It seems strange that when a celebrity dies there is this weird emotion. It’s sad but a weird kind of sad because it’s not as if you knew the person but you feel strangely connected to them at that time. When news spread 24 hours ago that David Bowie had died my reaction was not that dissimilar to when I heard the news that Michael Hutchence had died. On both occasions I was in the car driving and the news came over the radio. When Michael Jackson died I was at work and when Princess Diana died I vividly recall being at home lying on the couch with a hangover. I’m sure if I asked my mum if she remembers where or what she was doing when John Lennon died she would certainly recall.
Some people just have that kind of impact on you. Celebrity or not. I was in high school in the 80’s and the music that had the most influence on me at that time was the likes of Duran Duran, Culture Club and David Bowie. Remember the mixed tapes you would make? (I wrote about it here.) “Modern Love” and “Let’s Dance” take me back to Friday night high school dances and I have very vivid, happy memories of skating at Staff Skate City with “Fashion” being played during the speed skate. Seriously there should be a hallmark card to capture those kinds of memories. I wonder who will be on Charlie’s soundrack as he grows up? I wonder if they’ve even been born yet? Not to earn the wrath of the Bieber fans out there (for the record I even had to check google to see how to spell his name) and I don’t want to begrudge his success or his music but they just don’t make musicians the way they use to do they? MM made the comment to me earlier tonight that he noticed that in the last 24 hours David Bowie was trending number one on iTunes and Bieber number two. Clearly I’m just not his demographic. No hard feelings.
So Bowie. A musical genius, a chameleon, an influencer, an icon.
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