
So, growing up in Bromley, we were always proud of being on Bowie's home patch.
He went to Burnt Ash Primary (where my daughter attended the infants' school more than 20 years later) and on to Bromley Tech where art teacher Owen Frampton, rock legend Peter Frampton's dad, was a big influence on the then David Jones.
Another pupil, George Underwood, became a painter and designed three David Bowie album covers, Space Oddity, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, above.
David, George and Peter played Buddy Holly songs in the art block ... and Tony and I were reminiscing about all this as we passed The Three Tuns, in Beckenham, on New Year's Eve, talking about Bowie and how Bromley Council was mad to have allowed the house where he invented Ziggy Stardust to be demolished.
Anyway, rant over. Here's some images from the V&A's 2013 Bowie Is exhibition for a few reminders of his genius. You may remember it was the year he surprised fans by releasing his first album for 10 years. It marked his 66th birthday.
The V&A was given unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive and traced his shifting style and sustained reinvention, including the Ziggy Stardust costumes, photography by Brian Duffy and album sleeve artwork by George Underwood.
There were visual excerpts from films and music videos including Boys Keep Swinging and best of all, as you walked from gallery to gallery the headset just clicked in to the music. FAB.
The exhibition also displayed set designs created for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974) – plus handwritten lyrics, Bowie’s own instruments and album artwork.
Me, I still have the 1969 single Space Oddity which I played and played and played during my first year at secondary school. So put on the music and let's dance in his memory.
He went to Burnt Ash Primary (where my daughter attended the infants' school more than 20 years later) and on to Bromley Tech where art teacher Owen Frampton, rock legend Peter Frampton's dad, was a big influence on the then David Jones.
Another pupil, George Underwood, became a painter and designed three David Bowie album covers, Space Oddity, Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust, above.
David, George and Peter played Buddy Holly songs in the art block ... and Tony and I were reminiscing about all this as we passed The Three Tuns, in Beckenham, on New Year's Eve, talking about Bowie and how Bromley Council was mad to have allowed the house where he invented Ziggy Stardust to be demolished.
Anyway, rant over. Here's some images from the V&A's 2013 Bowie Is exhibition for a few reminders of his genius. You may remember it was the year he surprised fans by releasing his first album for 10 years. It marked his 66th birthday.
The V&A was given unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive and traced his shifting style and sustained reinvention, including the Ziggy Stardust costumes, photography by Brian Duffy and album sleeve artwork by George Underwood.
There were visual excerpts from films and music videos including Boys Keep Swinging and best of all, as you walked from gallery to gallery the headset just clicked in to the music. FAB.
The exhibition also displayed set designs created for the Diamond Dogs tour (1974) – plus handwritten lyrics, Bowie’s own instruments and album artwork.
Me, I still have the 1969 single Space Oddity which I played and played and played during my first year at secondary school. So put on the music and let's dance in his memory.