10 Bands Who Used Songs To 'One-Up' Rival Artists
6. Bowie's 'Life On Mars' Was Revenge For Sinatra's 'My Way'
Before he became Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, or the Thin White Duke, David Bowie was merely a humble songwriter trying to make a career for himself. Once Bowie started to get competitive about his art though, he ended up launching one of the golden periods of his career.
In his early days, Bowie had found an old French tune that he wanted to write for an English record company. After throwing together a lyric called "Even a Fool Learns to Love," his offering was quickly rejected by his superiors. Shrugging it off at the time, Bowie became much more perturbed when he heard the song on the radio a few months later when Paul Anka wrote different lyrics to the tune, which ended up being "My Way" by Frank Sinatra.
Not wanting to be forgotten, Bowie decided to get his revenge on his rejection and wrote a similar tune to rival "My Way," which turned into the glam rock masterwork "Life on Mars?." This new song not only blew up on the charts, but also became the blueprint for Bowie embracing glam rock and creating his alter ego Ziggy Stardust. Once the song was eventually released on the album Hunky Dory, Bowie even cheekily thanked Sinatra in the liner notes for inspiring him to write the tune.