Image courtesy of David Shankbone's Flickr page - David Bowie by David Shankbone: https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankbone/3491815800/in/photolist-6jytbG-f2UCj4-6cR2HB-qLQZtt-69ZZ3y-hJ4D8z-rdbGDU-epbhak-eG3X48-qmtFsB-pciCtb-6cVb95-cFaVGj-epbhfv-e5uuiT-n45LFd-n15RF2-c1HG5L-4EUwSH-Cztm5L-dZwpZ2-6NLa6n-6xztux-r1dsg8-r14mTP-q4qyoH-qXVg1u-r18D59-q4qyFM-rvV11b-4fGdBb-6NQkxU-7T2Btv-59DMML-aSUKQ2-aSUKPe-aSUL6H-aSULcF-aSUL24-aSULaF-aSUKSk-dv3gES-dv3gQJ-dv3gxo-dv3gDb-dv3gSs-duWF2Z-dv3gAS-dv3gAh-duWFu4
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Sad news today.
I just heard the news that David Bowie passed away overnight in his New York City apartment.
This kind of came out of nowhere, and ironically, Bowie has been on my mind more than usual in the last few days. For years, I had largely forgotten about him, admittedly. But I had heard an album review of his recently released album Blackstar, the opening of his play Lazarus, and then, just a few days ago, I heard a piece of NPR's The Takeaway that rated Bowie as 'The Most Influential Living Musician' in the world today. Also, someone had recently mentioned Labyrinth, a movie that came out in 1986. I never saw it, although there was a comic book line that I had and read at the time, and David Bowie figured quite prominently at the time.
Below, there is a link to that audio piece that I heard last week, about Bowie being the most influential living musician today (obviously, this came out before he died). In it, Zwillich argues - convincingly, I might add - that Bowie was the most influential musician still living today based on the boundaries that he pushed, by giving birth to glam rock, and by his androgynous look and personality back in the day. His approach to concerts, his mixture of art and music, and of course his musical style all combined to make him, according to Todd Zwillich, the most influential musician alive today (this was obviously before he died).
Whether or not he actually is the most influential musician is surely a matter of debate, although no one will deny how influential he was, and how great and enduring a musician he was, remaining not only relevant, but hugely popular over the course of decades.
He is gone now, but not forgotten. He will be missed.
David Bowie, 1947-2015
Zwillich: 'Bowie is the Most Influential Living Musician' by Todd Zwillich, Friday, January 08, 2016:
It's been a rough couple of weeks in terms of losing musicians whose work I enjoy. First Lemmy Kilmister of seminal metal band Mötorhead, who influenced everybody from Metallica and GNR to the Ramones and Dead Kennedys, and who played a key role in bridging the gap between metal and punk. (As silly as it now seems, there was a time when those two genres were essentially two rival camps who dismissed and steered clear of one another.) Then, Michel Delpech, one of the most popular French singers to emerge in the sixties, and whose songs I've enjoyed going back to the Bois-d'Arcy days. Pop mentioned that he had a very broad appeal – there wasn't really a generation gap where his fan base was concerned. Even Mémé liked him. And now, David Bowie is gone. I'm glad we got to see the latter when we had the chance. "One of a kind" is one of the most overused clichés around, but it's definitely applicable regarding The Man Who Fell to Earth.
ReplyDeleteYes, I forgot to mention the concert that we went to, but I will try and remedy that later, when I get a chance to rewrite and edit. Usually, I stay away from that kind of thing, but I just wanted to publish something in his honor before leaving work. I was thinking the same thing after hearing the news, just glad to have seen him. We had excellent seats, and it was a small, intimate show. Excellent show, at that!
ReplyDeleteWow, after years of searching, I think I may have finally found the very performance you and I caught back in 2002! The quality of the footage is rather amateurish, but that's OK, I'm just glad to have tracked it down at last!
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eBuml5scQ
The audio skips a bit towards the beginning, and there's no picture for a couple minutes as well. Still cool to relive this though!
ReplyDelete