From Davie Jones to Stardust: How David Bowie Launched His Career
David Bowie was an English singer, songwriter, actor, multi-instrumentalist, producer, arranger, and audio engineer.
His extraordinary career began under the name Davie Jones with the King Bees, releasing the single Liza Jane. Sales were modest, and to avoid confusion with The Monkees lead singer Davy Jones, he soon adopted the name Bowie.
His self-titled debut album arrived in 1967 and featured Love You Till Tuesday. Although it received positive reviews, it failed to make a major commercial impact.
Two years later, Bowie released his second album, bringing his first major hit with Space Oddity. The timing couldn’t have been better with the single being released in July 1969.
Neil Armstrong had just become the first man on the Moon, and the world was caught up in space mania. Bowie had somehow found the perfect soundtrack for the moment.
The Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory
In 1970, Bowie released The Man Who Sold the World. Although only one single was initially released (All the Madmen, December 1970)), the title track would eventually become one of his best-known songs, helped enormously by Nirvana’s 1995 MTV Unplugged performance.
Then came Hunky Dory in 1971. This album marked another shift in Bowie’s songwriting, with most of the songs composed on piano rather than guitar.
It featured three standout tracks: Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, and the epic Life on Mars?
Already, Bowie was demonstrating something that would become central to his career. He wasn’t interested in finding one successful sound and repeating it. He kept changing.
Starman and the Rise of Ziggy Stardust
Then came the landmark 1972 release The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The album introduced one of Bowie’s most famous personas and propelled him to global superstardom.
It also gave us Starman and Ziggy Stardust. Interestingly, Starman almost didn’t make the album. Bowie had initially wanted to include a Chuck Berry cover instead, but his A&R man persuaded him that Starman could be a hit. He wasn’t wrong.
The song reached #10 on the charts and helped push the album to #5.
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars was a concept album exploring the highs and lows of rock stardom—excess, self-destruction, adoring fans and the eventual turning of the crowd against its idol.
Bowie drew inspiration from numerous artists, with Jimi Hendrix among the influences behind the Ziggy character. Recording for the album began just weeks after Hunky Dory was completed, giving Bowie two incredible albums in succession.
For guitarists, Starman is a useful Bowie tune to learn. It’s melodic, recognisable and full of the kind of classic rock arrangement that translates naturally to a working band. It’s also an unexpected choice.
Aladdin Sane, Covers and Rebel Rebel
Following the enormous success of Ziggy Stardust, Bowie released Aladdin Sane in 1973. The album produced more memorable material, including The Jean Genie and Bowie’s cover of Let’s Spend the Night Together.
That same year, he released Pin Ups, a covers album containing songs originally recorded by other artists. Bowie was already showing that being a great artist didn’t mean only writing your own songs. He was an exceptional interpreter too.
Then came 1974’s Diamond Dogs, featuring the unforgettable Rebel Rebel. Bowie was releasing music at an extraordinary pace, continually changing his sound and image while remaining recognisably himself.
The Thin White Duke
In 1975, Bowie released Young Americans, another major stylistic shift. The album included the title track and his cover of The Beatles‘ Across the Universe.
Then came another persona. In 1976 and ’77, Bowie introduced the Thin White Duke, particularly associated with Station to Station.
This was a darker period in his career, with Bowie struggling with cocaine addiction while becoming increasingly fascinated by German music and artists such as Kraftwerk.
The following album, Low, continued the experimental direction. It produced no major hits, but once again Bowie had moved somewhere completely different.
In 1978 came Heroes, followed by Lodger in 1979 and Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) in 1980. Ashes to Ashes became the standout track from the latter album.
Bowie’s career was constantly evolving. And then he changed direction again.
Bowie, Nile Rodgers and Stevie Ray Vaughan
Bowie’s commercial peak arguably came in 1983 when he teamed up with Nile Rodgers for Let’s Dance.
The unlikely combination of Bowie, Disco pioneer Nile Rodgers and young Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan turned out to be a masterstroke.
Released as the title track of the album, Let’s Dance became one of Bowie’s biggest hits. The album also featured China Girl, with lyrics co-written by Iggy Pop.
Together, the two songs helped propel the album to #1 in numerous countries and turned Let’s Dance into a huge commercial success.
It was a remarkable collaboration. Bowie brought the songwriting and theatrical vision. Rodgers brought his precise, funky production and rhythm-guitar sensibility. And Vaughan brought his raw Texas-blues guitar sound.
Three very different musical worlds suddenly occupying the same record.
The Guitar Lesson Hidden in Let’s Dance
For guitarists, Let’s Dance becomes especially interesting. Nile Rodgers had a very different approach from the blues-rock vocabulary Stevie Ray Vaughan was developing.
Yet both could sit inside the same arrangement without fighting for space. That’s a valuable lesson.
You don’t need every musician to sound the same. You need the parts to work together.
The guitar arrangement of a great working band often comes down to exactly that—knowing when to provide rhythm, when to add colour and when to get out of the way.
Knock on Wood and Dancing in the Street
Bowie also had a long history of taking other people’s songs and making them his own.
His live version of Eddie Floyd’s Knock on Wood became part of his repertoire, while in 1985 he teamed up with Mick Jagger for a hugely successful version of the Motown classic Dancing in the Street.
These are useful reminders that Bowie’s catalogue isn’t just about his original compositions. His ability to reinterpret material was part of what made him such an interesting artist.
For a guitarist, covers are often where the real learning begins. Take a song everyone knows and ask: What can I bring to it?
That’s exactly what Bowie did throughout his career.
After Let’s Dance
Although Bowie continued to release music at a remarkable rate after Let’s Dance, the huge commercial peaks became less frequent.
He released eleven more studio albums between Let’s Dance and his death in 2016, continuing to experiment rather than simply recreate the sound that had made him successful.
In 1985, Dancing in the Street with Mick Jagger became a major hit, while Absolute Beginners, from the soundtrack of the film of the same name, also charted strongly.
In 1997, Bowie contributed to the Perfect Day charity single for Children in Need, a cover of Lou Reed’s 1972 song. Then came the final chapter.
Blackstar
Bowie’s final album, Blackstar, was released shortly before his death in 2016. It provided a fitting conclusion to a career defined by reinvention.
From Davie Jones and the King Bees to Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, Let’s Dance and beyond, Bowie continually changed the rules rather than settling into one successful formula.
His career stretched across decades and genres, selling an estimated 140 million albums along the way.
But perhaps the most remarkable thing isn’t the number of records sold. It’s the number of times Bowie managed to become something different.
David Bowie and the Working Guitarist
There are countless Bowie songs worth learning, but the real guitar lesson is bigger than any individual chord sequence.
Study Starman for classic rock songwriting. Explore Let’s Dance for rhythm, groove and the interaction between very different guitar approaches.
Learn Rebel Rebel for one of Bowie’s most recognisable guitar-driven tunes. Then look at his covers—Knock on Wood, Dancing in the Street and Across the Universe.
The interesting thing is how different they are. That’s the point. A good guitarist shouldn’t be trapped by one style either.
You might need a tight Nile Rodgers-style rhythm part for one song, a blues-rock approach for another, and a stripped-back acoustic arrangement for the next.
Learn the song. Then look for what makes that version work.
Building a David Bowie Repertoire
Bowie gives you an enormous amount to work with. Start with Starman, Let’s Dance and Rebel Rebel, then explore his covers and the very different eras of his career.
Don’t try to make them all sound the same. That’s probably the worst possible way to approach David Bowie. Instead, use his catalogue to explore different sounds, rhythms, arrangements and approaches to songwriting.
Because if there’s one lesson Bowie demonstrated better than almost anyone, it’s this: Never let your last successful idea become the thing that stops you trying the next one.
David Bowie Tunes | Related Pages
Dancing In The Street | Chords + TAB
You can learn Dancing In The Street by Martha and the Vandellas using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| E7 | E7 (D/E) | E7 | E7 (D/E) |
Callin’ out around the world, are you ready for a brand new beat…
Knock On Wood | Chords + TAB
You can learn Knock On Wood by Eddie Floyd using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| A6 | A6 | A6 | A6 |
I don’t want to lose, this good thing, that I got…
Let’s Dance | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Let’s Dance by David Bowie using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, TAB, and backing tracks.
| Bb7sus4 | N.C | Bbm6 | N.C |
Let’s dance. Put on your red shoes and dance the blues…
Starman | Chords + TAB
You can learn how to play Starman by David Bowie using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and Spytunes video guitar lessons.
| Gm | Gm |
Didn’t know what time it was and the lights were low…
Start learning with the full lesson series: Starman – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
David Bowie on the web
