THE HINDSIGHT BEGINS

This morning I was in my car flipping the dial when I heard a snippet of an interview with David Bowie. My first thought was "ahhh shit". I had a sinking feeling that something bad had happened. Within minutes, my suspicions were confirmed. David Bowie was dead.

I'm not going to bullshit. I've made cracks about Bowie before, and I'd be lying if I said that I was fan enough to not spot a wart or two over the years. But I have nothing but respect for the man, as a ground breaker, visionary and all of the other Twitter ready short descriptions. Yesterday was, for many people of my generation, the day the music died. He was our Elvis, our Beatles. He was always there, surprising us time and time again with a new turn, a new sound, a new persona, without paying attention to what was selling or what might sell. He was an original, several times over. And, by and large, he produced quality product. He was there for others as well. When Mott the Hoople needed a boost, Bowie was there. Lou Reed, again. Iggy Pop? He might not be here at all if not for Bowie.

Back in the seventies, he earned his rock 'n roll merit badge, pissing off the parents of all the children who ate up his gender bending persona from Ziggy Stardust through Diamond Dogs. Then he surprised his fans when the David Live LP came out, his dapper looks and the first steps outside of a glam persona. Young Americans? How many shag heads were listening to anything remotely like Philly soul, no matter how plastic the interpretation was? Then there was the Berlin period albums, the synth and drone inflected Station to Station, Low, and Heroes, the latter being the last Bowie album I ever bought. Not because everything after that sucked. I just couldn't keep up. No casual fan could.

What, like four decades?

You can bet that in the next few days and weeks there's gonna be plenty of Bowie related stuff posted everywhere, so here's just a few odds and ends I've run across. In a weird twist, today being my Mom's birthday, I'd been planning on posting "Nature Boy" a song that was a favorite of hers. That went out the window when I heard the news. But in searching for Bowie stuff, I ran across a version he did in 2001 that I had no idea existed. Man, he was pretty much always firing on all cylinders. I ask you, who else has covered the Legendary Stardust Cowboy? Did you know that he was in a movie having a knife fight with Carl Perkins? (After Perkins pulls a knife out of his own chest!) Do check out that last link down there and marvel at how healthy he looked just three days ago.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Davie Jones and The King Bees - Liza Jane (streaming) at YouTube This smokes. 1967, age seventeen.
David Bowie - Waiting For the Man mp3 at ATumblr (?) 1970 Velvet Underground cover 1970
David Bowie – In Concert with John Peel – June 20,1971, BBC Radio at Past Daily 33 minutes, single mp3, go there to get it. Cover of Chuck Berry's "Almost Grown" at 14:67
David Bowie - Nature Boy mp3 at Moulin 1 (?) 2001
Video:
David Bowie - I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spacecraft at YouTube 2002 Legendary Stardust Cowboy cover
David Bowie knife fight with Carl Perkins - Clip from Into the Night
Visit:
David Bowie - Last photos, taken Friday, January 8, 2016 at Consequence of Sound