60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
1/14/66 – Singer David Jones legally ch-ch-ch-changes his name to David Bowie to avoid being confused with new teen pop star Davy Jones of The Monkees. His first commercial release under his new name will follow later this month.
I never quite got this one … and have done a bit of research on it …
In January of 1966, nobody in the entire world knew who Davy Jones OR The Monkees were … their television series wouldn’t debut for another eight months … and their first hit single wasn't released until a month before their series premiered. In fact, in January of 1966, the series hadn't even been green-lit yet! Meaning that at this point, it wasn't even certain that there was ever going to BE The Monkees!!!
I also found August 4th as the date Bowie changed his name, which would seem to be a bit more timely … but Bowie’s first release under the Bowie moniker did, in fact, come out in January of 1966, so I’m going with it. He says he picked “Bowie” because he always liked the sound of that big, American bowie knife … but I also read that he never LEGALLY changed his name at all … he only adopted it as his stage name, by which he became known the world over … so I guess at this point, who really knows for sure?!?!
MY guess is that in January of 1966, the name David Jones just sounded a little bit too "pedestrian" (in a Jack Jones sort of way) to become the kind of artist David Bowie wanted to become. All I know is that once he changed it, his world (and ours) changed completely ... and would never be the same again. (kk)
