David Bowie Hits, 1969 - 1981 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Ashes to Ashes

The lyrics of "Ashes to Ashes" make the surprising revelation that, "we know Major's Tom's a junkie." The accompanying music video features David Bowie in a number of striking costumes, most prominently the clown Pierrot. Additionally, Bowie is shown wearing a space suit while sitting in a kitchen, which seems to represent him as Major Tom.

Interestingly, the music video for "Blackstar," the lead single from Bowie's final album released just before his death, features a dead astronaut whose jewelled skull is retrieved by an alien woman.

This has been interpreted as representing the final fate of Major Tom. Hence, it might be said that the character of Major Tom bookended Bowie's career.

Answer: The Laughing Gnome

This rather silly song features Bowie conversing with the titular gnome (himself singing in a sped-up voice). Upon its 1967 release, it received some scathing reviews, being described as an "embarrassment" to the artist. However, it has received more positive reviews since then, despite clearly not being Bowie's finest work.

The other answers are the names of actual songs appearing on Bowie's 1967 debut album. "Rubber Band" and "Love You till Tuesday," also novelty songs, were the other two unsuccessful singles from that album.

Answer: Starman

The album from which this song derives loosely tells the story of a fictional rock star, Ziggy Stardust, who is a messenger of an alien being who promises the human race salvation. The song is told from the point of view of a listener on the radio who tunes into Ziggy and learns about this mysterious "starman waiting in the sky" who would "like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds." After Bowie performed the song on the TV show, "Top of the Pops," it became a hit, reaching number ten on the UK charts.

Answer: John Lennon

"Fame," which appears on the "Young Americans" album, was Bowie's first number one hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached 17 on the UK charts. Lennon came up with the song's hook, as well as performing backup vocals and acoustic guitar. The song expresses a notably negative view of what it is like to be famous.

Answer: Sound and Vision

This track reached number two on the UK charts. Like other songs on the "Low" album, it has very few lyrics and was originally intended to be purely instrumental. The song also featured prominently in the aptly named "Sound+Vision Tour" in 1990, in which he reprised many of his greatest hits.

Answer: Heroes

The song and album were recorded in a studio within sight of the Berlin Wall and Red Guards would sometimes look in on them through binoculars. It reached number 12 in the UK charts and was later performed by Bowie in West Berlin in 1987. It was also sampled in the movie "Moulin Rouge!" in an amusing duet between Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman.

Answer: John, I'm Only Dancing

The first version of this song was released in June 1972, and then a re-recorded version was released in January 1973, known as the "sax version," as it features Ken Fordham on saxophone. For some reason, RCA considered the lyrics too risqué for the American market (although it is pretty tame by today's standards) and it was not released there until 1976 when it appeared on the compilation album, "Changesonebowie." The song was re-recorded again in 1974, without the original lyrics, leaving only the chorus, and released under the name "John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)" in 1979 as a 12" release, with a remix of the original version of the song on the B side. Like the original, it charted at number 12 in the UK.

Answer: The McCoys

The McCoys were a rock group from Indiana, USA. "Sorrow" appeared on their debut album, "Hang on Sloopy" and was released as the B side of their single "Fever," which was itself a cover of a 1956 release by American R&B singer Little Willie John. "Sorrow" was covered by the Merseys in 1966, becoming a number four hit in the UK. "Sorrow" was the only single to be released from "Pin Ups" and was Bowie's first number one hit in Australia.

Answer: TVC 15

The song is the story of a holographic television called TVC 15, which the narrator's girlfriend crawls into. The narrator sings about wanting her to return and contemplates crawling in after her so they can "spend some time together." Oddly enough, the number in the title is pronounced "one five" not "fifteen." This song reached number 33 in the UK and 64 in the US. Both Iggy Pop and David Bowie were taking a lot of drugs during this period. Bowie later stated that he could remember almost nothing about the production of "Station to Station" as he was under the influence of cocaine for much of the time.

Not long after making this album, he made the decision to move to West Germany for a while, in an attempt to escape the drug scene in the US and become sober.

Answer: Queen

"Under Pressure" is undoubtedly David Bowie's most celebrated musical collaboration and was also Queen's second number one hit single in the UK. It has been critically acclaimed and has appeared on several lists of the greatest songs of all time. The song's iconic bass riff was notoriously plagiarised by Vanilla Ice in his song "Ice Ice Baby." On a more positive note, in a 2018 episode of the TV show, "The Magicians", the ensemble cast performed a rendition of "Under Pressur"e to complete one step in a magical quest!