Yet another Bowie book nestles among the Bs in the music section of your local book shop this month. ‘The Complete David Bowie’ by Nicholas Pegg is a brave effort that claims to be “The ultimate reference: albums, singles, concerts, films, the internet and more.” This really is the antithesis of a book like ‘BowieStyle’, in that apart from the covers, the book is a picture-less 450 pages. But that is because it is what it claims to be…a reference.
Of course the problem with a reference like this is that if one is not returning to the source (i.e., David Bowie), it is almost impossible to produce a work that is 100% accurate. Having said that, Nicholas has done a pretty admirable job of collecting all the information that is already out there, be it true or false, and he has collected it into one easy to use tome that, until we are blessed with some sort of official book, I am sure will become an indispensable guide to most all serious collectors of David Bowie’s music.
Click on the image above for a quick accuracy test of entries concerning the first and last songs in ‘The Songs’ section of the book, ‘Absolute Beginners’ and ‘Zion.’
Total Blam Blam – (European Correspondent)
