David Bowie (1967 album)

Influences

David Bowie's influences at this stage of his career included the theatrical tunes of Anthony Newley, music hall numbers by acts like Tommy Steele, some of the more whimsical and 'British' material by Ray Davies of the Kinks, Syd Barrett's slightly cracked nursery rhymes for the early Pink Floyd, and the Edwardian flam shared by such contemporary songs as the Beatles' "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" The desire of Bowie's then-manager, Ken Pitt, for his charge to become an 'all-round entertainer' rather than a 'rock star' has also been cited as impacting the songwriter's style at this time, which virtually eschewed any rock 'n' roll trappings. Bowie himself said that his debut album "seemed to have its roots all over the place, in rock and vaudeville and music hall. I didn't know if I was Max Miller or Elvis Presley".

Style and themes

The album was solely written by Bowie, who also arranged with Dek Fearnley, having reportedly taught themselves the craft using the Observer Book of Music. "Rubber Band" was a marching tune that employed tuba as the lead instrument. "Little Bombardier" and "Maid of Bond Street" were in waltz time, and also made extensive use of brass and strings. "Love You till Tuesday" and "Come and Buy My Toys" were among the few songs on the album with a lead (acoustic) guitar, the former heavily augmented by strings. "Join the Gang" was a rare excursion into contemporary youth culture, an acerbic observation of peer pressure and drug use, which included sitar in its instrumentation as well as a musical quotation of The Spencer Davis Group's recent hit "Gimme Some Lovin'." The final track, "Please Mr. Gravedigger", was "a macabre duet for voice and sound effects", and has been described as "one of pop's genuinely crazy moments".

Despite the album's incongruity in the Bowie catalogue, some commentators have discerned embryonic themes that inform the artist's more mature work. "We Are Hungry Men" is told by a self-styled "messiah" whose persona would reappear in different forms in the songs "Cygnet Committee" (from the album Space Oddity), "Saviour Machine" (from The Man Who Sold the World) and "Oh! You Pretty Things" (from Hunky Dory), as well as in the protagonist of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. The track also explicitly referenced subjects like abortion, infanticide and cannibalism. "There Is a Happy Land" was an early manifestation of Bowie's vision of children as a race apart from their elders, a theme revisited on The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust. "She's Got Medals" was a gender-bending tale with gay and lesbian connotations that predated the 'dress cover' of The Man Who Sold the World and the bisexual/androgynous character of Ziggy Stardust.

Singles

Prior to releasing the album, Deram issued two singles with the same personnel, "Rubber Band" b/w "London Boys", in December 1966, and "The Laughing Gnome" b/w "The Gospel According to Tony Day", in April 1967. "Rubber Band" was a different recording to the album track. "London Boys" has been lauded as Bowie's first mini-masterpiece, a melancholy observation of the London Mod scene of the time. "The Laughing Gnome" was a novelty record featuring high-pitched vocals but the varispeed technique used to create this effect would serve Bowie in more serious fashion on many future songs including "After All", "The Bewlay Brothers", "Fame" and "Scream Like a Baby". The song became a hit when reissued in 1973, in the wake of Bowie's commercial breakthrough The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Despite it being radically different from his material at the time, the single made No. 6 in the UK charts. A re-recorded version of "Love You till Tuesday" b/w "Did You Ever Have a Dream" was released as a single in July 1967.

Release and response

David Bowie was released in the UK, in both mono and stereo, on 1 June 1967, the same date as the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was issued in the US in August 1967, minus "We Are Hungry Men" and "Maid of Bond Street". The album - only reaching 125 in the UK album charts - and its associated singles were all commercial failures at the time, and Bowie did not release another record until 1969's David Bowie, two years later. The album's failure cost Bowie his record contract with Deram Records who dropped him in April 1968. Bowie then made a video called "Love You till Tuesday" in 1969 to sell himself to a new label. The video recycled many songs from the debut album as well as the then newly written "Space Oddity". Many recycled songs in the video saw new orchestral arrangements and added vocals from two of his hippie friends. The video saw an official public release in 1984. The songs from the debut album and its singles, plus later Deram works, have been recycled in a multitude of compilation albums, including The World of David Bowie (1970), Images 1966–1967 (1973), Another Face (1981), Rock Reflections (1990), and The Deram Anthology 1966–1968 (1997).

The album itself was reissued by Deram on CD in 1988. The booklet reprints the original press release by Kenneth Pitt and a new (1988) essay by John Tracy. In addition, the rear sleeve notes the different versions included. These are "Rubber Band" (Version 2), "When I Live My Dream" (Version 1) and "Please Mr. Gravedigger" (Version 2).

In 2010, the album was released in a deluxe edition by Deram in the UK and Universal Music world-wide. This features both stereo and mono mixes of the album, together with previously unreleased stereo mixes of songs not originally included and, for the first time as an official release, the first BBC radio session. (Top Gear, 18 December 1967)

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie.

Personnel