Bowie in Berlin: A New Career in a New Town (Book) Review

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(More customer reviews)David Bowie's albums Low, "Heroes," and Lodger are some of the most seminal pieces of popular music released in the 1970s.Two albums in the same ranks are Iggy Pop's The Idiot and Lust for Life, both of which Bowie had a large hand in creating.The years the two spent together in Berlin, each recovering from substance abuse and general mental deterioration, were a fascinating time that will interest any fan of either; and this book does an excellent job of detailing those heady days.Bowie is seen here as a fragile genius (if an opportunistic one) rather than the chameleon-like fashion plate he can be accused of being.My only quibbles are that the author sometimes gets lost in off-topic tangents that become boring history lessons - Christopher Isherwood may have played a role in Bowie's Berlin years, but we didn't need a multi-paragraph rundown on Isherwood and W.H. Auden's story (already told so many damn times!).Likewise, while the film The Man Who Fell To Earth (Bowie played the lead role) certainly had much to do with what became of Bowie in the years after its making, we didn't need a play-by-play, multi-page synopsis of the film.But once you get past those moments of excess, everything else in the book is well done, thoughtful, engaging . . . If you are interested in David Bowie in general, and particularly if you are a fan of his experimental late 70s work, or if you care to read about the friendship and working relationship between Bowie and Iggy (also Bowie and Eno, as well as Bowie and Tony Visconti), you will enjoy this book.

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Product Description:
By 1975 rock icon David Bowie was in crisis. Lost in Los Angeles, he was ravaged by cocaine abuse, overwork, and an obsession with the occult, while his marriage lay in tatters. Desperate to reignite his creative spark, Bowie relocated in mid-1976 to Berlin, accompanied by an equally troubled Iggy Pop, former Stooges frontman. The move to Berlin proved fortuitous both personally and professionally. There he produced two of Iggy Pop's best albums and starred in Just a Gigolo. Most importantly, he wrote and recorded three of his finest works - Low, Heroes, and Lodger - with the help of such legends as Brian Eno, Tony Visconti, and Robert Fripp. New Music Nightand Day explores the sometimes dark forces that fueled Bowie's artistryduring the time and the creation of these albums. The book explores how the albumsushered rock and pop into the electronic era and examines their continued influence on the contemporary musical landscape.

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