Pop Idol

A recent Popjustice column by Alexander Bard reclaims David Bowie as an artist of the Pop camp while refuting claims of the rock critic establishment:

David changed his last name to Bowie (unless they are born with fancy sounding names, pop stars always change their passport names into something more glamorous: pop is all about entertainment, not boring genuinity), invented a wicked alter ego called Ziggy Stardust, and began to write gorgeous anthemic pop songs with titles like "Space Oddity" and "Life On Mars". The guitars were now left in the background, David Bowie's sound was instead drenched in grandiose strings, hysterical chorus sections, and melodic piano harmonies. The pop icon David Bowie was born.

Nile Rodgers maximised the huge pop star potential of David Bowie with a fantastic pop album called "Let's Dance". The album went on to top the charts around the world and turned David Bowie into a global pop phenomenon. Naturally, rock critics hated the record and what it had done with David Bowie's career.