RIP David Bowie

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:49 pm

Skinypupy wrote:This might be the hardest a celebrity death has ever hit me.

I am usually unmoved by such things, but this one made me feel emotion. Probably because we had no warning that it was coming, and because he'd only just released Blackstar.

Bowie caught my attention with Space Oddity when I was around 12 years old and becoming conscious. By the time Ziggy Stardust broke into the bigtime I had finished the transition into adolescence. David Live! would become part of the fundamental soundtrack of my glory days, and from that time on I owned every record that Bowie released.

So I'd say he was a pretty big influence on my life.

I only ever saw him in concert once, after Station to Station came out and during his Thin White Duke tour. Wiki tells me that it was at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo in 1976. Me and my friends figured that Bowie was past his prime because he'd left rock-n-roll behind, but we still enjoyed hearing him perform his earlier music. I say "hearing" rather than "seeing" because it was an enormous venue and we were so far from the stage that he appeared to be half an inch tall.

For all of his personas over all the decades, he'll always be Ziggy Stardust to me.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:51 pm

Farewell, Sovereign and Goblin King.

You were ahead of your time...for decades.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:06 pm

I have to admit to coming to Bowie relatively late. Back in '72 if a band didn't feature 20 minute guitar solos, I wasn't interested. Around that time I had a friend who worked as an usher at Radio City Music Hall during his first tour who regaled me with tales of drag queens in the men's room. Eventually I had him compartmentalized as a "gay act", somewhere between the Village People and Donna Summer, which only deepened my disinterest.

In 1981 or so my roommate insisted on playing Ziggy for me and I was hooked especially on Sufragette City. We celebrated the 4th of July by dropping acid and going to the grindhouse next door to our apartment building that was showing The Man Who Fell To Earth. Somehow along the way I acquired a "best of" compilation and my transformation was complete.

My only regret is never being interested in seeing him live when he was doing a lot of touring.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:32 pm

RIP David Bowie, anytime would be far too soon for genius like his, but at least it lasted for as long as it did.

Dramatist · Post by **Dramatist** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:50 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:Top ten songs...go

No particular order

Aladdin Sane
Life On Mars
Lady Grinning Soul
Moonage Daydream
Rebel Rebel
Fame
Golden Years
Fashion
Sound And Vision
Cat People (Putting Out Fire)

wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 3:58 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:Top ten songs...go

So hard, but the first to jump to my mind, in no particular ranking:

Starman
Space Oddity
Changes
Rebel Rebel
Ziggy Stardust
Heroes
John, I'm Only Dancing

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:03 pm

Without overthinking it, I'll go with:

Ziggy Stardust
Diamond Dogs (with the lead-in Chant of the Ever-Circling Skeletal Family)
All the Young Dudes
Rebel Rebel
Suffragette City
Jean Genie
Heroes
Rock 'n' Roll Suicide
Changes
Under Pressure (Wife's favorite song ever)

aw crap, that's 10 already.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:10 pm

Carpet_pissr wrote:Top ten songs...go

I'd probably go with:

1. Life on Mars
2. Sweet Head (I've often said that if I had to pick one song that encapsulated everything "rock & roll", it would be this one)
3. Starman
4. Panic in Detroit
5. Queen Bitch
6. Ashes to Ashes
7. Thursday's Child
8. Ziggy Stardust
9. Bring Me the Disco King
10. Kooks

With at least 20 others waiting in the wings, depending on my mood.

Sudy · Post by **Sudy** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:13 pm

Ashes to Ashes.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:17 pm

Tons of great songs, but this one is still my all-time favorite:

Dance Magic Dance

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:33 pm

YellowKing wrote:Tons of great songs, but this one is still my all-time favorite:

Dance Magic Dance

This was the first song all three of my kids ever heard. I made sure to play it on the way home from the hospital with both Little B 6.10 and the Wonder Twins 2.6. It's me and Little B's ritual to play the "Magic Song" nearly every day when I get home from work.

Today's request might be a little rough.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:44 pm

I also got into Bowie almost embarrassingly late (college aged), but when I started exploring beyond "Let's Dance", really dug it.

My personal favorites, in no order:

Starman
Ashes to Ashes
The Man Who Sold the World
Life On Mars?
Fame
Modern Love
China Girl
Under Pressure
Space Oddity
Young Americans
Golden Years
Let's Dance (I know hardcore Bowie fans don't like this one, but it's always appealed to me for some reason)

There's a Time piece out today that linked to this hilarious Bowie cameo from Ricky Gervais' Extras: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv6mEv_rDdE
Must watch if you are either a Bowie or Gervais fan. If you're a fan of both, cover your monitors or put your cup/mug/bottle down before watching.

And as crap quality as that video is, it also makes me remember how friggin' handsome a devil he was in his later years...much more than when he was younger IMO. In this scene, he looks like a cross between an older Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

silverjon · Post by **silverjon** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:57 pm

silverjon wrote:Sadness.

The university radio station I listen to has done at least five hours of Bowie today that I know about.

https://twitter.com/eddieizzard/status/ ... 5516338176

Monday afternoon country show is also doing Bowie tribute.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:58 pm

Thanks for that video, that was hilarious!

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:02 pm

rshetts2 wrote:Thanks for that video, that was hilarious!

I wish I could find a better quality version to post, that one is REALLY crap. That show is not that old...not sure why so blurry.

Edit: Actually, if you you hate Gervais, you should like it as well!

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:03 pm

1) Starman
2) Ziggy Stardust
3) Aladdin Sane
4) The Man Who Sold the World
5) Panic in Detroit
6) Suffragette City
7) Jean Genie
8) Rebel Rebel
9) Space Oddity
10) John I'm Only Dancing

Screw it

11) Life on Mars
12) All the Young Dudes
13) Changes
14) his cover of the Pixie's Cactus
15) Oh You Pretty Things

I could go on...and on...and on. Very few musicians were such a mainstay throughout my life.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:12 pm

I only saw this in the last year, but it's insane to put this into (1) SNL and (2) 1979 perspective:

https://vimeo.com/67640670

That's the edited version but apparently at the end he whipped out a puppet phallus and managed to get away with it.

Not a great video, but he also did The Man Who Sold the World:

https://vimeo.com/21478424

. Just so far ahead of his time in terms of performance.

EDIT: Weird embedding. Edited to just quote links. Copy and paste them into your browser.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:13 pm

I remember seeing that performance on SNL when it originally aired. It was one of my first introductions to the insane talent of Bowie.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:28 pm

hepcat wrote:1) Starman
2) Ziggy Stardust
3) Aladdin Sane
4) The Man Who Sold the World
5) Panic in Detroit
6) Suffragette City
7) Jean Genie
8) Rebel Rebel
9) Space Oddity
10) John I'm Only Dancing

1)Queen Bitch
2)Rebel Rebel
2)Starman
2)Panic in Detroit
2)Heroes
2)Jean Genie
2)Suffragette City
2)Ziggy Stardust
2)Moonage Daydream
2)Changes

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:29 pm

i'm doing albums:

1) Low
2) Hunky Dory
3) Outside
4) Station to Station
5) Scary Monsters
6) ★ (too early yet, i know)
7) "Heroes"
8) Aladdin Sane
9) Space Oddity
10) Lodger

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:38 pm

hitbyambulance wrote:i'm doing albums:

1) Low
2) Hunky Dory
3) Outside
4) Station to Station
5) Scary Monsters
6) ★ (too early yet, i know)
7) "Heroes"
8) Aladdin Sane
9) Space Oddity
10) Lodger

I'll play. Off the top of my head...

1. Hunky Dory
2. Aladdin Sane
3. Ziggy Stardust
4. Scary Monsters
5. Heroes
6. ★ (it truly is that good)
7. Hours... (everyone else hated this one, I thought it was fantastic)
8. Diamond Dogs
9. Station to Station
10. Low

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:46 pm

I didn't list it as one of my favorites because it's a song you rarely hear, but Be My Wife is another song I can't get out of my head for days once I hear it.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:14 pm

Skinypupy wrote: 7. Hours... (everyone else hated this one, I thought it was fantastic)

KEXP is playing "If I'm Dreaming My Life" right now. it really is a good one

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:24 pm

I'm very similar to Carpet_pissr, I knew of Bowie...I have this very vague memory of seeing him on a late night variety show in the late 70's...may have been SNL, but my brain is thinking it may have been Don Kirshner's Rock Concert or the Midnight Special...anyway, I have this memory of him doing a song wearing a gold dress that pretty much immobilized his legs so he had to be carried out to the microphone. Not sure what the song was but it made an impression.

But in small town central Illinois, Bowie got very little airplay.

It was in college that I started to really hear Bowie on the college stations, and the "Let's Dance" album came out my sophomore year, and that's when I finally "got" Bowie. So although most folks seem to overlook this era for Bowie, I really liked that album. So my top 10 (no particular order):

1. Space Oddity
2. Changes
3. Heroes
4. Nature Boy
5. Modern Love
6. Star Man
7. Ziggy Stardust
8. This Is Not America
9. Under Pressure
10. China Girl

His death has bugged me way more than I would have expected.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 6:51 pm

hentzau wrote: Midnight Special

Take a trip down memory lane with Space Oddity on The Midnight Special.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:00 pm

Damn I listed China Girl and forgot Modern Love?? WTH? I didn't hear Bowie at all in the 70's. I grew up on a small farm in TN with grand parents so no Bowie. I only caught what local radio played. So my teen years were the 80s and that is when I found Bowie with Lets Dance onward. So Modern Love is my favorite.

What did David Bowie do at your age? That site is super slow and is being slammed but you type in your age and it shows what Bowie was doing at your age. My he was releasing a new album at my age. Shows you I do nothing

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:44 pm

All right, confession time. I was born in 82 and the only songs of his I could name off the top of my head before coming into the thread was Heroes, Under Pressure, and "the one from Rock Band" (suffragate city).

Never got into him since by the time I got into music in the early 90s he wasn't really something my friends listened to or at the forefront of the music scene. Totally missed out.

I'll have to change that.

J.D. · Post by **J.D.** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:44 pm

All right, confession time. I was born in 82 and the only songs of his I could name off the top of my head before coming into the thread was Heroes, Under Pressure, and "the one from Rock Band" (suffragate city).

Never got into him since by the time I got into music in the early 90s he wasn't really something my friends listened to or at the forefront of the music scene. Totally missed out.

I'll have to change that.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:51 pm

my top ten Bowie songs though ranking them 1-10 depends on my mood

Under Pressure

5 Years

Suffragette City

Panic in Detroit

The Jean Genie

Changes

Rock and Roll Suicide

The Man Who Sold the World

Fame

Ashes to Ashes

with honorable mention to All The Young Dudes, which he wrote specially for Mott the Hoople in hopes of helping them find success ( they were on the verge of breaking up ) It worked.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:22 pm

Alamo Drafthouse is doing a David Bowie Music Video Sing-Along this Saturday. That would be a blast.

JetFred · Post by **JetFred** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:51 pm

I'm really too upset to read the thread or write anything about it. My son and I perform his songs when we can make them sound decent enough. He crossed generations and it feels very personal at my house.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 8:52 pm

I wanted to come back in here after spending a lot of time this afternoon spinning some Bowie tunes.

#1 Fuck cancer.

#2 Not trying to be sentimental, but shit, these type of deaths hurt. Great deal of my childhood was spent listening to artists like Bowie. Listening to some of my favorite Bowie songs, sucked. Really was chocking back tears singing a couple of those. Brought back lots of childhood memories and good times in my life.

#3 Ziggy Stardust has always been my favorite Guitar Hero song to play... without question.

#4 Fuck cancer

We hear you loud and clear Major Tom. Loud and clear.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:20 pm

KEXP almost played one of my requests (they misinterpreted it and played "Outside" from _Outside_ instead of "Strangers When We Meet"). oh well.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:27 pm

R.I.P.

I never claimed to understand a lot of his music but Labyrinth is one of my favorite movies of all time... I will re-visit some of his earlier albums and also listen to Blackstar in its entirety to see if my perception changed with age.

The "Lazarus" video was hard to watch last night.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:45 pm

i can say this is definitely one of my favorites. fantastic 1994-era video as well

Strangers When We Meet

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 9:52 pm

When I think Bowie I remember him from the 70s 80s and 90s. Seeing him old and grey and a lot like my late fatherNlaw its a shock to me...which shouldn't be..it happens to all. But its not who I see in my mind's eye. I do that with EVERYONE though.

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 10:32 pm

Read a report that Bowie had fought back from six heart attacks in recent years. So not only was he battling cancer, he had six freaking heart attacks and still used his last days to fight through all that and make this album and these music videos for his fans. And he did it without fanfare or personal kudos. That seriously makes me want to cry and I'm not even a huge fan. I mean damn!

Combustible Lemur · Post by **Combustible Lemur** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:06 pm

Watching labyrinth now

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:12 pm

Need to rewatch it myself someday soon. not seen it since the 80's. OH and I forgot Blue Jean..I have no explanation for not thinking of all these songs together..they are coming to me sporadically.

Xmann · Post by **Xmann** » Mon Jan 11, 2016 11:15 pm

YellowKing wrote:Read a report that Bowie had fought back from six heart attacks in recent years. So not only was he battling cancer, he had six freaking heart attacks and still used his last days to fight through all that and make this album and these music videos for his fans. And he did it without fanfare or personal kudos. That seriously makes me want to cry and I'm not even a huge fan. I mean damn!

And with all the selfish crap that entertainers today put out makes something like this even more special.

What an amazing amazing selfless act.