Editing David Bowie (section)

===1962–1967: Early career to debut album<span class="anchor" id="The Lower Third"></span>===
[[File:David Bowie (1967).png|thumb|upright|alt=A close-up of a man looking to the camera|A trade ad photo of Bowie in 1967]]
Bowie formed his first band, the Konrads, in 1962 at the age of 15. 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.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|p=28}} When Bowie left the technical school the following year, he informed his parents of his intention to become a pop star. His mother 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 entrepreneur [[John Bloom (businessman)|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]]'s partner Leslie Conn led to Bowie's first personal management contract.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|pp=29–30}}

Conn quickly began to promote Bowie. His debut single, "[[Liza Jane (David Bowie song)|Liza Jane]]", credited to Davie Jones with the King Bees, was not commercially successful.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=166–167}}{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chaps. 1–2}} 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]]", he recalled.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|pp=29–30}} 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, signalling 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, helped secure him a contract with [[Pye Records]]. Publicist [[Tony Hatch]] signed Bowie on the basis that he wrote his own songs.{{sfn|Trynka|2011|pp=65–66}} Dissatisfied with Davy (and Davie) Jones, which in the mid-1960s invited confusion with [[Davy Jones (musician)|Davy Jones]] of [[the Monkees]], he took on the stage name David Bowie after the 19th-century American pioneer [[James Bowie]] and [[Bowie knife|the knife he had popularised]].{{sfn|Cann|2010|pp=64–67}}{{sfn|Trynka|2011|pp=54–59}}{{sfn|Buckley|2000|p=33}} His first release under the name was the January 1966 single "[[Can't Help Thinking About Me]]", recorded with the Lower Third.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=55–57}} It flopped like its predecessors.{{sfn|Trynka|2011|pp=69–70}}

Bowie departed the Lower Third after the single's release, partly due to Horton's influence,{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=55–57}} and released two more singles for Pye, "[[Do Anything You Say]]" and "[[I Dig Everything]]", both of which featured a new band called the Buzz, before signing with [[Deram Records]].{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chaps. 1–2}} Around this time Bowie also joined [[the Riot Squad]]; their recordings, which included one of Bowie's original songs and material by [[the Velvet Underground]], went unreleased. [[Kenneth Pitt]], introduced by Horton, took over as Bowie's manager.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|pp=35–39}} His April 1967 solo single, "[[The Laughing Gnome]]", on which speeded-up and high-pitched vocals were used to portray the gnome, failed to chart. Released six weeks later, his album debut, ''[[David Bowie (1967 album)|David Bowie]]'', an amalgam of pop, [[Psychedelic rock|psychedelia]] and [[music hall]], met the same fate. It was his last release for two years.{{sfn|Sandford|1997|pp=41–42}} In September, Bowie recorded "[[Let Me Sleep Beside You]]" and "[[Karma Man]]", both rejected by Deram and left unreleased until 1970. The tracks marked the beginning of Bowie's working relationship with producer [[Tony Visconti]] which, with large gaps, lasted for the rest of Bowie's career.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=146, 157}}{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 2}}