Truth be told, I was never really that big a fan of David Bowie: I only ever bought one record by him (The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars, but Jesus, what an album) and I never saw him perform live. But, further truth be told, I have to admit, when I heard on CD102.5 yesterday that he died, it did bring a little tear to my jaded rocker's eye.
David Bowie was one of those rockers who I liked the idea of more than I actually liked his music. He would join U2 and Ani DiFranco in those ranks for me. I like the things those artists do, I like what they stand for, but they don't really get on my turntable or CD player nearly as often as Richard & Linda Thompson or The Pop! do, ya know?
And Bowie absolutely had the proper rocker credentials: he wrote a fuckload of great songs ("Suffragette City," "Ziggy Stardust," "The Jean Genie," "Panic In Detroit," and "Heroes," to name only five), he did a lot of drugs, he married a model, he almost certainly had sex with Mick Jagger, he recorded new material to the very end, who am I to argue with those stats?
Most of all, let's face facts: if David Bowie hadn't broken BIG in 1972, The New York Dolls would never have gotten signed to a major label, and without Bowie's production skills & patronage Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Mott The Hoople would NEVER have broken through to mainstream rock & roll as much as they did. That's four of my ten favorite rock acts on the planet that I would still be trying to explain to people WHO THEY WERE if not for David Bowie.
I don't really drink anymore, but my lovely wife Debbie & I have some champagne left over from New Year's Eve. Will I be uncorking some of that tonight and drinking a toast to David Bowie? Yeah, I will. Thank you David, for the music. Thank you for the rock & roll. - Ricki C. / January 12th, 2016. (Click here to read Scott Carr's thoughts on Bowie)
(Hey, cats & kittens, Bowie & the Spiders from Mars performing in 1972 on Top of the Pops, in the midst of heavy-metal, singer/songwriters and prog-rock. The 70's started here, right here.)
(And while we're at it, raise a toast to Mick Ronson, 1946-1993.)