I must say, I find myself totally shocked and saddened to hear that David Bowie has passed away from cancer. Like many, Bowie has been such a major artist for such a long time in my life. On Friday, I stopped into our local vinyl shop and the proprietor showed off Bowie's latest release, "Black Star." The album packaging was so beautiful. Unique and cool. Very much like the man. It was his birthday, 69 and he was releasing a new record. He just seemed so alive!
Never saw him play music live, but did see him do live theater at the Blackstone in Chicago. He played the Elephant Man. It was a powerful performance. All that drama and angst of the character was conveyed by the way Bowie carried his body. An odd, broken thing. I can still recall his cries of anguish in the big theater. It was an amazing, singular performance.
Of course, Bowie also has one singular movie performance too, unforgettable - "The Man Who Fell to Earth." It was a movie and role tailor-made for Bowie. One of the great movies for sure.
And then there is the amazing catalog of records. All of them are worthwhile. I have my favorites - Low, Heroes, Young Americans, Station to Station, Hunky Dory, and even the really big ones like Let's Dance and Scary Monsters.
Bowie worked with some incredible Producers - Brian Eno, Tony Visconti, and some world-class musicians - Robert Fripp, Nile Rodgers, Andrew Belew immediately come to mind...
An artist in all ways. Music, theater, fashion, art... a pop culture chameleon too. He will be missed! But he did leave us so much!