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Monoray has acquired David Bowie Rainbowman 1967–1980 by Jérôme Soligny, a “meticulously detailed history of the moments that shaped Bowie’s musical career told by the people who were actually ‘in the room’ with him".
Jake Lingwood, publisher, acquired world English rights from Mathilde Barrois at Gallimard. The book will be released on 5th September 2023 – the year of the 50th anniversary of the release of “Aladdin Sane".
Published in France in 2019 as the first of two volumes, it is now appearing in English for the first time. The publisher says this “uniquely exhaustive work” on Bowie’s 1967–1980 albums draws on over 150 extensive interviews with some of the most significant people in David Bowie’s life – the musicians, producers and friends who knew Bowie best, including Ken Scott, Hermione Farthingale, Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, George Underwood, Mick Ronson, Carlos Alomar, Trevor Bolder, Mike Garson, Woody Woodmansey and many others.
With an essay on each album, followed by oral histories from “the most trusted and influential figures in Bowie’s musical life”, David Bowie Rainbowman: 1967–1980 promises to be “the definitive guide to the musical development of a singular and mercurial genius — the Rainbowman himself".
The book is completed by a foreword by Tony Visconti and an introduction by Mike Garson, with a cover photo by Mick Rock, and a cover design by Barnbrook. Soligny is a musician, writer and journalist based in Le Havre, France. Over the course of 25 years, Soligny spoke with Bowie many times, and interviewed him on numerous occasions for Rock&Folk magazine. He was made Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 2019 and is described by Bryan Ferry as “one of the great French authorities on contemporary music".
Lingwood said: “Rainbowman is a staggering work that is already absolutely essential for Bowie fans who can read French. It’s now such a thrill to bring this to English-speaking readers around the world for the very first time. Just a word of warning though – it’s huge, clocking in at almost 300,000 words, so you might want to book some reading time off work in September 2023 when the book is released!”
Soligny said: “It’s an honour and privilege for me to realise that Rainbowman is going to be published in English, the language of rock music and also David Bowie’s. The whole project took five years of my life, but as my closest friend says ‘there was 40 years of passion before this’. I hope the true lovers of David’s music will be as happy to read the book as I’ve been to write it. Sure, Rainbowman is a heavy brick of paper full of information but also a tribute to musicians and music people – famous and those who stayed in the shadow – who helped David craft his songs and albums. Funnily enough, it’s a musician who brought me to Monoray and no, it can’t be chance. Some things are written in the stars.”