DAVID BOWIE

\""David Bowie\"" (1969)

This was the first record on which David Bowie looked and sounded like the

Bowie whom the world has come to know. One glance at the androgynous face that adorns the record was enough to signal that the

Anthony Newley-influenced, light-pop singer, who sang the novelty number

\""The Laughing Gnome\"" a few years earlier was a thing of the past.

Leaving behind the mannered, English music hall-isms of his initial

recordings, Bowie roughened up the sound, creating a ragged, eclectic

mix of folk and rock tinged with electronic sounds. The record yielded

his first American hit, and began the singer's soon-to-be meteoric rise

to international rock icon-hood.The title track, a sci-fi mini-epic, is

an enduring classic in which Bowie squeezes every bit of drama from both

his dour low range and the soaring upper reaches of his voice. Even

after decades of continued airplay, \""Space Oddity\"" is surprising for its

intricate arrangement, nifty guitar;