Daring music, refined visuals, renewed energy: when Anglo-Saxon rock exiled itself to Berlin to rekindle its inspiration…
In 1976, David Bowie was living in Los Angeles, floating in total paranoid delusion. He compared Mick Jagger’s charisma to Hitler’s, ate nothing but milk and bell peppers and, above all, was losing his creativity. In a lucid moment, he fled. Clearly, Berlin was a must.
Indeed, since the Station to Station tour (1976), Bowie couldn’t hide his interest for German culture, from Bertolt Brecht’s Epic theatre to painter Erich Eckel’s German expressionism, including the avant-garde rock of Neu! and Kraftwerk. Bowie is one of the first Anglo-Saxon musicians to perceive the impact of this music that was cold and under synthesized influence. At the time, the city was a vaguely disturbing, sometimes euphoric cultural melting pot with contagious energy. With Iggy Pop as a detox buddy – an absurd idea that was nevertheless efficient – Bowie moved to Schöneberg.
Extract of the article by Sophie Rosemont
