The Soul Man

The Soul Man is a persona created by David Bowie for the Diamond Dogs tour. Specifically for the soul part of the tour, that included songs from the then forthcoming, R&B and soul album: Young Americans. However, his first appearance was as a DJ in the song Starman From The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

The Soul Man wears Puerto Rican-style clothing, has long, orange, slicked back hair and shaved eyebrows. He appears on the front of the cover for Young Americans. He is somewhat of a precursor to The Thin White Duke, who also sported a slicked back orange haircut, and had a Soul and R&B sound on the following album: Station to Station.

Bowie appeared in this persona at the height of his coke intake, while living in Los Angeles. A documentary called Cracked Actor by Alan Yentob, showed his fragile state of mind at the time. It wasn't until David got cast to be in the movie: The Man Who Fell To Earth, that The Soul Man was retired.