Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!: Day 154 - David Bowie

 David Bowie - David Bowie

Deram

Produced by Mike Vernon

Released 1st June 1967

Like I said yesterday with regard to Billy Bragg's band Riff Raff everyone has to start somewhere and even for someone of the stature of David Bowie he also had to begin somewhere.

He had released his first single as Davie Jones with The King Bees back in 1964 (Liza Jane backed with Louie Louie Go Home). He followed that in 1965 as part of The Mannish Boys with I Pity the Fool backed by Take My Tip. Davy Jones and The Lower Third came next with You've Got A Habit of Leaving (though Mr Jones changed his name to David Bowie for their second single, Can't Help Thinking About Me, this would be helpful as a new Davy Jones would be appearing on the scene soon as the frontman of The Monkees).

On 1st April 1966 he released the first single just bearing his own name on Pye Records called Do Anything You Say backed with Good Morning Girl. I Dig Everything followed and that was his final single for Pye Records. None of the singles by the way reached the charts.

Signed with Deram he released a further two singles prior to the debut album being released. Rubber Band backed by The London Boys in 1966 (the B-Side clearly showed that he had the potential to become a great artist) and The Laughing Gnome in 1967 (which wasn't a hit until 1973, peaking at #6). It would actually years before David Bowie had a hit single, hard to imagine I know! Even his early albums never made it into the charts, 1971's Hunky Dory being the first to do so!

The debut album is not brilliant by the way but it stands as a marker for better things that would come his way...not necessarily in the time frame he would have liked maybe but the fact that he kept honing his craft despite the disappointments of failed singles and albums made him into one of the greatest and most loved artists.

Let The Day Begin...Let The Day Start!