David Bowie has died.

[GA Russell]

I can't say that I was a fan, but he sure was popular in the '70s and later. 

It appeared to me that people in the business considered him to be a visionary. 

Anyone have any favorite stories?

[sidewinder]

Not many news items these days leave me totally stunned but this one has. RIP - not a major fan but a very interesting and innovative artist (sort of like Miles in a way) and his absence will leave a big void out there.

Only just reading about his early Beckenham Arts Lab days yesterday.

Edited January 11, 2016 by sidewinder

[mjazzg]

All the health rumours mean this is less of a surprise somehow. What is a shocking thought is that he is no longer there quietly observing everything that he has influenced over the years. A true original lost

He meant a lot more to many people than he did to me but Young Americans will always be close to the top of my pile. Listening now to Dylan Howe's tremendous interpretation of the Berlin albums

[A Lark Ascending]

You get some sense of his influence by the way this announcement (an hour ago) has thrown the BBC Radio 4 Today programme into chaos. Not a programme that has music to the fore but his death is being announced every five minutes - and other interviewees are being quizzed on him.

I too didn't follow him - in fact in the Ziggy days he was everything I didn't like about music...all the dressing up and showing off (how it appeared to me at the time). But his music was always there and I have come to enjoy it more in recent years. Clearly one of the huge influences on popular music and beyond.  

Oh, and 'Space Oddity' was a huge song on the radio in the months that I first started to listen actively to music in 1969. Caught the spirit of the time to perfection. 

RIP  

Edited January 11, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[JohnS]

I can't say Bowie's art was ever part of my life, but he was always an interesting figure, nevertheless I feel, like Sidewinder, stunned by this very sad news.

Edited January 11, 2016 by JohnS

[mjazzg]

Revisiting some old favourites since the news broke and I have to say amongst many other things he was a great vocalist

[romualdo]

I was a big fan in the early 70's (when i was 15) & lasted till the late 70's - loved those first 5 or so albums then the Berlin Trilogy with Fripp & Eno involvement (Low, Heroes & Lodger). Lost interest in his work after that.

Been playing my Ziggy Stardust vinyl this evening - heard the news a few hours ago

I found him more of an alchemist rather than an innovator - I used to have arguments with bowie fans in the 80's re this

RIP Davey Jones

Edited January 11, 2016 by romualdo

[ejp626]

I am just stunned and really taken aback.  RIP

I managed to see him in concert twice -- once in 1990 on the Sound + Vision Tour (when he was supposedly retiring all his hits -- glad he didn't stick to to that).

And then in 2004, the Reality tour, which of course was his last tour.

I liked most of his later albums (haven't heard the brand new one yet) and respected how he didn't just play it safe but kept changing things up (at least relative to most rock/pop artists).

[jazzbo]

I hadn't followed any news of him and I also am taken aback. I guess I consider him an innovator and I have a lot of his work if not nearly all the official albums. The work he did with Ronson just floors me--I don't care for the costumes etc. but the music reached me then and still does. R>I>P Mr. Jones.

[CJ Shearn]

I am shocked too, very sudden news.  RIP

[Hardbopjazz]

Sad. RIP David.  

[felser]

Sort of a "me too" on his music, found it interesting in the 70's without it being important to me , but definitely a sharp and observant and exceedingly influential guy and a cultural icon in that period, and we grieve the early loss of any life.

[soulpope]

He was part of my music universe .... RIP

[robertoart]

Wow. Sad news RIP. Talk about a bombshell. He was a huge influence on the Post Punks I played with when I was younger. Low was the album they all loved. The Berlin connection and all. David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop. 

Edited January 11, 2016 by robertoart

[crisp]

My earliest memory may well be hearing Space Oddity on the radio. So while I never became much of a fan he possibly piqued my interest in music, and thanks for that.

[JSngry]

Didn't care for him except as an occasional singles artist until the Berlin trilogy came out, Heroes in particular. Never did become a serious fan, but have looked at the career in retrospect and found more there that I did first around.

Ordered the new on last week, should be arriviing this week, very much looking forward to it, to what the "collaborations" with the "jazz musicians" yielded.

RIP, and here's to the courage to change.

[clifford_thornton]

5 hours ago, JohnS said:

I can't say Bowie's art was ever part of my life, but he was always an interesting figure, nevertheless I feel, like Sidewinder, stunned by this very sad news.

Ditto on this and Sangrey's posts.

[mjzee]

The news was a big shock this morning.  Just last week the WSJ had a story about his new album and its jazz components: http://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstar-review-ziggy-stardust-plays-jazz-1452030425

He meant a lot to a lot of people, largely through his gay persona in the early to mid '70's; we might forget now how much he meant a lot to gays coming out during that time.  Then he backtracked (marriage to a woman!), and perhaps that was felt by many as a betrayal.  But certainly, when he hit big, there was an "extra-musical" component to his success.  But then, popular music is never entirely about the music, is it?

I saw him once, at Madison Square Garden during his "Let's Dance" tour.  It was very enjoyable, akin to a Rolling Stones concert.

[Joe]

Too young.

Only recently have I really come to appreciate all Bowie was capable of. Looking forward to the new one as well.

[Van Basten II]

Big fan, big shock, never got to see him live, he was part of my discoveries of music in my teenage years and no matter how my tastes evolved he remained an important part of my musical life.

 

 

 

[Rooster_Ties]

Huge fan of his more recent work (everything over the last 20 years).  I only got really interested in Bowie about 10 years ago, when I stumbled on a box set of his complete ISO Records output from 1995-2004 (Outside, Earthling, Hours, Heathen, and Reality) - which I picked up for a song.  I have a smattering of his earlier work, but there are probably a dozen key 70's Bowie albums I don't even own (and never have).

So, honestly, practically ALL my desert-island Bowie is from **after** Tin Machine (1990's and after).

His newest album, Blackstar, had just came out on Friday last week -- and I was spinning it all weekend.  I'm glad to say I heard it 7-8 times in total before I heard the shocking news on NPR this morning.

I'll post some more thoughts later.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Rooster_Ties

[duaneiac]

I was very surprised to hear this news.  I was never a huge fan of his music, but I did see him in the mid 1980's on his Glass Spider Tour.  It was a very good show. and he was a great showman in addition to being a distinctive vocalist and an astute musician and businessperson.  Sad way to start the new year.  May he rest in peace.

[catesta]

I guess I wasn't paying attention and never heard rumors he was sick. My older sister was a big fan so I remember hearing tunes like "Changes", "Fame", "Young Americans" and  the Ziggy Stardust album blasting all the time. It grew on me. I still consider myself a fan and was sad to learn of his passing.

RIP dude.

[ejp626]

I'm a fan of basically all his periods, though I have only a few of the classic albums (Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Ziggy of course) and am more of a singles guy throughout this period).  Like Rooster, I have nearly all of his post Tin Machine CDs, and I just ordered Outside and  BlackStar to complete the set.  My favorite is Earthling, but the others have some great songs.  I'll be going through a lot of this over the next week.

[Rooster_Ties]

9 minutes ago, catesta said:

I guess I wasn't paying attention and never heard rumors he was sick.

The rumors were largely put to rest when his 2013 album The Next Day came out, and to whatever extent they may have persisted (if at all), I think this new album, and the two videos just released over the last 6-8 weeks, where he looked great! -- probably squelched any remaining rumors entirely.

This morning was a complete shock to me, and from everything I've seen on-line, to everyone else too.