Monday 11 January 2016

Creativity, Thy Name Was Bowie

Look out my window, what do I see?  A crack in the sky ...  

What a man.

And as well as being a creative force nonpareil  he was, as we are now about to find, in that strange, hallowed category of people who generate an outpouring, nay tsunami of utterly wholehearted tribute when they're gone (I think of the rather less global examples of Peter Cook and Paul Foot), as it turns out everyone really, unreservedly thought the world of them. 


ND


UPDATE:  and how could I forget his pioneering Bowie-bonds?!   First person to securitise himself (so to speak) - a fine Capitalist! 

22 comments:

dearieme said...

I have little idea of who he was. I don't even know how to pronounce his surname.

Roehamster said...

Good question: Bough-ee or Bow-ee?

Roehamster said...

Good question: Bough-ee or Bow-ee?

dustybloke said...

A man of his time.

Growing up round these parts he was regarded as a bit of a nutter, then the zeitgeist caught up with him and he was a genius, fading into irrelevance after 1990.

Bowie's legacy, in my mind, was defined by an ancient documentary showing him writing one line weird phrases on scraps of paper, then rearranging them to create a song.

But my respect for the man increased massively by not seeing "his brave battle" weekly in Hello magazine.

dustybloke said...

@Roehamster,

So good they named him twice? (Or in your case, four times).

😜

Electro-Kevin said...

I thought he could be hit-and-miss... but when he hit - wow !

His collaboration with Freddie Mercury with Under Pressure was pure genius.

E-K Snr is going down with advanced terminal cancer. He is being very brave and stoical about it too. A little older but the same generation.

An era passing too fast. Where does the time go ???

Timbo614 said...

@E-K: Yes an era does seem to be slipping away rapidly,
RIP David.:(
I do Space Oddity in my little repertoire of songs.

He did have some definite flashes of genius, but a bit of a wierdo exhibitionist!

Half the Beatles are dead, Half of lots of bands it seems are dead, Half the comedians I watched/listened to are dead. The Stones just carry on whilst looking 120!

Quaking in my 62 year old boots :(

Steven_L said...

Look on the bright side, they might put Labyrinth on TV for once :)

Electro-Kevin said...

Timbo - Matalan have a post Christmas sale on at the moment.

Thud said...

I dealt with him once when he was doing a 'secret' gig at a venue I ran, as stars go he was down to earth and a pleasure to work with which is not too common.
sorry to here about your father EK.

Electro-Kevin said...

Thank you, Thud.

Anonymous said...

May God bless you David,

though, one small pebble cast into a vast tempestuously cruel sea,

I never really got you but certain songs will remain with me.

You will be remembered but think also on, about the many who were equally loved but lose this same battle and who will not be remembered, unless by those close to them.

In the end, it is between you and your maker and famous or not, as it should be: solemn remembrance should be for all the souls of the departed.

We will remember, not just for David Bowie.

Electro-Kevin said...

Just been on to E-K Snr.

He says of Bowie "They keep saying he was brave, reinventing himself and all that. What shite. He didn't have the balls to shave his hair and leave a bald patch down the middle like you and me, Kev, did he !"

Timbo614 said...

@E-K :)

Terrible grammar.

Electro-Kevin said...

That's why I went to the local comp.

Nick Drew said...

sorry abt EK Snr, Kev - glad you are with him, & SOH holding up

Electro-Kevin said...

Thanks Nick.

Fortunately my brother and I remade contact BEFORE he was diagnosed. Mum is already in a terrible state too with a crippling back condition - he was her carer. Now the role is reversed !

My brother is *retired* and in fairly close proximity and I get up to Lincs to see them once every five weeks when I get my rest days. Work are primed to accommodate when we approach the end.

It is not so much a battle against cancer as a massacre. Each week brings a new low but he accepts and adapts. He is determined to keep his identity to the very last and is succeeding spectacularly in that so far !

I am very VERY proud of him.

david morris said...

EK

Respect

kind regards

Nick Drew said...

One good thing about UK meds is end-of-life / palliative care (at which we are #1 globally, it seems). People get understandably agitated about what they read on Liverpool Pathway etc but in my recent first-hand experience there are some very good policies, practices + resources in place

Electro-Kevin said...

Thanks, David

Agreed Nick. A friend's mum went terribly because the medics insisted on prolonging life.

lilith said...

Thinking of you and your family Kev. Xx

Electro-Kevin said...

Thank you Lilith.

XX