The year is off to a bad start. Last Monday afternoon, I got online to find the shocking news that David Bowie had died of cancer two days after his 69th birthday and the release of his newest album, "Blackstar". I spent most of the week trying to absorb the news and remembering his music. Though it's weird thinking of a rock star being 69 years old, that still seems too young to die.
The outpouring of grief from people all over the world was even more than I was expecting. It was touching reading things that people wrote about him and the effect he had on their lives.Some people waxed quite poetic and profound. One article called him the "Picasso of rock music", which was entirely apt. In browsing through a lot of photographs taken of him over the years, I was struck by not just how his looks changed, but also how he was a person entirely at home in front of the camera and who knew how to best use it. He could pose in clothes like a fashion model, but one who knew how to create a vibe and a statement. His hair styles were such a huge part of his look and I always noticed those feral teeth.
The first time I heard of Bowie was in 1973, when I was 13 and my sister's art class was doing a project where they were making illustrations to the lyrics of "Space Oddity", which were then put together as a primitive sort of music video. In high school, a brief friendship with a person who liked Bowie to the extent of having her hair cut like his, made me more familiar with his music and when I borrowed "Diamond Dogs", I was gobsmacked as the British say. He was also on the radio everyday and it was interesting to hear how his songs evolved. "Heroes" was so different from "Rebel, Rebel" musically, but had the same refreshing defiance. Decades later, it was intriguing how Peter Gabriel redid the song with a somber weariness.
Bowie was well represented in the MTV era and was a perfect subject for music videos. When he got more into club music, such as "Let's Dance", I didn't really care for that style, but I greatly enjoyed the duet with Mick Jagger remaking "Dancing in the Street". There was wonderful energy in their performance.
I haven't heard much of his recent music from the last few years, unfortunately.Though I really enjoyed the song and commercial he did for Louis Vuitton. Very few people other than Bowie would look at home in a setting combining Alice in Wonderland and Versailles.
So while it has been weird coming to terms with the loss of someone who I've liked since my early teens, I console myself with the fact that he left so much wonderful music behind, some of which I haven't heard yet, so it will seem new(and promote the illusion that he's just created it).
Towards the end of the week, I found a YouTube video of a Netherland church which played "Space Oddity" on it's tower church bells, the impromptu tribute ringing out over the town and up into the sky. It was a splendid farewell.