Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

34. Alan WilderAladdin Sane

If I had to think of a Bowie album, then this would be the one that pinpointed when I was at my most susceptible. I would have been 14 or 15, and I just remember carrying it into school and feeling very proud to have that vinyl under my arm, and feeling very different to the other kids.

The first actual album I bought was The Man Who Sold The World, which I still have a real soft spot for, but I wouldn’t say it’s as developed as those later albums. Everybody talks about Bowie’s golden period as the early ’70s, and you tend to forget about everything beyond Scary Monsters, and that’s the way I feel too – I think he was by far at his most creative period at that time. It’s difficult to pick one album from that period; you could have any of them from Hunky Dory to Scary Monsters. But for me, this is the record that left the biggest mark combined with my age.

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