17. Pin Ups

             The resulting album is uneven although beloved by many, and a massive-selling hit to boot. Personally,I'm not a huge fan of this album, it is one of my least favourites, and I'm going to be very short about this one.
             Released in October 1973, it was a UK Number 1 for 5 weeks, as Aladdin Sane had been, and rode the crest of the wave of Bowie's enormous UK popularity at the time.
             The album's highlight is, of course, his cover of The Merseys', 'Sorrow', the only time when he vastly improves the original.

             Bowie was again aping those around him, and this time it seemed to be Bryan Ferry. Although he never explicitly admitted to impersonating Ferry's richer, mannered croon, it was obvious to Scott and Ronson that this was the intention, and it was one thing they didn't altogether welcome with open arms. The album's only single release, "Sorrow",justifiably became one of his biggest hits,reaching Number 3 in Britain, and staying in the charts for 15 weeks, well into 1974.

             Perhaps more inspiring than the music was the startling cover - Bowie,naked again and next to him the personification of mid 60s cosmopolitan chic,Twiggy. Both look more like wind-up dolls than beings made of human flesh. The overall effect was that of a startling piece of artifice : the human condition reduced to simulacra .