For Bowie, a time of renewal

There’s a reason most David Bowie retrospectives focus on his material from the ‘70s. During that inventive pop decade, the colorful Englishman turned out as many or more quality albums as any of his fellow Rock and Roll Hall of Fame members, including Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Neil Young.

The amazingly prolific Bowie released nearly a dozen studio collections during the ‘70s, eight of them arguably “keepers” that celebrated the singer-songwriter’s keen feel for both introspective art and showbiz flair. Bowie’s greatest gift, however, may have been his role as a pop sociologist, someone who was able to pick up on, and then amplify in his music, even the slightest shift in cultural characteristics.

A new CD/DVD package reminds us that Bowie, whose albums have not been distinguished in many years, was still in tune with the zeitgeist for a while in the ‘80s. “The Best of David Bowie 1980-1987: Sight & Sound,” in fact, is an essential chapter in the career of an artist who brought an intoxicating imagination to his early work as he touched on a remarkable range of styles and themes.

David Bowie

“The Best of David Bowie 1980-1987: Sight & Sound”

Virgin/EMI

The back story: Examining equally social and sexual mores, Bowie opened as many doors in the ‘70s as almost anyone of his generation, whether it was wearing a dress on the cover of one album or portraying a rock ‘n’ roll star from outer space in another collection. Indeed, one of the recurring subjects in his classic “Hunky Dory” album was the inevitability of change.

In the song “Changes,” he even warned his young, rebellious fans that they may eventually grow more conservative in time: “Look out you rock ‘n’ rollers ... pretty soon you’re gonna get a little older.” Bowie was 25 when that album entered the U.S. sales chart in the spring of 1972, but he already seemed “mature” by rock standards of the time; as much influenced by the dramatic sweep of Judy Garland as the poetic power of Dylan.

In an interview after his equally commanding “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” album later that same year, Bowie told me, “What frightens me is that people are holding on to a century that is fast dying.... I think that things are going to change so incredibly and so drastically that we should really start developing our ideas along a different tangent.... It’s going to be a brave new world and we ought to join it or we become living relics.”

Provocative stuff, and Bowie’s ever-changing music reflected that sense of urgency -- at least it did in such other stirring works as the bright, eclectic “Aladdin Sane” and the icy “Low.” The problem was that Bowie’s drug-related lifestyle was as troubled in the mid-’70s as the often neurotic characters in his songs.

The triumph of his “Scary Monsters” album, the 1980 package that contained four of the songs chosen for the new retrospective, was that Bowie finally displayed a fresh, upbeat spirit. In 1983’s “Let’s Dance” album, which also featured four songs found on “Sight & Sound,” the charismatic performer even explored themes of survival and hope with the exuberance of someone who had been given a second chance. The album’s “Modern Love” was a dazzling expression of faith in the future.

There are other tracks of note on the new compilation, including his teaming with Queen on the sonic marvel “Under Pressure” and Bowie’s edgy “Cat People.” But it’s the eight songs from “Scary Monsters” and “Let’s Dance” that best document how one of the great pop stars of the ‘70s ended up a survivor rather than a casualty. The DVD features 15 Bowie videos from the period, including “Ashes to Ashes,” “Modern Love” and “Absolute Beginners.”

Further listening: Virgin/EMI has also released a special CD/DVD version of Bowie’s soul-flavored 1975 album, “Young Americans,” complete with Bowie’s appearance on “The Dick Cavett Show.” The singer was so nervous and erratic during the TV interview that it is unsettling to even watch him. The same clip appears on Shout! Factory’s highly recommended “The Dick Cavett Show/Rock Icons.” ... And what about Bowie’s ‘70s material? “Changesbowie” is a good starting point, a single disc with 18 tracks, including five from “Ashes to Ashes” and “Let’s Dance.”

Backtracking, a biweekly feature, highlights CD reissues and other historical pop music items.