Berlin trilogy

In the summer of 1974 David Bowie developed a cocaine addiction. He was living in L.A. at that time. His addiction worsened affecting his physical and mental state. He recorded 2 studio albums "Young Americans" (1975) and "Station To Station" (1976) and also appeared in the movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976). Years later he couldn't remember anything from this period due to the heavy drug use at that time. He decided it was time to leave L.A. in order to get clean again. He returned to Europe to do a tour to promote "Station To Station". Then he created a new alter ego called the Thin White Duke and made statements about Nazi Germany which was misinterpreted by the press who claimed he was promoting fascism. During the tour he met ex-Roxy Music keyboardist Brian Eno backstage in London. Both were inspired by the German Krautrock scene and Bowie also liked Eno's albums: "Another Green World" and "Discreet Music". They became friends. At the end of the tour Bowie and his wife Angela moved to Switzerland.

Scene from "The Man Who Fell To Earth" (1976)

He planned to record a soundtrack for the movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth" but that was never realised. Of the instrumentals created for the movie only one piece evolved into "Subterraneans" that ended up on his next album "Low". First he moved to Château d'Hérouville in Hérouville, France. There he recorded music for 2 albums for Iggy Pop who was also getting clean after a heavy addiction. Bowie and Tony Visconti mixed the 2 albums ("The Idiot" and "Lust For Life") in Berlin at the Hansa Studios.

Bowie and Pop in 1977

He started recording "Low" first in France at the Château and then permanently moved to Berlin to continue the recording at the Hansa Studios. Brian Eno also moved in to help Bowie with the new album. The album was very experimental including also some longer instrumentals. RCA records feared the album was not commercial enough and decided to postpone the release of the new Iggy Pop albums. They also didn't do much to promote the album that was released early 1977 reaching #6 in the Netherlands, #2 in the UK and #11 in the US. Meanwhile Bowie decided to go on tour with Iggy Pop as a keyboardist. But when the first single was released "Sound and Vision" it became highly commercial and Bowie persuaded RCA to release the Iggy Pop albums. "Sound And Vision" reached #3 in the UK and #2 in the Netherlands. Instead of promoting his new album "Low" he continued to tour with Iggy at that time.

Fripp, Bowie and Eno

Plans for a third album with Iggy Pop never happened and Bowie started working on his next album titled "Heroes". Again he was helped by Brian Eno influenced by the German Krautrock and the environment in Berlin. Also Robert Fripp (of King Crimson) joined Eno and Bowie. This album was the only one recorded completely in Berlin. David visited the Brücke Museum in Berlin a lot those days and some artworks inspired him for the album covers and songs. Later Bowie also became a painter himself. They used unusual ways to record the song including Eno's Oblique Strategies cards. You can read more about that in my post about Eno's "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" album. "Heroes" was finally released in October 1977 with better promotion by Bowie appearing on many TV shows. He appeared on TV especially in Marc Bolan's (from T-Rex) show and with Bing Crosby during christmas. Bowie also released a german version of the title track "Helden" to be released in Germany. The single reached #9 in the Netherlands and #24 in the UK. The album managed to reach #3 in both the UK and the Netherlands.

Promo poster for the movie "Just A Gigolo" (1978)

In 1978 he traveled around the world on his Isolar II world tour where he finally promoted his 2 Berlin albums "Low" and "Heroes". He also played the lead role in the David Hemmings film "Just a Gigolo" (1978) set in pre-World War II Berlin.

On his final album of the Berlin Trilogy "Lodger" (1979) he moved away form the longer instrumentals and also introduced new wave, Middle Eastern music and reggae. And again they used Eno's Oblique Strategies cards which resulted in "Boys Keep Swinging" where the band members swapping instruments (as a single it reached #7 in the UK and #16 in the Netherlands), "Move On" used the chords from Bowie's 1972 composition "All the Young Dudes" played backwards, and "Red Money" took backing tracks from The Idiot track "Sister Midnight". The album reached #4 in the UK, #5 in the Netherlands and #20 in the US.

Duncan and his father

Bowie divorced on 8th of February 1980 from Angela and received custody of his son Duncan and started working on his next album "Scary Monsters". His son Duncan would become a movie director and directed the movies: Moon (2009), Source Code (2011) and Warcraft (2016).

"Trans-Fixed" (1974) by Chris Burden

SONGS

"Sound and Vision" reflects his mental state following his long period of drug addiction
The lyrics of "Always Crashing in the Same Car" reference an incident when Bowie kept ramming his car into that of a drug dealer who was ripping him off in Los Angeles
"Be My Wife" reflects Bowie's feelings of loneliness, his inability to settle and finally connect with people. Things he couldn't do when he was heavily addicted.
The song "Heroes" was inspired by Bowie witnessing a kiss between producer Tony Visconti and singer Antonia Maass next to the Berlin Wall. The song concerns two lovers, one from East Berlin and the other from the West. Under constant fear of death, they dream they are free, swimming with dolphins.
"Joe The Lion" is about performing artist Chris Burden who was famous for having himself crucified to a Volkswagen in 1974 ("Nail me to my car and I'll tell you who you are") and for having an assistant shoot him in the arm at an art gallery in 1971 ("Guess you'll buy a gun / You'll buy it secondhand").
Yassassin is Turkish for: Long Live
"Boys Keep Swinging" deals with the concept of gender identity

"Roquairol and Young Man" (1917) by Erich Heckel

"Self Portrait As Sebastian" (1914) by Egon Schiele

ALBUM COVERS

The album cover for "Low" is a shot of the movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth".
The album cover for "Heroes" was a photo shot based on a painting titled "Roquairol and Young Man" by Erich Heckel
The album cover for "Lodger" was inspired by the self-portraits of Egon Schiele.

Original album cover

Low (1977)
Speed of Life / Breaking Glass / What in the World / Sound and Vision / Always Crashing in the Same Car / Be My Wife / A New Career in a New Town / Warszawa / Art Decade / Weeping Wall / Subterraneans

Original album cover

Heroes (1977)

Beauty and the Beast / Joe the Lion / 'Heroes' / Sons of the Silent Age / Blackout / V-2 Schneider / Sense of Doubt / Moss Garden / Neuköln / The Secret Life of Arabia