<P> In 1962 Bowie formed his first band at the age of 15, named the Konrads . Playing guitar - based rock and roll at local youth gatherings and weddings, the Konrads had a varying line - up of between four and eight members, Underwood among them . When Bowie left the technical school the following year, he informed his parents of his intention to become a pop star . His mother promptly arranged his employment as an electrician's mate . Frustrated by his bandmates' limited aspirations, Bowie left the Konrads and joined another band, the King Bees . He wrote to the newly successful washing - machine entrepreneur John Bloom inviting him to "do for us what Brian Epstein has done for the Beatles--and make another million ." Bloom did not respond to the offer, but his referral to Dick James' partner Leslie Conn led to Bowie's first personal management contract . </P> <P> Conn quickly began to promote Bowie . The singer's debut single, "Liza Jane", credited to Davie Jones and the King Bees, was not commercially successful . Dissatisfied with the King Bees and their repertoire of Howlin' Wolf and Willie Dixon covers, Bowie quit the band less than a month later to join the Manish Boys, another blues outfit, who incorporated folk and soul--"I used to dream of being their Mick Jagger", Bowie was to recall . Their cover of Bobby Bland's "I Pity the Fool" was no more successful than "Liza Jane", and Bowie soon moved on again to join the Lower Third, a blues trio strongly influenced by The Who . "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" fared no better, signaling the end of Conn's contract . Declaring that he would exit the pop music world "to study mime at Sadler's Wells", Bowie nevertheless remained with the Lower Third . His new manager, Ralph Horton, later instrumental in his transition to solo artist, soon witnessed Bowie's move to yet another group, the Buzz, yielding the singer's fifth unsuccessful single release, "Do Anything You Say". While with the Buzz, Bowie also joined the Riot Squad; their recordings, which included one of Bowie's original songs and material by The Velvet Underground, went unreleased . Ken Pitt, introduced by Horton, took over as Bowie's manager . </P> <P> Dissatisfied with his stage name as Davy (and Davie) Jones, which in the mid-1960s invited confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees, Bowie renamed himself after the 19th - century American pioneer James Bowie and the knife he had popularised . His April 1967 solo single, "The Laughing Gnome", using speeded - up thus high - pitched vocals, failed to chart . Released six weeks later, his album debut, David Bowie, an amalgam of pop, psychedelia, and music hall, met the same fate . It was his last release for two years . </P> <P> Bowie met dancer Lindsay Kemp in 1967 and enrolled in his dance class at the London Dance Centre . He commented in 1972 that meeting Kemp was when his interest in image "really blossomed". "He lived on his emotions, he was a wonderful influence . His day - to - day life was the most theatrical thing I had ever seen, ever . It was everything I thought Bohemia probably was . I joined the circus ." Studying the dramatic arts under Kemp, from avant - garde theatre and mime to commedia dell'arte, Bowie became immersed in the creation of personae to present to the world . Satirising life in a British prison, meanwhile, the Bowie - penned "Over the Wall We Go" became a 1967 single for Oscar; another Bowie composition, "Silly Boy Blue", was released by Billy Fury the following year . In January 1968, Kemp choreographed a dance scene for a BBC play, The Pistol Shot, in the Theatre 625 series, and used Bowie with a dancer, Hermione Farthingale; the pair began dating, and moved into a London flat together . Playing acoustic guitar, Farthingale formed a group with Bowie and guitarist John Hutchinson; between September 1968 and early 1969 the trio gave a small number of concerts combining folk, Merseybeat, poetry and mime . Bowie and Farthingale broke up in early 1969 when she went to Norway to take part in a film, Song of Norway; this affected him, and several songs, such as "Letter to Hermione" and "Life on Mars?" reference her, and for the video accompanying "Where Are We Now?", he wore a T - shirt with the words "m / s Song of Norway". They were last together in January 1969 for the filming of Love You till Tuesday, a 30 - minute film that was not released until 1984: intended as a promotional vehicle, it featured performances from Bowie's repertoire, including "Space Oddity", which had not been released when the film was made . </P>

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