1967 Black Tie White Noise 1975 Blackstar 1980 Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) 1993 David Bowie 2016 Young Americans

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1 1 Quick quiz Do the quiz. Then, scan the article to check your answers. 1. David Bowie was... a. a British singer, songwriter and actor. b. a British painter and actor. c. an American musician and artist. 2. What do these people have in common? Ziggy Stardust the Thin White Duke 3. Match the David Bowie albums with the year they were released Black Tie White Noise 1975 Blackstar 1980 Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) 1993 David Bowie 2016 Young Americans 2 Key words Match the key words with the definitions below. Then, find them in the article to read them in context. The paragraph numbers will help you. disturbing go solo pioneer released single talents trailblazer 1. worrying or upsetting (para 1) 2. someone who is the first to do something or to discover something (para 2) 3. one of the first people to do something important that is later continued and developed by other people (para 2) 4. start to do something alone and not with others (para 3) 5. when a musical record is made available for people to buy (para 4) 6. the natural ability to do things well (para 5) 7. a musical record with only one song on each side (para 7) award benefit chart commercially fundraising heyday tribute 8. the time when something is most successful or popular (para 13) 9. in a way that is connected with making money (para 13) 10. the activity of trying to persuade people or organizations to give money for something, especially a charity (para 14) 11. something you do to show respect for someone (para 15) 12. a list showing the music that people have bought the most copies of (para 16) 13. organized in order to make money for people or a charity (para 17) 14. a prize or other reward that is given to someone who has done something special (para 19)

2 David Bowie obituary Adam Sweeting 11 January, Until the end, David Bowie, who has died of cancer, still surprised us. His latest album, Blackstar, appeared on his 69th birthday on 8 January It showed that he hadn t stopped making challenging, disturbing music. 2 Throughout the 1970s, Bowie was a trailblazer of musical trends and pop fashion. He became a singer-songwriter, a pioneer of glam-rock, then became involved in plastic soul. He then moved to Berlin to create innovative electronic music. 3 Bowie was born David Robert Jones in south London. At 15, David formed his first band, the Kon-rads, but it was soon clear that David should go solo. David took the name Bowie so people wouldn t confuse him with Davy Jones of the Monkees. 4 Bowie s first album, released in June 1967, was titled simply David Bowie. In July 1969, Bowie released Space Oddity, the song that would give him his first big success. Timed to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landing, it was a top five UK hit. 5 The Man Who Sold the World was released in the US in late 1970 and in the UK the following year. With its daring songwriting and hard-rock sound, it was the first album to really show his talents. 6 He followed it with 1972 s Hunky Dory, a mix of wordy, elaborate songwriting. It was an excellent collection that was not a great success. But that all changed with The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars later that year. 7 This time, Bowie appeared as Ziggy Stardust, a science-fiction character an intergalactic glam-rock star visiting planet Earth. The hit single Starman brought instant success for the album. 8 Everything Bowie touched turned to gold. He had his first UK number 1 album with Aladdin Sane (1973), which included the hit singles The Jean Genie and Drive-in Saturday. 9 His interest in funk and soul music could be heard on the album Young Americans (1975), which included the single Fame (with John Lennon as a guest singer). 10 With the album Station to Station (1976), Bowie turned himself into a new character, the Thin White Duke. 11 Bowie and his wife divorced in This was a year of more creative success, with a good album, Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and its hit single, Ashes to Ashes. After this, he played the title role in The Elephant Man on the Broadway stage. 12 He achieved a number 1 single with his 1981 partnership with Queen, Under Pressure was the year in which he put his energy into the album Let s Dance and his concerts. Let s Dance turned Bowie into a global rock star the album and its singles Let s Dance, China Girl and Modern Love all became huge international hits. 13 The early 80s was the heyday of MTV. Bowie s talent for making eye-catching videos increased his popularity and the six-month Serious Moonlight tour attracted lots of people. It was to be the most commercially successful period of his career. 14 At the 1985 Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium, Bowie was one of the best performers. Also, that year, he worked with Mick Jagger to record the fundraising single Dancing in the Street, which quickly went to number A few days after he performed at the Freddie Mercury tribute concert at Wembley Stadium in April 1992, Bowie married the Somalian model Iman and bought a home in New York. 16 For the album Black Tie White Noise (1993), he included elements of soul and hip hop. It went to the top of the UK album chart and gave him a top 10 single, Jump They Say. 17 Bowie performed at the Concert for New York City in October 2001, where he joined Paul McCartney, Jon Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, the Who and Elton John in a benefit show six weeks after the 9/11 attacks. 18 During his Reality tour in 2004, Bowie had chest pains while he was performing in Germany and needed emergency surgery in Hamburg. 19 He saw the medical emergency as a warning and started to slow down. In February 2006, he was given a Grammy lifetime achievement award. He was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in The Next Day (2013) was his first album of new songs in ten years. It included the single Where Are We Now? The album went to the top of the charts in Britain and around the world. In 2014, Bowie was given the Brit Award for Best British

3 Male he was the oldest person to get the award. 21 He leaves behind his wife, Iman, their daughter, Alexandria, his stepdaughter, Zulekha, and his son, Duncan, from his first marriage. 22 David Bowie (David Robert Jones), singer, songwriter and actor, born 8 January, 1947; died 10 January, 2016 Guardian News and Media 2016 First published in The Guardian, 11/01/16 3 Biographical information Answer the questions about David Bowie s life with information from the article. 1. Where was David Bowie born and in what year? 2. What was Bowie s birth name? 3. Why did he change his name? 4. What was the name of his first band? 5. What style of music is he most connected with? 6. How many children did he have? 4 Summary Use some of the key words from task 2 to complete the summary of the article. David Bowie s last album, Blackstar, was (1) just three days before he died. It showed that he could still surprise us and make challenging, (2) music. Bowie had many musical and artistic (3). During his career, Bowie was a (4) of musical trends and pop fashion, and a (5) of glam-rock. His most (6) successful period was in the early 1980s. He had a number 1 hit (7) with Queen, another (8) hit single with Mick Jagger, released two popular albums and went on tour. This was also the (9) of MTV, which showed Bowie s eye-catching music videos. Soon after, he performed at a (10) concert for Freddie Mercury and he married Iman, a model from Somalia. They bought a home together in New York. In New York, he performed at the (11) show for the victims of the 9/11 attack. In 2006, Bowie received a Grammy lifetime achievement (12) and, in 2011, he was given the Brit Award for Best British Male. He was entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996.

4 5 Word fields a. Complete the word wheels with words from the article that the author used to describe Bowie s songwriting and his styles of music. elaborate electronic disturbing funk glam-rock wordy daring hard rock hip hop innovative plastic soul challenging soul Words describing Bowie s songwriting Bowie s music styles b. Use some of the words to talk about other musicians. 6 Discussion We all know that music is strongly connected with memories. Do you connect any of Bowie s music with particular memories or periods of your life? What music do you connect with your childhood and youth? 7 Webquest See photos of some the David Bowie s key looks (including Ziggy Stardust) here: See pictures from his life and career here:

5 KEY 1 Quick quiz 1. a 2. They are characters created by David Bowie. 3. David Bowie (1967) Young Americans (1975) Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980) Black Tie White Noise (1993) Blackstar (2016) 2 Key words 1. disturbing 2. trailblazer 3. pioneer 4. go solo 5. released 6. talents 7. single 8. heyday 9. commercially 10. fundraising 11. tribute 12. chart 13. benefit 14. award 4 Summary 1. released 2. disturbing 3. talents 4. trailblazer 5. pioneer 6. commercially 7. single 8. fundraising 9. heyday 10. tribute 11. benefit 12. award 5 Word fields Bowie s songwriting: challenging, disturbing, innovative, daring, wordy, elaborate Bowie s music styles: glam-rock, plastic soul, electronic, hard rock, funk, soul, hip hop 3 Biographical information 1. in South London; in David Robert Jones 3. so people wouldn t confuse him with Davy Jones of the pop group the Monkees 4. the Kon-rads 5. glam-rock 6. two of his own, Duncan and Alexandria, and a step-daughter, Zulekha

Level 2 l Intermediate

Level 2 l Intermediate 1 Quick quiz Do the quiz. Then, scan the article to check your answers. 1. David Bowie was... a. a British singer, songwriter and actor. b. a British painter and actor. c. an American musician and artist.