just make a song he makes a character as well all his songs tanea like little plays you know and he's the playwright he and he's also the actor you know in the things and this was something he tried a lot on outside when it came time to tour with the album Bowie invited Trent Reznor and his industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails to join him he said he's just finished a new album that he doesn't expect it to sell well and if we tour together he expects his band probably get blown off the stage because of the what he's trying to do but that's not it doesn't matter you know it's about I have to do this that fearlessness is really uh it's inspiring to be around you know I think there needs to be a lot more of that in music today reactions to the outside tour were mixed the LP itself received some critical praise but as David had feared it was not a commercial success Bowie took another chance with his next album earthly and scored a top 20 hit in Britain with the single little wonder [Music] in 1996 Foley's wide-ranging musical achievements were officially recognized when he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame he understands they has a huge legacy and that he has left a big imprint on modern culture he was not someone to look back very much I think it's hard for him in a way nowadays because people want him to look back all the time and David still you know he's concerned about his latest record after nearly four decades of personal struggles and hard work David Bowie now enjoyed a level of peace and satisfaction he had never known before but despite his groundbreaking accomplishments the multi-faceted artist had no intention of slowing down [Music] you are watching David Bowie on biography at the age of 53 David Bowie became a father again when he and his wife Amon celebrated the birth of a daughter Alexandria David was overjoyed and this time without career obligations to keep him away from home Alexandria quickly became the center of his life she's totally spoiled by him you know of course he he was over the moon that her first words was dad dad I kept on telling him no that's the easy words no he's not buying it at one point I asked him I said how are you you know how's it going this is all I must stay at home dad you know David owed the stability he now had in his personal life two years of being clean and sober and all the while David's relationship with his son Joe had remained closed my relationships with my friends my family everybody around me are so good and have been for so many years now I wouldn't do anything to destroy that again in 2002 David released heathen under a new contract with Columbia Records the initial single from Bowie's 35th album was slow burn these are the darkest [Music] [Applause] in the fall David also released the best of Bowie a collection of his most popular songs and performances that same year the 55 year old rock visionary continued to energize the music scene when he headlined the area to tour he was joined on the road by hip-hop artist Busta Rhymes and one of Bowie's avant-garde musical heirs Moby for the new music that he's making that's really remarkable you know it's just as good as music who's making 10 15 20 30 years ago wham bam thank you ma'am one month later the 30th anniversary of Ziggy Stardust was celebrated with the digitally remastered version of Bowie's breakthrough album along with the theatrical re-release of da Pennebaker 's concert film of Ziggy's last performance [Music] you can still put on Ziggy Stardust and it could have come out last month and it still sounds somehow it's pertinent timely effective [Music] over the years bands such as Talking Heads REM and u2 have cited David Bowie's body of work as a major influence on their music newer generations of musicians also continue to look to David for inspiration he really did and paved the way for a lot of things that are going on today as far as you know stylistically and musically and also in his capacity to experiment so successfully he's perseverance to be original all the time today is like a chameleon he always wants to change with the times [Music] David Boies desire to keep changing is that one thing that has remained constant about his career though out of what I do is in fact very simple is just that my choices are very different to other people from the beginning David Bowie's unique vision has set him apart from his peers it is the key to his enduring popularity as a contemporary artist who has spanned the 20th and 21st centuries still don't know what I was waiting for and my time was running well in the Indian streets and every time got it married it seen the taste was not so sweet he has become an icon innovation one that has forever changed the world of popular music he did more than reinvented oils he set the stage for a world in which there were no news what David did was something that moved the culture David Bowie is constantly analyzing things curiosity our team is the most simple thing that propels him forward David had a sense of fearlessness cultural fearlessness someone has had an ability to dictate trends as opposed to follow them David had taught younger musicians how to be free he has against all odds become a very very respected artist now to continue to create great stuff when most people would just rest on their laurels he's right out there he's right at the forefront of creativity and he's cool [Music] David Bowie's course [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] reflecting on his years spent as rocks resin and alien Bowie says that Ziggy Stardust would be shocked that I'm still alive and seemed to have regained some sense of rationality Ziggy also might be awed by Bowie's bank account he is one of the world's richest rock stars with a net worth of over 900 million dollars tomorrow [Music]

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Keywords: david bowie, a&e, biography, usa, tv, documentary, intrerview

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Length: 87min 32sec (5252 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 23 2020