RIP David Bowie

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[Smitty]

I was born in '85, so I wasn't around in Bowie's prime like some of y'all so I see him from a different perspective. Seeing's how I'm looking backwards, I've always considered Lou Reed and Bowie to be equals with Reed being the slightly "bigger" legend; I mean shit, it's obvious Bowie was extremely influenced by Lou (although I've come to realize mid-to-late 70's Lou owed just as much to Bowie). On a personal level I've always been more of a Lou/VU fan and I've probably listened to them 100x to 1 more than Bowie, which is why Lou's death hit me harder. It also goes to say I need to listen to more Bowie; aside from Diamond Dogs and Heroes, all I've ever really heard was a greatest hits I had as a teenager that I think was titled Changes.

[Zip City]

Interesting that you'd think Reed is the bigger legend. I think if you asked 100 people on the street, the vast majority would pick Bowie for his persona alone

[beantownbubba]

Interesting that you'd think Reed is the bigger legend. I think if you asked 100 people on the street, the vast majority would pick Bowie for his persona alone

i think that in the sense Smitty is using it, Reed's the bigger legend, Bowie the bigger star, where legend is not a synonym for star. "Legend" being more the influencer whose disciples went on to become bigger stars, the kind of artist only the cooler kids knew about, usually the kind of artist associated w/ darker lifestyles, etc. For sure Bowie's the more recognizable name because part of Bowie's fame/legend was mainstream celebrity and everyone who knows Reed knows Bowie but not vice versa. While Reed grew bigger than the typical legend of the type I describe and "Walk on the Wild Side" and the delayed "discovery" of the VU gave him a taste of more mainstream stardom, he spent a good part of his life in those shadows. You're right that part of Bowie's fame is based on those various personas* but that's much more of a modern celebrity/starmaking legend well-known in the suburbs as opposed to whispered about in Greenwich Village and some other places, often associated w/ universities and frequented by rock critics and other suspect types.



*personae? what do you think, dime?

Edited once for grammar

[linkous]

Interesting that you'd think Reed is the bigger legend. I think if you asked 100 people on the street, the vast majority would pick Bowie for his persona alone

i think that in the sense Smitty is using it, Reed's the bigger legend, Bowie the bigger star, where legend is not a synonym for star. "Legend" being more the influencer who's disciples went on to become bigger stars, the kind of artist only the cooler kids knew about, usually the kind of artist associated w/ darker lifestyles, etc. For sure Bowie's the more recognizable name because part of Bowie's fame/legend was mainstream celebrity and everyone who knows Reed knows Bowie but not vice versa. While Reed grew bigger than the typical legend of the type I describe and "Walk on the Wild Side" and the delayed "discovery" of the VU gave him a taste of more mainstream stardom, he spent a good part of his life in those shadows. You're right that part of Bowie's fame is based on those various personas* but that's much more of a modern celebrity/starmaking legend well-known in the suburbs as opposed to whispered about in Greenwich Village and some other places, often associated w/ universities and frequented by rock critics and other suspect types.

Could almost have written that myself BB

In Britain pretty much everybody knew who Bowie was, the small amount that did not certainly know now. A depressingly large amount of people did not know who Lou was in Britain, and even of those that did know him they probably couldn't name more than 2 or 3 Lou/VU records.

[linkous]

Interesting that you'd think Reed is the bigger legend. I think if you asked 100 people on the street, the vast majority would pick Bowie for his persona alone

In terms of recognition worldwide I reckon Bowie is recognised in far larger numbers than Lou is.

In terms of recognition from the British establishment/monarchy, apparently Bowie told them they could stick their proposed knighthood (to make him Sir David Bowie)where the sun don't shine.

"David Bowie allegedly declined a knighthood in 2003, and before that had refused a CBE. When questioned about his decision Bowie reportedly said it wasn’t what he spent his life working for. David Bowie is therefore the ultimate rebel, unimpressed by nobility and fancy titles."

In my eyes, that means it's not just his music that elevates him above Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Bob Geldof, Sir Elton John, Sir Mick Jagger, Sir Bono etc.

[PonyGirl]

Interesting that you'd think Reed is the bigger legend. I think if you asked 100 people on the street, the vast majority would pick Bowie for his persona alone

i think that in the sense Smitty is using it, Reed's the bigger legend, Bowie the bigger star, where legend is not a synonym for star. "Legend" being more the influencer who's disciples went on to become bigger stars, the kind of artist only the cooler kids knew about, usually the kind of artist associated w/ darker lifestyles, etc. For sure Bowie's the more recognizable name because part of Bowie's fame/legend was mainstream celebrity and everyone who knows Reed knows Bowie but not vice versa. While Reed grew bigger than the typical legend of the type I describe and "Walk on the Wild Side" and the delayed "discovery" of the VU gave him a taste of more mainstream stardom, he spent a good part of his life in those shadows. You're right that part of Bowie's fame is based on those various personas* but that's much more of a modern celebrity/starmaking legend well-known in the suburbs as opposed to whispered about in Greenwich Village and some other places, often associated w/ universities and frequented by rock critics and other suspect types.



*personae? what do you think, dime?

Oh Bubsie! Not unlike my boyfriend, D. Bowie, you are both a true gentleman and a true scholar. Bowie vs. Reed or Reed vs. Bowie, the answer is always "yes." I honestly don't think it matters. For me Bowie has always been everything, even though we were estranged for like a decade after the Glass Spider Tour. But that doesn't mean I don't love and admire Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground, because I hold them in the highest esteem, especially given my appreciation of all things Andy Warhol, along with my love of most things associated with Bowie, not to mention that the music stands on its own regardless of the various art movements it may be connected to. Don't know if you had to use the words 'Bowie' and 'suburbs' together quite the way you did, but I guess ultimately what's important is that people are talking about Bowie and talking about Lou Reed and that's an exciting conversation, to me, anyway. And while we need to talk about Bowie and Reed, I think, especially in regards to a few videos posted in this thread, it would be criminal to not acknowledge Mick Ronson because we lost him as well and damn it, his guitar sound is really superlative and should also be recognized. I fucking love Mick Ronson so much.

[linkous]

If Bowie had written Heroes in ye olden times!!

[Rocky]

I remember Carson saying, "It better be good after all this" so I guess that makes me old.

[dime in the gutter]

*personae? what do you think, dime?

about personae or personas?

or about reed vs bowie.....legend vs. star?

[dime in the gutter]

ronson lovers unite.

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

ronson lovers unite.

Answering the call!

[PonyGirl]

ronson lovers unite.

Answering the call!

God I'm such a flake. When will I learn not to come home drunk and post stuff?

But yeah, Mick Ronson... LOVE. (and yeah, you're still a gentleman and a scholar, Bubba.)

[beantownbubba]

*personae? what do you think, dime?

about personae or personas?

or about reed vs bowie.....legend vs. star?

i meant the former but would of course be interested in your thoughts on the latter as well.

[beantownbubba]

When will I learn not to come home drunk and post stuff?

Hopefully never. We have an insatiable appetite for entertainment of all sorts.

And drunk or not, thanks.

[John A Arkansawyer]

[linkous]

Bowie albums make up 25% of all albums in the UK Top 40 this week

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-35326988

(Who in their right mind buys the album The Best of 1980-1987? )

[Bill in CT]

"Have A Listen To David Bowie's 2 Hour 1979 BBC DJ Set"

http://www.deephouseamsterdam.com/londo ... bc-dj-set/

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

at this moment I can't stop listening to Lady Stardust, got it on repeat......

And he was alright, the band was altogether
Yes he was alright, the song went on forever
And he was awful nice
Really quite paradise

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

[whatwouldcooleydo?]

Till there was rock, you only had God

[linkous]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/j ... creativity

[John A Arkansawyer]

11 Jan

The lyrics to Starman make a lot more sense today

Still feels like he's gonna Jean Grey this thing.

I'm convinced that in a few weeks Bowie will come back as a clone, a steelworker, a cyborg and Tilda Swinton.

[linkous]

350 Bowie fans voted on his best album (just before he died) and the results are below. No major surprises as to what the 10 albums are , I guess the interest is in the order from 10 - 1?

https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2016/0 ... ay-3-10-1/

Looks quite an interesting blog overall

https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/

[Smitty]

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/16/david_b ... unky_dory/

Beautiful tribute by Rhett Miller

[linkous]

I am not a fan of Henry Rollins' music , but always found him to be an interesting guy to listen to.

Henry Rollins on the new album being up with Low and Heroes, and on meeting Bowie here, again that politeness and interest in everyone comes through -

"Sitting on a tour bus in Newcastle, U.K., I found out that David Bowie had passed away.

Within minutes, still clumsy with shock, road manager Ward had Bowie’s new and final album Blackstar coming through the speakers. Bowie’s detached vocal on the title track almost hypnotized me. Not only did it command my total attention, I realized that the person singing was dead. I listened to the rest of the record carefully, trying to forget that the man was gone.

The lyrics of Blackstar’s third song, “Lazarus,” are some of his most powerful. “Look up here, man, I’m in danger/I’ve got nothing left to lose/I’m so high it makes my brain whirl/Dropped my cell phone down below.” It is the work of a man who is seeing the end of creation, as he creates what he knew would be his last artistic communication with the world.

I am sitting in a cold backstage area in Newcastle, listening to Blackstar for the third time today. I will be onstage in about 90 minutes. I am wondering how I am going to get through it.

I have been hoping to find a lyric on Blackstar that will make me want put my sadness on pause long enough to be clear-headed for two-plus hours. I think I found it in the song “Dollar Days”: “I’m dying to/Push their backs against the grain/And fool them all again and again/I’m trying to.” I love that sneering defiance.

Blackstar is on the level of Low, Heroes or any of Bowie’s standout works. It is hard to listen to because it was obviously written with his condition in mind. The final lyric of the last track, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” repeats the song title over and over, like a mantra, and makes me want to chase after him as the song fades away, pleading with him not to go.

The album is agile and nervy, challenging and masterful. It is unreal the poise and guts he displays in this collection of seven songs. Hopefully, he was able to get some feedback from fans all over the world.

There are some artists who are as big as life itself. They are part of your life and somehow escape the obligation of mortality. We cannot imagine our world without them.
Spending time with David Bowie, as brief as it was, had a major impact on my life.

Bowie’s staggering output, his at-risk genius and continual changes in look and musical style, made him many things to many people. I can’t think of any other musician who achieved such a level of intimate distance with their audience. The more you think about him, the more amazing and enigmatic he becomes — less a man than the aura that surrounded him.
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Below: Henry describes his first in-person encounter with David Bowie.

If you watch Bowie in interviews, he is articulate and almost feral in his desire for dislocation from the ritual of Q&A. He really did let the music do the talking. If he couldn’t give everything away, as he states on Blackstar, we are left to wonder how much he in fact did give away and what it was that he kept for himself. That, perhaps, will be the most mysterious mystery of the man.

Spending time with David Bowie, as brief as it was, had a major impact on my life.

It was almost 20 years ago. We were both playing the same festival. I saw him walking alone. I just stood there, awed that there was the man himself. I didn’t say a word.

He stopped and looked at me. “Rollins!”

“David!” I replied, as I walked over to him and stuck out my hand.

He asked me if I had eaten lunch yet. I said no. He recommended that we do that. As we walked, he told me that he really liked this thing I had said in a recent interview he read and proceeded to quote several sentences of it. Then he quoted me from a different interview from a year before. He asked when my next book was coming out. I was speechless but managed to answer. Bowie told me that he had read a few of them. I have no proof of this, but I am happy to take him at his word.

Our conversation during the meal went from Iggy Pop to Hubert Selby, Jr. I expressed interest in contacting Lou Reed to see if he wanted to perhaps do some music for a potential project with Selby, knowing that Reed was an admirer of his work. Bowie told me he would call Lou on my behalf. I barely believed it and took it to be David just being friendly.
Henry Rollins
Henry Rollins

Later that evening, I watched David Bowie from stage right as he sang perfectly in front of thousands of people. He was amazing. The way he held the audience was like nothing I have ever seen before or since.

Weeks later, I was back in my micro-apartment in NYC and my phone rang. I answered. I heard a voice that my DNA recognized before I did. “Hello Henry, this is Lou Reed. David said you wanted to talk to me.”

Just remembering that is making me feel a little better.

Somehow, the world will go on without David Bowie living in it. But it will be different.

I have yet to play any other Bowie albums. I hope hearing them now doesn’t hurt too much.

For those who have not listened to David Bowie beyond his singles or the inescapable Let’s Dance album, I hope you allow yourself to do so. I can’t think of any other single artist who not only covered so much ground but broke it (and himself) as well. The entire time, he kept just out of reach, even at his most radio-friendly pop moments — those perhaps being his biggest put-on of all.

As good as music gets can be found on any number of his albums. What he gave away to us is more than enough."

http://www.laweekly.com/music/henry-rol ... es-6481055

[Iowan]

Harrison is my favorite Beatle, but I think as an individual he was less known/beloved/influential than Bowie. Similar status to Lou Reed.

[Smitty]

[dime in the gutter]

*personae? what do you think, dime?

about personae or personas?

or about reed vs bowie.....legend vs. star?

i meant the former but would of course be interested in your thoughts on the latter as well.

i think personae......based on nothing.

i also think david bowie shits bigger than lou reed.