David Bowie
David Bowie

THE REVIEW

Dear readers, I ask you for a small mental effort: are you familiar with "Hunky Dory," "Ziggy," "Heroes," the last one with the same cover as "Heroes," and so on? Very well, forget it all, reset, pretend David Bowie was just one of the many meteors of swinging London in the late '60s, and that in his life he recorded nothing but this first, self-titled album. For those unfamiliar, believe me, such a gem deserves to be talked about for what it is, not as a reflection and compared to what will come afterward. "David Bowie" from 1967 is truly beautiful; it's the debut of one of the most debated and successful artists in history, but that's not why I like it.

Snubbed at best, if not openly despised, this debutant Bowie fascinates me; a bit Ray Davies and a bit Donovan, with that Beatle-like hairstyle that gives him an aura of naïve tenderness. His folk-beat is colorful, ironic, quirky, and visionary, full of surprises and theatrical twists; also because the vocal style is already definitive, unmistakable, and charismatic, giving that extra something to the songs. The album flows pleasantly, among blatantly '60s tunes that are danced without a care, "Love You Til Tuesday" or the formidable little waltz of "Little Bombardier", candid and dreamlike ballads, beautifully arranged like "When I Live My Dream", the classical "Sell Me A Coat" with its charming vocal interweavings. The quirky irony of "Uncle Arthur", "We Are Hungry Men", and "Join The Gang" mingles with the reflective and bittersweet sounds of a refined "There Is A Happy Land", the twilight theatricality of "Rubber Band", the simple and clean folk of "Come And Buy My Toys", the apparent lightheartedness of "Maid Of Bond Street".

Who knows today what David Bowie, sitting on his high throne, thinks of "David Bowie", if every now and then he listens to it again, if in the shower he hums the melody of "When I Live My Dream," if he dares a few dance steps to the notes of "Love You Til Tuesday" when he feels like it. If I were in his shoes, I would, I would be proud of this album, and if he's not, well, too bad for him. I imagine for a moment being David Bowie; a concert in a stadium full of people, everyone expects "Heroes" for the grand finale, instead I play a nice "Little Bombardier" and have a good laugh, then I think that if I were really David Bowie, I probably would have really recorded only this album, maybe another more or less similar and then the record company would have ditched me without a second thought. Is this my favorite Bowie? Mmmh, thinking again maybe yes, for sure it's the one I feel closest to me.