Skip to main content

Memories of David Bowie

Hearing "Young Americans" in the back of the red van as my parents drove through the heartland of our country. Discovering the message of "Under Pressure" and playing the song for a 7th grade class presentation on "What is Horror?" with Matt. Watching the "Let's Dance" video in the basement of a friend's house. Listening to "China Girl" and discovering SRV. "Space Oddity" while cruising the Metroparks on Classic Rock Saturday Night (thanks MMS). Might as well include "Transformer" in this mix. Speeding down I480 screaming "wham bam thank you ma'am!" "Blue Jean" - a most underrated song. The summer paint crew at the height of the classic rock revival and hearing the best of Bowie on endless rotation (Cleveland has long ties with Bowie, you know). "The Last Temptation of Christ." "Sound and Vision." "Heroes." "Fame 90" (a killer remix, just listen to those drums). "China Girl" again, this time the version found on the VH1 Storytellers CD. "I'm Afraid of Americans" (hell yeah). "Zoolander." That he appeared in "Bandslam," a movie Sophie loves. That "Rebel Rebel" was on the film soundtrack, it somehow wound up as a song used by her alarm clock to wake her for school, and now she HATES the song. "Life on Mars" the brilliant British TV series and the use of that song in the show. "Cat People" in Tarantino's WWII masterpiece. "Moonage Daydream" in "Guardians of the Galaxy" and that Jacob listens to that song regularly. "Starman" in "The Martian" - it could have... SHOULD have been a cliche, but worked perfectly. That on the day he died, my friend and I were on a bike ride, discussing "Blackstar" and whether or not we liked it (for the record, neither of us got through the 2nd song). Listening to "Ziggy" on an endless loop as I rode the train to work the morning after David Bowie died.

RIP Mr. Bowie


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

MARATHON FOOTNOTES (for those who didn't think I would really footnote a stream of consciousness thought): Footnote #1 Academy Award Winning Best Picture Films from 1969 to the Present: Midnight Cowboy, Patton, The French Connection, The Godfather, The Sting, The Godfather II, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Rocky, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Terms of Endearment, Amadeus, Out of Africa, Platoon, The Last Emperor, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, Dances With Wolves, The Silence of the Lambs, Unforgiven, Schindler’s List, Forrest Gump, Braveheart, The English Patient, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love, American Beauty, Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind, Chicago, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Footnote #2 Members of the band YES, from 1969 to the present: In 1969, Yes is formed with Jon Anderson on vocals Peter Banks on guitar, Bill Bruford on drums, Tony Kaye on keyboards and Chris Squire playing bass. This group records...

A Trip Through the "My 90's Tapes" Collection Pt. 9: Mötley Crüe, "Girls, Girls, Girls"

Column 3, Row 13: Mötley Crüe , Girls Girls Girls. I was never a big fan of Mötley Crüe. I liked their radio hits, but I never listened to one of their albums in their entirety until 1989’s Dr. Feelgood , which was orchestrated in a way to dominate radio stations and suck in casual fans, like me, who had trouble getting past the Crüe’s purposeful sleaziness. That said I always admired them more than the other Sunset Strip bands. Bassist Nikki Sixx and drummer Tommy Lee were such a formidable rhythm section and laid down a solid groove to all their music. Guitarist Mick Mars had a knack for making his guitar hiss sinister, matching his perpetual scowl. Vince Neil was nothing to write home about as a vocalist, which made his unpolished singing just a little more intriguing than most of the other front then who dominated mainstream rock in the mid-late 80’s. Girls Girls Girls was released in May of 1987, just in time for a long summer of Mötley Crüe taking over the mi...

The EPIC Playlist Update

We made it through the holidays and the Southern California fires, and the Epic Playlist is still going. Super Dave and I had planned to take December off, but we both missed the daily ritual of adding something new to this crazy list that we love. Inspired by Nic Harcourt on L.A.'s 88.5, the SoCal Sound, we opted for a "Pick of the Day" approach midway through December and have carried on that way ever since. That has slowed down the progress of reaching our ultimate goal of 168 hours of music (i.e. one complete week's worth of music), however, it's allowed us to slow down and give a little more appreciation to the tracks we've placed on the list. Where are we at now? 1,814 Songs and 124 hours (unless you're looking on my phone and it's 123 hours and 49 minutes. Weird). I got obsessed with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the end of January and now I'm making an effort to include all of the performer inductees. I don't know why; it gives me ...