Out of nowhere last night, the hugest wave of nostalgia and longing came over me in regards to David Bowie.

For most of the time that I've been a fan, I haven't had to wait long for a new album and that always kicked a Bowie phase into high gear when I would dig out all his records, watch all the rare footage I could find, read as many mind-altering interviews as possible and just generally bask in the glow of my musical hero.

It's been nearly 5 years since I saw him live and even longer since he released anything new. I miss the guy. And I'm afraid that we may never hear from him again. So my mom and I fished out her 'A Reality Tour' DVD and watched some highlights. Such a great concert film. "Heathen (The Rays)" leaves me breathless. His vocal performance on "Life On Mars?" got me choked up.

He was looking and sounding better than ever for the beginning of this decade. I understand the shit seriously hit the fan for him in 2004 as it did for me too. I genuinely hope he's happy and doing well. But it's really hard to have my greatest artistic influence on what seems to be permanent hiatus.

Talk about the man.

This kills me. When he puts his hand on Gail's back and walks offstage...GAAAHHH!!!


[Edited 12/9/08 15:21pm]

I miss 'Low/Heroes/Lodger/ScaryMonsters' Bowie. Very much.






Come back...

violator said:

I hear a lot of him in "Outside" and "Heathen". Have you checked those out?

TRON said:

I don't have all his studio albums (although I should) but I think "Heathen" is brilliant and the best of the decade so far.

I know the last few years have not been kind to him health wise but I hope he is doing well and comes back strong. He seems to be content releasing "interesting" collections of his songs, but that is pretty frustrating.

In the meantime there is an Eno/Byrne collaboration out there that I'd love to get my hands on.

I can't wait. The packaging looked hawt.

HamsterHuey said:

i have it. it's nice. it's no "my life in the bush of ghosts", but what else ever could be?

i miss bowie too. if i even just read a meager line of gossip about him walking into a recording studio, it would make my week.

I like Low Period Bowie.
It seems he's trying too hard to copy Scott Weiland lately.



spelling edit
[Edited 12/9/08 16:10pm]

Life will likely change again and Bowie will find himself madly in love.

In the meantime, I own enough incredible Bowie material to fill two lifetime's worth of memories.

And most of this stuff remains as relevant as tomorrow.

Anxiety said:

I am not expecting that all. So all I can be is pleasantly surprised.

And Bowie. What IS the man doing?

Imago said:

I'm holding an extremely sharp object, why did you take a run at me like that?

Anxiety said:

It would make my a lot of things.

I've loved him for years, but I was on such a high from 2002-2004. I got to see him 5 times in a year and a half. 3 of those shows are among the greatest I've ever seen with the 2 Bowienet gigs where he did Low and Heathen all the way through and then the Reality warmup in Poughkeepsie @ the Chance club with 300 uber-fans and later his birthday gig in Detroit when he played something ridiculous like 35 songs. It was like his version of Prince's Celebration...all love. And I got to meet him briefly. There are so many good memories tied to that time in my life.

Brendan said:

I like that.

HamsterHuey said:

Who knows? The rumor mill is pretty much dried up. Mostly movies it seems.

Aside from agreeing that we all miss him, what's everybody's favorite...

album?
songs?
tour?
concert?
look?
memories?
anecdotes?
quotes?
videos?
tv appearances?

I went on a music binge the other week and went to buy Bowie's Low and they didn't have it

So far I'm feasting off the best off that I have but I know I need the proper albums for the full ride. I am so Bowie challenged it's not even funny but I'm now familiar with all that stuff on the best of so I don't feel any fear jumping into the catalogue. Just gotta find it

Brendan said:

I don't know how "Let's Dance" is regarded by the hardcore fans. I have always liked the song but I don't know if it is considered a point of departure from his previous greatness and therefore resented? Anway, I thought it was so interesting that such an unobvious choice for a dance group made the first cut:



Love how it totally works for what they are going for

I miss him too It's been almost 5 years since I was on a hardcore Bowie binge. I've given several of his albums the odd listen or two in the meantime, but I think I might have to delve back in. It's been too long for me, whether he's got anything new out or not. This is the time of year when I'd normally get into a Bowie phase. The Reality tour vid sounds like a great place to start.
[Edited 12/9/08 19:24pm]

I miss the guy. I understand life turned shit for him real fast in 04, but it's kind of depressing that there's really been nothing on the Bowie front since then. He's one of my biggest heroes musically, and the artist responsible for introducing me to all kinds of music I may have not been listening to otherwise.

Come back, Bo.

Imago said:

I don’t need a nose job, but you’re definitely going to need an emergency room for those scissors I warned you about.

You just cann't run up on someone doing their needlepoint.

^
^
^

Is that the rare video for "Crystal Japan"?

TRON said:

I haven't, but I have heard good things about 'Heathen'. I really checked out on Bowie after 'Tonight'. I'm a huge fan of most everything up to that point. But I was largely disappointed in 'Tonight' and I insisted on hearing 'Never Let Me Down' before buying it. Needless to say, I never bought it.

violator said:

Ooh, you're missing out! Everything he did from '93-'03 is varying degrees of great. I love almost all of it. You should dig in.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I think "Let's Dance" is new wave/pop brilliance.

If it's looked down upon because of the album it appeared on or the two that followed, that's unfortunate.

Brendan said:

i love the 'let's dance' album...what little there is of it, anyway. it's so short! sometimes 'without you' feels too bubblegum when i'm not in the mood for it, but sometimes it just sounds like the ending of a really good 80s pop album.

Brendan said:

the Let's Dance album is pretty great, I think, as a sort of side-trip down mainstreet for him. i think the problem most people have with it, or maybe just the problem i have with it, is that it's the beginning of a very crap era for Bowie. had he done Let's Dance to cash in and then returned to left field with his next project, it would be viewed more favorably. you could chalk it up to Bowie exploring a new style, the big budget, widescreen pop star genre. unfortunately, he kept trying to cash in on the same idea throughout the decade with increasingly diminishing returns.

taken on its own, it's pretty good. what it wrought was tragic.

Bowie is Great, I Love him. I especially love ALADINSANE, The Man Who Sold The World, Low and SCARY MONSTERS....FA....FA...FASHION. Plus, his Acting in THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH and THE HUNGER is WONDERFUL....I Miss him too. I only saw him with the LET'S DANCE tour and that was ages ago.

At thirteen, for Halloween, I went as David Bowie as Screamin' Lord Byron... nobody got it... At that moment I knew I had to get the hell out of country-ass Montana.

I want Bowie to do a new album about being a parent.