Starman
Friday someone posted a link on Facebook where you enter your age, then see what David Bowie what happened to Bowie when he was your age. This popped up: He suggested that his fans should vote via phone which tracks he should play for his 1990 world tour, “The Laughing Gnome” (regarded by many as his worst song) was the most requested. He didn’t play it.
The deal is this: No matter how cool you think you are, you will never be as cool as David Bowie. Let’s face it, the name. How cool was that name? It wasn’t his birth name though. No, back in Bromley, England he was Davy Jones. Yep, long before Davy Jones became an Artful Dodger or a Monkee, there was another Davy Jones who was into jazz and loved the saxophone. But he knew there couldn’t be two British Davy Joneses, so he became David. The last name was for the Bowie knife. A legend was born.
In 1969 Bowie released his first single “Space Oddity” a song that wasn’t like any other. It was a short story about Major Tom, an astronaut who finds himself adrift in space, suddenly realizing…”And I’m floating in a most peculiar way And the stars look very different today/For here Am I sitting in a tin can/Far above the world/Planet Earth is blue And there’s nothing I can do.” This was a man admitting he was vulnerable and scared. Many people were scared and vulnerable in 1969. Major Tom was the only one to admit it.
Bowie then slipped into a different persona: Ziggy Stardust. He dyed his hair bright red. Wore platforms. He introduced a new genre of music: glam rock. Scored another hit with “Starman” then wrote a hit song for Mott the Hoople “All the Way to Memphis” (Used beautifully in the opening scene in Alice Doesn’t Live Her Anymore) Then in 1974 he sang about someone who was a juvenile success, who loved dancing and looked divine. The song was called “Rebel Rebel.” Oh we loved her so.
In 1975 Bowie put out Young Americans, his ninth album. The title track was catching, and he scored another hit with the song “Fame.” He promoted the album on Cher’s new solo variety show. After singing “Fame” they did a duet that included “Young Americans” but then morphed into a medley that included “One is the Lonelinest Number” “Da Do Ron Ron” “Wedding Day Blues” “Maybe” “Maybe Baby” “Day Tripper” “Blue Moon” “Song Sung Blue” “Only You” “Ain’t No Sunshine” “Young Blood” then ended with “Young Americans” again. You think I’m making this up? There’s video proof! It was the seventies!
Bowie branched out into acting, but with Ziggy he was already acting. He also made Christmas music history: In Bing Crosby’s 1977 Christmas special, Bing and the family are in England. There’s a knock on the door. Bing answers it. A handsome young man walks in, wearing a blue blazer. Introduces himself as David Bowie. After chatting for a while, they start to sing “The Little Drummer Boy” While Crosby continues on with the song, Bowie goes vogue and sings “Peace on earth, can it be?” while Crosby kept drumming. Again, it was the seventies.
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Bowie continued to sing and act through the eighties. He had more luck with the singing: acting he received mixed reviews with movie roles in Absolute Beginners and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. But with songs like “China Girl” “Blue Jean” “Heroes” “Modern Love” “Ashes to Ashes” and “Let’s Dance” how could he go wrong? He was under pressure with Queen, but danced in the streets with Mick Jagger. He married in 1970 to Angela Barnett, they had a son named Duncan. He also had a relationship with Oona O’Neill Chaplin, plus a rumored one with Mick Jagger. In 1990 he met the model Iman. They married two years later and had a daughter.
Late Sunday night, it was announced that David Bowie died of cancer at age 69. At first I thought no, he just had a birthday! It must be a hoax! Then Ducan Bowie confirmed it on Twitter. It didn’t take long for my Facebook feed to explode. Images of Bowie through the years started popping up. Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. Bowie as Halloween Jack (the character he portrayed for the album Diamond Dogs) Bowie with spiked hair, Bowie with blonde hair, Bowie with Iman, Bowie and Crosby, Bowie and Jagger. All the images had one thing in common: he looked so divine.
Originally published at jenniferkathleen.com.
