Bowie Moments

David Bowie is dead. This is a very sad thing for me and millions of other people. While I wasn't a person in his life, he was certainly a factor in mine. In fact,  he wasn't just an influence in my life, he was an influence in the lives of so many people I also adore. David Bowie made a huge impact on me. Doc Hammer said he wouldn't be the person he is today if there had never been a David Bowie. I feel the same way.

Learning the work of an artist, especially a prolific artist who is older than you, is a kind of round-about process. A lot of my earliest memories are faded. I know, from conversations we had when I was older, that my mom owned Bowie albums, but I don't remember her playing them the way I remember her playing Queen or Fleetwood Mac. I also remember looking at the cover of Jimi Hendrix's Are you Experienced and being kind of in awe and a little scared. I was like three though and didn't understand about camera distortion.

I heard Bowie's songs off and on over the years, but it wasn't until MTV and "Blue Jean" that things really changed for me. I remember how the station made a BIG DEAL about a new David Bowie video. One of the things about "Blue Jean" that stood out to me is how, unlike so many other male artists at the time, Bowie kept the gaze on himself. The girl in the video is watching HIM. She looks bored and imperious. She isn't trying to seduce. That is all on him (and on the other character he's also playing). I found that refreshing and intriguing.

One of my next impressions, near to that same time, was when the Eurythmics were hosting MTV for a couple of hours and playing their favorite videos(that was a thing that used to happen). Annie Lennox played "China Girl" and mentioned that she thought it was deeply sexy. Everyone was kind of afraid of Annie Lennox at the time, so we probably assumed she meant all the tossing of noodles and barbed wire. More than likely, it was the purry way he was singing, the love making on the beach, and the bass. Oh, the BASS on that song!

This was all when I was about 11. Admittedly, I wasn't ready to truly love Bowie yet, even though many of the bands I did love spoke respectfully of him. That would take some years later and more maturity. Still, I will always love those first impressions. And Sarah will always be a fool for choosing her brother over the Goblin King.