David Bowie, seen to the left in the sexiest role he ever played, in the wonderful
movie Labryinth! Does anyone else wish they would make a more-adult version without all the silly puppets? I don't mean like porn - get your minds out of the gutter! I just think there are some interesting and deep ideas expressed in that movie that become lost behind the puppets... But anyway, that's not what this post it about at any rate!
David Bowie has been rocking for a very, very long time. He started with his first band (the Konrads) in 1962 at age 15. His first hit was in 1969, "Space Oddity."
Just today (January 8, 2013), Bowie announced his 30th studio release, The Next Day, scheduled for release in March (8th in Australia, 11th everywhere else BUT the US, where it will be released on the 12th). I don't have anywhere near all of his music in my collection, but according to my Windows Media Players counter, I have 24.3 hours worth of Bowie music in my collection: more than any other single artist! He has done all kinds of crazy things during the course of his career, and I mostly did this post so I can share some of the pictures I found when I did a search earlier today.
While Bowie has been rocking for a very long time, he's a relatively recent addition to my musical favorites. I didn't much care for him when I first heard his stuff in high school (back in his "Blue Jean" and "Modern Love" era in the 1980s), but his music slowly grew on me. According to my husband, who is a huge David Bowie fan, this is normal. Dmitry says he has hated every single Bowie album when he first heard it, and it wasn't until the 3rd time he listened to any given one of them that he started to like them.
Heathen had recently been released during our one visit up north to visit my family, and I still remember listening to that album over and over as I drove, with a white-knuckled grip, over the Beartooth mountains from Wyoming into Montana.
I think, historically, David Bowie is best known for his glam era and his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust. What a difference between then and the present! He is also an acknowledged bisexual, and had tended toward the androgynous over the years, which I really admire. In fact, I sometimes find myself missing his glam era, because the makeup really accentuated his gorgeous facial bone structure. But I could say that of most bands; I just love glam rock style.
Because David Bowie has done so much experimentation with styles and music and his own personal lifestyle, there is no single type or style of music that really applies to him, which is part of why I'm finding I enjoy him so much as I listen to more of his music. Just listening to his music through the ages is a sort of microcosm of all my favorite types and styles of music!
David Bowie, here's to you, to the many decades of terrific music, and to all that is left to come!
