Off The Record: David Bowie

Jordan’s guest today not only worked at the legendary Hansa Studios (the so-called Hall by the Wall) when “Heroes” was recorded — he actually sang on it, nose to nose with Bowie himself. And that’s just one of his many incredible stories. His name is Peter Burgon, and he worked as an assistant engineer under our previous guest, Edu Meyer.

Today we present a conversation with funk guitar icon Carlos Alomar. One of David’s most crucial musical collaborators, Carlos played on 11 of David’s albums, including classics like 'Young Americans,' ’Station to Station,’ the Berlin Trilogy, and ‘Scary Monster (and Super Creeps).' — and he also co-wrote his first American number one, "Fame."

Our latest chapter covered David Bowie’s creative renaissance in the ‘90s and early 2000s. The records that he made in this period are often overlooked but rank among the most experimental of his career, as he rejoined formative ‘70s collaborators like Brian Eno and Tony Visconti to create some of the most daring music he ever made. But one crucial collaborator during this period was new to Bowie’s circle — bassist Gail Ann Dorsey.

Today we’re looking at Bowie the Rock ‘n’ Roll Elder Statesman. Throughout the ‘90s, he continued to change and challenge, inspiring new generations with his work. Far be it from David to go gently into middle age.

Today’s ‘Labyrinth’ Week guest is puppeteer Steve Whitmire, who performed several characters in this beloved film — including one of the fiery figures in the “Chilly Down” dance sequence, and (my favorite) Ambrosius, the trusty dog of Sir Didymus.

This week on 'Off the Record,' we're playing special tribute to Jim Henson's 1986 film 'Labyrinth,' the beloved cult classic that introduced David Bowie to generations of kids. We're kicking off the festivities with conceptual designer Brian Froud, the man who imagined world of 'Labyrinth.'

The climax of our last chapter is David Bowie’s set at Live Aid in the summer of 1985 . Our guest today was alongside him on the Live Aid stage – and in the helicopter on the nerve-wracking ride out to Wembley Stadium. His name is Thomas Dolby, and his time with Bowie is just one entry on his extremely lengthy resume.

Today’s episode looks at David in the ‘80s, a time that saw him grow from a famous artist to a global superstar — a one-man brand bolstered by the fresh force of MTV. David embraced the exponential growth of mass media, and shamelessly courted mass popularity with the Nile Rodgers-assisted ‘Let’s Dance.’ He got the success he craved, but it changed his reputation in a way that was irreversible.

Our last two episodes followed David Bowie in the late ’70s as he recorded ‘Low’ and ‘Heroes,’ the twin pillars of his so-called Berlin Trilogy. In addition to co-producer Tony Visconti and mad musical scientist Brian Eno, another crucial collaborator during the German sessions was Edu Meyer.

Today’s episode looks at Bowie’s years in Berlin. It was a time of tremendous personal and artistic growth as the newly minted 30-year-old escaped the trappings of his showiness bubble and re-entered reality.

Today we’re visited by Earl Slick, the man response for much of the incendiary guitar work. on David Bowie's landmark 1976 album 'Station to Station'

Today’s chapter is a portrait at The Thin White Duke, the manifestation of megalomania and paranoia that gripped David Bowie at his personal low. Among his most frightening creations, the icy character unveiled on the title track to 1976’s ‘Station to Station’ is the physical embodiment of the drug abuse and psychic darkness that threatened to destroy him following years of mired in the toxic hedonism of Hollywood. Thankfully, he would rescue himself from these dire circumstances and move back in Europe, ultimately settling in Berlin — where he finished his masterpiece, 'Low.''

After relocating to Los Angeles in the spring of 1975, David Bowie moved in with Glenn Hughes of Deep Purple. Tales of their excesses are legendary. Now Hughes recalls the time they spent together in that wild era when David pushed himself to the brink with drugs, and recorded his landmark album 'Station to Station.'

At the height of his fame in the mid-'70s, David Bowie battled his deepest demons in the City of Angels, subsisting on a diet of cocaine, milk and red peppers. Somehow, in the midst of this personal nadir, he pulled himself back from the edge of oblivion and made an album that many consider a masterpiece: 'Station to Station.'

David’s renewed love of R&B was stoked by his new girlfriend at the time, a striking young model and burgeoning singer named Ava Cherry. In addition to her role in helping shape Bowie’s musical legacy, she shared his private life — loving a side of David that few would ever get to see.

In August 1974, Patti Brett was among the throngs of supremely devoted David Bowie fans camped outside of Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound. Inside, Bowie was hard at work recording ‘Young Americans,’ the funked-out R&B album that would mark his most abrupt musical shift to date.

David Bowie arrived on U.S. shores in the spring of 1974 to launch the mammoth Diamond Dogs tour, the Broadway-style production inspired by Orwell’s 1984, and his own unnerving trip behind the Iron Curtain. The show was his most elaborate venture to date, epitomizing the dystopian drama that had made him a star. Yet as David spent more and more time in the States, he found himself reconnecting with the music that enthralled him as a young boy: American soul and R&B.

Today we have something extra special in store — a conversation with Mr. Ken Scott, the man who co-produced a string of Bowie’s most beloved albums: Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane and Pin Ups. For most people, that’s enough bragging rights to last a lifetime, yet it’s just a small part of Ken’s legendary career.

Tony Zanetta worked as David Bowie's tour manager, overseeing the elaborate treks for Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs. Keeping the show on the road and the egos in check, all with a daily operating budget of close to zero dollars? It wasn’t a job for the faint of heart!

As the name suggests, Aladdin Sane is a troubling self-portrait of a man on the edge. To pull himself back from the abyss, David Bowie had to take his biggest risk to date, and kill off his most beloved creation.

Jordan spoke to a genuine Warhol superstar and a legend of the alternative arts scene, Ms. Cherry Vanilla. After starring in the London production of Andy Warhol's ‘Pork,’ she was hired to work at MainMan as Bowie's public relations manager.

At last, a starman is born. The arrival of Ziggy Stardust brought David Bowie the fame he'd been working towards for nearly a decade. Fusing innovative fashion, avant-garde theatrical flair, far out sci-fi and killer song craft, he transformed rock 'n' roll into concept art. But he didn't do it alone.

David Bowie's first night in the States has gone down in rock legend as an important early step in his journey to global superstardom. The trip is the plot of a new film, Stardust, a movie that has been deemed controversial for its liberal reinterpretation of historical events. Ron Oberman, an instrumental force in Bowie’s early career, died in 2019. But his brother Michael recounted the famous visit in his new book, Fast Forward, Play and Rewind.

At the dawn of the decade he’d grow to dominate, David Bowie found himself in low spirits. His first taste of fame with “Space Oddity” was not so sweet, and he seemed in danger of becoming that most sorry of acts: a one hit wonder.

Our latest chapter followed David Bowie in the late ‘60s — a thrilling, colorful time when he embraced the avant garde arts scene that was beginning to blossom in London. A key figure in David’s life was Mary Finnigan, his friend, lover and (somewhat unusually) his landlady.

Frustrated by his stalled pop career and emboldened by the creative daring of the psychedelic era, David Bowie begins to embrace more experimental art forms

Our latest chapter focused on teenage David Bowie as he struggled for fame in the mid '60s. It was a frustrating period for the wannabe rockstar — a time of high hopes and repeated failures as he fronted a string of short-lived bands that followed in the wake of the Beatles and the Stones

'Off the Record' interviews David Bowie's early girlfriend Dana Gillespie about coming of age in '60s.

At the peak of the Swinging Sixties, young David Jones remained on the fringe of the London music scene, watching bands like the Beatles, the Stones, the Who and the Kinks have all the fun.

'Off the Record' interviews David Bowie's childhood best friend about early musical memories and growing up together in postwar England

Who is David Bowie? To answer that question, you’ll have to meet little David Jones, the shy boy coming of age in grey, post-war Britain.

The 11-part season begins Monday, January 18th!