David Bowie: Living on the Brink

by George Tremlett

Book Overview

How has pop icon David Bowie kept creating new music and fascinating his fans? What does he believe and where did he come from? Are the mercurial changes in his public image an accurate reflection of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786704659
• ISBN13: 9780786704651
• Release Date: June 1997
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

One of the best on Bowie

There are a number of Bowie bios, or "me-and-David-Bowie" volumes around, but few really good. The Brixton-born star has always been careful not to expose his past, and not to turn down rumours; many books about him get stuck in the sensational. Tremlett's book is one of the best, perhaps *the* best Bowie biography I've read, and for a number of reasons. The writer knew Bowie long before he became a star and did hours of interviews with him around 1970. Years later, at the point when Bowie broke with MainMan, Tremlett became an insider again in a crucial phase. He makes good use of this material to interpret Bowie's winding road from half-esoteric post-hippie and "artist without a niche" to a million-selling teen idol (some of the best pages are about Bowie and his friend/rival Marc Bolan, who in some sense cleared the way for Bowie to become Ziggy Stardust). While he's clearly an admirer of Bowie's artistic genius and sometimes good sense, he doesn't lose sight of his occcasional ruthlessness and manipulation of the media. He's also enough of a literary man to do some useful interpretation of Bowie's lyrics. The book is very good on the business side of rock'n'roll. Tremlett goes through the phases of Bowie's career, explains settlements, discusses the incomes, royalties, credits and the sometime lack of a steering hand on the budget. He's also got an excellent sense of the absurdity of rock life, as when Bowie makes the first Ziggy tour of the USA, playing to half-filled venues but living it up like a star - at the command of his manager Tony DeFries, of course. The financial straps were all with the record company, so Bowie and the band had almost no money in their own pockets. By the time they reached L.A. and checked into a top-notch hotel, everyone had learnt the trick: you could get whatever you wnated just as long as you could say "pass it to the RCA". Bowie and trhe guys made limo trips around L.A. rather than going anywhere by bus or cab, because when you're in a limo, you never have to pay in cash. Some of the material on the MainMan business side is of course from Tony Zanetta's "Stardust" but Tremlett buttresses it with his own analysis. His account of the economy of Bowie's 1980s tours is a bit guesswork but very useful and also shows that he's under no obligations to Bowie. It should be said that we don't learn much about Bowie in private after the mid-seventies, but this is because the star has wanted it that way. About four fifths of this book deal with the decade 1966-76, and after Bowie has returned to Europe and began his "Berlin" phase - in reality, he made his home in Switzerland already before recording "Low" - he's almost impossible to follow on a private plan; there's no one to ask, and the guy himself gives no in-depth interviews anymore (and in most people's books, the sventies were his classic years). The book takes a nuanced, amused, and sharp look at Bowie's career.

David Bowie Living on The Brink

David Bowie: Living on The Brink was a fascinating insight into the man, David Bowie. It openned with how the author knew David, and how they got along. That was a little boring because you want to know about David, not the writter, but once you get passed this the book levels out. You get to understand David's history, who he was, and how his parents and relitives shapped his life. The book writes of his relationship with his father and the ever faithful Kenneth Pit. It highlights Bowie's unpredictable and always charismatic character. The book fervently discusses finance managment as well. It also writes of David's other talents in art and how music was not his first choice. From David's early years- through scattered lovers, sexual, religious, and personality explorations we get to know David Bowie. This is a really good book, and if you are a David Bowie fan, as I have just recently found myself thrown head first into then you will enjoy it. I mean it's Bowie, where could you go wrong!

A Very believeable account of an unbeleivable musician!

This book was especially interesting and had a broad range because the author had in-depth interviews and hour long conversations with Bowie before he was a success, at age 22! The book talks about things that wouldn't ordinarily seem interesting, but are here: Bowie's finances and record label managements along the way. The book doesn't seem to gloss over Bowie's rough spots and the occasional early failures the way a more worshipful book might, which lets you see that Bowie is very hardworking and tenacious. This is a great book, interesting facts, not a lot of bias or sentiment! Read it!!

Just When You Thought You Knew David Bowie!

What's very interesting about this book is the fact that it gives you more facts about David Bowie that nobody really knew, and it's more up to date...YAY!!!!! Also, it gives you the inside scoop of what happened during his tours and talked about his other lovers, who weren't really well known, the way Angie and Iman are. It actually kind of highlights his marriage to Iman, which makes you think, "What did he see in Angie in the first place?" You might even be surprised to hear what you read. You learn about the two lovers who fought over Bowie to win his love, the much younger woman who was once in Bowie's life, as well as other interesting facts. You just have to read if you are interested!

Superb

I feel this book covered the life and interesting career of David Robert Jones, better known as David Bowie, very well.