Every raving Bowie fan is going to have a collection. But what if you're new to Bowie and haven't a clue as to what's worth your money? Or what if you live in some sheepherding village and have no access to Bowie stuff? Then what? Never fear, my essentials guide is here! This is stuff every fan should be able to enjoy. Some of this stuff will be easy to procure, some of it will be harder. Here are some good places to look: ebay, half.com, amazon.com, Tennage Wildlife's Collector's Corner forum, used record shops, used book stores, garage sales, cdswanted.com. If you found a great place to score Bowie stuff, please e-mail me about it!

Basic Collection Outline

Albums, Compilations, and Soundtracks

For 70's and 80's albums, I would reccomend the Rykodisc reissues because they have bonus tracks. These are a little hard to find though, so you'll probably have to settle for the Virgin/EMI reissues, but the Rykodisc editions are worth the effort of searching for them.

Primaries

Absolutely essential recordings that no fan should be without.

The Man Who Sold The World
Hunky Dory
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
Aladdin Zane
Diamond Dogs
Young Americans
Station To Station
Low
"Heroes"
Lodger
Scary Monsters
Let's Dance
Tin Machine I
Tin Machine II
Black Tie White Noise
The Buddha Of Suburbia
1.Outside
Earthling
...hours
Cool World Soundtrack
The Saint Soundtrack
Lost Highway Soundtrack
Low Symphony
"Heroes" Symphony


Secondaries

These just depend on your taste.

Space Oddity
Early On
I Dig Everything: The Pye Singles
Tonight
Never Let Me Down
Showgirls Soundtrack
Changesbowie
Live FRom 6A : Music From Late Night With Conan O' Brien

Books

Definitely required reading.

The Complete Guide To The Music Of David Bowie by David Buckley

BOWIESTYLE by Mark Paytress

Strange Fascination by David Buckley (look for the updated second edition)

The Complete David Bowie

Alias David Bowie by Gilpin


Movies

Some are woefully underrated, some are crap, and some are spectacular. You can decide which fall into each category.

The Man Who Fell To Earth (Look for the 140 minute version)

Just A Gigolo

Into The Night

The Hunger

Absolute Beginners

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

Labyrinth

Yellowbeard

The Linguini Incident

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me

Basquiat

Busted

Mr Rice's Secret

Il Mio West

Concert Procedure

So you got tickets to the Bowie show. God is good. Now, how do you make it an affair to remember? Read and learn, child.

The Gear

* cash money, dog.
* a sharpie
* something small that Bowie can sign for you
* a small camera and several rolls of film. If there is a girl in your party, a smart thing to do is to wrap the camera and film in maxi pad wrappers and have her carry them in her bag. Security won't go near them when they search your stuff.
* water, if you can. You want to faint from the sight of Bowie, not dehydration.
* an unusual sign or other attention getting object you can hold up

The Ensemble

A Bowie concert is quite an event, so dress to impress. You might want to start preparing your outfit weeks in advance. Some ideas are:

*something reminiscint of one of Bowie's personas(after all,you don't want to look like a total clone), like a gas mask , black suit and bleached hair, or a feather boa and a barely there dress. If you're going in a group you might want to have a common theme; you dress up like the Spiders, or the characters from 1.Outside.

* if you wear make-up, make sure its waterproof/long wearing. Otherwise you'll look like a melted Barbie doll after three songs.

* don't wear high heels if you're going to be standing most of the time. Boots tend to be the best thing to wear, since they can be outlandish but still provide comfort and foot support.

* lastly, don't be afraid to go all-out. This is a unique and glorious event, so let you imagination run crazy!

and should you meet the man...

DO

* breathe deeply and relax.
* look him in the eye
* shake his hand and say thanks
* keep it brief but interesting (not interesting in the sense that you vomit on his shoes from nerves). Ask him what inspired your favorite painting by him, or if he still sleeps with his elbows up like he said he did in the Burroughs interview.

DON'T

* gush about how great he is. He knows that, and besides, no one likes a sycophant
* ask for free tickets or a backstage visit
* proposition him (he's married! have some shame!)
* inquire into his personal life