‘The Glory of The Human Voice’: David Bowie’s favourite outsider album
The late David Bowie was a lifelong fan of outsider artists. A lover of creative oddities since he was young, this preference made sense, as for a long time, the Brixton native also operated exterior to the mainstream sphere, taking him years to finally find his way into the inner sanctum. Whether it be Syd Barrett’s solo work, The Fugs, or even avant-garde composers, it might have taken him a while, but it was the music of the peripheries that helped Bowie establish his own unique style.
Throughout his career, Bowie threw his support behind a colourful array of musicians. Explaining why he loved almost everything, he once said: “I don’t see any boundaries between any of the art forms. I think they all inter-relate completely.” Notably, the only form of music he was vocally opposed to was country and western.
It was Bowie’s older half-brother, Terry Burns, whom he credited with informing his deep love for outsider music. From Beat poetry to jazz, Burns showed Bowie the way, lighting his creative fire and fascination for art that existed in opposition to that of the mainstream. The ‘Starman’ musician said that Burns gave him “the greatest serviceable education that I could have had. He just introduced me to the outside things”.
Bowie added: “I saw the magic, and I caught the enthusiasm for it because of his enthusiasm for it. And I kinda wanted to be like him.”
Whilst Bowie would discuss an array of different outsider artists across his career, when listing his 25 favourite albums for Vanity Fair in 2003, he provided one of the most clear-cut exhibitions of his love of art from off the beaten track, raking through his 2,500 vinyl records to select those he cherished most. Barely any of the titles were household names.
Whilst the collection featured oddities, including former Soft Machine member Robert Wyatt’s album Shipbuilding and Syd Barrett’s The Madcap Laughs, the most notable inclusion was The Glory (????) of the Human Voice by the storied Florence Foster Jenkins, the worst opera singer in history. First released in 1962, featuring in Bowie’s list makes it his favourite outsider album, given that it is by far the most fascinating and challenging listen of them all.
Famously, Jenkins was born in 1868 to one of America’s wealthiest families. A lifelong lover of music, she performed from an early age at society functions. After being blocked from pursuing music by he father when a teenager, she later used the substantial inheritance received after his passing to become an opera singer alongside being a member of the East Coast’s elite.
This was 1912, and she was 44 at the time. Jenkins had always desired more than anything to be a star. Despite being evident to all who watched her that she butchered the music, she continued to plough on in the face of intense mockery, deludedly believing the laughter was applause. Accordingly, the astounding spectacle of her act continued to spread like wildfire and be a fixture of culture, and even at the ripe age of 76 in 1944, she sold out New York’s Carnegie Hall for the biggest show of her career. She passed away later that year.
The only professional recordings Jenkins made are nine selections on five 78-rpm records she produced at her own expense and sold to her friends for $2.50 a copy. Seven of these selections were released on RCA Victor as a ten-inch LP before being reissued as a 12-inch album in 1962 as The Glory (????) of the Human Voice. An intriguing but comically painful listen, it delineates Jenkins’ position as an outsider artist at the heart of the elite, one of the greatest ironies music has ever known. There’s no wonder Bowie found her so compelling.
Listen to The Glory (????) of the Human Voice below.
