Thursday, January 07, 2010

Bowie


David Bowie turns 63 years old on January 8.  This birthday salute gives him, the Thin White Duke, a jump on Elvis, the King, since they share one tomorrow.

Bowie is different from the typical rock star, in many ways a pioneer, an explorer, but also, consciously, an artist, sometimes pop, sometimes not.  A more specific comparison/contrast with Elvis is not necessary, however. 

Any favorite Bowie tracks or albums out there? One of my post-70s favorites:



Today's Rune: The Mystery Rune.  Happy Birthday, Mr. Bowie.

9 comments:

the walking man said...

Always liked this one as he emerged from the drug years

Anonymous said...

I SAW HIM IN CHAPEL HILL YEARS AGO. IF I RECALL CORRECTLY THERE WAS A HUGE GLASS SPIDER ON THE STAGE, THE SEATS VIBRATED AND THE CROWD WAS CAUGHT UP IN THE MUSIC.
GEEZ, I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT ELVIS AND I ARE BOTH 75 THIS MONTH.

Charles Gramlich said...

Probably my favorite of the more recent Bowie tunes is "I'm afraid of Americans." I'm gonna go you tube it now.

Johnny Yen said...

The first time I ever walked into a record store to buy records with my own money was "Ziggy Stardust" was one of the albums I bought. Still sounds great to me. He's had a great body of work.

Have you ever seen the "History of Rock 'n' Roll" series? They play it on public television occasionally. There's an interview with Bowie in which he recounts a concert where he began it by floating over the audience on a "cherry picker." The cherry picker malfunctioned midway through the song and Bowie had to sing several more songs aloft while they fixed the machine. I've always wondered if that was the inspiration for the "equipment failure" scenes in Spinal Tap.

Lana Gramlich said...

I have to admit, I'm not much of a Bowie fan. I like "I'm Afraid of Americans," like Charles. I also really liked him as the bad guy in "Labyrinth."

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks all for the comments! Mark, cool, he looks still in top form before his heart attack (that hair!) . . . Anon, I believe I was at that same concert ;-> Charles and Lana, that's a great one. Johnny, cool. Missed that series, or certainly that interview clip. Bowie made a decent Pontius Pilate, too . . .

Distributorcap said...

back in high school - i acutally worked at the high school radio station (dont ask!) - when morning announcements were over and people moved to first period - i would play every friday - "changes" by david bowie - invariably everyone would be singing it all day

i love bowie

YogaforCynics said...

The title tracks of those two albums, Scary Monsters and Station to Station might be my all time favorites, along with Moonage Daydream, Panic in Detroit, Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed, Sweet Thing/Candidate, Queen Bitch, Ashes to Ashes, Width of a Circle, Cat People, Sound & Vision, Hang On To Yourself, Time, Space Oddity, Young Americans.

I'll always remember how, back in high school, Bowie made me feel like being an outcast was cool...(and, of course, he was right).

Erik Donald France said...

Thanks for the additional comments -- all great songs, too.