Experiencing David Bowie: A Listener's Companion
Brand: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Categories: Books, Arts & Photography, Music


Rowman Littlefield

Dimensions: 6.3 x 0.94 x 9.16 inches
ISBN-13: 978-1442237513
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1442237511
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Print length: 254 pages
Publication date: September 1, 2015
subtitle: Hardcover – September 1, 2015
author: Ian Chapman
review: Editorial Reviews Review What I particularly enjoyed was the writer’s passion for Bowie’s music, often recalling his excitement as a teenager at listening to each new release on vinyl for the first time. The innovations of each track are explored along with the visual impact and meanings of Bowie’s album covers. Despite his enthusiasm, Chapman acknowledges and explains the reasons behind Bowie’s less successful works in the 1980s and 90s. This work will greatly appeal to fans of David Bowie as well as anyone interested in the history of modern popular music, fashion, stage and cinema, and modern art. ― Sixtyplusurfers David Bowie is one of the most daring and influential artists of his generation. Ian Chapman, musicologist and musician, serves as our tour guide, taking us through the ever-evolving art of Bowie. Chapman goes into great detail about every studio album, as Bowie glides from music hall to metal, glam to soul, disco to electronica. Bowie’s compulsion to innovate becomes clear. And Chapman includes in this study an exploration of the visual aspects, so vital to Bowie’s impact. The book gives us a far deeper understanding of a complex musical force. ― Pop Culture Classics Chapman’s narrative approach is to describe the discovery of each new album in a kind of second-person voice: you go to the record store. You wait in line (yes, we used to do that). You take the record home. You look at the front and back covers. You put the record on the turntable. You flip it over after the side finishes. And so on. . . .[I]n Chapman’s hands [this] works quite well, especially – I should think – with readers who actually did experience new records exactly that way. . . .Chapman makes the case for many of Bowie’s more recent albums. . . .[And] the critical analysis he brings to bear upon such late-period Bowie albums as Heathen and Reality has gotten me interested enough that I just might check out those titles. And realizing that makes me say to Ian Chapman, 'Job well done.' ― Musoscribe About the Author Ian Chapman is a senior lecturer in music at the University of Otago, New Zealand. A music iconographer and specialist in glam rock, he is a former professional musician and the author of several books, including Kiwi Rock Chicks, Pop Stars & Trailblazers (2010).