David Bowie (Sep. 1980) Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) – New Musical Express Advert

A full‑page RCA advertisement for Bowie’s landmark album *Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)*, combining collage photography, handwritten typography, and stark monochrome design to reflect the album’s fractured, avant‑garde aesthetic.

Writer: RCA Records / New Musical Express

Artist: David Bowie

Date: September 27, 1980

Length: 5 min read

This *New Musical Express* advert promotes Bowie’s new album *Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)*, released in autumn 1980. The composition features Bowie’s painted Pierrot persona surrounded by layered photographs and shadowed silhouettes, evoking the album’s themes of distortion and reinvention. Handwritten notes list the track titles — “It’s No Game,” “Up the Hill Backwards,” “Ashes to Ashes,” “Fashion,” and others — while the phrases “Often Copied / Never Equalled” frame the design with confident irony. The advert’s fragmented imagery mirrors the record’s sonic experimentation, blending art‑rock, electronic textures, and lyrical introspection. RCA’s campaign positioned *Scary Monsters* as both culmination and rebirth — Bowie’s definitive statement at the dawn of the 1980s.

PUBLICATION

Publication: New Musical Express (NME)

Date: September 27, 1980

Country: United Kingdom

Section / Pages: Full‑page Advert (Page 39)

Title: Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) – Album Promotion

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS

Event: Promotion of Bowie’s album  *Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)*

Era: 1980 / Post‑Berlin period

Tone: Artistic, fragmented, modernist

Photography: Collage portrait and shadow  composition

Audience: British music press readers and  Bowie collectors

“Often Copied – Never Equalled.”

THE STORY BEHIND IT

Released in September 1980, *Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)* marked Bowie’s return to mainstream acclaim after his experimental Berlin trilogy. The advert’s design encapsulates the album’s duality — the tension between artifice and authenticity. The handwritten track list adds intimacy, while the layered imagery suggests fragmentation and self‑reflection. RCA’s tagline asserts Bowie’s originality amid a changing musical landscape, positioning him as the benchmark for innovation. The advert’s stark aesthetic aligns with the album’s production style: sharp, angular, and emotionally charged.

WHAT THE CLIPPING SHOWS

Event: NME advert for David Bowie’s album *Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)*

Era: 1980 / Art‑rock transition

Tone: Stylised, conceptual, assertive

Photography: Pierrot portrait with shadow collage

Audience: Music press and design enthusiasts

CONTEXT & NOTES

The advert’s visual language reflects Bowie’s collaboration with photographer Brian Duffy and designer Edward Bell, whose work defined the *Scary Monsters* era. The interplay of handwritten text and photographic montage conveys both vulnerability and control — a hallmark of Bowie’s late‑1970s persona. The phrase “Often Copied / Never Equalled” became emblematic of his artistic confidence. This piece remains one of the most iconic promotional designs of Bowie’s career, bridging the theatricality of *Ashes to Ashes* with the precision of *Fashion*.

“RCA Album Cassette.”

SOURCES

New Musical Express (September 27, 1980)

Publication verified from archival advert records

Context cross‑checked with RCA and *Scary Monsters* release documentation

External anchors: Discogs / Wikipedia (where applicable)

RELATED MATERIAL

• David Bowie – Fashion Advert (Nov. 1980)

• The Elephant Man Cometh – Cover (Sep. 1980)

• Subscribe – NME With Bowie Pierrot Advert (Jul. 1980)

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All magazine scans, photographs, and original text excerpts remain the property of their respective copyright holders. This Chronicle entry is a transformative, non‑commercial archival summary created for historical documentation and educational reference. No ownership of the original material is claimed or implied.