R.I.P David Bowie - You will be missed...but your art will live on in our minds.

[shadowkat]

The news of David Bowie's untimely death blew me away this morning. Found out reading Facebook. Couldn't believe it. He just turned 69, released one of his best albums in years, and realized a life-long dream of bringing a musical to the Broadway stage or rather Off-Broadway stage (ironically named "Lazarus" about a man who fell to earth and cannot die.)

Speech Tilda Swinton Gave at the Opening of the David Bowie Exhibit in London

And a link to the Ten Deep Cuts of David Bowie featured at the Exhibit: http://soundcheck.wnyc.org/story/ten-deep-cuts-reveal-true-genius-david-bowie/?utm_source=sharedUrl&utm_medium=metatag&utm_campaign=sharedUrl

Song, Blackstar, from his last album:

Watch on YouTube

And ...the song "Lazarus" from the New Bowie Musical entitled Lazarus

Watch on YouTube

And yes, in case you hadn't figured it out, I am a David Bowie fan. He was amongst the small list of performers that I'd have paid money to go see in concert. Never got the chance. Unfortunately.
Loved him since I first discovered him, at the ripe age of 16, in the mid-1980s.

Comments

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, the Man Who Fell to Earth--his name was Legion.

I wasn't surprised that Bowie stepped so comfortably into Andy Warhol's shoes in Basquiat; after all, Bowie was the Warhol of music, staking out the borderlands between high art and pop disposability, shaping commercial musical forms in his own image.

He cut a path for a generation of freaks and outsiders to come forward proudly. Madonna and Gaga, Boy George and Iggy Pop--they'd be impossible without him.

His influence will probably still be felt decades from now.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Would agree. Saw your post on it as well. Envious that you got to see that first concert. ;-)

I have his older albums on my ipod, Low, Next, and some songs from Labrynthe, Cat People, and Best of. I need to get Blackstar and Space Oddity.
Most of the stuff that I'd collected of his in the 1980s and 1990s was on cassette, which is of course, gone now, along with my Grateful Dead collection.

Bowie was an icon. He pushed through various boundaries and changed things. Played with gender, identity, and perception. Part musician and part performance artist - he successfuly jumped from music to stage to screen and back again. He's literally done something in television, film, music and
stage. Although his best work was in film and in music.

Part of his appeal was that haunting voice and the ability to tell stories through song. I think that's the dividing line between artists that last and become iconic, and those who after a bit fall by the wayside. That ability to tell a tale -- that resonates on a deep emotional level - through a blend of metaphor and sound.

Was listening to the song HEAT (http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/davidbowie/heat.html) on his NEXT DAY album today and it was about a man whose father ran a prison, and his issues with his father and that prison, also how that prison served as a metaphor, for the traps we put ourselves in. Haunting song. And an excellent example of how Bowie told haunting and revealing stories about himself through sound.

Thanks for the suggestion on the Bowie Doc. I discovered it on Showtime last night, and was able to record it for later viewing.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

Shamefully, I don't have anything of his past 1990. I need to check out Next Day and Outside (his first collaboration with Brian Eno since the Berlin trilogy).

AV Club just did a feature on 1970's The Man Who Sold the World--his first album with guitarist Mick Ronson. Might want to check that out too.

I love Low: "Be My Wife," "Sound and Vision"... most people love his 1972 - 1975 output; but I prefer the 1976 to 1980 albums--Station to Station, Low, Heroes, Lodger, and Scary Monsters.

They're "my" Bowie albums.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I prefer some of his later work as well. I need to get some more Bowie. So thanks for the Recs.

Next Day is really good, especially if you like LOW. I'm going to get Blackstar soon. Also need Station to Station and Heroes. Considering Ziggy Stardust or Ashes to Ashes.

And I loved the "Five Years" documentary - which was insipiring and fascinating. Decided to write a review of it. Been watching a lot of documentaries on Showtime lately.

[cjlasky.livejournal.com]

Ziggy Stardust and Scary Monsters are essential. Starman, Suffragette City and Rock and Roll Suicide from ZS, Ashes to Ashes, Fashion, and the title track from SM--all must haves for a Bowie fan.

Fashion has yet another mindblowing Fripp guitar solo; depending on your mood, the song is either frightening or hilarious...