David Bowie

Am I the only person who thinks that the whole David Bowie weepathon is overdone?
He was only a singer after all!
 
And Pele was only a footballer !
Bowie was a genius & his music was part of many people's lives - his loss was a sad blow to many of us
 
By contrast the great Glen Frey passed away recently and the media didn’t descend into the orgy of lament as was the case with Bowie. On the day of his passing the only RTE programme not to eulogise Bowie was the weather forecast.

Then of course Glen Frey and The Eagles appealed to “ The Masses “ the “ Great Unwashed “ unlike Bowie who appealed to those who profess to “ Understand Music “
;)
 
As an Eagles as well as a Bowie fan I don't agree. As composers and performers they are huge losses, but Bowie was so much more than "just" the music. That's what seems to have passed some people by.
 
mathepac said:
As an Eagles as well as a Bowie fan I don't agree. As composers and performers they are huge losses, but Bowie was so much more than "just" the music. That's what seems to have passed some people by.
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His music didn't pass me by. I listened to it and understood it and I got it. I just didn't think it was that special. Some of t was but a lot of it was technically and lyrically not that good, or, in language that the masses would understand, rubbish.
 
Ah but Purple, Bowie was an experimenter, a risk taker. He tried things others wouldn't think of, never mind dare to take on. Of course some of it will be rubbish but a lot of it inspired further generations to try the new sounds. Frey on the other hand was safer than safe - the ultimate middle of the road band. Nothing wrong with that either but it would never touch people the way Bowie's music did. I'm saying this as someone who was never really a huge Bowie fan but I can certainly appreciate what he did and why he was so loved by so many.
On a side note, we've lost a number of very high profile well loved characters this past month (Bowie, Alan Rickman and now the wonderful man that was Terry Wogan) - all due to cancer if I'm not wrong. It's quite sad that with all our advances in medicine we still seem to be a long way off curing cancer. Admittedly there are forms of cancer we're much better at battling now (if found early enough) and we need to be positive about it but it does seem to be a long way to go yet.
 
I always got the impression with Bowie that people loved or hated his music with very little middle ground. In my own time at school (and no it wasn’t as far back as the hedge schools) there was a group who were into the pop music of the day, a group in the Rory Gallagher scene and out of a class of twenty there were two Bowie FANATICS.
 
W200 said:
I always got the impression with Bowie that people loved or hated his music with very little middle ground. In my own time at school (and no it wasn’t as far back as the hedge schools) there was a group who were into the pop music of the day, a group in the Rory Gallagher scene and out of a class of twenty there were two Bowie FANATICS.
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Before my day.
 
Purple said:
Before my day.
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Delighted for you that you have youth on your side :) but sorry:( to hear you have no knowledge of the great Rory Gallagher.
Also the fact that Bowie was born in 1947 and Gallagher was born a year later in 1948 makes your " before my day " comment a little confusing.:D
 
I saw David Bowie live back in the early 70's in Bedfordshire where I worked. I can say with hand on heart that it was the worst concert of any description I ever attended . . . but nearly freezing to death at Katherine Jenkins & José I've-got-a-sore-throat-always Carreras in Musgrave Park came close too.
 
W200 said:
Delighted for you that you have youth on your side :) but sorry:( to hear you have no knowledge of the great Rory Gallagher.
Also the fact that Bowie was born in 1947 and Gallagher was born a year later in 1948 makes your " before my day " comment a little confusing.:D
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Rory died in 1995 and didn't make nearly as much of an impact on the world as Bowie. I prefer his (Gallagher's) music though.
 
Rory has streets named after him in Dublin and Paris, a library in Cork, Fender produced a Rory Stratocaster limited edition guitar last year, Brian May, Gary Moore (RIP), Jonny Marr, Slash, The Edge all name him as a formative influence, there's a world-renowned blues festival named after him in his home-town of Ballyshannon. I think Rory's had his influence on music and the world. I was privileged to hear him play live several times but see him more as a musician's musician than an outright pop-star. A blues-rock hero I suppose, if he had to be categorised. A multi-instrumental adept like Stevie Winwood, I don't believe Rory ever got true recognition for what he was musically.
 
I know I'm late to the party but I wanted to add my views on David Bowie. Not only was Bowie an incredible performer and recording artist, but in my opinion, he and Elvis Presley, changed the pattern of popular culture. Up until Elvis Presley, performers stood motionless on stage, bobbing their head or toe tapping Beatles style. Black artists like Little Richard and James Brown were tearing it up but black music was not accepted by the masses in the 50's and 60's. When Presley adopted the same approach to performing, it set the world alight and opened the door for black artists. Presley triggered a new way for artists to perform. Bowie took it further. Not only did he introduce theatre and characters to a rock audience. He did so in an androgynous and camp fashion. Smashing down boundaries not previously even questioned. He was also the first white singer to perform on the American TV programme Soul Train. The first downloadable single offered by a major artist was Bowie's "Telling Lies" in 1996. He was the first music artist to float on the stock exchange. I could go on.
The genres of music he frequented ranged from Folk to Jazz, Electronic to Drum'n'Bass, Rock to Soul, and even Reggae. As a result, his influence was, and remains to be unrivalled. I've been lucky to have seen Bowie live 10 times and regardless of whether you liked his music or not, your record collection would look an awful lot different had it not been for David Bowie.
 
poundhound said:
I know I'm late to the party but I wanted to add my views on David Bowie. Not only was Bowie an incredible performer and recording artist, but in my opinion, he and Elvis Presley, changed the pattern of popular culture. Up until Elvis Presley, performers stood motionless on stage, bobbing their head or toe tapping Beatles style. Black artists like Little Richard and James Brown were tearing it up but black music was not accepted by the masses in the 50's and 60's. When Presley adopted the same approach to performing, it set the world alight and opened the door for black artists. Presley triggered a new way for artists to perform. Bowie took it further. Not only did he introduce theatre and characters to a rock audience. He did so in an androgynous and camp fashion. Smashing down boundaries not previously even questioned. He was also the first white singer to perform on the American TV programme Soul Train. The first downloadable single offered by a major artist was Bowie's "Telling Lies" in 1996. He was the first music artist to float on the stock exchange. I could go on.
The genres of music he frequented ranged from Folk to Jazz, Electronic to Drum'n'Bass, Rock to Soul, and even Reggae. As a result, his influence was, and remains to be unrivalled. I've been lucky to have seen Bowie live 10 times and regardless of whether you liked his music or not, your record collection would look an awful lot different had it not been for David Bowie.
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Not mad on him so no? :p
 
poundhound said:
I know I'm late to the party but I wanted to add my views on David Bowie. Not only was Bowie an incredible performer and recording artist, but in my opinion, he and Elvis Presley, changed the pattern of popular culture. Up until Elvis Presley, performers stood motionless on stage, bobbing their head or toe tapping Beatles style. Black artists like Little Richard and James Brown were tearing it up but black music was not accepted by the masses in the 50's and 60's. When Presley adopted the same approach to performing, it set the world alight and opened the door for black artists. Presley triggered a new way for artists to perform. Bowie took it further. Not only did he introduce theatre and characters to a rock audience. He did so in an androgynous and camp fashion. Smashing down boundaries not previously even questioned. He was also the first white singer to perform on the American TV programme Soul Train. The first downloadable single offered by a major artist was Bowie's "Telling Lies" in 1996. He was the first music artist to float on the stock exchange. I could go on.
The genres of music he frequented ranged from Folk to Jazz, Electronic to Drum'n'Bass, Rock to Soul, and even Reggae. As a result, his influence was, and remains to be unrivalled. I've been lucky to have seen Bowie live 10 times and regardless of whether you liked his music or not, your record collection would look an awful lot different had it not been for David Bowie.
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I disagree. To me he was overrated and most of what he produced was rubbish. Some gems in there alright but my god what dross had to be waded through to get to them.
 
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