He told Peter and Leni Gillman, the authors of Alias David Bowie, that the landlord had an unusual vocabulary that was infused with "upper-crust jargon" such as "prang" and "whizzo" and "everything's hunky-dory". The album closer, "The Bewlay Brothers", was a late addition and the only track that was not demoed.

This 1LP brings together early mixes of HUNKY DORY tracks originally featured on the BOWPROMO album in 1971 along with new alternative Ken Scott mixes to create an alternative version of the Hunky Dory album, also featuring the session outtake ‘Bombers’. and the chugging, life-affirming 'Changes', which went on to become one of Bowie's all-time signature songs. Biographer Paul Trynka states that the record marked a "new beginning" for the artist and that has a "freshness" to it that all of Bowie's previous studio albums lacked, primarily because when making his previous albums, Bowie was working to satisfy record executives. Thus, despite very positive reviews from the British and American music press, the album initially sold poorly and failed to chart.I cleaned the record, cleaned my needle, and still there was way to much static and noise to be acceptable. The album ranked number 16 and number 23 in the 1998 and 2000 editions of Colin Larkin's book All Time Top 1000 Albums, respectively. His debut as a producer, Scott would borrow some of the acoustic sounds of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass (1970), an album he engineered.

Its head Dennis Katz had never heard of Bowie but recognised the potential of the piano-based songs that Defries played for him and signed the artist to a three-record deal on 9 September 1971; RCA would be Bowie's label for the rest of the decade. In a 2013 readers' poll for Rolling Stone, Hunky Dory was voted Bowie's second greatest album, behind Ziggy Stardust. When preparing the UK edition cover art from the US supplied artwork ( David Bowie - Hunky Dory) RCA mistakenly removed the GEM logo from the rear sleeve. Very first UK pressings didnt have the "GEM" logo on the back right corner and it was corrected quickly. You Pretty Things' builds like any great anthem does, and brings in one the album's odder themes; on occultism.

You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice. Biographer Marc Spitz believes the piano incites a warmer feel on this record compared to its two predecessors. Very Good: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Life On Mars" and "Quicksand" are symphonic, lyrical masterpieces, works of pop genius by any standards.

following the 1972 release of Bowie’s breakthrough album THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS. This song is just wow really, lovely piano work, lovely lyrics, lovely chorus, everything is just fantastic.The cover photograph was taken by Brian Ward, who was introduced to Bowie by Bob Grace at Ward's studio in Heddon Street. According to Cann, initial UK pressings were laminated, which enhanced the colour to create a "superior finish"; these pressings are now collector's items. Even some of the ones listed for sale on this page aren't correct and, while laminated, do have the GEM logo.

Pegg notes that there was a song from 1957 by American doo-wop band the Guytones also titled "Hunky Dory" that may also have played a part. In spite of a much-needed course correction in the form of “Space Oddity” from his second record, and positive press reaction to 1970’s subsequent The Man Who Sold the World, album sales were weak and Bowie felt, in his own words, “washed up.He was surprised when he and the Spiders would think a vocal or guitar part needed re-recording but Bowie would say "No, wait, listen", and when everything was played simultaneously it would sound perfect.