The Secret History Of Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) – New DAVID BOWIE Book ‘SILHOUETTES AND SHADOWS’ Out Now
15 September 2023
Book: SILHOUETTES AND SHADOWS
The Secret History of David Bowie’s Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)
Author: ADAM STEINER
Release: 15 September 2023
Order info here.
An avant-garde pop album rich with tension and fear, 1980’s SCARY MONSTERS (AND SUPER CREEPS) marked a pivotal point in DAVID BOWIE’s career. Standing at the bleeding edge of the new decade between the experimental Berlin Trilogy (Low, Heroes, and Lodger) and 1983’s wildly successful Let’s Dance, it was here Bowie sought to bury the ghosts of his past and the golden decade of the 1970s to become a global superstar reaching millions of new fans.
Featuring fresh insights and exclusive interviews with close collaborators, Adam Steiner ’s Silhouettes and Shadows uncovers the studio stories, meanings behind, and secret history of Scary Monsters. Steiner gives a nuanced, memorable portrait of Bowie at a personal and professional crossroads, drawing on his own struggle with addiction, growing paranoia, and political turmoil.
Including the hit singles Fashion and Ashes to Ashes the album found Bowie riding a new wave of inspiration, from the post-punk of Joy Division, The Specials’ two-tone revolution, and the stadium synth-pop of Gary Numan.
The album marked a final goodbye to Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, and The Thin White Duke, characters and personas that had defined his career: in this rare moment, David Bowie, the costumed clown of romance, suffering, and song, let his mask slip to reveal David Jones, the man within.
Louder Than War about the book: “Steiner seems to have read everything anyone’s written about Bowie’s work, and he’s also done his own interviews too. You get a lot of technical information about what went on in the studio, from producer Tony Visconti, guitarist Robert Fripp and others. You get a lot of information about Bowie’s philosophical and cultural interests, with lengthy digressions about (for example) his relationship with gay culture and religion.” Full review here.