Without the apparently limitless chutzpah of David Bowie, the broader musical landscape would be a significantly different place. Prior to Ziggy elevating Bowie to superstar status, he was already empire-building. Luckily for posterity, he had both an eye for talent and an attractive compulsion to pay his dues.
Major influences on his transformation from parochial folky to pansexual glam star weren’t so much sidelined as celebrated. A stalled and desolate Mott The Hoople were seduced back into existence with the Bowie song All The Young Dudes, and Lou Reed’s tanking post-Velvets solo career was kicked back into life with a Transformer production job that birthed both Walk On The Wild Side and Perfect Day.
