David Bowie had many illustrious sidemen; Mick Ronson, Tony Visconti, Mike Garson, Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick, Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, Nile Rodgers, Gail Ann Dorsey, to name a few. Which one has the most songwriting co-credits with Bowie?

The answer is Reeves Gabrels. If I wasn’t posting on The Afterword, half of the readers would be open-mouthing “Who?” By my reckoning, he co-wrote forty-one songs between 1987 and 1999, far more than Eno and Alomar. Even if you include songs written with Iggy Pop for Iggy albums, Gabrels wins hands-down.

Gabrels met Bowie in 1987, a time when Bowie had enjoyed a good run of commercial success but endured a lot of criticism. Bowie was sick of playing hits and was ready for something different. Reeves persuaded him to stop being a pop star and become a member of a rock band. The democracy of being a band, led to collective writing of the songs.

Having set that precedent with Tin Machine, Gabrels and Bowie continued to write together through the nineties on Black Tie, White Noise, 1.Outside, Earthling and, finally Hours… Reading that list of albums might not make your heart zing with excitement (especially when you realise » Continue Reading.