Biografia David Bowie

The stardust remains (and so does the glitter)
In his new book on David Bowie, historian-editor Oded Heilbronner talks not only about the singer, but about the lack of local interest in academic study of pop music.
By Ben Shalev | Jan.25, 2013 | 12:36 PM

David Bowie
David Bowie in the 70s. "He couldn't be in black and white. The Beatles could be, but not Bowie." Photo by Corbis
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Ben Shalev
David Bachar
Oded Heilbronner. "What [Bowie] didn't find, he invented." Photo by David Bachar

At the end of his wonderful article about David Bowie’s three most recent albums, which appears in the new Hebrew-language book “David Bowie, The Man Who Fell to Earth” ‏(Resling‏),media lecturer Dotan Blais writes, “David Bowie’s ‘disappearance,’ following the heart attack he suffered eight years ago, spawned rumors about his health condition, but mainly bewilderment and frustration over his departure from the public music scene. Those calling for his return have evidently not listened carefully to his latest albums, and have neglected to read the signals scattered throughoutthem.

In spite of the optimism to which he aspires, in the three albums of this trilogy − and particularly the two most recent ones − David Bowie is constructing the choreography of a farewell ... This is not to say that the chances of another album from this untiring creator are nil, but it would be best if his audience, as well as the music industry, recognized a fact that David Bowie hashimself learned to accept: Even men from Mars are mortals.”

When the new book about Bowie ‏(born David Robert Jones‏), edited by Hebrew University historian and cultural researcher Dr. Oded Heilbronner, was published, several weeks ago, the possibility that the renowned performer, who has been silent for a decade or so, would himself be coming out with a new album within a matter of months seemedimprobable.

But then Bowie shocked the music world by releasing the single “Where Are We Now?” from the CD “The Next Day,” which is due out in March. This stunning and fragile song landed like a silent bomb, and has taken over radio and cultural airwaves ever since.

Suddenly, everyone is talking about Bowie, and how “that genius” has done it again. So the new book about Bowie, comprisingarticles by eight Israelis about various aspects of the singer’s oeuvre, could not have had better timing.

“The plan was to publish the book last summer, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the album ‘Ziggy Stardust,’” says Heilbronner. “But we didn’t get around to it in time, and in retrospect, that was a good thing. I don’t know to what extent Bowie’s return to the headlines will affectthe book, but it will help. My book about the Beatles [“England’s Dreaming”; also in Hebrew] came out a month before Paul McCartney came to Israel to perform [in 2008], and this had a significant effect on how the book was received. It sold very well, which would not have been the case if McCartney had not come.”

Heilbronner says this about Bowie’s new song: “I don’t like the Bowie of the past30 years as much [as his early music; his first album came out in 1967], ever since the album ‘Scary Monsters,’ but this is a beautiful song. I liked the clip, with its weirdness and revisiting of Berlin. It is totally Bowie. You basically don’t know what he wants, or what his identity is. He is still going along with that line of, ‘Check me out, study me. I am a chameleon, I am still achameleon.’”

A couple of years ago, Heilbronner began flirting with the idea of putting out a Hebrew-language anthology of articles that would focus on the life and work of an important pop-music artist.

“Pink Floyd was one option, but I decided to go for Bowie. This guy embraced so many things within himself. I don’t know another artist in pop culture who succeeded in reflecting everything that was...