This is the second part of my look into the life, music, and genius of David Bowie, continuing from THIS post.

Young American

Bowie moved to the US in 1974, living first in New York and then Los Angeles. His music started to change direction, leaning toward more of a funk and soul vibe on his eighth album, Diamond Dogs. This was a fusion of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four and David's vision of a post apocalyptic world. The album topped the UK chart and reached number five in the US.

Bowie spent seven months promoting the album throughout the US on his Diamond Dogs Tour. It was a huge theatrical production, filmed as a documentary called Cracked Actor.

During the tour, David spiraled into heavy cocaine addiction. He took a break in Philadelphia and recorded material for his next album, Young Americans. Fame was co-written with John Lennon, who also featured on backing vocals.

The Thin White Duke

Shrugging off the shackles of his Ziggy Stardust persona, David created a new character called The Thin White Duke, based on the character Thomas Newton who he played in his first movie, The Man Who Fell To Earth. The story involved the title character as an alien who crash landed on Earth, desperate for a way back home to his family on his drought ridden planet.

As the Thin White Duke, Bowie released the album Station To Station. This featured tracks such as Golden Years, TVC 15 and one of my favorites; Wild Is The Wind. Station To Station was a commercial success, becoming his highest charting album in the US until 2013.

Although his super stardom was now sealed, Bowie's drug problems became more apparent. Here he appears in an interview, looking gaunt and apparently high on cocaine.

This was a dark time for David; he suffered several overdoses and clashed with the press over comments he made about Adolf Hitler and fascism, made worse by a shot of him taken, according to David, in mid wave. The photograph portrays him as performing a Nazi salute.

Berlin

In 1976 David moved to Geneva, Switzerland. His drug use decreased, and he concentrated on painting, photography, and sketching. He studied classical music and literature and began to write his autobiography.

David Bowie Painting

He moved to West Berlin in late 1976 in an effort to clean up and revitalize his music career. Bowie shared an apartment with Iggy Pop and worked with Brian Eno on what was to be the first of his 'Berlin Trilogy', Low. It received mixed reviews, taking on a more electronic and minimalist tone. Even so, commercially it was very much a success.

Heroes followed, the title track manifesting the hope of the end of the Cold War - Berlin would remain separated by the wall until 1989.

Lodger was the final piece of the Berlin trilogy and featured a mix of the minimalist instrumental vibe of the previous two albums and his earlier work.

David fought his way out of cocaine addiction, but it was too late to save his marriage to Angie. They seperated in the latter part of 1979 and, after a numerous battles in court, divorced in 1980.

Thanks for reading this second in my series of posts following the career and legacy of David Bowie. Join me next time as we enter his new romantic era.

Image Source 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

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