David Bowie. Most people who have anything to do with me know that I'm a pretty obsessed Bowie fanboy. They've either seen references to him in my writing, heard me effuse about his awesomeness, heard me put Bowie songs on for classes I teach or even heard me sing his songs. The younger me never understood why rock stars are deified. I still can't say whether it is justifiable in most cases, but it certainly is in Bowie's. He gets more interesting the more one learns about him, and the genius becomes clearer too. No one is perfect, but he exhibited a rare combination of intellect, perfectionism, artistry, humour, ambition and grace. These are qualities transferable to any discipline - he could be anyone's hero.

Pin Ups. Left: performing "Time" (Aladdin Sane). Centre: portraying Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell To Earth. Right: "Heroes" album cover.

And for me, he isn't just a hero, he's useful. In some ways this is clear enough, like the way I use his songs as teaching resources. Other ways are becoming clearer as I discover them. For one thing, he's work - in the form of a book I'm writing, a book unlike any other - but more on that later.

I was hooked initially by "Something In The Air". 'hours . . .' has lots of haters but stubbornly remains one of my favourite albums. "Station To Station" is sung by a man in a space I know so well, and "The Dreamers" might as well have been written about me.

More Pin Ups. Left: as one of The Dreamers performing "Something In The Air". Centre: with Rove McManus, 2004 interview. Right: The Next Day-era salute.

To comprehensively answer Dream's question, my favourite Bowie songs/albums are: well it depends on how many I'm allowed to choose. If just one favourite, it's "The Dreamers" ('hours . . .'; Omikron: The Nomad Soul longer version).

If I'm allowed to pick ten, they are (in chronological order):
    "Cygnet Committee" (Space Oddity)
    "Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (Reprise)" (Diamond Dogs, iSelect)
    "Station to Station" (Station To Station)
    " "Heroes" " ("Heroes"; also covered nicely in Lazarus)
    "The Motel" (1. Outside)
    "Something In The Air" ('hours . . .')
    "The Dreamers" (Omikron: The Nomad Soul longer version from 'hours . . .' Expanded Edition)
    "New Killer Star" (Reality)
    "Love Is Lost" (The Next Day Extra EP; full version (10:25) of the Hello Steve Reich mix. After The Next Day's version)
    "Dollar Days" (Blackstar)

If I'm allowed to pick thirty, they are (in chronological order):
    "Cygnet Committee" (Space Oddity)
    "Queen Bitch" (Hunky Dory)
    "Time" (Aladdin Sane)
    "Sweet Thing / Candidate / Sweet Thing (Reprise)" (Diamond Dogs, iSelect)
    "Win" (Young Americans)
    "Station to Station" (Station To Station)
    "Golden Years" (Station To Station)
    "Art Decade" (Low)
    " "Heroes" " ("Heroes"; also covered nicely in Lazarus)
    "Teenage Wildlife" (Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps))
    "Loving The Alien" (Tonight)
    "Jump They Say" (Black Tie White Noise)
    "The Mysteries" (The Buddha of Suburbia)
    "Untitled No. 1" (The Buddha of Suburbia; now why can't every song be this good?)
    "The Enemy is Fragile" (Leon; 'Would you like something really fishy?')
    "Hallo Spaceboy" (version featuring the Pet Shop Boys, various compilations; after the version on 1. Outside)
    "The Motel" (1. Outside)
    "Little Wonder" (Earthling)
    "Something In The Air" ('hours . . .')
    "Survive" ('hours . . .')
    "The Dreamers" (Omikron: The Nomad Soul longer version from 'hours . . .' Expanded Edition)
    "No One Calls" ('hours . . .' Expanded Edition)
    "Slip Away" (Heathen)
    "Slow Burn" (Heathen)
    "New Killer Star" (Reality)
    "Bring Me The Disco King" (live from A Reality Tour)
    "Love Is Lost" (The Next Day Extra EP; full version (10:25) of the Hello Steve Reich mix. After The Next Day's version)
    "Heat" (The Next Day)
    "★" ("Blackstar") (Blackstar)
    "Dollar Days" (Blackstar)

My favourite album is Station To Station. My favourite ten albums are:
    Aladdin Sane (1973)
    Station To Station (1976)
    Low (1977)
    "Heroes" (1977)
    The Buddha of Suburbia (1993)
    Leon / 1. Outside (1995)
    'hours . . .' (1999)
    Heathen (2002)
    The Next Day (2013)
    Blackstar (2016)

For a while I was, as far as I knew, the only listener who picked 'hours . . .' as their favourite album. I think most who give this beautiful album a fair hearing will at least grant that it is quite underrated. It's poorly understood, but I could write a thesis about it - and just might. Unfortunately for that album, there are some inclusions that spoil it a little, and I have to say that Station To Station's unerring epicness make it the winner in my book. The epic circumstance of its creation, its innovation and power of each of its songs put it in a class of one, as far as I can tell.

'hours . . .' and The Buddha of Suburbia are his most underrated albums. At the other end, I'd say that Ziggy Stardust is his most overrated album - as catchy as it can be, it's a long way from his best work. Its chronological neighbours in the Bowie corpus (Hunky Dory and Aladdin Sane) are both more interesting. The only album I dislike is Never Let Me Down (but the first half of that could have been a nice EP, I think). David Bowie, Tonight and Tin Machine are sort-of-okay. The rest is mighty fine.

As much fun as this DB shtick is, I have other favourites. Here's a little about those.