Har i dag jag gjort min plikt som förälder och människa. Sa till min 14-åriga dotter och kompisen som var på besök: stäng av mobilerna och sätt er i soffan, jag har nåt viktigt att berätta.
När de motvilligt bänkat sig frågade jag om de visste vem som gått bort, hade de kanske pratat om det i skolan? Det hade de inte. Trots att de haft musik (hur f-n är det möjligt?).
Det är David Bowie, sa jag. En man som med sin nerv, personlighet och outsinliga kreativitet inspirerat nästan alla andra nu levande rockartister. Lady Gaga inte minst. Ett unikum, ett geni, den störste sen Jesus.
Sen drog jag med hjälp av youtube och google-bilder hela Bowies historia: Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, major Tom, Life on Mars, Heroes, Lets Dance etc, fram till Were are we now?
När de hämtat andan fortsatte jag med Ullevikonserten -83 och allra sist videorna Blackstar och den blytunga och nästan obegripligt smärtsamma Lazarus, som avslutas med att mannen kliver in i en mörk garderob och stänger dörren.
De satt kvar under hela föreläsningen och om jag läste reaktionerna rätt så lyckades jag få dem att i alla fall ana något lite av vad mannen betytt. För mig och för mänskligheten.
Tack, David.
Avstår för övrigt från att säga något. Det gör för ont att tala och skriva i dag. Sorgen och saknade är för stor.
Bidrar dock med några länkar:
BBC direkrapporterar - Reaction to David Bowie's death
BBC 6 Muisc - Mark Radcliffe celebrates the life of the musical and cultural icon David Bowie. 1 hour
BBC 4 Minnessida
Uppdatering 2016 – 01 – 24:
Robert Fripp: 'I didn't turn down chance to play on David Bowie album'
Två mastiga essäer författande av Tanja Stark (före mannes död):
Tanja Stark = Australian Artist and creative consultant. Synchronisticologist. Exploring the cross over between pop culture art and music when not otherwise existentially occupied.
1 Confronting Bowie’s Mysterious Corpses
2 Crashing Out with Sylvian : David Bowie, Carl Jung and the Unconscious
Eno:
"David’s death came as a complete surprise, as did nearly everything else about him. I feel a huge gap now.
We knew each other for over 40 years, in a friendship that was always tinged by echoes of Pete and Dud. Over the last few years – with him living in New York and me in London — our connection was by email. We signed off with invented names: some of his were mr showbiz, milton keynes, rhoda borrocks and the duke of ear.
About a year ago we started talking about Outside — the last album we worked on together. We both liked that album a lot and felt that it had fallen through the cracks. We talked about revisiting it, taking it somewhere new. I was looking forward to that.
I received an email from him seven days ago. It was as funny as always, and as surreal, looping through word games and allusions and all the usual stuff we did. It ended with this sentence: ‘Thank you for our good times, brian. they will never rot’. And it was signed ‘Dawn’. I realise now he was saying goodbye."
Från Adrian Belews facebook:
In 1978 I did my first tour of Europe as "stunt" guitarist and singer for Frank Zappa's band. The night we played in Cologne, Germany unbeknownst to me Brian Eno was in the audience. Brian knew David Bowie was looking for a new guitarist for his upcoming tour. He called David after seeing our show and told David he should come see the guitarist for Frank's band.
The next night we performed in Berlin. There was a part of the show where Frank took an extended guitar solo and most of the band members, including myself, left the stage for a few minutes. As I walked to the back of the stage I looked over at the monitor mixing board and saw David Bowie and Iggy Pop standing there.
Wow! I couldn't believe it!So I walked over to David Bowie, shook his hand and said, "I love what you've done, thank you for all the music". And he said, "Great, how would you like to be in my band?" I motioned back towards Frank and said, "Well, I'm kind of playing with that guy." David laughed and said, "Yes, I know, but when Frank's tour ends my tour starts two weeks later. Shall we talk about it over dinner?"
David said he would meet me back at our hotel and sure enough when I arrived back at the hotel David Bowie and his assistant Coco Schwab were sitting on a couch in the lobby. As I walked past them they whispered to me, "Get into the elevator, go up to your room, come back down in a few minutes, and meet us outside. We have a car waiting."
It was like something out of a spy film.When I came back down and went outside there was a black limousine waiting. The driver opened the door and I got in the back with David and Coco. David immediately launched into all this plans for his upcoming tour, the songs we would play, the staging, and so on, and how much he loved my guitar playing! It was so exciting! He said they were taking me to one of his favorite restaurants in Berlin.
How many restaurants are there in Berlin? 25,000?
We arrived at the restaurant, went in the front door, and who should be sitting at the very first table but Frank Zappa and the rest of the band! So the three of us sat down with Frank and the band. David, trying to be cordial, motioned to me and said, "Quite a guitar player you have here Frank."
And Frank said, "F••• you Captain Tom."
(note: Frank had demoted David from Major Tom to Captain Tom.)
David persisted, "Oh come on now Frank, surely we can be gentleman about this?"
Frank said, "F••• you Captain Tom."
By this point I was paralyzed. David said, "So you really have nothing to say?" Frank said, "F••• you Captain Tom."David and Coco and I got up and went back out the front door. Getting in the limo David said in his wonderfully British way, "I thought that went rather nicely!"
x
It was February in Europe which meant it was icy cold outside, but for me it was even more icy inside. When you're touring, especially in a professional band of hired musicians, you tend to "partner up" with someone; one person you hang out with the most.
Frank was the person I hung out with. I often sat next to him as we traveled on planes and buses, I joined him at breakfast, etc. I had stayed at Frank's house many weekends during our 3-month rehearsal schedule and I felt we had some sort of friendship beyond employer/employee.Of course he was entitled now to be distant to me. He had plucked me out of obscurity, taught me so many things, and shined a bright light on me. Frank was my mentor and he was not an asshole to me, not ever! He was generous, funny as heck, brilliant, and informative. A genius. I had the time of my life around him. It was never part of my plan to leave Frank's tutelage forever.
We still had two weeks of touring left. Frank had already informed me of his intentions after the tour ended. He said he was going to rent a giant film editing machine and spend three or four months editing our live concert footage into a film called "Baby Snakes". He explained I would be kept on a retainer which meant I would be paid to do nothing but wait for Frank's next project. I received a call from my manager. Now it was official: I was being offered a 4-month tour with David Bowie. (In reality it turned into more than a year).
Later that day we were on a bus to an airport. I decided to break the ice. I walked to the very last row in the bus where Frank was sitting. I told him about David's offer. I reminded him of his plan to edit his film and pay me a retainer and asked him if it didn't make more sense for me to join David's tour for 4 months instead. I told him I would gladly return after the tour. Frank reached out and we shook hands.
That evening, February 26th, we played a concert in Brussels, Belgium. One of Frank's songs we did was "Yo Mama". But for that show Frank substituted the words "Your David". So this is what he sang:
"Maybe you should stay with your David,
He can do your laundry and cook for you,
Maybe you should stay with your David,
You're really kind of stupid and ugly too".Two nights later the tour ended in London at the Hammersmith Odeon. There was an onstage occurrence which angered Frank. Fortunately I had nothing to do with it. Frank cut the show short and stormed off. The next day most of the band members flew back to L.A. where they all lived. I was told later that Frank fired the band on that flight home.
I got on a plane to Dallas for two weeks rehearsal with David Bowie.
