Another Round of Musical Chairs

This week’s installment of musical chairs brings another eclectic mix.
Andrew is out this week, but his brother Careaga-The Other White Meat is enlightening us all with a post on Jimi Hendrix.

Tesco’s talking hardcore DC, and Bubba Dupree from Void.

Michele has Mike Patton on the hot seat.

Mr. Nimbus enlightens us all to the enigma that is Syd Barrett.

Welcome to Not Your Typical Southern Belle, who talks about the Ramones this week.

I submit for your pleasure the incomparable David Bowie.

Ziggy played guitar/jamming good with Weird and Gilly/and the Spiders from Mars...

Back in the early 70s, my mother had David Bowie’s Ziggy-era haircut. Granted, hers wasn’t bright orange, nor was she wearing space suits, but she had that space-age mullet he was wearing at the time. Every January 8, we would have David Bowie birthday cake. I have seen him in concert three times, and two out of those three, my mother had better seats than I did. The third time, we went together, and screeched like schoolgirls in the balcony after every song. This is how deep Bowie runs in me.

Androgynous, gay, straight, fashionista, Factory hipster, rumored Jagger lover, and Iggy collaborator, he had his fingers in the bowl of rock and roll cool, and stirred it up constantly.

Musically, David was a trailblazer. He did the British Invasion thing, with the Man Who Sold the World and Hunky Dory. Then, he ushered in glam rock with orange hair and platform boots and a crunchy, huge guitar sound, courtesy of the late Mick Ronson. Ziggy died and was resurrected as the Thin White Duke, and his Berlin/German pop period, before Kraftwerk. He was king of the danceable 80’s. And with each musical era, he stayed fresh and exciting and damn sexy. David turned to face the strange changes of the world around him and made the world his own.

Andrew ‘sez...
Ground control to Major Tom...

In seventh grade, I had a record player (remember those?) set up in the basement, where I would play DJ with all my 45s. One I wore out was Bowie's "Space Oddity," which evoked such ethereal sensations that I could not articulate. Still today, I can't articulate the sensations very well. But that song made me feel as though I were in the presence of ghosts and danger. I felt a connection to some other word -- a connection through the airwaves transmitting Bowie's androgynous, spoken-word singing and that reverberating guitar and the weird sounds of "liftoff," and of course the odd Morse Code-like beepings fading to nothing at the end of the song. It all made my hair stand on end.

The first Bowie album I purchased was "Diamond Dogs," back in ninth or tenth grade. I played the crap out of "Rebel Rebel."

Nice tribute to a true musical innovator.

P.S. - The thought of my mother wearing a Ziggy mullet just completely freaks me out.

Mr. Nimbus ‘sez...
While I appreciate his unbelievable talent, I love Bowie more for what he did with/for other artists.

Without Bowie, The Stooges Raw Power would have never existed and Mott The Hoople would have never released "All the Young Dudes". His work with Eno and Fripp was amazing, not to mention his work with Lou Reed. He is truly a legend.

Tesco ‘sez...
Mick Ronson was a genius... lets get that out of the way first. Bowie will always have a special place in my life; I think it was the cover of Aladdin Sane that sparked my curiosity, the whole lightning bolt thing and being a kid... My dad was about Bowie and played him all the time. I was most impressed to find out (when I was six) that he wrote All the Young Dudes for Mott the Hoople - I still dig that version more than his. None the less, he is an excellent choice for a music god, explaining him any other way is just wrong.

Not Your Typical Southern Belle ‘sez...
I couldn't agree more; David was definitely a true pioneer. There aren't many genres that he didn't touch on for himself, or inspire in others. I didn't really get into David Bowie until the 80s, so there is still a plethora of his older music that I am unfamiliar with. I would have loved to have seen the tour with Nine Inch Nails!

How awesome that you and your mom share a love for Bowie....and Bowie day sounds awesome!


Rock-n-Roll Suicide - David Bowie


MP3 File