Welcome to My Musical Express DB004 – the first step along the path to follow David Bowie, one of the most influential figures in pop culture ever.

These editions are about the music with incidental information about the man and his music.

There are many excellent books and publications recounting the story of his career and we will reference them and occasionally link to them for your enjoyment.

The musical journey starts in 1967 when the self titled debut album was released on Deran Records a Decca subsidiary after six singles had been released over the previous three years.

Recording at Decca Studio 2 in West Hampstead, London commenced on 14 November 1966 with the recording of “Uncle Arthur” and “She’s Got Medals”.

Engineered by Gus Dudgeon and produced by Mike Vernon who hired studio musicians the album did not follow traditional pop music instrumentation and Bowie’s lyrics move from childhood innocence to drug use and totalitarianism, themes that he would return to many times later.

Bowie’s current band – The Buzz with the exception of keyboardist Derek Boyes contributed to the recording.

The album received positive reviews from music journalists but was a commercial failure due to a lack of promotion from Deram which contributed to his departure from the label.