Monday, 11 January 2016

David Bowie



This is my 600th post and it was going to sing the praises of being British. However, I have shelved that idea due to the sad news I heard today: the death of one of my musical heroes, David Bowie,

A few years ago, I posted my favourite David Bowie songs (which you can read here) and to be honest, I am a huge fan of the really early stuff, from Space Oddity all the way up to Scary Monsters at the start of the 1980’s, where for me at least his music drifted away to the fringe of my musical taste,

Don’t get me wrong, there were a few gems there but I still stand by my assertion that his greatest triumphs were in the 1970’s. At that time, my musical taste fluctuated between pop music, dance music, rock music and heavy metal, but somehow the music of David Bowie transcended the entire spectrum, not fitting into a genre of its own but complementing everything else.

I have always loved his music – I think I always will. Every time one of his songs pops onto my iPod, I smile and sing along with it.

It’s difficult to believe that he has died; it’s almost as if I thought he would live forever. The truth is that he will live forever through his music.

I’ll leave you with a couple of wonderful David Bowie songs that didn’t quite make the top ten post listed above but are deeply embedded in the roots of my favourite music.

Lady Grinning Soul



Queen Bitch



Fashion



Cat People (Putting Out Fire)



Heroes

I think this song is the most apt. David Bowie was a hero to me.



Rest in Peace David  - and thanks for all the music.


10 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

Have you heard his latest album yet? His final gift to us. I haven't, but it has been well reviewed.

Dale Brown said...

I've never been a big Bowie fan - the odd song here and there - but I always respected him as somebody who did his own thing. It's so weird that last night I was reading about his brand new album and this morning he was gone.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi EC,

Not yet. I've heard it's getting good reviews, so I'll look into it.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Big D,

He certainly did his own thing ad, as you say, he wasn't everybody's cup of tea. It's a shock, especially given the fact he's produced two albums in a couple of years.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Pandora Behr said...

Congrats on the 600th post.

I'm sitting here celebrating Bowie. Always an admirer but never a groupie, he was amazing. Went and saw the V&A exhibition here in Melbourne a few months ago - truly an icon. He will be missed, but he'll go on in his music forever.

River said...

He had so many different styles and sounds, a chameleon for sure.
He died too soon.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Pand,

I would have liked to have gone to that exhibition. I'll bet it was a treat.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi River,

Definitely a chameleon. He changed his image so many times.

:o)

Cheers

PM

Jackie K said...

His death was such a shock. I am going to more or less copy my comment from River's blog -
David Bowie really was a visionary. He read the future of the web and of digital music before most and was doing great work on both AGES ago. Growing up my sister had a massive crush on him and so by extension I got to know and like his music. We saw him live in the Glass Spider tour in the 80s - we weren't allowed to go to the Serious Moonlight one as we were too young at the time I think, much to my sister's utter weeping despair. By all accounts as well he was a decent person and well loved.

I loved Cat People - it was my favourite song of his, along with Space Oddity, Fashion and Golden Years.

Plastic Mancunian said...

Hi Jackie,

Al good songs. My one great regret is that I didn't go to see him when he played on the Glass Spider Tour - I can't even recall why I couldn't go!!!

He will be sorely missed.

:o)

Cheers

PM