David Bowie

I read a biography on David Bowie a couple of books ago.

Spectacular. The book and the man.

I had a lifelong respect for David Bowie because he experimented with life. His life.

He tried shit out. Tried shit on. Turns out he started doing this as a kid, a teenager. I did not know this.

At some point he decided that he wanted to make a living as an entertainer but was not sure exactly what kind of entertainer. So he started soaking up knowledge and experiences with music, theatre, dance, even mime. As he was doing that he was trying out different ways of dressing, including wearing dresses, makeup etc, changing hairstyles.

The consistent thing that came through in the book from old friends and family members was that Bowie was fearless. He did not give a shit what people thought about what he was doing and how he looked. And trust me, he took a lot of shit for the way he looked.

He caught my attention at first with his music. Hunky Dory came out in 1971 and had the song "Changes" on it. I LOVED that song. Still do. I felt like he was talking about my generation, people who were misunderstood, people who others did not even try to understand. I think critically the song is understood to be more about Bowie's attitude about change; changing himself and avoiding getting sucked into the rock 'n roll soul sucking machine.

When he came out with "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars" in 1972, THAT was when I said "Holy Shit - who is this guy?" Check out pictures of him at that time and you will know what I mean.

From that point on I was awed by the way he would periodically radically re-invent himself. His look and his music. Which is dangerous for a performer because the audience wants you to always stay the same. They are comfortable with their first impression of you.

He did not care. He would show up for a concert with a different look, a different attitude, different music and people would say "What the fuck is going on? I want to hear Changes?"

Honestly I did not collect the man's music. I have a Ziggy CD, the "Low"CD (1977) and the Earthing" CD (1997). Not because I don't like his music; more because I am easily distracted.

I will eventually get his last two albums, albums he recorded when he knew he was dying. They are mind blowing. I pulled into the parking lot of the Peterborough liquor store  to report to work on the morning of January 10, 2016 and just before I turned the radio off they announced that Bowie had died.

I was blown away. Had no idea he was sick. Not many people did. He kept it close and personal. I was blown away by how blown away I was. That's when I realized what an impact he had on my life.

The man was universally celebrated in the biography as being incredibly intelligent - he read and studied anything and everything. He was talented, fearless, creative, curious.

I got a kick out of the fact that most everybody described him as a gentleman. Treating people politely on a one on one basis. The personification of the English stereotype.

Interestingly enough, the author saved many of the negative comments for the very end of the book, placing them chronologically after Bowie died. All of a sudden I was reading comments talking about how he was not a gentleman, that he was selfish, that he used and did not care about others etc. They were like punches to the face. Kind of weird, but a good thing - nobody is ever a God in life except for me.

David Bowie laid out a blueprint for how to really live a life. Most people will not follow it. Most of us become oxen at some point in our life, wearing the yoke until we break down and disappear.

That is why the story of his life is so fascinating.

Great book. Great man.