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I’ve got things to say, you’ve got things to say. Put them in comments and we’ll eventually port most of them up here so that we can say it collectively.
I’ll start off with: it doesn’t feel like the death of Michael Jackson or Frank Sinatra or John Lennon to me. Feels like Elvis.
It does raise the question of why fight it in the first place. Dems are so dumb. They might as…
How many likes can I give this? Thank you so much Derek!
Natalie Rubacabra, has done, what past councils, were too afraid to do, challenge the "magic kingdom". The Gate Tax or"Entertainment…
Just like it said in the J L report: Disney has too much influence over our city council. As long…
Joker is a useless tool. There. I said it.
There was a plebiscite - the very definition of democracy. Sorry you lost. No, wait. I'm not sorry.
Condolences, chud.
"To save Democracy we must crush it first." - Anybody who voted yes on Prop 50 Also, Communists, but I'm…
Why? That's not the point. The point is that your adversaries will fight for the same political power now. Who…
If I agreed with that, if I agreed with it strongly, I woulda had to vote for Andrew Sarega.
Lennon and his mates made a much bigger impact on the world than did Elvis. Lennon changed social attitudes which is hard to do. To the point that Nixon tried to deport him while Nixon made Elvis an honorary DEA agent. How ironic since Elvis died of a drug overdose. Lennon was assassinated. Elvis had nothing on Lennon.
Bowie was a great artist and his success was built upon creating a completely off-the-wall showman persona that no other artist before him had done successfully. His music was superb. My eyes moistened when I read the news this morning, as it not only robbed me of one of my childhood icons but reminded me of my own mortality. RIP, David. And thank you for your gift that you shared with us. May God welcome you into his Kingdom.
Yeah, I too would have – while expressing the importance and revolutionary nature of Bowie – would have compared him to Lennon instead of Elvis.
We’ll be singing a lot of Bowie songs at my concert this Saturday in Huntington Beach… https://www.facebook.com/events/1533623906954156/
Starting with my favorites which are all early — Changes, Life on Mars, Five Years, Soul Love, Hang On to Yourself, Lady Stardust…
Vern, don’t forget “Fame”. Lennon sang background on that tune. I understand they were pretty tight. Makes sense. The lyrics are profound. Bowie didn’t especially enjoy the limelight. He disliked the concert life. He preferred the studio. But everyones got to make a living somehow. For years I thought Bowie was gay. But apparently I was wrong. He’s been married to a Somali woman for decades. A very successful marriage that is rare in the rock star world. I think I would have liked Mr. Bowie as a person had I ever had to honor to meet and get to know him. Another candle in the wind that flamed out. Let’s all hope he’s in a better place on the other side.
As I recall, he considered himself to be bisexual — and acted accordingly.
What Bowie did in the bedroom was his business. To me he was a music man. He perfected the art and made an enormous contribution to the World. And he didn’t feel the need to be in the spotlight like Elton John and many of his contemporaries. That’s one of the characteristics I most enjoyed about him. He wasn’t all hung up on himself. At least that’s how it appeared to me. My favorite Beatle (as a person) was Harrison. He was the same way. But my favorite Beatles as musicians were Lennon/McCartney, of course.
I don’t think that he was that much like either Lennon or Elvis musically. In fact, I really can’t think of a true musical predecessor for him — especially his outstanding theatricality (in the real sense of the term, not in the “lookitme I’madiva Liberace to Cher sort of sense combined with the breadth and refinement of his talent and how he maintained it until the end. I’d love to hear more nominations, but I’m fresh out. Kurt Weill crossed with Cole Porter, maybe?
I was just saying that his death reminded me of Elvis’s death — a beloved figure, still active but out of the limelight, whose death struck people unexpectedly hard and let loose a torrent of recognition of how much a part of people’s lives he had been.
I just listened to a couple hour’s worth of old Bowie music in his honor. Splendid. Why don’t they make music like that anymore? I feel that the music world stopped turning in 1990 or so. Most of the artists since that time acquired success through connections – not through talent. The 4 moptops would have remained in Liverpool working the mundane clubs as opposed to being probably the most influential rock band in the Planet’s history – had they been born in the 1970’s as opposed to in the 1940’s. Put me in a time machine and send me back to the 50’s-60’s as far a music is concerned. God do I miss that musical era. Roy Orbison was another great one who didn’t get as much attention that miss so much. He was a musical genius who combined and operatic flavor w/ pop music that was purely magical. All the great ones are either gone or on the way out. I was very fortunate to live within their era.
I agree, Roy Orbison’s interpretations were very unique. David Bowie though broke gender stereotypes.
True. Looking back on those days, it amazes me how much gender fluidity he managed unapologetically to make seem OK even to high schoolers, long before it became common. I think that his secret is that he was just that talented and that smart about how to approach the public.
*Try not to cry…after you watch this: David Bowie was special…no doubt!
Thank you. What a classic. What shocked me was Bing Crosby hanging out with Bowie. I’m surprised his business manager allowed it. Talk about the ‘Odd Couple’. I wonder if Bing ever smoked weed? His story probably goes deeper that what I’d like to know. 🙂
Care to watch a bizarre video by Bowie? He made a new album just prior to his death. In the video “Lazarus” (ie. I suspect a reference to the biblical ‘Lazarus of Bethany’) he played out his fatal sickness. Uncanny. I think Bowie has been a believer for quite some time. Read the lyrics to “Modern Love”. Note the reference to God (not religion, but God). And “Modern Love” hit the airwaves in the late 70’s or early 80’s. You can find the video on-line. Eerie. Apparently his way of dealing with his final days on Earth.
“Word on a Wing”, from Station to Station. When I was young I thought it was a sarcastic joke, but when I heard it more recently, I started to think it was sincere:
With Freddie, “Under Pressure” a capella:
…and love dares you to care for the people on the edge of the night…
Now there are 2 rockers who complimented one another: Freddie Mercury and David Bowie. Same church, different pews. Freddie died way too young. He was very popular when he died – but given another 10 years he would have gone down in history as one of the very best artists/musicians the World has ever known.
Oh, another thing I really liked about Bowie. If you noticed he often performed his concerts in suit, tie and slacks. Or at least in sportcoast, dress shirt and slacks. How often did you see rockers post 1970 do this? To the end he followed his fundamental principles and didn’t vary much. He was true to his original persona. David Bowie really didn’t change all that much from the time he did the little show with Bing to the day he took his final breath. I admire that greatly of a man who acquired his fame. Even more reason that I ask God to bless his soul as he stands before the Pearly Gates requesting permission to enter.