Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia · Slate Podcasts

Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 1

·1 hr 5 min·4 clips

'Fame' becomes Bowie’s first U.S. number one after 'plastic soul' and a John Lennon collaboration.

1. Hit Parade's 'Starman to Blackstar Edition Part 1' tracks David Bowie’s chart history from early failures to his mid-1970s peak. 2. Chris Melanfi hosts as Slate’s chart analyst and writer of 'Why Is This Song Number One,' and he uses Billboard positions to frame Bowie’s career. 3. The episode asks how Bowie kept changing styles, personas, and commercial fortunes while still returning to the charts. 4. Bowie begins as David Robert Jones in Brixton and Bromley, plays saxophone at Bromley Technical High School, and forms a first band at 15. 5. 'Liza Jane' with the King Bees, 'I Pity the Fool' with the Manish Boys, and 'You've Got a Habit of Leaving' with the Lower Third all miss major chart success. 6. Jones changes his name to Davy Bowie, then Bowie, because another Davy Jones was already becoming famous with the Monkees. 7. 'Can't Help Thinking About Me' reaches only number 34 on the Melody Maker chart after his manager buys copies. 8. The Deram period produces a self-titled 1967 album and 'The Laughing Gnome,' but neither charts. 9. Stanley Kubrick’s '2001: A Space Odyssey' inspires 'Space Oddity,' which Bowie links to Major Tom and rush-releases around Apollo 11. 10. 'Space Oddity' reaches number five in Britain and later becomes Bowie’s first U.S. Top 40 hit. 11. The episode compares Bowie to Lou Reed, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, R.E.M., The Weeknd, and Bob Dylan to show how unusual his pattern was. 12. The comparison with Lou Reed highlights shared friendship and restlessness, but Bowie’s hits recur across multiple decades in a way Reed’s do not. 13. Bowie’s Hunky Dory period brings 'Life on Mars?' and 'Changes,' plus his bisexual public statement in Melody Maker and his androgynous image. 14. Casey Kasem introduces 'All the Young Dudes' as Bowie’s first Hot 100 Top 40 presence as a writer and producer, not just as a performer. 15. Ziggy Stardust, Starman, and Aladdin Sane establish Bowie’s glam-rock persona, while RCA reissues older albums to capitalize on his rise. 16. 'Rebel Rebel' reaches only number 64, but the Diamond Dogs album still climbs to number 5 on the Billboard chart. 17. 'Young Americans' marks a full 'plastic soul' pivot, with Carlos Alomar, David Sanborn, Luther Vandross, and John Lennon involved. 18. 'Fame' becomes Bowie’s first U.S. number one and also crosses to the soul singles chart, leading to a Soul Train appearance with Don Cornelius. 19. The Berlin period draws listeners who like chart history, glam rock, and career reinvention through specific Billboard milestones. 20. Casual listeners looking for a short, ending-focused biography may want to skip this part.

As heard by us

Bowie's early hits are treated as chart puzzles, not legend.

David Bowie's early chart story is presented as a run of reissues, near-misses, and better timing. The episode starts in January 1975 with "Changes," then works back to "Space Oddity" to show how one song can cast a long shadow before Bowie had a more promotable image.

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For Bowie chart history with receipts, start here.

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