David Jones had just turned 69 when he died……far too young these days.
He made a truly unique contribution to (British) music, one that he could hardly have imagined doing when he started out - around the same time as the Beatles made it.
Unlike them, it took him almost 10yrs to make a mark, which he did with Hunky Dory - to this day, an utterly superb album that has not dated. His work in the 1970s was astonishing.
I first listened to Hunk Dory in 1982, which was after he had reprised ‘Major Tom’ in Scary Monsters - Ashes to Ashes was a brilliant song with a brilliant video (so ‘avant garde’).
After that - he reinvented himself again as a slick-suited singer - I didn’t really like much of what he did. Though unlike some, I didn’t resent him for not conforming to (unreasonable and unrealistic) expectation.
Without question, a little bit of him belongs to Berlin.
On the recent Katja trip to Berlin in which we learned about people places and Prussia i came into the German capital a few days early to see some non Kaiserreich stuff.One of which was the David Bowie commemorative installation at 155 Hauptstraße ,it's not large so of course I did manage to walk passed it, but once found it is neat and in keeping with a nice sense of slightly more recent history,right at the bottom are Bowie lyrics written by fans with sharpie pens .
At home I have a mug listing the playlist of the Bowie concert I went to in 1990 and yes Heroes is on there.
Thank you Katja, that was a lovely tribute. I greatly admire Bowie (and Iggy Pop) along with their work, particularly during the Berlin period. Amazing how more than anything else, they seemed to have been healed from their respective substance abuse problem by Berlin's rich and layered culture, and the looming immediacy of the East-West conflict on the island of West Berlin.
As I so often say, every day is a school day. I knew Bowie had lived briefly in Berlin but that was it. Full disclosure I’m not a fan of his music, never have been (my sister would tell you it’s an aspect of my pathological demand avoidance disorder). I’ve always liked ear splitting heavy metal (and Pink Floyd). My nephew, a skilled guitar player, did come to like Bowie’s music. Good read with my first coffee of the day.
I grew up with listening to Bowie ( my elder brother was a fan ) although he kind of passed me by , I do appreciate that he made some great songs , imagine that a flat with Iggy Pop and Bowie 😮would have been entertaining in itself 😀😀
David Jones had just turned 69 when he died……far too young these days.
He made a truly unique contribution to (British) music, one that he could hardly have imagined doing when he started out - around the same time as the Beatles made it.
Unlike them, it took him almost 10yrs to make a mark, which he did with Hunky Dory - to this day, an utterly superb album that has not dated. His work in the 1970s was astonishing.
I first listened to Hunk Dory in 1982, which was after he had reprised ‘Major Tom’ in Scary Monsters - Ashes to Ashes was a brilliant song with a brilliant video (so ‘avant garde’).
After that - he reinvented himself again as a slick-suited singer - I didn’t really like much of what he did. Though unlike some, I didn’t resent him for not conforming to (unreasonable and unrealistic) expectation.
Without question, a little bit of him belongs to Berlin.
On the recent Katja trip to Berlin in which we learned about people places and Prussia i came into the German capital a few days early to see some non Kaiserreich stuff.One of which was the David Bowie commemorative installation at 155 Hauptstraße ,it's not large so of course I did manage to walk passed it, but once found it is neat and in keeping with a nice sense of slightly more recent history,right at the bottom are Bowie lyrics written by fans with sharpie pens .
At home I have a mug listing the playlist of the Bowie concert I went to in 1990 and yes Heroes is on there.
Thank you Katja, that was a lovely tribute. I greatly admire Bowie (and Iggy Pop) along with their work, particularly during the Berlin period. Amazing how more than anything else, they seemed to have been healed from their respective substance abuse problem by Berlin's rich and layered culture, and the looming immediacy of the East-West conflict on the island of West Berlin.
As I so often say, every day is a school day. I knew Bowie had lived briefly in Berlin but that was it. Full disclosure I’m not a fan of his music, never have been (my sister would tell you it’s an aspect of my pathological demand avoidance disorder). I’ve always liked ear splitting heavy metal (and Pink Floyd). My nephew, a skilled guitar player, did come to like Bowie’s music. Good read with my first coffee of the day.
I grew up with listening to Bowie ( my elder brother was a fan ) although he kind of passed me by , I do appreciate that he made some great songs , imagine that a flat with Iggy Pop and Bowie 😮would have been entertaining in itself 😀😀