Hunky Dory

When David Bowie turned to composing Hunky Dory in mid-1971, he did so from the piano, a change from his usual way of working with the guitar. The result was an album that moved away from the harder sound of his previous works, leaning towards melodic pop rock and an art pop style, with a distinctive warmth. To shape these new ideas, he brought together Mick Ronson on guitar, Trevor Bolder on bass, and Mick Woodmansey on drums. The recording took place at Trident Studios in London, with Ken Scott as engineer and co-producing alongside Bowie himself. On this album, the lyrics explore from constant artistic reinvention in "Changes" to themes like occultism and Nietzschean philosophy in "Oh! You Pretty Things" and "Quicksand". There are also nods to figures of American culture such as Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, and Lou Reed, and even a dedication to his newborn son, Duncan, in the song "Kooks". The album cover, inspired by classic Hollywood cinema, was photographed in black and white and then colored.

Year

1971

Songs

11

Duration

41 min 38 seg