I'm of that generation, I experienced the "Starman" moment seeing David Bowie on Top Of The Pops with a shock of orange spikes, dressed in clothes that defied description, putting his arm around Mick Ronson in a way that seems so innocuous today but was extraordinary then. At school the following day it felt as though the world had rearranged itself overnight to accommodate this beguiling new presence, similarly when the news broke on Monday morning it was like losing one of the major coordinates of my world, I felt disorientated and adrift, this time in a bad way. David Bowie was just a phenomenal artist who defined the seventies, the decade belonged to him; from glam to soul to ambient, from straight up rock'n roll to new contours of sonic wizardry, Bowie took us on a helter-skelter ride reinventing himself again and again, and all with a consummate cool and a fiery creativity.

I wouldn't pretend that Bowie made a telling contribution to black music, and Luther Vandross had quite enough talent to make it without a leg-up from the Thin White Duke, yet it's impossible to understand Bowie's oeuvre without looking at his relationship with it. From stealing Mingus titles "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" to taking inspiration from James Brown for Ziggy Stardust's "Rock 'n Roll Suicide".. the soulful side of Bowie is never far from the surface. Then in '74, riding the crest of a wave of his (glam) success, Bowie makes the kind of radical move that would go on to define his career, he makes a soul record. Recording at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound and bringing on board the likes of Vandross, Sly & The Family Stone drummer Andy Newmark, and guitarist Carlos Alomar, Young Americans is a record that stands both within and outside tradition. A lush, sensuous and emotive album that Bowie himself would describe as "plastic soul", self effacing as ever, as he was about his singing voice, Young Americans and several cuts from the following Station To Station are as good as it gets when it comes to a white artist making soul music in their own way.....after all "Fame" and "Golden Years" were good enough for U.S. tv's definitive Soul Train... But hey, I don't need to justify Bowie's brilliance, begrudge him and you can stand outside with the real weirdos!!!!

Concentrating on this mid seventies period, when coincidentally Bowie was taking vast quantities of the old marching powder, and dipping into both preceding and subsequent phases, here's two hours of appreciation and celebration. Let's not lament too much, yes Bowie's is an irreplaceable talent, but we should be grateful for all he gave through those golden years.

1. 1984
2. Golden Years
3. Fascination
4. Luther Vandross - Funky Music (Is A Part Of Me)
5. Fat Larry's Band - Fascination
6. Look Back In Anger
7. Alladin Sane (live)
8. Changes
9. Robert Glasper ft. Bilal - Letter To Hermione
10. Sound and Vision
11. Ashes To Ashes
12. Young Americans
13. Fill Your Heart
14. Warszawa
15. Win
16. Sweet Thing/Kandidate (live)
17. Wild Is The Wind
18. Can You Hear Me?
19. New Career In A New Town
20. John I'm Only Dancing (Again)
21. Stay
22. Heroes (live)
23. Dollar Days