David Bowie part 1

Even in his early, pre-fame days, David Bowie was different: his songs belonged to US Rock'n'Roll as much as they belonged to British Music Hall, French Chanson and German Expressionism. He was telling stories of misfits within misfits. Songs like "Unkle Arthur", who lives with his mother and still reads comics. His foray into "normality" (otherwise known as straight marriage) is very short and Arthur soon returns to mother. Or "Little Bombardier", the story of an ex-military man, disillusioned and lonely since "peace made him a loser", who finds a purpose in life in the friendship and trust of two boys, but when the authorities accuse him of pedophilia, he leaves town to carry on with his lonely existence.

Then there are the songs that belong in this list: "She's Got Medals" is a funny little ditty about a trans man who enlisted ("passed the medical, don't ask me how it's done"), became a hero and then...

Round about the same time, not far from the Summer of Love of 1967, David once again chose to go against the prevailing theme of love and flower power by giving us "The London Boys", a tale of disillusionment starring a 17-year-old who came to London to find excitement (a theme similar to yesterday’s entry) only to get pulled into partying, drugs, casual sex and hustling. The gay references are very discreet and are in sync with the song's era. After all, in 1967, homosexual acts between consenting adults were still illegal in the UK.