David Bowie Is...

very sad.. for sure no musician's death has impacted me like this one.. and even when bob Dylan and chuck berry go it will not have the same impact even though one is my #1 and the other might as well be called mr. rock 'n'roll… I think one of the things that really sucks about getting older is watching people die.. i'm a novice at it but it feels like in the last year I've grown a lot… sadly.

"About a week before his death, with Blackstar nearing release, David Bowie called his longtime friend and producer Tony Visconti via FaceTime, and told him he wanted to make one more album. In what turned out to have been the final weeks of his life, Bowie wrote and demo-ed five fresh songs, and was anxious to return to the studio one last time. Bowie had known since November that his cancer was terminal, according to Visconti, but if their final conversation was any indication, he had no idea he had so little time left. "At that late stage, he was planning the follow-up to Blackstar," says Visconti, that album's producer, in an interview conducted Wednesday for a Bowie memorial package in the next issue of Rolling Stone.

"And I was thrilled," Visconti continues, "and I thought, and he thought, that he'd have a few months, at least. Obviously, if he's excited about doing his next album, he must've thought he had a few more months. So the end must've been very rapid. I'm not privy to it. I don't know exactly, but he must've taken ill very quickly after that phone call." Visconti has been working with Bowie on and off since 1969's Space Oddity, producing numerous key albums, among them 1970's The Man Who Sold the World, 1977's Low, 1980's Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and 2013's surprise comeback The Next Day.

Around the middle of 2015, however, Bowie's prognosis seemed to improve. "He was optimistic because he was doing the chemo and it was working," says Visconti, "and at one point in the middle of last year, he was in remission. I was thrilled. And he was a bit apprehensive. He said, 'Well, don't celebrate too quickly. For now I'm in remission, and we'll see how it goes.' And he continued the chemotherapy. So I thought he was going to make it. And in November, it just suddenly came back. It had spread all over his body, so there's no recovering from that."

Bowie had already finished Blackstar by November. But even before then, Visconti noticed the tone of some of the lyrics and told him, "You canny bastard. You're writing a farewell album." Bowie simply laughed in response. "He was so brave and courageous," says Visconti. "And his energy was still incredible for a man who had cancer. He never showed any fear. He was just all business about making the album."

I totally understand, Hutch.

he was my #1.
great words and story, hutch.

Thanks to whomever was dj before the ASC show last night. Yesterday, I listened to "All I Want" just to listen to something that wasn't Bowie, but still sounded like Bowie. I guess we had the same idea.

One of the few rags that still employs writers to do obits:

The Economist - Starman Jones

Odd stament from the Bowie marketing staff?

The family of David Bowie is currently making arrangements for a private ceremony celebrating the memory of their beloved husband, father and friend.

They ask once again that their privacy be respected at this most sensitive of times.

We are overwhelmed by and grateful for the love and support shown throughout the world.

However, it is important to note that while the concerts and tributes planned for the coming weeks are all welcome, none are official memorials organized or endorsed by the family.

Just as each and every one of us found something unique in David's music, we welcome everyone?s celebration of his life as they see fit.


Who cares if a memorial is official or endorsed by the family?
then they say do it as you see fit?

Ok . . . enough, planet earth; it's getting disgraceful.

walk,on,by wrote:
Ok . . . enough, planet earth; it's getting disgraceful.

Why do you care?

Because, it's a sad display, of misguided, false idol hero worship. It's disrespectful, to the human race.

walk,on,by wrote:
Because, it's a sad display, of misguided, false idol hero worship. It's disrespectful, to the human race.

It was OK when he was alive…..

i wrote:
he, is . . . timeless

i wrote:
. . . someone who will never tour again.  when i saw him at the patriot, it was magical. 

But not since he has passed?

walk,on,by wrote:
Because, it's a sad display, of misguided, false idol hero worship. It's disrespectful, to the human race.

So you're basically lumping people like Lemmy and Bowie in the same category with Paris Hilton and the Kardashians. Right. Makes perfect sense.

i am basically living, by the classic, yet maybe stupid theory, that there are more important people who have lived on the planet to get this worked up over when they die.  yes, bowie was great, yes, bowie was a pioneer of music, yes bowie influenced so many musicians, yes bowie was a star, yes bowie was timeless, but no, bowie was not a god.  bowie was not more important than people who just eradicated ebola, bowie was not more important than world leaders, bowie was not more important than the guy who builds the roads I drive on.

that's just how i feel, whether ridiculous or not. 

walk,on,by wrote:
i am basically living, by the classic, yet maybe stupid theory, that there are more important people who have lived on the planet to get this worked up over when they die.  yes, bowie was great, yes, bowie was a pioneer of music, yes bowie influenced so many musicians, yes bowie was a star, yes bowie was timeless, but no, bowie was not a god.  bowie was not more important than people who just eradicated ebola, bowie was not more important than world leaders, bowie was not more important than the guy who builds the roads I drive on.

that's just how i feel, whether ridiculous or not. 

While you're 100% right, it's not Bowie's fault. We're the assholes that allow even mediocre baseball pitchers to make 10 million a year.

walk,on,by wrote:
i am basically living, by the classic, yet maybe stupid theory, that there are more important people who have lived on the planet to get this worked up over when they die.  yes, bowie was great, yes, bowie was a pioneer of music, yes bowie influenced so many musicians, yes bowie was a star, yes bowie was timeless, but no, bowie was not a god.  bowie was not more important than people who just eradicated ebola, bowie was not more important than world leaders, bowie was not more important than the guy who builds the roads I drive on.

that's just how i feel, whether ridiculous or not. 

I'm not suggesting he's a god. You're implying that we aren't smart enough to realize that an artist is infallible and imperfect. In fact, Bowie's human qualities are probably what his fans relate to the most, which is why I find it amusing that you're judging us for saying kind things about the fact that he existed.  I don't think any of us think he was some sort of supreme being. Nobody is. Mortality seems like a good opportunity and time to express the opinion that what he had WAS special relative to so many others. You also need to remember that an artist like Bowie helped many people find themselves. He did his own thing and found his own identity and voice and expressed it a dynamic spectrum of song, words, and visual presentation. It opened up people's eyes in a new way.  In the 1970's when being gay could land you in jail in England he came out and said he was different. And that sort of thing can give an isolated person the courage to look in the mirror and say "I need to be true to myself, even if I'm afraid". And I know a lot of people that felt that way. The guy who built the road you drove on is important too, but he's not going to have the same influence and it's unrealistic to think he would. But to imply that we are disrespecting the human race is absurd. Especially considering the atrocious acts that occur on a daily basis in the world. Bowie the example of someone that made the world better for a select few. If that's not worth taking a moment to reflect on, I don't know what is.

i appreciate, speaking to you regarding this.  you seem, like an intelligent person, and yes, sometimes i hate people.

walk,on,by wrote:
i appreciate, speaking to you regarding this.  you seem, like an intelligent person, and yes, sometimes i hate people.

It's ok. I get tired of people and their nonsense too. Nothing wrong with that. And you raise a good point. The idea of celebrity is a silly one. Fame is a strange concept and it shouldn't be revered.

I heard recently that there were 50,000 symphonies written between 1750 and 1850. We remember a handful of composers.  Will we be talking about David Bowie in a hundred years?

We still talk about Oscar Wilde, so maybe.