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I wanted to put him to sleep now, and not in full bright light but in the dark. After all, he's been himself, he's been Hunky Dory, he has sold the world, he has risen with spiders from Mars, and
has fallen to earth, as Yellowbeard, as the Goblin King, as Pontius Pilate, as Andy Warhol, and a whole lot more. This is the changing image of David Robert Jones (8 Jan 1947 - 10 Jan 2016).
"A Lad Insane."
The British photographer Brian Duffy had an eight-year working relationship with the artist David Bowie and shot five key sessions over this period providing the creative concept as well as the
photographic image for three album covers, including the 1973 Aladdin Sane (often nicknamed ‘the Mona Lisa of pop’) when Duffy interpreted Bowie's original title of 'A Lad Insane' as
'Aladdin Sane'. Source
Art direction by Celia Philo, make-up by Pierre La Rouche, photo by Brian Duffy.
Album produced by Ken Scott & David Bowie. RCA Records 1973.
No. 146, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000; No. 279, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
No. 30, Music Radar, The 50 Greatest Album Covers of All Time; No. 48, Rolling Stone, The 100 Greatest Album Covers.
"Sometimes, when you’re doing something that you know is going to be good, it’s because it’s come from an extreme end of the spectrum of experience: either it’s incredibly
hard work, or it comes together almost effortlessly. The photographic shoot for the cover of Aladdin Sane, David Bowie’s 1973 album, happened like magic. I always
say its success was the result of a lucky collaboration of people who worked together just once, but created something truly special."
Flavorwire
"To my mind, the look evolved organically, and the reason it worked was all to do with people working well together. It was one of the most exciting jobs I ever worked on;
there was a real buzz going between the four of us. I think David enjoyed it too – I suspect he’s someone that doesn’t like being interviewed, feels awkward appearing
on TV chat shows, all that side of the business. But he was a total pleasure to work with in the studio, very open, creative and receptive to ideas, and completely
comfortable about being made up and photographed. For David it was all about being an artist rather than a pop star, you see. He’d studied mime and was
heavily influenced by Kabuki theatre.
Having decided on the look, we worked on well into the small hours – and when it was over, we all just went home. We were back in the studio the next
morning to look at the test strips, and it was when we saw the photographs developing on paper – a much more rewarding process than the digital
method used today – that we thought ‘We’ve cracked it.’ You know, I did a lot of different things in my design career, won a few awards,
but this was one of the most thrilling. It gave me more satisfaction than any other job I’ve ever done." Celia Philo for Stylist.
(A) Watch That Man - Aladdin Sane (1913-1938-197?) - Drive-in Saturday - Panic in Detroit - Cracked Actor
(B) Time - The Prettiest Star - Let's Spend the Night Together - The Jean Genie - Lady Grinning Soul
"Aladdin Sane" Live at Lorelei June 1996 from The Fantastic Abyss on YouTube.
