ALL THE NIGHTMARES
CAME TODAY
AND IT LOOKS
AS THOUGH
THEY'RE HERE TO STAY
Hunky Dory
is the fourth
studio album
by the English
musician
released in
the United Kingdom
on
December, 17th 1971
through RCA Records.
Following a break
from touring and recording,
Bowie settled down
to write new songs,
composing on piano
rather than guitar
as in earlier works.
Bowie assembled
Mick Ronson
(guitar),
Trevor Bolder
(bass)
and
Mick Woodmansey
(drums),
and recorded
the album in mid-1971
at Trident Studios
in London.
Rick Wakeman
contributed piano
shortly before joining
Yes.
Bowie
co-produced the album
with
Ken Scott,
who had engineered
Bowie's previous
two records.
Compared to the
guitar-driven
hard rock sound of
The Man Who Sold the World,
Bowie opted for a warmer,
more melodic
piano-based
pop rock and
art pop style
on
Hunky Dory.
His lyrical concerns
on the record range from
the compulsive nature of
artistic reinvention on
"Changes"
to occultism and
Nietzschean philosophy on
"Oh! You Pretty Things"
and
"Quicksand";
several songs make
cultural and literary references.
He was also inspired by his
United States tour
to write songs
dedicated to three
American icons:
Andy Warhol,
Bob Dylan
and
Lou Reed.
The song
"Kooks"
was dedicated to
Bowie's
newborn son
Duncan.
The album's cover artwork,
photographed in
monochrome
and
subsequently recoloured,
features Bowie
in a pose inspired by
actresses of the
Hollywood Golden Age.
RCA offered
little promotion for
Hunky Dory
and its lead single
"Changes",
wary that Bowie
would transform
his image shortly.
Thus,
despite very
positive reviews
from the British
and
American music press,
the album initially
sold poorly and failed to chart.
After the
commercial breakthrough of
Bowie's
Ziggy Stardust album
in 1972,
Hunky Dory
garnered renewed interest,
with sales peaking at
number three
on the UK Albums Chart.
Retrospectively,
Hunky Dory
has been critically acclaimed
as one of Bowie's
best works,
and features on
several lists of the
greatest albums of all time.
Within the context of his career,
Hunky Dory
is considered the album where
"Bowie starts to become Bowie",
definitively discovering
his voice and style.
Background
After David Bowie completed
his third studio album,
The Man Who Sold the World,
in May 1970,
he became less active
in both the studio
and on stage.
His contract with
the music publisher
Essex
had expired and his
new manager
Tony Defries
was facing prior
contractual challenges.
Bowie was also without
a backing band,
as the musicians on
The Man Who Sold the World
including its producer
and bassist
Tony Visconti,
the guitarist
Mick Ronson
and the drummer
Mick Woodmansey
departed in
August 1970
due to personal conflicts
with the artist.
After hearing a demo of
Bowie's
"Holy Holy",
recorded in
autumn 1970,
Defries signed the singer
to a contract with
Chrysalis,
but thereafter
limited his work
with Bowie
to focus on
other projects.
Bowie,
who was devoting himself
to songwriting,
turned to Chrysalis's
partner
Bob Grace,
who loved the demo of
"Holy Holy"
and subsequently
booked time at
Radio Luxembourg's studios
in London
for Bowie to
record his demos.
"Holy Holy",
recorded in
November 1970
and released as a single
in January 1971,
was a commercial flop
The first song
Bowie wrote for
Hunky Dory
was
"Oh! You Pretty Things"
in January 1971.
After recording its demo
at Radio Luxembourg,
Bowie gave the tape
to Grace,
who showed it to
Peter Noone
of
Herman's Hermits.
Noone decided to
record his
own version
and release it
as his
debut single.
(Video Below)
Released in April 1971,
Noone's version of
"Oh! You Pretty Things"
was a commercial success,
reaching number 12
on the UK Singles Chart.
It was the first time
most listeners had heard of
Bowie since
"Space Oddity"
(1969).
Noone told NME:
"My view is that
David Bowie is the
best writer in Britain
at the moment ...
certainly the best since
Lennon and McCartney."
Following the success
of the single,
Defries sought to extricate
Bowie from his contract
with Mercury,
which was set to expire in
June 1971.
Defries felt that Mercury
had not done
Bowie justice financially.
Although Mercury
had intended to renew it
on improved terms,
Defries forced the label
to terminate the contract
in May by
threatening to deliver a
low-quality album.
Defries then paid off
Bowie's debts
to Mercury through
Gem Productions,
and the label surrendered
its copyright on
David Bowie
(1969)
and
The Man Who Sold the World.
No comments:
Post a Comment