Page "David Bowie" Paragraph 33

The final piece in what Bowie called his " triptych ", Lodger ( 1979 ), eschewed the minimalist, ambient nature of the other two, making a partial return to the drum-and guitar-based rock and pop of his pre-Berlin era.

The result was a complex mixture of New Wave and World Music, in places incorporating Hejaz non-Western scales.

Some tracks were composed using Eno and Peter Schmidt's Oblique Strategies cards: " Boys Keep Swinging " entailed band members swapping instruments, " Move On " used the chords from Bowie's early composition " All the Young Dudes " played backwards, and " Red Money " took backing tracks from " Sister Midnight ", a piece previously composed with Iggy Pop.

The album was recorded in Switzerland.

Ahead of its release, RCA's Mel Ilberman stated, " It would be fair to call it Bowie's Sergeant Pepper [...] a concept album that portrays the Lodger as a homeless wanderer, shunned and victimized by life's pressures and technology.

" As described by biographer Christopher Sandford, " The record dashed such high hopes with dubious choices, and production that spelt the end — for fifteen years — of Bowie's partnership with Eno.

" Lodger reached number 4 in the UK and number 20 in the US, and yielded the UK hit singles " Boys Keep Swinging " and " DJ ".

Towards the end of the year, Bowie and Angela initiated divorce proceedings, and after months of court battles the marriage was ended in early 1980.