20th century
A01=Tobias Ruther
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albums
Author_Tobias Ruther
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berlin
brian eno
Category1=Non-Fiction
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collaborations
COP=United Kingdom
david bowie
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delusions
devastation
drug addiction
england
english musicians
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expressionism
friendships
germany
heroes
iggy pop
influential musician
innovation
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just a gigolo
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lodger
low
mania
marlene dietrich
museum of contemporary art
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producing new content
production
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reinterpretation
romy haag
schoneberg area
singer
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songs
songwriter
tony visconti
Product details
- ISBN 9781780233772
- Weight: 249g
- Dimensions: 210 x 148mm
- Publication Date: 01 Oct 2014
- Publisher: Reaktion Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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In 1976 David Bowie left Los Angeles and the success of his celebrated albums Young Americans and Station to Station and settled in Berlin, where he would work on his ‘Berlin Triptych’, the albums Low, ‘Heroes’, and Lodger, which are now considered some of the most critically acclaimed and innovative of the late twentieth century. But Bowie’s time in Berlin was about more than producing new music. As explained in this fascinating account of the Berlin years, Bowie moved to that city – the capital of his childhood dreams and the home of Expressionist art – to repair his body and mind from the devastation of drug addiction, delusions and mania. In the course of this rehabilitiation he became an artist of extraordinary brilliance and originality.
Tobias Rüther describes Bowie’s friendships and collaborations with Iggy Pop, Brian Eno and Tony Visconti, and paints a vivid picture of his life in the city’s Schöneberg area. Here Bowie started to paint again, and would cycle to the Die Brücke museum as well as explore the nightlife of the city – its wild side and gay scene. He also became close friends with Romy Haag. At Hansa Studios, a stone’s throw from the Berlin Wall, Bowie recorded his groundbreaking song ‘Heroes’. He even landed the part of a Prussian aristocrat in Just a Gigolo, starring alongside Marlene Dietrich.
Berlin was then a divided city at a turning-point: at that time West Berlin began to redefine itself as a cultural metropolis, establishing its new role in Germany and the world. Neutralized politically due to the Cold War, Berlin turned to the arts to start its history anew. This book is the story of an artist and a city – the story of the music of the future arising from the spirit of the past.
Tobias Rüther is editor of the culture section of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung in Berlin.
