David Bowie succumbs to cancer.

[Tom Howland]

Sad news. May the White Duke RIP.

 

[bopeuph]

What "review"? Sigh...

Anyway: In my post I did take responsibility for my comments by disclaiming them as being my opinion. What do they say about opinions? And with what authority did you make your statements; were they statements of fact, not of opinion? (I ask only rhetorically.)

Fans and other zealots usually are censorial in their rejection of any expressed opinion or critique that they think does not align with their views. You did not disappoint. Good luck with that.

What?

So, you come in with this "Iamverysmart" post, give the dude a bunch of backhanded compliments in what's supposed to be a good sendoff thread. This is definitely not the place for this. You wouldn't appreciate it if someone came to a parents' funeral and started bashing them out of "opinion."

As for "stealing" from genres, like Stravinsky said: lesser musicians borrow, great musicians steal.

If you were truly innocent of this, you could have said something along the lines of this: "While Bowie wasn't my cup of tea, it's a sad day for music." You could even augment it with some "smarter" words.

Edit: I do apologize for my response, but the original "opinion" was uncalled for in this thread, and was really tactless. I feel it needed to be called out.

 

[Snaxster]

Sad to hear David Bowie just died. While I was not a rabid fan I thought he had a very strong body of work over several decades. My favorite era was him bringing Stevie Ray Vaughn to the attention of the masses. Discuss.

David Bowie died last night. Your opinion seemed a lot more of a tribute to your own smarty-pantsness than any kind of fitting tribute to a man who is one of the most influential and interesting artists of the 20th Century. Just calling it like I see it.

Some of us are pretty broken up about his loss.

Present company excluded.

The OP said to "Discuss." That's what I was doing: discussing. How my comments "seemed" to you yourself is not my responsibility.

Anyone who is affected emotionally by David Bowie's passing is entitled to be so. But they are not entitled to censor reasonable discussion of the man's work.

Bowie was a prominent public figure during many years of his published efforts. Critical and nuanced discussion of the works of such an artist is normal; it is to be expected.

 

[bassstrangler]

A legendary presence, along with Lou Reed, Warren Zevon and Johnny Cash he will be missed greatly in my life. It's good to know that I can throw his work into the player and live life with his great music still.

I'll never forget seeing him in concert twice. An awesome man. See you on the other side sir!

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Somebody may have mentioned it, but David Bowie gave Luther Vandross a nice boost to his career when he gave him a big role in creating background vocals on the Young Americans (Fame) album.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

One last thought, he and his bassist/singer, Gail Ann Dorsey were great together. It would be great to see her involved in some sort of Bowie tribute.

 

[bassstrangler]

The OP said to "Discuss." That's what I was doing: discussing. How my comments "seemed" to you yourself is not my responsibility.

Anyone who is affected emotionally by David Bowie's passing is entitled to be so. But they are not entitled to censor reasonable discussion of the man's work.

Bowie was a prominent public figure during many years of his published efforts. Critical and nuanced discussion of the works of such an artist is normal; it is to be expected.

Still, not really the place for it.

 

[JMacBass65]

David Bowie died last night. Your opinion seemed a lot more of a tribute to your own smarty-pantsness than any kind of fitting tribute to a man who is one of the most influential and interesting artists of the 20th Century. Just calling it like I see it.

Some of us are pretty broken up about his loss.

Present company excluded.

 

[JMacBass65]

What?

So, you come in with this "Iamverysmart" post, give the dude a bunch of backhanded compliments in what's supposed to be a good sendoff thread. This is definitely not the place for this. You wouldn't appreciate it if someone came to a parents' funeral and started bashing them out of "opinion."

As for "stealing" from genres, like Stravinsky said: lesser musicians borrow, great musicians steal.

If you were truly innocent of this, you could have said something along the lines of this: "While Bowie wasn't my cup of tea, it's a sad day for music." You could even augment it with some "smarter" words.

Edit: I do apologize for my response, but the original "opinion" was uncalled for in this thread, and was really tactless. I feel it needed to be called out.

Don't bother trying to reason with this guy. He thinks he is the smartest guy in the room, I have seen similar behavior from him in other threads.

Maybe if we simply ignore him, he'll STHU.

 

[thehangingmist]

 

[okcrum]

RIP to a great artist.

How far ahead of the curve was he? In another career, three of us at Telebase/N2K built his first web site (still www.davidbowie.com today) in 1995, and he did his first internet-only fan chat and (I believe) the first ever internet-only single release (The Hearts Filthy Lesson, switched to Telling Lies at the last minute) the following year. Most of us were still on dial-up at home then.

 

[Brad Johnson]

What "review"? Sigh...

Anyway: In my post I did take responsibility for my comments by disclaiming them as being my opinion. What do they say about opinions? And with what authority did you make your statements; were they statements of fact, not of opinion? (I ask only rhetorically.)

Fans and other zealots usually are censorial in their rejection of any expressed opinion or critique that they think does not align with their views. You did not disappoint. Good luck with that.

The man just died. As you weren't disappointed by the response I guess you got what you wanted. Impeccable timing.

 

[Zooberwerx]

There is nothing sadder than an empty stage.

Riis

 

[rogerbmiller]

This song came to my mind after hearing the news of his passing:

Then I read this from Pat Metheny on Fb:

"Working with David Bowie on 'This Is Not America' was an incredible experience. I had written the song as the main theme for the score for 'The Falcon and the Snowman'. After traveling to Mexico City where the filming was taking place and watching Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton do a few scenes, I went back to my room and the whole piece came very quickly.

Later while in London recording the score, John Schlesinger, the director of the film, suggested a collaboration with David Bowie for a version of the song to go over the final credits. David came to a screening of the film and I sat near him as he saw the picture for the first time. He had a yellow legal pad on his lap and was writing constantly. At the end of the film, he had a list of maybe 30 (brilliant) song titles that he had thought of while watching. One of them was 'This Is Not America', a line from the film.

David took the music with him and a month later the core of my band and I traveled to Montreux, Switzerland to join him in his studio to record the single. In the meantime, David had taken my original demo, added an additional drum machine part and while keeping the form and big chunks of the original melody, added an additional vocal line on top of the "A" section to which he had written those haunting and evocative lyrics. To me his words make 'This is Not America' one of the greatest protest songs ever.

Watching him do his vocal was something I will never forget. I can only say that it was masterful - kind of like the feeling I have had whenever I have had the chance to be around a great jazz musician who carried a one-of-a-kind type presence that filled every note that came out of them. He was really fast. He asked if any of us could sing (we couldn't/can't!), so he did all the background vocals himself, kind of transforming into what seemed to be two or three different people as he did each part.

Throughout the whole experience, he was kind, generous and contrary to so many aspects of his various public personas, very normal and straight-ahead. My main impression was that he was extremely professional about everything that he did, that he really wanted to do a great job with the tune and to get a great singing performance and track down as quickly and spontaneously as possible.

And it doesn't surprise me at all that his last recording includes some of the best contemporary players in New York, especially the fantastic Donny McCaslin. During our time together he expressed a real appreciation and knowledge of this music and saxophone players in particular. He carried the kind of broad view of music and art that was inspiring to me as a collaborator and a fan. I feel very lucky to have had the chance to be around him."

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Thanks for sharing this. I would "like" this post 1,000 times if I could.

 

[Honch]

If they ever put up a bronze statue of him, in Brixton or elsewhere, I would love it, to be the first of a man in a dress...(notwithstanding scottish figureheads...) ;-) It'll be a first. And annoy someone, which which is what DB was all about, in that regard.

 

[mellowinman]

The OP said to "Discuss." That's what I was doing: discussing. How my comments "seemed" to you yourself is not my responsibility.

Anyone who is affected emotionally by David Bowie's passing is entitled to be so. But they are not entitled to censor reasonable discussion of the man's work.

Bowie was a prominent public figure during many years of his published efforts. Critical and nuanced discussion of the works of such an artist is normal; it is to be expected.

I didn't censor anything. I did offer a counter argument.

 

[mellowinman]

Peter Frampton Credits David Bowie for Helping Revive His Career

Peter Frampton's career hit the doldrums in the wake of Frampton Comes Alive!, the monumental album that made his a star. In a just-published interview with M – Music & Musicians, Frampton thanks David Bowie for helping him get back on track. "The '80s were a difficult period for me," Frampton says. "[That continued] until my dear friend David Bowie got me out on the road for the Glass Spider tour and on his Never Let Me Down record, and reintroduced me as a guitar player around the world. I can never thank him enough for believing in me, and seeing past the image of the satin pants and big hair to the guitar player he first met when we played together in school. I enjoyed touring with David so much I just wanted to go back out and play, because I hadn't really played out that much in the '80s."

 

[bopeuph]

I didn't censor anything. I did offer a counter argument.

I don't think he knows what those big words mean.

 

[GazzBass]

A amazing tribute from Rick. I'm still stunned. Bowie was a big part of my formative years as a musician. RIP

 

[Richland123]

I posted this on my band's FB page:

I was 14 years old, and I certainly knew of David Bowie by then - Space Oddity, Fame, Golden Years, Young Americans - all great songs I had heard on the radio. However, I had never seen him, that is until December 1979, on Saturday Night Live. I don't recall what I thought of it then, but the fact that I have NEVER forgotten the performances speaks volumes. Here they are:

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

I saw that Klaus Nomi performed with David Bowie in the SNL clip.

It looks like David Bowie and Klaus Nomi had the same tailor.