David Bowie, Robert Dimery

David Bowie, Robert Dimery

Genre: Biography & memoirs. Non-fiction

I’m a child of the seventies, had the Bowie posters on my wall back in 72, much to dad’s horror. He never did approve of my musical tastes, Bowie, Queen, Slade ( mum gave them a pass as she liked Noddy, til she read about him bragging how many women he’d had sex with!)Alice cooper, T Rex, Mott the Hoople….many of them get mentions here and I enjoyed that.

I’m the typical average Bowie fan of the seventies, bought the records, followed the career, copied the man. I wanted to learn more about Bowie the person, how he began, how the music started, what inspired certain songs, his musical influences and connections, and the beginning felt like that.
Then it moved into areas that seemed to leave much of Bowie behind in favour of mentions of others and analysis of his music. His son barely gets a passing mention it felt, and yet he must have had a huge impact in his life. Looking after a child is huge, you can’t just flit off and leave them home alone for a coupe of weeks….How did he manage, was his son brought with him, left with others, did Angie look after him? Though given her issues that’s unlikely, but that’s the kind of thing I was curious about. The practicalities. How did he afford to continue, where did the money come from? Record companies I assume, but what were the strings?
I loved little snippets like him giving Mott the Hoople All The Young Dudes, and the interactions with Marc Bolan that the first part held and was sure this was going to be a book I’d love. If that kind of detail had continued, I would have loved it.
Later though I felt it became very in depth, too in depth on the wrong ( for me ) focus, citing people, people and yet more people, giving far more opinions about the music than the facts and snippets around its inception I would have loved, and I was lost. I didn’t know these specific people from the music world. I know nothing of labels, producers, directors, stylists, and all the back staff, I barely know what they do, have no idea who they are. They meant nothing to me other than how they affect Bowie. I had to keep tracking back working out where and why and how and I didn’t enjoy that.

I didn’t feel the book focused enough on Bowie himself and the reasons for the music, but more on how his rise grew through others, bringing those others into the book more than I wanted. I didn’t know them, wasn’t invested in their stories. That’s me though, and others will find just what they want from this.

Stars: Three. Bowie was a musical genius, and I don’t feel this book does him justice. Its got some interest to it, but overall he didn’t feel the focus to me, his life and influences was what I wanted, not the myriad of ancillary label people.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and publishers