Tag Archives: David Bowie

Riffing on Bowie and Blistering the Walls

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Music, like everything else, wasn’t intended to be programmed by algorithm. But, people seem to have succumbed: anything that isn’t easy, or pleasant, or makes them feel good about their pathetic lives is just deleted, or tuned out. Like populist rock and roll.

Try doing a Google search for “populist rock and roll” or “populist rocker.” Notice how Bruce Springsteen pops up? One of the articles is an older Spin magazine piece (from 1985) and another one on “The Boss” is from the New York Times and 1997. I guess if he’s the standard-bearer for populist rock and roll, no wonder it sets people off so easily. No one really remembers, apparently what music that pushed back against the establishment’s supposed to sound like. Oh, and see what I mean about algorithms? They fucking distort reality. And just so you know, Springsteen’s populist pose is just that: a pose. Remember the pathetic “unity in the middle” Super Bowl ad for Jeep?

But go ahead, keep looking for that populist thread running through what’s left of rock and roll. I won’t hold my breath waiting.

I ran through another Rock and Roll Church service Sunday morning. Got the stream to work, too. Weirdly, I had this odd, cascading thing going on during the Facebook Live stream. But, at least people showed up and could see and hear something. We’ll keep working to get all the speed bumps smoothed-out.

I’ve been playing “Stuck in a Nightmare,” my COVID song about lockdown and Janet Mills for a year. I wrote it in March, 2020. I’ve never played it live until today. There was this riff in the verses that sounded Bowie-esque. I couldn’t put my finger on the song. Ironically, it’s “Queen Bitch,” which seems fitting since Governor Mills plays so prominently in the sentiment of my song. I really like the electric version. This track was on Bowie’s 1971 record, Hunky Dory.

After a brief respite where Mary and I walked part of the beach at OOB, I was back down in the Bunker, working on recording a four-pack of songs I played during the morning R & R service.

Let me warn you. Don’t listen to it near flammable liquids. They may ignite.

I’ll post my video and then, Bowie playing, “Queen Bitch.”

There’s the screed about Jeff Bezos, and how his wealth has gone from $106 billion to $186 billion during COVID. So much for pandemics being tough on TPTB. I also reference Jimmy Dore, someone you might want to check-out if populism doesn’t offend you.

Fame is Overrated

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Because I follow a few people via Medium, I now get a daily email and digest of content published on the platform. Most of it’s crap, but a handful of stories stand out and I’ll read them. Like this one, about a musician, Mike Posner.

I’d never heard of Posner, actually—at least not until I read his post.

Like a lot of young performers that ascend fame’s ladder, the ride to the top changed who he was, or at least magnified things about him that he found he didn’t like. Of course, the ride back down celebrity’s hill can be equally as dramatic (as well as ego-deflating). To his credit, Posner possessed some measure of self-awareness and took time to reflect and reconsider. Not every young man facing the crash-and-burn of his career would have had his presence of mind, and taken steps to right himself.

After he had a worldwide hit in 2010, with a song called “Cooler Than Me,” he ended up being dropped by his label. Five years later, he had to redefine and yes, reinvent.

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Ziggy Played Guitar

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[I wrote this Monday night]
As we age, it’s an ongoing battle not to become a nostalgia act—in the music we listen to, the books we read, the clothes we wear—especially when others our own age are entrenched in the past.

I see it on Facebook. In the people that I once knew, went to school with, and most of whom I likely haven’t seen face-to-face in 35 years. And yet, we somehow have some tenuous connection that Mark Zuckerberg is able to exploit?

Last week I was listening to KEXP, one of the stations I enjoy streaming, given the sad state of radio in my own region. I prefer to listen to music that was written and recorded in the last decade and stations like KEXP (from Seattle) play a mix of newer music, while recognizing some of the pioneers and icons of rock and their contribution to the history of the genre.

David Bowie would be one of the latter. In fact, KEXP highlighted Bowie, celebrating his birthday last Friday, with what they were calling “Intergalactic David Bowie Day,” playing a shitload of his music, old, and new, including his latest (and last) album, Blackstar.

David Bowie, as Ziggy Stardust (circa 1973).

David Bowie, as Ziggy Stardust (circa 1973).

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