NPR 50: The long tail of David Bowie's explosive 'Hunky Dory'

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First came the Beatles, then the Stones — but by 1971 , the British invasion was already starting to fade and David Bowie was at a crossroads. His first three albums were commercial flops, and he was worried that his 1969 U.K. song "Space Oddity" would turn out to be a one-hit wonder. He tried side projects, collaborations and giving his songs away to other artists, such as Dana Gillespie and Peter Noone of Herman's Hermits.

When Mercury Records sent Bowie to the U.S. to promote his third studio album, The Man Who Sold the World, he was held in customs at Dulles airport owing to his long hair, maxi-coat, and chiffon scarf. He also had the wrong kind of visa, which restricted his ability to perform. But Bowie nevertheless made his way to New York, and then on to California, where he did interviews and took in the sights.

He returned to England with ideas to spare, recalls keyboardist Rick Wakeman. "He called me up and said would I like to go 'round to his house, Haddon Hall, in Beckenham, Kent, and I went up and he had a battered old 12-string guitar and he started playing me these songs, one after the other." Bowie recruited Wakeman, who'd played Mellotron on "Space Oddity," to back him, as well as Woody Woodmansey on drums, Trevor Bolder on bass and Mick Ronson on guitar. The album was co-produced by Ken Scott and Bowie himself.