January 11, 2016

I've heard a rumor from Ground Control/Oh no, don't say it's true....



"David Bowie, the infinitely changeable, fiercely forward-looking songwriter... died on Sunday, two days after his 69th birthday...."

15 comments:

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

Noooooo.....

traditionalguy said...

An amazing talent leaves us. I wonder how Bob Dylan is feeling.

wendybar said...

So sad. RIP David Bowie....He was definitely one of a kind!!

PB said...

An artist whose work often took time to appreciate.

Ann Althouse said...

From my May 15, 2005, "Notes on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame":

"3. I enjoyed all the stage costumes. Real effort is put into the fashion side of rock music. Many nondescript outfits of jeans and T-shirts have been worn on stage, but a lot of people have really put their art into the visuals. I stood a couple feet away from the bronze-colored bustier Madonna wore in the "Like a Virgin" go-ahead-and-arrest-me performance on the "Blonde Ambition" tour. And you could violate the rules and reach out and touch the hem of three or four ruffled shirts worn by Jimi. But the most impressive costume, I think, is that amazing thing David Bowie wore in the 'Ashes to Ashes' video."

Bobby said...

Damn, this sucks. But his life meant something to a whole lot of people and he made quite an impact. He will be missed.

Robert Cook said...

I was shocked to awaken this morning to the morning news announcements of Bowie's death. I had stopped listening to him decades ago, but his Ziggy Stardust album came out in the summer just before my senior year of high school and for a brief couple of years I was a big fan of his.

It didn't last long; his follow up to Ziggy Stardust was Aladdin Sane, the last album I bought by him. However, I had, in the immediate wake of the Ziggy LP, bought his three earlier releases: Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, and Hunky Dory. Space Oddity is spotty, but The Man Who Sold The World and Hunky Dory are both great, and, with Ziggy Stardust, they constitute Bowie's three indispensable albums. (Aladdin Sane has some good songs, but Bowie was moving in a stylistic direction that didn't intrigue me.)

Perhaps his death seems so shocking not just because it was unexpected but because he was a remnant of my youth, which, as someone else put it, disappeared gradually and then was gone all of a sudden.

David said...

One of Bill Buckley's greatest friends. Two genuine originals.

rehajm said...

Many are recalling the ostentatious stage personas and Bowie's were unique in a time when ostentatious stage personas were common. I'll remember him for the quality of the music spanning so many decades, a feat accomplished by so few greats.

And I'll appreciate his contribution to innovation in finance with the introduction of Bowie Bonds and the positive impact on so many artists and professionals.

Wince said...

Not a huge Bowie fan, but "Ashes" was one of my favorite songs/videos.

Despite the Avent-garde personae, always found him to be a down-to-earth guy.

Major Tom, Ziggy, The Man Who Feel to Earth and rose like Lazarus.

Not surprised he incorporated his demise into his art, as he did his life.

Danno said...

I didn't follow him much in his early incarnations, but I remember many of his songs. He even had some really good stuff with saxophone in his 2013 album, "The Next Day".

eLocke said...

And it just seems so fitting, like many people seem to hang on until after holidays or other dates of significance ...

David Bowie just had to make to 69.

I am not Laslo

jr565 said...

ashes to ashes. Perhaps my favorite song of his.

Birches said...

"I'm Afraid of Americans" is one of the greatest songs ever made. Yep. I said it. I must be a Communist.

Gusty Winds said...

When "China Girl" was playing on MTV in the early 80's, Bowie taught me and all my 7th grade buddies that Asian women were hot too.