Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere over the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably heard that a famous British musician named David Bowie died recently.
Musicians, actors and artists who became famous in the 1950s and '60s are now reaching the age where life will inevitably come to an end at some point in the not too distant future. Because of that, a lot of people's artistic heroes have been dying in recent years, leading to many tributes on social media, radio, television and in print media. The amount of comments, tributes and social media postings relating to the death of David Bowie has far surpassed anything I've seen when any other celebrity has passed away.
Bowie was that rare breed of artist who was able to constantly change, reinvent himself and experiment while at the same time maintaining a loyal and ever-growing number of fans and admirers. As well as regularly changing his music style — from psychedelic pop to glam rock to soul to experimental art rock and more — Bowie completely changed his look, visual style and image every couple of years. Because of this, many people have a particular "Bowie" that they like best — mine being the one from the mid to late 1970s when he lived mostly in Europe and made wildly experimental yet still highly listenable art-rock music.
Apart from music, David Bowie was an actor in both stage productions and a diverse range of films. Always aware of how important visual elements can be to music, he also pioneered the making of interesting and experimental music videos long before anything like MTV existed.
I think it's difficult, if not impossible, for somebody as strange, uncompromising and avant-garde as Bowie to find such mainstream, international popularity these days. But there are still many interesting artists around if you're willing to look beyond what's presented by mainstream media.
If you've never experienced the music of David Bowie, there are plenty of videos on YouTube and other Internet sites to check out. And if one doesn't do it for you, try another, which is bound to be completely different. Bowie's was a talent definitely worth exploring!
Ben Edwards
Editor
[email protected]
