July 09, 2004

• The Thin White Duke is the coolest man on Earth. I'll spill a little Grey Goose for him when he shuffles off this mortal coil. (As I was when we lost Ray Charles.) But however he goes out, I bet it'll be memorable.
• I saw him perform here in LA on his last tour and it was memorable. Had vocal chops and dance moves of a man half his age. Bowie (still) fucking rocks!
• I saw him on the Reality tour recently, and the man has only gotten sexier. I shit you not. Ask anyone.
• As one of the older members here, I have to consider the fact that Bowie is only slightly younger than my parents. Everyone who played in a band in the '60s or '70s is OLD. Some of them just don't show it as much (Elvis Costello, for example). and sorry, willie nelson is the coolest man in the world ; )
• Coolest shaggy man in the world, perhaps.
• Uhhh, Charles Bukowski? Wait he died. Nevermind.
• I agree about Bowie. I always found his "changes" fascinating. And, I'm still mad that he did't play LeStat in Interview With the Vampire. On the other hand, we'll still have their recordings, movies, etc. What better way to celebrate their lives? I can always watch or listen to Gable, Wayne, Hepburn (both of them), Bergman, Grant, Stewart, Sinatra, Crosby, Pattie Page, Chris Connors, Dave Bruebeck, Stan Kenton, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, a whole passle of blues musicians, Patsy Cline, Ray Charles, even John Denver, Vivaldi, Bach, Chopin, Mozart, and on and on. We don't lose them, except in the sense that we don't know what they would have done next if they'd lived longer. When I hear that an icon has died, I tend to celebrate his/her life. Grey Goose is a good way to do, if you're into that. And, I hate to tell you this, but someday you, also, will die. Get your heritance ready.
• I know a guy who died and he is remembered only by slashdot posts.
• You all seem to be forgetting about a certain Mr. T, who is also getting on in years, but does not show it. T is unquestionably the coolest person who has ever lived, and I dont mean that in a corny nostalgic 80s way. Though DC cab is bitchin. What about the godawful rolling stones? I had the misfortune of seeing a clip of Floyds pulse (from 10 years ago), and was really disturbed by seeing Gilmour. Though I hear ol Rog is still in good shape.
• I actually got chills reading your list Path. I forgot Dave Brubeck died. Can I do a retroactive toast to him? Don't have Gray Goose though. Will cheap Scotch suffice?
• Well, everyone has a different opinion.
• Holy effin shit. How did I miss this? I am a hardcore Bowie fan (like an actual Bowienet member). I knew about the shoulder thing, but this is the first I've heard about the heart. Gads. I'm like stunned. I just saw him a couple of weeks ago in NJ. I latched on to him when I was 16 ('89). I was only able to see him twice until I moved to NYC. In the last couple of years I fulfilled all of my Bowie dreams (except meeting him) by seeing him over a dozen times, often in smallish venues (Beacon, St Anns Warehouse, Roseland). He is a legend and simply an incredible performer, and very generous to his fans. Nailbiting. Pacing. Worrying ensues. Off to Bowie-net to commiserate with my people.
• Here's the official statement from Bowienet. Seems like he is in good spirits /uberfan hysterics British pop legend David Bowie underwent heart surgery in Germany last month prompting him to cancel his European tour. Bowie sought medical treatment after performing at a festival in the northwestern German town of Scheesel (June 25) reportedly for a pinched nerve in his shoulder. It was discovered that the 57-year old rocker had an acutely blocked artery requiring emergency surgery (the procedure is known as an angioplasty). Bowie, who was able to leave the clinic early this week, is now convalescing with his family and hopes to start work next month. Said Bowie, "I'm so pissed off because the last 10 months of this tour have been so fucking fantastic. Can't wait to be fully recovered and get back to work again. I tell you what, though, I won't be writing a song about this one."
• David Bowie has been my god since Labyrinth came out when I was nine or ten. He's one of the few musicians I have always liked, unlike those that come and go in my list of favourites. I didn't even realise he was almost sixty, though. Not that he isn't still incredibly sexy.
• Glad we saw him when he came through Wellington. I missed ever seeing Queen live - it'd be a shame to do the same with Bowie.
• squidranch; Add Cal Tjader, Laurindo Almeida, Chet Baker, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Garry Mulligan, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, The Squirrel Nut Zippers and a copy of Mo' Better Blues and I'll bring a case of Grey Goose. I know not all of them are dead, but I could still celebrate all of them.
• squidranch; Add Cal Tjader, Laurindo Almeida, Chet Baker, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Garry Mulligan, Miles Davis, George Shearing, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, The Squirrel Nut Zippers and a copy of Mo' Better Blues and I'll bring a case of Grey Goose. I know not all of them are dead, but I could still celebrate all of them.
• Did it again! AAARRGH!
• relax folks. angioplasty and a stent are not that big a deal. certainly not for middle-aged people, even rock stars. at least wait for the double-bypass before preparing requiems for him and pondering deep thoughts on mortality and shedding ye old human coil. he'll have to go on warfarin and be told to clean up dietary habits etc., but considering that he is an active and apparently fit man, i suspect he'll be around for awhile yet. path, you stop that. just because seniority will let us list many deceased stars, doesn't mean we should be freakin' out these young un's. /don't forget elvis.
• Ah Path, no biggie. All them folks deserve to be celebrated not just once, but multiple times! I'll get some ice. Let's celebrate!
• I was in about 8th grade when Ziggy Stardust came out and have been a fan since (not a huge fan, but much into the earlier stuff). Saw him on TV a year ago and was amazed at how good he looked and how inspired his new music was compared to other members of his generation.
• dxlifer - I'm just sayin' that we should listen to them , too. Not trying to take anything away from Bowie, with whom I'm eternally in love.
• Ack. Yeah, I don't know what I'll do when Bowie finally exits the stage. But hopefully that will be a long time from now. The only thing worse than watching your idols wither away is when they die before their time. I'm not talking about Kurt Cobain. He had "larger-than-life tragic icon" written all over him, and it made sense to me that he would die young. But Jim Henson was a different story. That didn't make sense, probably because he helped raise so many people my age that he seemed almost like a relative. (I can't stand listening to post-Henson Kermit the Frog and Ernie because they sound and act wrong. And what Disney has done to the Muppets is heartbreaking.) And don't get me started on Paul Wellstone. *sniff*
• Sheez... the sheer freakin' energy he exuded on the only concert of his I attended, felt like electricity up to the tip of my standing hair. Hang in there, Mr. Thomas Jerome Newton :)
• If he can survive the flying lollipop of doom, he can get through this. Bowie is a floppy-haired god. And I'm only 23... All you old'uns complaining about watching your idols age, think what it's like for someone who never even saw them when they were young - we just see the decay, senility and death, everything else is hearsay. Gosh, I'm in a cheerful mood today. :-)
• He's not the coolest man in the world, he's just a very naughty boy.
• 1. Bowie had angioplasty. In some hospitals these days, they send you home THE SAME DAY after having this because it is NOT major surgery. I know this because I just had a quadruple fucking bypass TWO WEEKS AGO when they found out I had three major blockages and could not be given the balloon/stent procedure. 2. Dave Brubeck is not dead yet. I saw him in concert very recently.
• Bowie and his wife Iman are also the models for the relatively new Hilfiger "H" line. Very cool clothes. We all shall pay a bit of silver to Charon and cross the Styx one day; some sooner, some later. It isn't how or when that marks our legacies, it's what we do beforehand. It is enough to know that, when Bowie goes, he had a good and interesting life, was wildly successful in his chosen field, and touched a great many people. There is little else the world can ask of a man, is there?
• Hope they fixed you up good, briank, and that you're feelin' OK.
• brian: *quadruple* bypass? Duuuuude.
• As a member of the *older* monkey set, I've had quite a few of my music idols pass on. Some hit me harder than others...like John Entwistle, Nina Simone, George Harrison, Joe Strummer, and Stevie Ray (that was the toughest, since I had just seen him in concert weeks before). But it's inevitable, and there's more to come. The strange thing is that they're dying of natural causes now, as opposed to the ubiquitous drug overdoses of the 60's and 70's. Side note: Who was the first Rock & Roll artist to die of what could be termed "old age"? I'm thinking maybe Roy Orbison...can anyone think of an earlier example?
• brian, are you still clutching your teddy bear/cushion? an essential companion when coughing! wish you'd tell everyone to stop mourning for someone who is probably receiving the best post-op care available for what is really a minor intrusive correction for clogged valves. my darlin' had his chest cracked 12 years ago to replace a genetically defective aorta with a titanium aortic valve prosthesis. he now sounds like a time bomb ticking away but is certainly not fragile in any way. nor are any of the multitude of people i've met who have had open heart surgery. you will now become a member of a rather unique club who quickly pick up on that scar and welcome you. all ages, by the way. take care of yourself and enjoy your new lease on life.
• good point, rocket. there are those we have lost from the 'live hard and die hard' factor. and those who will go from more natural causes. which loss is the most difficult to accept? it seems as if everyday mortality seems to bother people most, being a reminder that it happens to everyone.
• To the list at the top, you forgot to mention Elvis Costello marrying Diana Krall. That bastard. Now nobody else has a chance. What happened to Townsend? Did I miss something there?
• He enjoys child pornography, apparently. Totally ruined Empty Glass for me.
• Selina. and The Man In Black.
• I'm sorry, but Keith Richard(s) is the coolest man in the world.
• I never really cared for him anyway. Heresy, I know, but Townsend bored me.
• angioplasty - did they remove a piece of his ex-wife?
• Let me go on the record saying that Lou Reed is still audible. His new live album, Animal Serenade, ranks among his finest work, and is just as exploratory, ambitious and un-safe as all of his best work. Also, his last studio album, The Raven, is really quite good. Not his best, but to paraphrase a much younger Lou: his shit is better than most people's diamonds. The Raven has special appearances by Laurie Anderson, Steve Buscemi, Ornette Coleman and (to bring this Lou Reed Lovefest dangerously close to topic) David Bowie. He doesn't make as much noise as he used to but Lou Reed is still The Bomb.
• Keith Richards is a zombie.
• OK, Keith Richards is the coolest man alive or undead.
• ok, see, if you start considering dead people, that opens a whole other can of worms. I consider dead people. Ok at least I make me laugh.
• Zombie Keith Richards would not be any more unintelligible. Scotch...SCAWWWWWWWTCH...RAWRGRABLEFUCKINAWWWRRG...
• That's why he's a zombie. He's replaced his blood and other fluids with random illegal substances.
• MonkeyFilter: Scotch...SCAWWWWWWWTCH...RAWRGRABLEFUCKINAWWWRRG...
• David Bowie led me to wear make-up in 1972, when I was 18. And I'm a boy. I found a perfectly good CD of "The Man Who Sold the World" in the trash last week. I'm still the only one I know who thinks there's not a thing wrong with the "Never Let Me Down" record. So I hope he's all right.
• I liked Never Let Me Down too. The rest of the disc, so-so. But that and Absolute Beginners were teh roxor.
• NYC Monkeys should check out Future Legend on 796 9th Avenue (52nd). In addition to a great selection of new and used music, they have a ton of Bowie vinyl and memorablia (as their name would imply). The staff is also remarkably friendly and knowledgable. Surlyboi, you are 100% about Absolute Beginners, easily in my top 10 favorite Bowie songs. Little Durian, Bang Bang and Beat of Your Drum are my favorite dirty little secrets.
• happy birthday dave