David Bowie R.I.P

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (2100 of them)

I suspect Bowie's treatment of Numan was more to do with the fact that, in the UK at least, Numan was massively outselling Bowie at the end of the '70s/beginning of the '80s. I don't think being a "clone" had much to do with it, shitloads of musicians were wearing their Bowie influence on their sleeves at that time. I don't recall any tales of Bowie treating Peter Murphy like shit, for example.

Turrican, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:37 (eight years ago) link

xp well bowie was trying to poach zappa's star guitarist ... funny that belew was such a hot commodity for a couple years there. everyone wanted BELEW.

tylerw, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:38 (eight years ago) link

Anyone know Bowie's late period recreational habits? The last reported instance of coke snortin' was during the Glass Spider tour, his last cig in 2000 (I'll assume relapses happened), but I wondered if he drank at all. Hard to be in Manhattan events without a glass of wine.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:38 (eight years ago) link

He replaced his addictions to porn and chocolate .

nostormo, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:43 (eight years ago) link

Anyways, his biographer aims he had six heart attacks ?! Is that even possible ?

nostormo, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:44 (eight years ago) link

xpost:

Yeah, in Cracked Actor he's drinking milk, but I'm sure you can see lines of coke chopped out on a table in one scene.

Turrican, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:44 (eight years ago) link

According to the nice Belew FB anecdote above, Frank Zappa might have had opinions on Captain Tom.

FZ was an asshole to anyone and about anything that didn't further FZ's aims, though. It's always stood out like a sore thumb that he didn't release many Belew-era live recordings beyond Baby Snakes and Sheik Yerbouti. This Belew anecdote from today seems to shed a little light on what might have been a vindictive move on Zappa's part.

several xposts

WilliamC, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:44 (eight years ago) link

Indeed pretty obvious who the baddie in this story is. Everybody should be able to have a slice of the Belew.

the european nikon is here (grauschleier), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:48 (eight years ago) link

FZ probably shouted until he was belew in the face

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:49 (eight years ago) link

I don't think I've been this emotionally affected by the loss of a musician since George Harrison died. Like, in comparison to when Lou Reed went earlier I was definitely sad and upset and felt the impact, but Lou's prickly bastard persona meant there was some emotional distance there, something that made it easier to accept. with Bowie I feel like I lost a friend and a guiding light.

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:52 (eight years ago) link

He was so good at putting people together, like who else would have dreamed of pairing sweaty, up and coming roadhouse blues revivalist Stevie Ray with the very out of fashion king of disco Nile?

― Amira, Queen of Creativity (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, January 12, 2016 4:20 AM (10 hours ago)

Teena Marie!

timellison, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:54 (eight years ago) link

Greg Tate with a great one here:

http://www.mtv.com/news/2727414/brother-from-another-planet/

Our ace boon Arthur Jafa likes to say that ”Andy Warhol was so white he was black.” Bowie (who played Warhol in Schnabel’s film Basquiat) was likewise so avant-garde he tipped over into the Avant-’Groid — that Afro-outré dimension where Little Richard and Sun Ra define how far out you can go and command love from the folk. Like Joni Mitchell — another unguilty pleasure of many boho blackfolk — Bowie double-crossed back over to black culture by being his own transcendently pan-everything creation. But not even Queen Mother Joni can say she provoked James Brown to copycat action twice in his career. JB was so blown away by Bowie’s ”Fame,” he cut his own carbon-copy track, ”Hot (I Need to Be Loved, Loved, Loved),” and, years later, when Bowie optioned his publishing for stock points, the Godfather of Soul got the news about how lucrative the deal proved and quickly followed suit. Bowie once said, “The secret to my success was I was always the second guy to come up with the idea.” All hip-hop junkies can relate: How you flip secondhand wisdom to make the meta go mega-pop takes genius, too. (FYI, the ”Fame” story is further complicated by the fact that Brown remembered Bowie’s co-writer Carlos Alomar playing the main riff at the Apollo years before — but chase down the long version here.

This reporter got to hang out with Bowie a few times in the aughts. Iman commissioned moi to write an essay for her cosmetics company’s catalogue. During our initial meeting, Iman leaned in with her cell phone and said, ”My husband wants to talk to you — he’s a big fan of your work.” Say WTF? It was truly the GTFOH gobsmack moment of a lifetime in music journalism. If only because, arrogant as we journos can be on the page, only an idiot thinks anyone of musical consequence actually reads our cantankerous sheet! Upshot is, because of that bizarre turnabout we got to get turnt out in person, as most were, by Bowie’s singular alchemy — utter nobility combined with an easygoing lack of pretension. Later came revelations about this highly irregular regular guy’s generosity of spirit.

During our first convo, Bowie related how he’d recently met P. Diddy — a man so impressed by Bowie’s handshake he inquired as to who Bowie’s trainer was. Whereupon the Thin White Duke informed Mr. Bad Boy, ”That grip isn’t from training, Puff. That’s from 40 years of trying to hold on to your money in the music business.” Talk about pulling a tyro’s coat tail.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:55 (eight years ago) link

Zappa is always the bigger asshole, I thought that was just a rule of thumb

frogbs, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:56 (eight years ago) link

the International Rock Awards... starring a bunch of people from two English-speaking countries.

e got Gary Numan thrown off a TV show once.

― Turrican, Tuesday, January 12, 2016 5:08 PM

in the Buckley biography Numan talks at length at how nasty and chillingly Bowie behaved; he saw him as a threat.

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, January 12, 2016 4:20 PM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

what's the bill callahan line...? "I'll only ever be a Gary Numan"

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:56 (eight years ago) link

and he was only 69! lou was 71, Dylan is 74, and they abused their bodies just as much as Bowie... the thing that's so so so incredibly sad is that quote from the director of Lazarus that "he did NOT want to die..." like someone said way upthread, it's stating the obvious about someone that had cancer for years, but to have it emphasized that way....it's fucking with my head. and he was ill for several years before the liver cancer diagnosis from what i understand, from townshend's comments, and all the hush hushing in 2013 around the release of The Next Day.

flappy bird, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:56 (eight years ago) link

also boring story but i heard bowie's cover of 'waiting for the man' in a cafe today and was like 'shit, they're both dead'

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 22:59 (eight years ago) link

i am kind of queasy with 'how he left us' rhetoric. you don't boss cancer around.

you know, most humans act like assholes every now and then

skateboards are the new combover (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:02 (eight years ago) link

"The secret to my success was I was always the second guy to come up with the idea.”

A+

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:02 (eight years ago) link

i am kind of queasy with 'how he left us' rhetoric

yeah. it's not like he willed himself to succumb for some sort of formal symmetry.

it's a combination of the uncanny coincidence of him having died very soon after having released an album on his birthday (and the general silence around his health that had preceded this) and the fact that bowie is/was perceived as someone skilled at the theatrical, yet cryptic gesture.

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:05 (eight years ago) link

by "it's" i mean, the reason people seem to be treating his death like his last "performance"

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:05 (eight years ago) link

never given any credence to the "nazi salute" scandal personally, seems like manufactured controversy, quite different from something like Clapton's onstage anti-immigrant rant

― Οὖτις, Tuesday, January 12, 2016 5:23 PM (41 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

As someone on fb pointed out, when Bowie got off the coke, he recanted his pro-fascist statements; whereas, after Clapton got sober, he doubled-down on his support for Enoch Powell, calling him "outrageously brave."

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:13 (eight years ago) link

xxpost:

The early bird catches the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Turrican, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:14 (eight years ago) link

? is there a mouse trap involved in this adage

Mr. Snroombes (mattresslessness), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:15 (eight years ago) link

yeah. it's not like he willed himself to succumb for some sort of formal symmetry.

If anything, I'm thinking the reverse. The interview with Ivo Van Hove, the director of Lazarus, has him emphasizing that Bowie was interested in wanting to live -- he was not lying back and taking it, but trying to grab it full on. He last formally appeared in public a month back at the play and all. If -- if -- anything, and I too wouldn't want to read this too closely, I'm thinking some part of him was pushing to at least make it to the album release. But it would be more important to say he was pushing to make it for his wife and daughter in particular. Once he absolutely knew that nothing further could be done, maybe he settled for the simpler goal. Once that was passed, perhaps some part of him could at least accept it a bit. But it's all projection, and we will never really know.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:15 (eight years ago) link

when Bowie got off the coke, he recanted his pro-fascist statements

I don't think equating Hitler with rock stardom is pro-fascist tbh

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:16 (eight years ago) link

Didn't he say something like, "Britain could use a fascist leader" or some such? I mean, I'm not saying he was remotely sincere, or that it was a deeply-held belief of his or anything, but one of those purposely-inflammatory-but-I-don't-really-mean-it-I'm-gonna-do-a-few-more-lines kind of things.

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:19 (eight years ago) link

Anyone know Bowie's late period recreational habits? The last reported instance of coke snortin' was during the Glass Spider tour, his last cig in 2000 (I'll assume relapses happened), but I wondered if he drank at all. Hard to be in Manhattan events without a glass of wine.

He had a big drink problem in the 80s, after cutting down on the coke. He cut out alcohol completely at some point.

Eyeball Kicks, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:21 (eight years ago) link

Didn't he say something like, "Britain could use a fascist leader" or some such?

I believe this is in the Vonnegut interview, let me find it

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:22 (eight years ago) link

But it's all projection, and we will never really know.

not sure of the purpose of projecting at all

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:23 (eight years ago) link

I thought he only drank because he drugged; he had trouble holding his liquor. A pity. He gave the impression of being a guy with whom one could enjoy a Sazerac in a quiet boite

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:23 (eight years ago) link

From that Paxman interview:

JP: "On a personal level, you don't do drugs anymore and you don't drink? Not even a glass of wine?"

DB: "No, it would kill me."

JP: "What do you mean it would kill you?"

DB: "I'm an alcoholic, so it would be the kiss of death for me to start drinking again. My relationships with my friends and family has been so good for so many years now, I would not do anything to destroy that again."

Eyeball Kicks, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:24 (eight years ago) link

ah here we go: http://www.teenagewildlife.com/Appearances/Press/1976/0900/playboy.html
PLAYBOY: You've often said that you believe very strongly in fascism. Yet you also claim you'll one day run for Prime Minister of England. More media manipulation?

BOWIE: Christ, everything is a media manipulation. I'd love to enter politics. I will one day. I'd adore to be Prime Minister. And, yes, I believe very strongly in fascism. The only way we can speed up the sort of liberalism that's hanging foul in the air at the moment is to speed up the progress of a right-wing, totally dictatorial tyranny and get it over as fast as possible. People have always responded with greater efficiency under a regimental leadership. A liberal wastes time saying, "Well, now, what ideas have you got?" Show them what to do, for God's sake. If you don't, nothing will get done. I can't stand people just hanging about. Television is the most successful fascist, needless to say. Rock stars are fascists, too. Adolf Hitler was one of the first rock stars.

PLAYBOY: How so?

BOWIE: Think about it. Look at some of his films and see how he moved. I think he was quite as good as Jagger. It's astounding. And, boy, when he hit that stage, he worked an audience. Good God! He was no politician. He was a media artist himself. He used politics and theatrics and created this thing that governed and controlled the show for those 12 years. The world will never see his like. He staged a country.

Really, I would like to be Prime Minister, but I think I'd have to set up my own country first. I don't want to be Prime Minister of the old country. I'd have to create the state that I wish to live in first. I dream of one day buying companies and television stations, owning and controlling them.

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:25 (eight years ago) link

which, to this Jew, all read like a provocateur's delusions of grandeur rather than an affinity for Nazi ideology

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:27 (eight years ago) link

his coke-addled praise seems to be primarily for the efficacy of fascism's tactics, the goals towards which they were historically employed are not addressed.

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:28 (eight years ago) link

yeah it almost sounds like he's wishing for things to get worse so that they can get better

which is a habit of some folks on the left, actually

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:29 (eight years ago) link

not put in the same coked-out terms, of course

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:29 (eight years ago) link

just wanted to post this cos i was reading about the Serious Moonlight Tour (how great a name is that, btw? what an amazing turn of phrase) and reading the tracklisting saw "I Can't Explain" and i remember loving his coked out sax'd out take on it.

kind of surprised it was recorded all the way back in 1973 for Pin-Ups. it has a cold and minimal Thin White Duke sound about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja6BQrIDVCE

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:30 (eight years ago) link

I watched this interview on Sunday before his death. He was so enthusiastic about selling any product, even NLMD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhaRvqI0nHk

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:31 (eight years ago) link

yeah it almost sounds like he's wishing for things to get worse so that they can get better

which is a habit of some folks on the left, actually

not least Marx

never have i been a blue calm sea (collardio gelatinous), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:35 (eight years ago) link

There's this weird chronology to his drug use. A lot of people would peg the cocaine peak around 1978 or thereabouts, but I'm pretty sure he's said that the coke really kicked in after Let's Dance, when he had so much money and, well, everyone was probably doing the most coke. Which all makes sense. So really his cocaine peak was from ... the mid-70s to the mid-80s? Like a lot of rock stars, I imagine, though it at least sounds like he applied it most judiciously toward his productivity. Coincidence or not, when he apparently left coke behind for alcohol, that's when the music took a (er) nosedive, though in that Playboy interview he does admit he prefers stimulants to depressants.

Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:36 (eight years ago) link

he says he can scarcely remember making 'station to station' b/c of the coke, and my first thought is, that's a HELL of an album to scarcely remember making!

wizzz! (amateurist), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:38 (eight years ago) link

There's an anecdote shared by Matthew Seligman in the Trynka bio, playing bass during the "Absolute Beginners" session, wherein Bowie asked him to get coke and he lost it or something.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 12 January 2016 23:50 (eight years ago) link

Took this yesterday night. I have to pass this ad on my way to/from work, it feels somehow surreal that all the album campaigns just continue running.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/959470/DSC_0078_768lr.jpg

the european nikon is here (grauschleier), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:03 (eight years ago) link

has anyone read peter doggett's book on bowie? i got it for xmas a couple years ago and have started it a few times but have bogged down every time, something about his approach seems plodding and uninteresting to me.

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:06 (eight years ago) link

at last:

The late David Bowie is heading for his first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart with Blackstar.

Blackstar's total equivalent album unit figure for the week will be higher than 130,000, and should easily bump Adele's 25 from the top slot. The latter title (released on XL/Columbia) has been No. 1 on the chart for seven consecutive weeks.

The set, which was released through ISO/Columbia Records on Jan. 8 (Bowie's 69th birthday), could sell perhaps 130,000 albums in the week ending Jan. 14, according to industry forecasters, and debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Jan. 30. Bowie died on Jan. 10 after an 18-month battle with cancer.

In his lifetime, Bowie charted seven top 10 albums on the Billboard 200. His highest-charting album was his last album, 2013's The Next Day, which debuted and peaked at No. 2. He previously visited the top 10 with Let's Dance (No. 4 in 1983), ChangesOneBowie (No. 10, 1976), Station to Station (No. 3, 1976), Young Americans (No. 9, 1975), David Live (No. 8, 1974) and Diamond Dogs (No. 5, 1974).

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:16 (eight years ago) link

he's never had a no. 1 album?!

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:18 (eight years ago) link

wow, that is poignant

Mr. Snroombes (mattresslessness), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:19 (eight years ago) link

Not in America. Two #1 singles though

xpost

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:22 (eight years ago) link

I wonder how much of a spike the back catalogue is getting, what with these reports of Amazon and record stores selling out of albums.

"Damn the Taquitos" (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:23 (eight years ago) link

As of this afternoon, Blackstar was #1 on iTunes, Best of Bowie #2, Ziggy Stardust at #4 and Hunky Dory at #8.

The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 13 January 2016 00:24 (eight years ago) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.