Bowie Live at the Beeb 2000 – this is a wonderful concert I think because its so well done musically and also because he’s dropped the mask here. You just see the person.
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It’s “only” pop music, but Bowie’s choice of subject matter, his wide ranges of influences, his genius at reinvention, his dark vision, and his ability to get eminent established musicians – as diverse as John Lennon, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Robert Fripp – to get out of their comfort zone in service of that vision, earned him critical success and the love of millions of fans.
Like him or hate him, his was a unique talent.
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I must admit I never listened to his music - not appealing to my ear, but I knew he was a great entertainer and out there.
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At his best, he was one of the more inventive pop musicians and songwriters.
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Some people are classless. I was not a fan of Bowie because his music was not appealing to my ear nor was his voice but then I didn’t care for Madonna’s voice either. I always preferred listening to Jazz but I must say I remember him being one of the most popular musician entertainers of his time
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Let’s not forget the wonderful duet with Bing Crosby. Two gifted vocalists and two polar opposite personalities in the remake of a favorite Christmas tune.
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A person, I imagine, like Comic Book Guy.
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Madonna I can do without.
Her appeal had more to do with attitude, her willingness to be outrageous and provocative in a shallow, predictable way, her manufactured image and the talents of her producers.
Compared to other female rock singers of her era – Debbie Harry of the group Blondie, Cyndi Lauper, Pat Benetar – she was little more than a studio creation.
I know of background singers with a better voice.
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David Bowie and Annie Lennox perform a duet at Wembley Stadium in London, April 20, 1992, during a concert in memory of Freddie Mercury, who died last year of AIDS. (AP Photo/Gillian Allen)
Correction “Freddie Mercury, who died the previous year of AIDS”
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For some one who has trouble crafting a post of more than one sentence you seem very butt-hurt over David Bowie’s death, just look at all your posts.
Here’s a hint…TPM allows you to combine them into one post…
You’ve made your feelings known, you can go troll elsewhere now.
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I thought his metamorphosis and transition from Ziggy Stardust to The Thin White Duke was nothing short of pure magic. ALWAYS a top shelf musician/actor who could go from Madison Square Garden to Broadway seamlessly. Just pure magic.
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I read that Bowie hated Little Drummer Boy and refused to sing it, so he and a few other collaborators wrote Peace on Earth and he and Crosby rehearsed it for about an hour then recorded it. It never fails to get me.
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This is sad - he’s one of those people who I thought would always be around. My favorite albums of his are the stretch between “Low” and “Let’s Dance”.
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Truly sad now. He was such a huge musical and cultural influence, which I don’t think a lot of people realize. You may not have been a fan of his music but it is almost a guarantee that musical artists or groups you do like were influenced by him. From Roxy Music, to Nine Inch Nail, from Gary Numan to Duran Duran, from Nirvana to Tears for Fears, from Kraftwerk to Iggy Pop… they all have have either covered his music or name-checked him as an influence on them. From glam fashion, to industrial, to straight on rock, from movies and photography: his talents and work went beyond just music.
Rest in Peace Mr. Bowie. Your legacy will live forever.
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Wow. Someone who doesn’t know fuck one about music, his impact on the entire industry, or much else.
Well done. (golf clap)
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imagined a genre-bending rock star from outer space
Hmmm. Me thinks AP was going for gender-bending and went off the rails there.
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If you’ve never seen this bit from Ricky Gervais’s sitcom Extras check it out, it’s hilarious. Especially if you need a laugh? And it’s just one more example of how you don’t have to be an actual fan to acknowledge that he was one of those ridiculously gifted people who just seemed to do anything artistic with next to no effort or strain.
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Great stuff. Thanks for this.
I too have become a big fan of jazz, but growing up, the period of the early to mid-1970s was a musical turning point for me.
Growing up with the Beatles, Stones and rock music, it seemed that acts like Bowie, and fellow glam rockers like Roxy Music, progressive rock acts like Genesis, Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Yes, etc., and punk or new-wave acts like Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Blondie, U2, etc. brought a freshness to radio music programming at a time of shrinking playlists and a trend to more formulaic, over-produced musical product.
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Bowie was an extraordinarily gifted artist, but I was always most mesmerized by his style, his sort of majestic beauty. The way he carried himself, the way he moved and dressed. Everything about him oozed sex. When he and Iman married, despite her being one of the most beautiful women on the planet, I could never figure out who got the better end of the deal.
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