David Bowie: Glam Rock's Starman
David Bowie defined British glam rock by combining an ever-changing extraterrestrial visual image with flashy hard rock, introspective songwriting, soul, electronic experimentation, and more. After “Space Oddity” marked him as a singer and songwriter determined to explore exotic territory, he rose to stardom with his Ziggy Stardust character. Then he moved into soul and eerie futurism with songs like “Young Americans” and “Heroes” before his biggest smash with 1983’s “Let’s Dance.”
This course highlights his peak fifteen years of creativity between the late 1960s and early 1980s and historical commentary amplified with both common and rare video and audio clips.
Faculty Bio
Richie Unterberger is the author of numerous rock history books, including volumes on the Beatles, the Who, the Velvet Underground, and Bob Marley. His most recent book, published in 2022 by Taschen, is San Francisco: Portrait of a City.
This is an In-Person, Livestreamed + Recorded Course
- Classes meet in person at the Golden Bear Center, Suite 365, at 1995 University Ave., Berkeley
- Classes will also stream live simultaneously, and be recorded
- Fee assistance is available if cost is a barrier. Learn more.
Schedule Highlights
- Course starts on Monday, Sept. 18 and ends on Monday, Oct. 23
- Classes meet for six weeks, two hours per session (10–noon)
- Videos will post on Fridays in Member Dashboards
- All course materials, including videos, will be available to view and enjoy through Dec. 31
Member Praise for Richie Unterberger
Everything worked! His class is academic in nature and he has a very deep understanding of the subject matter, and imparts his knowledge so professionally!
Yay, Richie! Mr. Unterberger has an impressive encyclopedic knowledge of rock music and blues. Add to that a skill at assembling historical notes and ferreting out film clips (sometimes obscure) to create a comprehensive, entertaining, and empathetic narrative of his subject.
Faculty Q&A
- Read an interview with Richie Unterberger from our archive.