RIP David Bowie

[olive]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

Frampton was Stevie's opening act on the RAL tour or at least on the shows that I went to. At one Stevie concert ..not even sure which tour or even decade I do recall her saying and this is an exact quote "I met David Bowie once and he had nothing to say to me".I can assume that this was the US festival in '83.

poor peter frampton we followed Stevie on this tour , he started the tour promoting his new cd , and 2 songs from the Comes Alive , near the end of the tour it was mostly songs from Comes Alive

[Missy]

He was so intelligent, perceptive and articulate in those interviews. He could also do uncanny impersonations of other well known people. Obviously, he was an astute observer who soaked up influences around him like a sponge and was amazingly fluid.

Found this brief clip on youtube, not the full performance but may be part of Bowie's 1983 US Festival appearance?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdk1Tpgh-Hg

Fleetwood Mac had apparently played there as a group the year before and were the closing act? And then Stevie performed by herself in 83.

Set list for Monday May 30 1983 (rock day)

Los Lobos (on a side stage only)
Little Steven & The Disciples of Soul
Berlin
Quarterflash
Missing Persons
U2
The Pretenders
Joe Walsh
Stevie Nicks
David Bowie

The Joe Walsh performance is on youtube. What a line up eh? Bowie was apparently a late addition but the organizer really wanted him on the bill despite little room left, and he was paid handsomely.

From the biography 'Starman' by Paul Trynka:

'After accompanying David for a fortnight, [Geeling Ng] caught a plane back to New Zealand and a normal life, just as David and band flew over to San Bernardino to play a one-off show at the US festival for the widely publicised fee of $1 million.

'Headlining on an evening that included U2, The Pretenders and Stevie Nicks to a 300,000-strong crowd, they walked out onto a stage that had been completely cleared, at eleven o'clock to a stunned, rapturous reception: 'like Jesus walking on water', says Simms. The festival was a disaster for its sponsor, Apple's Steve Wozniak: losing over $7 million according to the New York Times, with one audience member murdered in a drug deal, another dead of an overdose. But for David it was a triumph; the date hugely raised his commercial profile, and helped bring more US promoters on board. But with stories of the $1 million price tag came reports that David considered the tour his 'pension plan' - a sentiment guaranteed to inflame his detractors, who started to speculate that the tour was more about money than music.'

By the time Peter Frampton joined him for the 'Glass Spider' tour, the critics really had the knives out. That show was so panned. I do think he may have become more conscious about money. He was heading to middle age, had a son to support, and had nearly gone bankrupt in the 1970s due to poor management of finances. Many people thought he had lost his creative direction and stopped taking risks. I can't say I took much notice of him in the 80s.

Also around the time of the 'Glass Spider' tour a woman accused him of assaulting her and exposing her to AIDS. The whole story seemed so ridiculous but it's been rehashed again in recent weeks. The case was dismissed, and from what I gather, they did have an encounter but the rest was made up. She tried to cash in her cheque with the tabloids but it was so long ago I don't remember much.

[elle]

Trent Reznor on Bowie -

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...0160126?page=2

Mick Jagger on Bowie -

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/ne...th-me-20160126

[MoonSister75]

I can't get his songs out of my head the past 2 weeks. I woke up this morning to "Can you hear me Major Tom? " (I have been listening to a lot of his music)

I love this performance of Absolute Beginners



A local artist created a very fitting tribute on a beach near here.

http://www.tivysideadvertiser.co.uk/...o_David_Bowie/

[Macfan4life]

Stevie introduces David Bowie 1983 US Festival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lnnrcZj4rY

[Missy]

Details of his will have been revealed. He left approximately half his fortune to Iman, the rest to be divided equally among his two children. Smaller sums were also included for Corinne 'Coco' Schwab and the former nanny of his older child.

He requested that his ashes be scattered in Bali in a Buddhist ceremony. http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-...n-will-w162943

Rolling Stone magazine appears to have a very in depth feature about him. (I hardly read it anymore unless a story really takes my interest. Last time I bought it was for the feature about Stevie.)

I believe the full US Festival 1983 footage can be purchased on iTunes, with Stevie and Bowie appearing on the third day. https://itunes.apple.com/au/movie/us...-3/id387124831

[Missy]

Lady Gaga is going to pay tribute to Bowie at the Grammys. Elton John has had this to say, some interesting insights and advice for the young dudes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a5_DQ88hZE

Elton show tribute to Bowie. Part Winifred Atwell, Little Richard, Fats Domino and Mozart on that piano...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74rztpyMgwY

So much of his life was private in the past decade, but the very in depth Rolling Stone feature gave a more detailed description of his life during this time and the way he fought his illness. A few excerpts mainly from Tony Visconti who had known and worked with Bowie from the 1960s to his final days. He was reportedly going through an intense creative period despite being so ill and put up a huge battle.

By the time he made his surprise re-emergence in 2013 with his first album in a decade, The Next Day, he had pulled off a feat that no other rock star has quite managed, regaining all of the heady mystique of his breakthrough years, and then some.

In final three years, though, were an extraordinary fertile period of creativity. In 2014, he began work on another, even better, album, Blackstar, while also helping bring to life an ambitious off-Broadway show, Lazarus, based around his old and new songs. But he had kept one more secret: Bowie maintained focus on these last creations while battling cancer.

Visconti, who knew of Bowie's illness, noticed the tone of some of the Blackstar lyrics early on. "You canny bastard," Visconti told him. "You're writing a farewell album." Bowie simply laughed. "It's so inspirational how he lived his last year," says Visconti, pointing out that Bowie wrote some of his most amusing lyrics while terribly ill. "He kept his sense of humor."

In the worst moments, Visconti would try to reassure him. "Sometimes he would phone me when he just finished treatment," he recalls. "He couldn't talk very loud. He was really pretty messed up, and I would say, 'Don't worry about it. You're going to live.'"

"One hopes," Bowie would shoot back. "Don't get too excited about that."

[Cut back to his last tour.]

"Three-quarters through the Reality tour," recalls Garson, "he said, 'You know, Mike, after this tour, I'm just going to be a father and live a normal life. And I'm going to be there for Lexi while she grows up. I missed it the first time.'"

In 2007, Bowie helped curate New York's Highline Music Festival, which announced that he would play a "large outdoor concert" as part of the event. When he quietly pulled out, rumors swirled that he was experiencing renewed health problems. But Visconti, for one, says he saw no evidence of that.

"When I met up with David in 2008 or 2009," he says, "he actually had some weight on him. He was robust. His cheeks were rosy red. He wasn't sick. He was on medicine for his heart. But it was normal, like a lot of people in their fifties or sixties are on heart medication, and live very long lives. So he was coping with it very, very well."

.........

When Bowie showed up for Blackstar recording sessions in New York last January, he had no eyebrows, and no hair on his head. He had begun to tell a handful of friends and collaborators that he had cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy.

[Further on] all the while, Bowie was undergoing chemo, and at one time, his prognosis seemed bright. "He was optimistic because he was doing the chemo and it was working," says Visconti, "and at one point in the middle of last year, he was in remission. I was thrilled. And he was a bit apprehensive. He said, "Well, don't celebrate too quickly. For now, I'm in remission, and we'll see how it goes.' And he continued the chemotherapy. So I thought he was going to make it."

But Bowie still embedded enough intimations of mortality into his lyrics - and majesty in the music - that Blackstar seemed very much like a fitting goodbye. "I think he thought if he was going to die, this would be a great way to go," says Visconti. "This would be a great statement to make."

Bowie was well aware that Lazarus, too, served that purpose... But even as he engineered twin artistic departures for David Bowie, he was doing everything he could to stick around as David Jones. "I deeply felt that he really didn't wan to die," says van Hove. "It was a fight not against death but a fight to live. And living, for him, was being a real family man. He loved to go home, to be at home with his daughter, with his wife, his family."

In November... Bowie's cancer came back, according to Visconti. This time, doctors told him it was terminal. "It had spread all over his body," says Visconti, "so there's no recovering from that."

In those final weeks, he still somehow found time and energy to record demos for five entirely new songs. A week before his death, just before Blackstar's release, he FaceTimed Visconti and told him he wanted to make one more album, a follow up to Blackstar.

"I was thrilled," Visconti says, "and I thought, and he must have thought, that he'd have a few months, at least. So the end must've been very rapid. I'm not privy to it. I don't know exactly, but he must've taken ill very quickly after that phone call." The news of his death surprised even the collaborators who knew of his illness. Others, like the actors in Lazarus, had no idea he was sick.

So that leaves a lot of questions as to what he may have been able to do if he had not had these health issues. Once his daughter reached adulthood, perhaps he would've attempted a full public comeback. I personally think that conditions were right for it in this era.

[FuzzyPlum]

The Best of Bowie hit number 1 in the UK yesterday. Having initially reached mumber 11 on it's release in 2002 it has taken 690 weeks to reach number 1 which I believe may be a record.

[Missy]

David Bowie's son Duncan Jones has revealed that his wife is expecting a baby in June. This would have been the first grandchild for Bowie and no doubt he knew about the pregnancy. He would've desperately wanted to be around for it.

Duncan's wife Rodene went through her own battle with breast cancer a few years ago but has been in the clear since 2013. She had a double mastectomy and sometimes those treatments can affect fertility but it would seem everything is okay.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...become-grandad

Announcements were made on Twitter and Iman made a return to social media to post her own congratulations.

[FuzzyPlum]

I understand Duncan Bowie was less than impressed with Lady Gaga's Bowie tribute at the Grammy's. It looked tasteful and restrained to me by Gaga's standards. Its a real shame- she is heavily influenced by David Bowie.

[elle]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

I understand Duncan Bowie was less than impressed with Lady Gaga's Bowie tribute at the Grammy's. It looked tasteful and restrained to me by Gaga's standards. Its a real shame- she is heavily influenced by David Bowie.

yeah, most of Bowie fan groups had similar reaction. she butchered the songs, imo, her voice was all wrong for every single one of the 9 songs she had in the medley, as well as her dancing. i thought the changes / looks were interesting. someone commented on twitter that it was like a vegas version of Bowie's songs.

in general, i have a lot of respect for Gaga, and almost felt bad for her considering she's a huge fan and cites him as enormous influence. she did try. there were a lot of comments in anticipation of the performance that it's too bad she/they didn't bring in some of the people Bowie was a fan of or worked with or someone who has more appropriate vocals for his songs. Nile Rodgers being there was definitely nice. of course, somehow i don't see Reznor or Jagger being interested in grammy participation anymore so.

[Missy]

I like Lady Gaga. But when I heard she was doing this tribute I thought to myself it could be really good, or it could be just like bad cabaret which is what it teetered to. I liked the start of it but after that it started feeling more like an Elvis impersonation.

I still hope though that she is on her way to a full comeback.

[Macfanforever]

I haven't been reading .I'm surprised that Joan Jett ,Cherie Currie of the Runaways did not show up for a tribute since they were big fans of David.

[Missy]

I liked Lorde's heartfelt tribute and the speeches at the BRIT Awards. She was nervous (understandably) but ultimately handled it very well. Bowie was a fan of her music and she had been able to meet him. They had Bowie's actual musicians there too. Duncan Jones seemed to like it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7l3y7LOzLc

Lorde reminds me a bit of a young Kate Bush. Somehow I had missed Kate's written tribute to Bowie. There's quite a good collection here of celebrity tributes to Bowie.

Kind of makes up for Lady Gaga's messy presentation. I noticed on Twitter that Boy George said Gaga's performance was more like a tribute to his ex wife Angie than to David! Angie appeared to take that as a high compliment and retweeted it. She actually did look quite a bit like Angie. Trust George to stir it!

Everyone in Bowie's camp dislikes Angie and that includes Duncan. He still does not have anything to do with her. So I don't think that won Gaga many points in her favor.