Ashes to Ashes: The Songs of David Bowie, 1976-2016 is the sequel to Rebel Rebel: The Songs of David Bowie, ’64 to ’76. It begins directly after Rebel Rebel ended—with the “Station to Station” tour of spring 1976 (hence the overlapping “1976s” in the titles) and the growing friendship of Bowie and Iggy Pop.
We move through the “Berlin” years, from Low through Baal; the Scary Monsters period in New York; Bowie’s global pop stardom moment with Let’s Dance, Tonight, “Dancing in the Street,” “Absolute Beginners.” His “Switzerland” years of the mid-1980s-early 1990s, which produced everything from Never Let Me Down to The Buddha of Suburbia. The wild hubris of Glass Spider; the burn-it-down-and-start-over years with Tin Machine. His reinvention in the 1990s, both in the studio and on stage. His reconciliation with his past with Glastonbury 2000 and Toy; his period as an internet pioneer; his “summit” works of Heathen and Reality. His last great, global tour; his “lost years” of semi-retirement in the 2000s; the brilliant adventure of his comeback with The Next Day, Lazarus and Blackstar.
It’s a lot to get through—that’s why it’s 700 pages or so. And that’s after the notes section had to be moved online.
Ashes to Ashes, which was released on 12 February 2019, can be ordered through various means.
Paperback
Your local bookstore:
Indiebound (for the US).
Hive (a network of UK independent booksellers).
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon Canada
Amazon Germany (book’s in English)
Amazon France (book’s in English)
Book Depository (free worldwide shipping—possibly the best means for readers in Australasia, eastern Europe, South America, Africa, etc.)
Rough Trade.
Barnes and Noble
Indigo
Wordery
Electronic
Kindle US
Kindle UK
Kindle Canada
Kindle Germany
Kindle France
Pushing Ahead of the Dame 