âThe most revelatory book about Bowieâ - @guardian âInsightful and brimming with anecdotes, David Bowie: A Life is arguably the most intimate portrait ever written of the man behind the artist, the star, the myth.â đ¸ @thatwouldbealex #paperback #reprint #davidbowie #davidbowieforeverâĄď¸ #dailybowie
For the sake of convenience, the year before punk is often characterised as a moribund period full of extravagantly adorned prog rock and dreary boogie bands. In reality, 1975 was the apotheosis of music. Rich with masterpieces, itâs one of the most important years in the narrative arc of the twentieth-century: Blood on the Tracks by Bob Dylan, The Who by Numbers by the Who, Young Americans by David Bowie, Another Green World by Brian Eno and the fifth Roxy Music album, to name just a few.
The records of 1975 were magisterial; records that couldnât be bettered. Who could realistically make a more sophisticated album than The Hissing of Summer Lawns? Or a more complex hard-rock album than Physical Graffiti? Or a record as unimpeachable and as prescient as Horses? It was a year filled with an unparalleled sense of ambition, where the album was venerated as much as the modern novel, where everyone was trying to make a masterpiece. Iâm sure there will be many people who disagree with me, so why not avail yourself of the brand new paperback of my book #1975 to see what all the fuss is about đ
Thank you to @cutlerandgross for my new transition spectacles, which make me feel like a Michael Caine stand-in for literally any film he made in the Eighties. They also have serious Swifty Lazar vibes đ
The speech of his life đ A masterclass in diplomacy, and a modern day history lesson, full of courage and a dedication to unity, this ever-so-careful rebuttal was delivered with humour, charm and an effortless, innate confidence. Bravo, Your Majesty
The record that changed my life, and changed my world. Immediately. Having read Nick Kentâs review in the NME the only thing I wanted to do was hear it. Oh, and then turn myself into a Ramone, obviously. Which I did, again, immediately. In 1976, punk was a stance that encouraged rejection. And rather than the aggressive guttersnipe persona the media would later encourage (as personified by the Sex Pistols, the Clash and pretty much everyone else), before the movement became commodified, punk literally meant punk â weedy, unformed, an outcast. Unlike most other acts of the mid-1970s â when the Ramones evolved â the band had no interest in being either nice or erudite (they celebrated a Mad magazine world inspired by cartoons, B-movies, bad TV and surf culture). Thatâs commonplace now, but at the time the Ramones were a law unto themselves: nerdy, recalcitrant and reductive in the best way possible. Using a methodical but instinctive process, the Ramones acted as though they were on a Cordon Bleu scholarship, boiling the rockânâroll bouillabaisse until it thickened and intensified, allowing any unnecessary vapours to waft away to FM radio. The Ramones basically reinvented their genre through evaporation. Loved them then, love them now. Remarkably, this album was released 50 years ago today, and all the original members are now dead.
âThis month, like every month, will be a good month for David Bowie,â writes Dylan Jones.
âIn a few days comes the launch of Youâre Not Alone, an immersive Bowie experience in Kings Cross, London, where youâll be able to revisit his greatest performances. This will no doubt be extraordinary, but weâre also going to see an avalanche of PR for The Bowie Experience, a truly appalling karaoke-style musical which has produced some sublime TripAdvisor reviews (â3rd rate DJ with some bloke tapping illuminated bongo drumsâ).
âAs a friend of mine said last week, âBowie is now IKEA.â
âAnd the Thin White Duke would have hated it. So would Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and any other of Bowieâs famous characters. Bowie himself â an artist who took great pride in rarely looking back â would have found it preposterous. Bowieâs most urgent creative force was his need for change, experimentation, and almost constant transgression. What bored him above all else was the laziness of looking inquisitively back into the past. Nostalgia? No, it simply wasnât his tote bag.
At the link in @theipaper âs bio, Jones explains why âBowie â who died ten years ago at 69 â would have hated the deification he has experienced since thenâ.
