Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

events that caused something amazing to happen
and I was just very grateful to be there and the
person who may have orchestrated some of it. I’m a
good organizer and I can get people moving.”
Lots of artists have their “it all came together on
this one” record: the one that allows them to have a
long career and finally says, “This is who we are and
what we are about.” It’s rarely the debut. The Rolling
Stones had Beggars Banquet. Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers had Damn the Torpedoes. U2 had
War. Radiohead had The Bends. For David Bowie,
it’s Hunky Dory.
As Bowie finished the music and lyrics there in
Haddon Hall that summer, the combined
experiences of fatherhood, life changing, going to
America and the end of his relationships with his
father, John Jones, and father figure Ken Pitt poured
out in song. It rang true. It was special. Life was
chaotic. The future was uncertain. All that was true
was a lack of constancy. The songs that reflected
this would be collected under a classically ironic
album title: Hunky Dory, an English slang term
indicating that everything was right in the world.
Hunky Dory is such a special record to so many
people because everyone goes through similar
transitions. Anyone who falls in love with a partner or
a child or a sense of calm amid chaos that they wish
to return to should own a copy. Nesting and
fatherhood (“Kooks”). Death, pessimism and
depression (“Quicksand”). Dread (“Oh! You Pretty
Things”). Survival (“Changes”). Optimism (“Life on