Today should be a Tribute to Bowie

BillN

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Bill
I'm going to play his music most of the day

"we can be hero's .. just for one day"

Ziggy plays guitar!

 
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Shocker. I guess it shouldn't be - the rock stars that survived their youths and stardom and at that age now and I guess it's a good thing they'll start succumbing to old age rather than hard living. But awfully sad nonetheless. I was just reading about and streaming his new album yesterday - no idea he'd even been sick.

Ch, ch, ch, ch changes....

-Ray
 
I've really enjoyed his work of the last 15 years or so. Most musicians I can think of just peter off after reaching their creative peak. Bowie was still making great records. Here's a track from his last album that just came out a couple days ago.

 
Wow. I've been listening to it, but hadn't seen the video. He was clearly saying goodbye... Once of the few situations where I've found the music even more powerful after seeing the video...

-Ray
 
I've really enjoyed his work of the last 15 years or so. Most musicians I can think of just peter off after reaching their creative peak. Bowie was still making great records. Here's a track from his last album that just came out a couple days ago.


almost mirroring Freddie Mercury "goodbye" .... on Made in Heaven
 
Genuinely not a fan, but sad nonetheless to see his passing. His was a unique talent. I actually preferred him in film. I found him a quite compelling performer in The Hunger and particularly Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
 
Genuinely not a fan, but sad nonetheless to see his passing. His was a unique talent. I actually preferred him in film. I found him a quite compelling performer in The Hunger and particularly Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
I wasn't really a fan back in the day either. In high school, mid-70s, he was sort of THE guy with virtually all of my friends. I was always far more into rougher, blues based stuff like the Stones, Faces, Beck, Clapton, Hendrix, etc. As a purist of sorts, Bowie always had too much of a show-biz angle for me. So smooth and rehearsed and tight - I liked stuff a bit edgier, some improvisation, I was pretty into the guitar heroes, back when the term was being invented and had some meaning. But, as with other acts that I sort of rebelled against because everyone else liked them more than I found warranted (I didn't like Zeppelin at the time either, even though they met ALL of my criteria!), I came to like and respect Bowie a lot over the years, even the stuff I didn't care for in high school. The cream eventually rises even if it's not exactly your taste. I've looked at him that way for quite a while now...

-Ray
 
His passing is more poignant and profound than I could ever have imagined. He always seemed to see the world from another vantage point, another plane. He wasn't a rock star, he was a sci-fi poet/dramatist that made music.
 
I've had a love/hate relationship with him over the years. The is the first tune of his I ever heard.



I was young and impressionable and I played it over and over on this mixed tape a friend had made from his cool older brother's records. I had never heard such sounds in my life. I think that one song very well could be what got me started seeking out new and unusual sounds and ended up bringing me to where I am today.

I never much cared for his most popular stuff, though I see the quality in it. I must confess to really digging "China Girl" when I was in high school.
 
here's an interview with NPR's Terry Gross that I just heard in the car.
David Bowie On Abandoning Characters And Embracing 'Reality'

Neat interview but a bit unfortunate that she kept going back to Ziggy Stardust and character and "performing" even though he said more than once that he did not want that to define him. I like Terry Gross but in this interview she proved his characterization of Americans (Bowie=Ziggy Stardust+Modern Love).
 
Became a fan after the Low/Heroes/Lodger collaboration with Brian Eno.
Then began to really appreciate his creativity and style. Loved his Heathen and Reality albums.
My wife gave me Blackstar on vinyl last night at a birthday celebration. Woke to the sad news.
The Lazarus video above is such a defining way to say goodbye.
I pulled out all my Bowie albums and laid them out on the table in my music room for my Single in January image today.
My sad sort of tribute...

https://www.photographerslounge.org/media/sij-2016-day-11-rip.12614/full
 
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A friend loaned me Ziggy Stardust in 1972 - suddenly it was a new world!! I bought it, got Lou Reed's Transformer, Mott the Hoople, and later the New York Dolls, Television with Tom Verlaine, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and later Disco and Punk. What a fantastic ride, with quite a bit of interesting music.
 
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