I loved this when it came out. I would have only been like 8 but it got played to death on the regional radio station of my childhood 3MA when I lived in Buronga. Of course I wouldn't have realised the Stevie Nicks connection. Maybe I thought it was Fleetwood Mac though, I mean it's co-produced by Lindsay Buckingham. I think I actually only learnt that a year or two back!
This was on a hits compilation (Chartbusters?) when I was like 10. I wouldn't have realised who he was until at least 5 years later. I remember my sister thinking he was a bit of alright. I dunno though, he's stacked on a few pounds and isn't as cool as he was during the Rumours/Tusk era or even circa The Dance. Is this a good tune? I have no idea. I can't get it out of my head though.
how's your health?
ReplyDeleteNot great. Once my technologically rusty brain figures out how to send private messages I'll let you know as this forum is a bit public to discuss such matters in detail, I'm not Marc Bloody Maron. Cheers for your concern.
ReplyDeleteWhile I have your attention though, I've got a question for you. Considering where your heads been at in the past few years, I thought you might have a pretty good idea. What do you think is the best book/piece of writing on David Bowie?
Looking forward to the new book by the way.
Sorry to hear that.
ReplyDeleteThe Paul Trynka biography is a good solid biography. The book by Peter Doggett The Man Who Sold The World goes through Bowie's 70s song by song in the style of Ian Macdonald's Revolution in the Head - less musicological or studio-process analysis, though, more to do with the cultural resonances. It's done well. I haven't read the Bowiesongs blogger Chris O'Leary's book Rebel Rebel - at a certain point if you're writing on a subject you can't take on too many other people's takes on something, otherwise it becomes impossible to come up with your own response - but i know that it is highly regarded in many quarters. Similarly haven't read the philospher Simon Critchley's study of Bowie, i suspect it's rather interesting.
Bowie is a bit like Joy Division (or earlier, the Stones and Beatles) - most of the world's greatest rock writers (and many non-rock writers too) have had a crack at him - so there's a lot of people operating at the top of their game writing about DB, from people at the time like Charles Shaar Murray, Ian MacDonald, and more sceptically Ellen Willis and Lester Bangs, to people later on like Morley (who has his own bowie book out next month).
Of course you should just wait for my book ;)
Haha....Well I am. Plus I've read several Bowie books in the past. Paul Morley's book might be good but I'm worried slightly because he was co-opted by the Bowie machine for that exhibition. I can't help but think it may be compromised to a degree. I guess we'll have to see.
ReplyDeleteI actually wrote an obituary on the man for my blog. It was so negative I scrapped it. The gist of it was that he was the greatest charlatan of his time (before Madonna & Bjork etc. took up his artistic blueprint years later) using the best collaborators of his time and pilfering underground or hip influences the general public would not have been aware of at that stage.
He did create great music though despite it perhaps not being as innovative as we were led to believe at the time. Maybe this strategy is a fine one for pop/chart music. It's certainly influential. He was much loved for someone who may have been an empty vessel with a business like eye on trends in fashion, music and pop culture in general. Maybe other artists were just as contrived but hid it better. He had an incredible talent for it though. This is what I'll remember him for....oh and his great run of albums from 1970-1980, they were pretty good. Yeah some crackin tunes on those!
Shit that's almost the article right there apart from an acerbic take down of Low. That was so negative it was vile. It probably was more about me and my mood at the time plus playing a bit of devil's advocate due to the imcredible reverence surrounding his death.
He seemed like a really good bloke so I think he deserved the public's outpouring of love during their time of mourning.
It wasn't the right time to publish that malicious Low article I wrote, which was more of an attack on critics and fans really. People who loved the 'Berlin trilogy' but never bothered with Cluster, Harmonia or Neu. Bowie would have been completely transparent about these influences in an very enthusiastic manner.
ReplyDeletePeople were really shocked and responsive to his death. My Mrs visited his house in New York in January and left a message scribbled on her New York luggage tag! I think people seemed to care way more because he was such a visual presence in our lives. He was in our lounge rooms all the time like a family friend with and identity crisis but we still loved him anyway. We loved the way he changed all the time...
Despite his influences he was really bloody good (I don't think I've put that across properly). I mean nobody but the great man could have come up with 'Life On Mars' 'Five Years' 'Ashes To Ashes' etc.
'Maybe other artists were just as contrived but hid it better. He had an incredible talent for it though.'
So he showed off his artifice, the put on, the acting etc. because he knew all rock in some form was fake. The hiding (oh so authentic) artists were in some sort of denial about being a showbiz commodity. In a conundrum Bowie ended up being more authentic as he played up the artifice. I mean do you think Little Richard or James Brown had a problem with their roots and being in showbiz? They fucking were the biz as was DB.