4.
David Bowie – Hunky Dory
David Bowie is my favourite solo artist, so it’s difficult to pick one album but the reason I choose Hunky Dory is because it leaves me with the happiest feeling. It’s a very hopeful, upbeat album; some songs are utterly joyous. It’s an amazing album from someone just on the cusp of success.
‘Oh! You Pretty Things’ – what an extraordinary song. There was some footage outside The Ritzy in Brixton of an impromptu David Bowie party after his death and I heard the crowd singing along to this. It’s one of the first songs I wanted to put on after he died. When the chorus kicks in in that song, it’s so beautiful. It makes me very happy to think of that song.
‘Queen Bitch’ has become well known and is one of his punkish, barbed songs but there are other album tracks that are extremely well known to Bowie fans. It might not be an album of hit singles but the majority of the tracks are very beloved. ‘Kooks’ is an extremely memorable song written about his young son Duncan. The downbeat songs are interesting too: ‘The Bewlay Brothers’ and ‘Quicksand’ are very atmospheric and memorable. I think it’s overtaken The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars as people’s favourite Bowie album.
