Men's black tie dress (double-breasted jacket)

Black tie is a dress code for evening events and social functions derived from Anglo-American costume conventions of the Nineteenth century. Worn only for events after six p.m., black tie is less formal than white tie but more formal than informal or business dress. It is also more formal than recent intermediate codes of “creative,” “alternate” or “optional” black tie.

For males, the elements of black tie are a suit, usually of black wool, in which the jacket lapels and trouser braid are of silk or other contrasting material, a white dress shirt, a black bow-tie, a waistcoat or cummerbund, and black dress shoes. Women's dress for black tie occasions has varied greatly through the years; traditionally it was dinner (ankle) or tea (below mid-calf) length sleeveless dress, often accompanied by a wrap or stole, gloves, and evening shoes. Today, cocktail (knee) length dresses are considered equally appropriate in most places.

History[link]

When the dinner jacket (tuxedo in the US) first came into fashion in the Victorian era it was used as a less formal alternative for the tailcoat which men of the upper classes wore every evening. Thus it was worn with the standard accompaniments for the evening tailcoat at the time: matching trousers, white or black waistcoat, white bow tie, white wing-collar formal shirt and black formal shoes. Lapels were often faced or edged in silk or satin in varying widths. Dinner jackets were considered from the first less formal than full dress (cutaway) and etiquette guides declared it inappropriate for wear in mixed company.^[1]

During the Edwardian era the practice of wearing a black waistcoat and black bow tie with a tuxedo became the convention, establishing the basis of the current black tie and white tie dress codes. The tuxedo was also increasingly accepted at less formal evening occasions such as warm-weather gatherings or intimate dinners with friends.^[2]

After World War I the tuxedo became de facto evening wear, while the evening tailcoat was limited to extremely formal or ceremonial occasions. During this interwar period double-breasted jackets, turndown-collar shirts and cummerbunds became popular for black-tie evenings as did white and colored jackets in warm-weather.^[3][4]

In the decades following World War II black tie became special occasion attire rather than standard evening wear. In the 1950s colored and patterned jackets, cummerbunds and bow ties and narrow lapels became very popular; the 1960s and 70s saw the color palette move from muted to bright day-glow and pastel, as well as ruffled-placket shirts as lapels got wider and piping was revived.^[5][6][7] The 1980s and '90s saw a return to nostalgic styles, with black jackets and trousers again becoming nearly universal. In the first decade of the 21st century, midnight blue once again became popular, lapel facings were sometimes reduced to wide edging and long ties were often substituted for the iconic bow-tie. Black or colored shirts were more frequently worn.

The elements of black tie[link]

Unlike white tie, which is very strictly regulated, black-tie ensembles can display more variation. In brief, the traditional components for men are:

• A jacket with silk facings (usually grosgrain or satin) on a shawl collar, peaked lapel or notched lapel. Many current fashion stylists and writers see notched lapels as less formal^[8] although they (like peaked and shawl) have been used since the first evolution of the garment.^[9]
• Trousers with a single silk or satin braid covering the outer seams
• A black cummerbund or a low-cut waistcoat
• A white dress shirt (a marcella or pleated front is traditional), French cuffs and cufflinks, and a foldover or winged standing collar. (Old style detachable collars, winged, are also acceptable to the code, although extraordinarily rare.)^[10]
• A black silk bow tie matching the lapel facings
• Shirt studs and cufflinks. Studs are often dispensed with today.
• Black dress socks, usually of silk or fine wool
• Black shoes—traditionally patent leather court shoes (pumps); now often highly polished or patent leather Oxfords instead.

Jacket[link]

The typical black-tie jacket is single-breasted, and black or midnight blue; usually of polyester, wool or a wool–mohair blend, although other materials, especially silk, are seen. Double breasted models are less common, but considered equally appropriate. Dinner jackets were commonly ventless before WW I, but today come ventless, with side vents, or with center vents. The lapels are usually faced with silk in either a grosgrain or a satin weave.

Emily Post, a resident of Tuxedo Park, New York, stated in 1909 that "[Tuxedos] can have lapels or be shawl-shaped, in either case they are to be have facings of silk, satin or grosgrain." and later republished this statement in her 1922 book "Etiquette", adding that only single-breasted jackets are appropriately called "Tuxedos". The shape of the formal or semi-formal lapel is not specified by Emily Post so no lapel fashion is excluded.^[11] There is a fashion movement suggesting that a man's appearance when wearing the wider and higher peak lapel is superior to the narrower notch lapel.^[12]

White dinner jackets are often worn in warm climates. They are usually ivory in color rather than pure white, and usually have self-faced lapels (i.e., made of the same fabric as the jacket) rather than silk-faced lapels. They are generally worn with the same types of shirts and accessories as black dinner jackets, though the turndown collar and cummerbund are more commonly seen than are the wing collar or waistcoat. Similarly, the shawl lapel is more common in white dinner jackets. In the UK, the 20th Century etiquette was that white dinner jackets are never worn, even on the hottest day of summer, but are reserved for wear abroad.^[13] Today, white dinner jackets are frequently seen at weddings, formal beach events, and high-school proms, in the U.S. and at some concerts (famously for instance the Last night of the proms) in the UK. In tropical climates, such as in Imperial Burma, desert fawn was historically used as the less formal color. At one time the (civilian) mess jacket was also an option in warmer climates.

It is generally considered inappropriate for a man to remove his jacket during a formal social event, but when hot weather and humidity dictate, the ranking man (of the royal family, the guest of honor) may give men permission by noticeably taking off his jacket. In anticipated hot weather Red Sea rig is specified in the invitation, although this dress is esoteric in civilian circles, and is particular to certain expatriate communities.

Trousers[link]

Black tie trousers traditionally have no cuffs (turn-ups in British English) or belt loops. The outer seams are usually decorated with a single braid of silk or a material that matches the lapel facing. Traditionally, braces (suspenders), hidden by the waistcoat, were used to support the pants but belts are often worn today. Evening trousers can be flat-fronted or pleated today; pleats first coming into fashion in the 1930s.

Waistcoat or cummerbund[link]

A waistcoat (vest in American) or cummerbund traditionally should be worn when wearing a single-breasted coat. However, according to Debretts, "cummerbands or low cut black evening waistcoats are rarely worn nowadays".^[14] Waistcoasts come in the 'V' or rarer 'U' shape, in backless or fully backed versions, double or single breasted, with or without lapels. Single breasted styles typically have three buttons, and double breasted ones three or four rows. Before World War II, while black tie was still gaining acceptance, men would wear a white waistcoat, along with other details now associated primarily with white tie, such as stiff fronted shirts.

The cummerbund, derived from military dress uniform in British India, is worn with its pleats facing up, and is normally of the same cloth as the bow tie and lapels though strictly, the cummerbund, bow tie and lapels should be of different material. Maroon, a color commonly worn to accompany black tie, is often used for the cummerbund in less formal or summer situations (though it should be noted that this is not to match the bow tie, which in the current era is invariably black). A cummerbund is never worn with a double breasted jacket, and a waistcoat now very rarely. Since this style of jacket is never unbuttoned, the waist of the trousers is never exposed, and therefore does not need to be covered,^[15] though before World War II an edge of waistcoat was often shown between the jacket and shirt.

Recently, and particularly in the U.S., it has become more common for men to remove their jackets at less formal events such as weddings and proms. Because of this, full-back waistcoats have become more common; unlike the traditional waistcoat, these are often high, single breasted, and with the full five or six buttons of a daytime waistcoat.

Shirt[link]

A modern attached wing collar (of the half-collar shape, with longer wings than a typical attached wing collar) and pre-tied bow tie

Shirt designed to be worn with black tie are called "formal shirts," or "tuxedo shirts" in the United States and "dress shirts" in the UK.^[16] The shirt is conventionally white or off-white cotton or linen with a bibbed front that is marcella, pleated. In the early 20th century a stiff front such as is worn with white tie was sometimes used and in the 1960s and 70s ruffled bibs were popular, but neither style is often seen today. Indeed, a trend in the first decade of the 21st century has been to dispense with the bib front altogether. Shirts worn with black-tie have double (or "french") cuffs. In the late 19th century and through the 1920s, stiff shirts with winged detachable collars were common. Thereafter collars for formal shirts were generally attached with either the standard fold-over collar, or the "winged" version of the standing collar.^[17]

The original and most formal version of the dress shirt fastens with matching shirt studs. Dress shirts with a fly-front placket are also traditional. However, lately it has become quite common to allow buttons to show, although this is less formal. Studs and links are most commonly in silver or gold settings, featuring onyx or mother-of-pearl; various geometrical shapes are worn, e.g., circles (most common for studs), octagons, or rectangles (most common for links). There has been no consistent fashion preference for gold or silver, but mother-of-pearl is more formal and therefore often associated with white tie.

Footwear[link]

The most formal and traditional shoes are patent leather opera pumps (court shoes) decorated with grosgrain bows. The more popular alternative currently is the black lace-up Oxford shoe, in patent leather or calfskin, with a rounded plain toe.^[18] Matte finish pumps are also seen. Shoes are almost invariably black and patent leather is considered more formal than matte finishes while pumps are considered more formal than lace-ups. Generally considered too informal for black tie are shoes with open lacing, such as the Derby shoe (Blüchers in the U.S.). Notable alternatives include the black button boot (primarily of only historical interest) and the monogrammed Albert slipper which was originally worn only at home. Hosiery is black socks made from fine wool or silk.

Prince Philip wearing black tie with decorations

Accessories[link]

Most etiquette and fashion guides of the current decade recommend keeping color touches and favoring a single color, usually dark; muted reds, such as maroon, are a traditional choice.

Handkerchief: A handkerchief in linen (traditional), silk, or cotton is usually worn in the breast pocket.

Boutonnière: A flower may be worn. Red and white carnation, blue cornflower, and rosebud have all been popular at times. In France, the boutonnière is usually a gardenia, and boutonnières and handkerchiefs are not generally worn simultaneously.

Outerwear: Black-tie events do not involve outerware, and coats and gloves are no longer considered part of the dress code. However, etiquette for what to wear in public in transit to and from black tie occasions was stiffer in earlier eras and remain an option: Matching overcoats are usually black, charcoal, or dark blue, and traditionally of the Chesterfield style. A guard's coat was also once popular, and a lighter topcoat can be worn in summer. Historically, an Inverness coat was also worn. Until the mid-20th century, gloves and scarves were always worn, and are still occasionally seen in gray leather and white silk, respectively. White kid gloves have never been standard with black tie, remaining exclusive to white tie dress.

Hat: The 20th century standard hat for black tie was a black (or midnight blue) Homburg in winter, or straw hats in spring and summer, although fedoras were also used. Top hats were originally worn with black-tie, but had been reserved to white tie and morning dress from WW I. Black-tie dress does not require a hat today.

Timepiece: Traditionally visible timepieces are not worn with formal evening dress, because timekeeping is not supposed to be considered a priority.

Decorations and orders: Military, civil, and organizational decorations are usually worn only to full dress events, generally of formal governmental or diplomatic significance. Miniature orders and awards are typically worn on the left lapel of the jacket, and neck badges, breast stars, and sashes are worn according to country-specific or organizational regulations. Unlike in white tie, where decorations are always permitted, the dress code will usually give some indication when decorations are to be worn with black tie.

Black-tie social occasions[link]

Black tie is worn to private and public dinners, dances, and parties. At the more formal end of the social spectrum it has to a large extent replaced the more formal white tie. The black tie code is sometimes classified as "semi-formal" in contrast to the "formal" white tie, or as "formal" in contrast to the "most formal" of white tie. Once more common, white tie dress code is now fairly rare, being reserved for only extremely formal occasions. Black tie is traditionally worn only after six o'clock in the evening, or after sundown during winter months. Black tie's rough daytime equivalent is the stroller, which is less formal than morning dress because (as with black tie) it replaces the tailcoat with a lounge coat.

Black tie at weddings[link]

Black tie worn at a wedding

In the last few decades, black tie has been increasingly seen in the United States at formal day wedding in place of the traditional Morning dress. However, etiquette and clothing experts continue to condemn the wearing of black tie before the evening. Prior to the late 1930s, black tie was even discouraged as too informal for evening weddings, one writer arguing that "no man should ever be caught in a church in a tuxedo." Amy Vanderbilt. Indeed Emily Post would continue to argue in preference of white tie at evening weddings into the 1950s.

In England and Wales, black tie is seldom worn at weddings as morning dress or a lounge suit is normally favoured. In Scotland, a dinner jacket is also not common but highland dress is often chosen.

Corresponding forms of dress[link]

Mess dress[link]

For formal dining, uniformed services officers and non-commissioned officers normally wear mess uniform equivalents to the civilian black tie and evening dress. Mess uniforms may vary according to the wearers' respective branches of the armed services, regiments, or corps, but usually include a short Eton-style coat reaching to the waist. Some include white shirts, black bow ties, and low-cut waistcoats, while others feature high collars that fasten around the neck and corresponding high-gorge waistcoats.

Red Sea Rig[link]

In tropical areas, primarily in Western diplomatic and expatriate communities, Red Sea rig is sometimes worn, in which the jacket and waistcoat are omitted and a red cummerbund and trousers with red piping are worn instead.

Scottish Highland dress[link]

Formal black tie Highland regalia, kilt and Prince Charlie jacket

Scottish Highland dress is often worn to black- and white-tie occasions, especially at Scottish reels and cèilidhean; the black-tie version is more common, even at white-tie occasions. Traditionally, black-tie Scots Highland dress comprises:

• Black barathea jacket with silver buttons—Regulation Doublet, Prince Charlie, Brian Boru, Braemar, Argyll, and black mess jackets are suitable. There is some contention about whether the Duke of Montrose and Sheriffmuir doublets are too formal for black-tie occasions.
• Matching or tartan waistcoat
• Kilt
• White shirt with shirt studs, French or barrel cuffs, and a turn-down collar (wing collars are generally reserved for white tie in the UK)
• Black bow tie or white lace jabot
• Evening dress brogues
• Full-dress kilt hose (diced or tartan) (Off-white hose are often seen but are deplored by some, such as the late David Lumsden of Cushnie^[19])
• Silk flashes or garter ties
• Dress sporran with silver chain
• Black, silver-mounted sgian dubh
• Dirk (optional)
• Highland bonnet with crest badge (only suitable out of doors)^[20]

Traditional black-tie Lowland dress is a variant of the normal black tie that includes tartan trews rather than the usual trousers and may include a suitable kilt jacket instead of the dinner jacket. Trews are often worn in summer and warm climes.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Black tie

Fashion portal

• Apparel Arts magazine, an account of 1930s fashion and style; some issues more relevant than others, such as those reproduced with comment at The London Lounge: Vol II. No. II and Vol I. No. III (numbering: London Lounge, not original)
• Flusser, Alan (2002). Dressing the Man: Mastering the art of Permanent Fashion. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-019144-9. 
• The Emily Post Institute provides a breakdown of traditional categories of progressing formality in dress for men & women.

Zeca Pagodinho
Background information
Birth name	Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho
Born	(1959-02-04) February 4, 1959 (age 53)
Origin	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Genres	Samba & Pagode
Occupations	Singer, songwriter
Years active	1978–present
Associated acts	Raça Brasileira
Website	http://www.zecapagodinho.com.br

Zeca Pagodinho (b. February 4, 1959, birth name Jessé Gomes da Silva Filho) is a Brazilian singer/songwriter working in the genres of samba and pagode.

Biography[link]

Born in the neighborhood of Irajá, Rio de Janeiro, Zeca Pagodinho grew up around the most traditional manifestations of samba and started making his own verses while still a kid. In the '70s, Zeca started frequenting the Carnival Block of Cacique de Ramos, which took place in Rio de Janeiro every Wednesday and became a true pagode's crib (pagode is a type of samba). At one of these jams, samba singer Beth Carvalho was impressed with Zeca's skills and invited him to record the song "Camarão Que Dorme a Onda Leva". From that point on, Zeca began to record his own albums. There are now 15 of them, and three DVDs. His creative, joyful, malicious songs translate the day-by-day of the typical easy going carioca and are a big success in Brazil. He's one of the biggest-sellers in the country.

[edit] Example of work: SPC

One of Zeca's first hits is from his first album. It's called SPC; the SPC, in Brazil, is a blacklist of bad debtors from which it is hard to get one's name removed (it stands for Credit Protection Service). The song, a partnership between Arlindo Cruz and Zeca, tells the story of someone who asks a friend (or partner) to use their credit card on his behalf; afterwards, the relationship breaks up. Both persons are implied to have low incomes.

Lyrics:

Precisei de roupa nova
Mas sem prova de salário
Combinamos, eu pagava
Você fez o crediário
Nosso caso foi pra cova
E a roupa pro armário

E depois você quis manchar meu nome
Dentro do meu metiêr
Mexeu com a moral de um homem
Vou me vingar de você

Porque, eu vou sujar seu nome
No seu SPC*

Tu vai ver, eu vou sujar, seu nome
No SPC
Quis me fazer de otário
Mas o crediário já está pra vencer
Sei que não sou salafrário
Mas o numerário você não vai ver
Porque eu vou sujar, seu nome
No SPC
Eu vou sujar, seu nome no SPC

(...)

Com o aumento dos juros
Você em apuros pra mim vai correr
Pra me vingar dos teus furos
Juro que estou duro
Não pago carnê porque

Translation:

I needed new clothes
but with no proof of salary
We agreed, I was to pay
You made the credit card transaction
Then our affair went to the grave
and the clothes to the closet

And then you tried to stain my name
Inside my circle
Messed with the morals of a man
I'm going to take revenge on you, because

I'm going to soil
Your name in the SPC
I'm going to soil
Your name in the SPC

Tried to make a halfwit out of me
But the transaction is about to expire
I know I'm no crook
But the numbers, you won't see, because

I'm going to soil
Your name in the SPC

With the raising of the interests
You, in trouble, to me will run
To get revenge from your fumbles
I'll swear I'm broke and won't pay the bill, because


I'm going to soil
Your name in the SPC

• SPC = Credit Protection Service, a government agency of credit protection that registers data about bad payers.

Discography[link]

• Especial MTV - Uma Prova de Amor Ao Vivo
• Uma prova de amor (2008)
• Raridades (2007)
• Acústico MTV - Zeca Pagodinho 2 - Gafieira (2006)
• À Vera (2005)
• Acústico MTV - Zeca Pagodinho (2003)
• Deixa a vida me levar (2002)
• O quintal do Pagodinho (2002)
• Água da minha sede (2000)
• Zeca Pagodinho ao vivo - DVD (2000)
• Zeca Pagodinho ao vivo (1999)
• Zeca Pagodinho (1998)
• Hoje é dia de festa (1997)
• Deixa clarear (1996)
• Samba pras moças (1995)
• Alô, mundo! (1993)
• Um dos poetas do samba (1992)
• Pixote (1991)
• Mania da gente (1990)
• Boêmio feliz (1989)
• Jeito moleque (1988)
• Patota de Cosme (1987)
• Zeca Pagodinho (1986)

External links[link]

• Video: Zeca performing songs from his first record

David Bowie
Bowie during the Heathen Tour in 2002.
Background information
Birth name	David Robert Jones
Born	(1947-01-08) 8 January 1947 (age 65) Brixton, London, England
Genres	Rock, glam rock, art rock, pop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, harmonica, saxophone, viola, cello, koto, percussion
Years active	1964–2008
Labels	Deram, RCA, Virgin, EMI, ISO, Columbia, BMG, Pye
Associated acts	The Riot Squad, Arnold Corns, Tin Machine, The Hype, The Lower Third, The Konrads
Website	davidbowie.com

David Bowie ( /ˈboʊ.i/ BOH-ee;^[1] born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. He is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth and eclecticism of his work.

Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture."^[2] The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.

In 1975, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number-one single "Fame" and the hit album Young Americans, which the singer characterised as "plastic soul". The sound constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. He then confounded the expectations of both his record label and his American audiences by recording the minimalist album Low (1977)—the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno over the next two years. The so-called "Berlin Trilogy" albums all reached the UK top five and garnered lasting critical praise.

After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and "Under Pressure", a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached a new commercial peak in 1983 with Let's Dance, which yielded several hit singles. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including blue-eyed soul, industrial, adult contemporary, and jungle. His last recorded album was Reality (2003), which was supported by the 2003–04 Reality Tour.

Buckley says of Bowie: "His influence has been unique in popular culture—he has permeated and altered more lives than any comparable figure."^[2] In the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29. Throughout his career, he has sold an estimated 140 million albums. In the UK, he has been awarded nine Platinum album certifications, 11 Gold and eight Silver, and in the US, five Platinum and seven Gold certifications. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him 39th on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and 23rd on their list of the best singers of all-time.

Biography[link]

1947–62: early years[link]

David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, on 8 January 1947. His mother, Margaret Mary "Peggy" (née Burns), of Irish descent,^[3] worked as a cinema usherette, while his father, Haywood Stenton "John" Jones was a promotions officer for Barnardo's. The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, located near the border of the south London areas of Brixton and Stockwell. A neighbour recalled that "London in the forties was the worst possible place, and the worst possible time for a child to grow up in." Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child—and a defiant brawler.^[4][5]

In 1953 the family moved to the suburb of Bromley, where, two years later, Bowie progressed to Burnt Ash Junior School. His voice was considered "adequate" by the school choir, and his recorder playing judged to demonstrate above-average musical ability.^[6] At the age of nine, his dancing during the newly introduced music and movement classes was strikingly imaginative: teachers called his interpretations "vividly artistic" and his poise "astonishing" for a child.^[6] The same year, his interest in music was further stimulated when his father brought home a collection of American 45s by artists including Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, The Platters, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley and Little Richard.^[7][8] Upon listening to "Tutti Frutti", Bowie would later say, "I had heard God".^[9] Presley's impact on him was likewise emphatic: "I saw a cousin of mine dance to ... 'Hound Dog' and I had never seen her get up and be moved so much by anything. It really impressed me, the power of the music. I started getting records immediately after that."^[8] By the end of the following year he had taken up the ukelele and tea-chest bass and begun to participate in skiffle sessions with friends, and had started to play the piano; meanwhile his stage presentation of numbers by both Presley and Chuck Berry—complete with gyrations in tribute to the original artists—to his local Wolf Cub group was described as "mesmerizing ... like someone from another planet."^[8] Failing his eleven plus exam at the conclusion of his Burnt Ash Junior education, Bowie joined Bromley Technical High School.^[10]

It was an unusual technical school, as biographer Christopher Sandford writes:

Despite its status it was, by the time David arrived in 1958, as rich in arcane ritual as any [English] public school. There were houses, named after eighteenth-century statesmen like Pitt and Wilberforce. There was a uniform, and an elaborate system of rewards and punishments. There was also an accent on languages, science and particularly design, where a collegiate atmosphere flourished under the tutorship of Owen Frampton. In David's account, Frampton led through force of personality, not intellect; his colleagues at Bromley Tech were famous for neither, and yielded the school's most gifted pupils to the arts, a regime so liberal that Frampton actively encouraged his own son, Peter, to pursue a musical career with David, a partnership briefly intact thirty years later.^[10]

Bowie studied art, music, and design, including layout and typesetting. After Terry Burns, his half-brother, introduced him to modern jazz, his enthusiasm for players like Charles Mingus and John Coltrane led his mother to give him a plastic alto saxophone in 1961; he was soon receiving lessons from a local musician.^[11]

In 1962, George Underwood injured Bowie's eye in a fight over a girl. Bowie owes his unusual eyes to the fact that not all the damage could be surgically repaired. Despite their fisticuffs, Underwood and Bowie remained good friends, and Underwood went on to create the artwork for Bowie's early albums.^[12]

Eyes[link]

Bowie received a serious injury at school in 1962 when his friend George Underwood, while wearing a ring on his finger, punched him in the left eye during a fight over a girl. Doctors feared he would become blind in that eye. After a series of operations during a four-month hospitalisation,^[13] his doctors determined that the damage could not be fully repaired and Bowie was left with faulty depth perception and a permanently dilated pupil. The latter condition has misled some to believe that Bowie has different coloured eyes, when in reality both irises are the same blue colour. ^[14]

1962–68: the Konrads to the Riot Squad[link]

Graduating from his plastic saxophone to a real instrument in 1962, Bowie formed his first band at the age of 15. Playing guitar-based rock and roll at local youth gatherings and weddings, the Konrads had a varying line-up of between four and eight members, Underwood among them.^[15] When Bowie left the technical school the following year, he informed his parents of his intention to become a pop star. His mother promptly arranged his employment as an electrician's mate. Frustrated by his band-mates' limited aspirations, Bowie left the Konrads and joined another band, the King Bees. He wrote to the newly successful washing-machine entrepreneur John Bloom inviting him to "do for us what Brian Epstein has done for the Beatles—and make another million." Bloom did not respond to the offer, but his referral to Dick James's partner Leslie Conn led to Bowie's first personal management contract.^[16]

Conn quickly began to promote Bowie. The singer's debut single, "Liza Jane", credited to Davie Jones and the King Bees, had no commercial success. Dissatisfied with the King Bees and their repertoire of Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon blues numbers, Bowie quit the band less than a month later to join the Manish Boys, another blues outfit, who incorporated folk and soul — "I used to dream of being their Mick Jagger", Bowie was to recall.^[16] "I Pity the Fool" was no more successful than "Liza Jane", and Bowie soon moved on again to join the Lower Third, a blues trio strongly influenced by The Who. "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" fared no better, signalling the end of Conn's contract. Declaring that he would exit the pop world "to study mime at Sadler's Wells", Bowie nevertheless remained with the Lower Third. His new manager, Ralph Horton, later instrumental in his transition to solo artist, soon witnessed Bowie's move to yet another group, the Buzz, yielding the singer's fifth unsuccessful single release, "Do Anything You Say". While with the Buzz, Bowie also joined the Riot Squad; their recordings, which included a Bowie number and Velvet Underground material, went unreleased. Ken Pitt, introduced by Horton, took over as Bowie's manager.^[17]

Dissatisfied with his stage name as Davy (and Davie) Jones, which in the mid-1960s invited confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees, Bowie renamed himself after the 19th century American frontiersman Jim Bowie and the knife he had popularised.^[18] His April 1967 solo single, "The Laughing Gnome", utilising sped-up Chipmunk-style vocals, failed to chart. Released six weeks later, his album debut, David Bowie, an amalgam of pop, psychedelia, and music hall, met the same fate. It would be his last release for two years.^[19]

Bowie's fascination with the bizarre was fuelled when he met dancer Lindsay Kemp: "He lived on his emotions, he was a wonderful influence. His day-to-day life was the most theatrical thing I had ever seen, ever. It was everything I thought Bohemia probably was. I joined the circus."^[20] Kemp, for his part, recalled, "I didn't really teach him to be a mime artiste but to be more of himself on the outside, ... I enabled him to free the angel and demon that he is on the inside."^[20] Studying the dramatic arts under Kemp, from avant-garde theatre and mime to commedia dell'arte, Bowie became immersed in the creation of personae to present to the world. Satirising life in a British prison, meanwhile, the Bowie-penned "Over the Wall We Go" became a 1967 single for Oscar; another Bowie composition, "Silly Boy Blue", was released by Billy Fury the following year.^[21] After Kemp cast Bowie with Hermione Farthingale for a poetic minuet, the pair began dating; they soon moved into a London flat together. Playing acoustic guitar, she formed a group with Bowie and bassist John Hutchinson; between September 1968 and early 1969, when Bowie and Farthingale broke up, the trio gave a small number of concerts combining folk, Merseybeat, poetry and mime.^[22]

1969–73: psychedelic folk to glam rock[link]

[edit] Space Oddity to Hunky Dory

Because of his lack of commercial success, Bowie was forced to try to earn a living in different ways. He featured in a Lyons Maid ice cream commercial, but was rejected for another by Kit Kat.^[23] Intended as a vehicle to promote the singer, a 30-minute film featuring performances from his repertoire, Love You till Tuesday, was made. Although not released until 1984, the filming sessions in January 1969 led to unexpected success when Bowie told the producers, "That film of yours—I've got a new song for it." He then demoed the song that would provide his commercial breakthrough. "Space Oddity" was released later in the year to coincide with the first moon landing.^[23] Breaking up with Farthingale shortly after completion of the film, Bowie moved in with Mary Finnigan as her lodger.^[24] Continuing the divergence from rock and roll and blues begun by his work with Farthingale, Bowie joined forces with Finnigan, Christina Ostrom and Barrie Jackson to run a folk club on Sunday nights at the Three Tuns pub in Beckenham High Street.^[24] This soon morphed into the Beckenham Arts Lab, and became extremely popular. The Arts Lab hosted a free festival in a local park, later immortalised by Bowie in his song "Memory of a Free Festival".^[25] "Space Oddity" was released on 11 July, five days ahead of the Apollo 11 launch, to become a UK top five hit. Bowie's second album, Space Oddity, followed in November; originally issued in the UK as David Bowie, it caused some confusion with its predecessor of the same name, and the early US release was instead titled Man of Words/Man of Music. Featuring philosophical post-hippie lyrics on peace, love and morality, its acoustic folk rock occasionally fortified by harder rock, the album was not a commercial success at the time of its release.^[26]