The
cliché about David Bowie says he's a musical chameleon, adapting
himself according to fashion and trends. While such a criticism is too
glib, there's no denying that Bowie demonstrated remarkable skill for
perceiving musical trends at his peak in the '70s. After spending
several years in the late '60s as a mod and as an all-around music-hall
entertainer, Bowie reinvented himself as a hippie singer/songwriter.
Prior to his breakthrough in 1972, he recorded a proto-metal record and a
pop/rock album, eventually redefining glam rock with his ambiguously
sexy Ziggy Stardust persona. Ziggy made Bowie an international star, yet
he wasn't content to continue to churn out glitter rock. By the
mid-'70s, he developed an effete, sophisticated version of Philly soul
that he dubbed "plastic soul," which eventually morphed into the eerie
avant-pop of 1976's Station to Station. Shortly afterward, he relocated
to Berlin, where he recorded three experimental electronic albums with
Brian Eno. At the dawn of the '80s, Bowie was still at the height of his
powers, yet following his blockbuster dance-pop album Let's Dance in
1983, he slowly sank into mediocrity before salvaging his career in the
early '90s. Even when he was out of fashion in the '80s and '90s, it was
clear that Bowie was one of the most influential musicians in rock, for
better and for worse. Each one of his phases in the '70s sparked a
number of subgenres, including punk, new wave, goth rock, the new
romantics, and electronica. Few rockers ever had such lasting impact.
