Today we will be talking about a very famous person named David Bowie. This man is many things, I would definitely describe him an interesting person. He started his career in 1962 and ended around 2016 around when he passed away. He was mainly known as a Rock and Roll artist. He called himself and liked to think of himself as an actor, which was pretty accurate considering the different types of characters he created/performed as. His most famous character was Ziggy Stardust. This was portrayed in 1972 through his album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. This persona was the start to a successful career for David Bowie. He continued to come up with more and more personas as time went on; he made it his “thing” and he loved it. Some other personas he created were Aladdin Sane, The Thin White Duke, The Goblin King, and The Blind Prophet.
David Bowie was many things/personas but one thing that he did was he just went with the flow. Many people were making assumptions of him, saying he was being gay or crazy. Yet, none of this fazed him. He’s iconic for not really caring about what others say. All he cared about was doing what he loved. Bowie explained in an interview with Cameron Crowe that his fans need to understand his progression with music. What’s funny is that Bowie didn’t give the people what they were asking for exactly, but what he wanted to be his own person which makes him even more unique. Bowie either knew what he wanted and produced it, or just simply went with the flow.
- Do you think David Bowie would have been as famous as he was if he was just like any other rock singer?
- Do you think he was well respected considering the way he perceives himself?
- How did David Bowies queer sexuality and characteristics affect peoples perspective of him? Did this affect his fan base, or his life outside of these characters is?
- Since Bowie claims he is an actor, do you think he was playing the role of Ziggy Stardust or is he Ziggy Stardust?
- After reading about some of the characters David Bowie portrayed, do you believe some or all of these characters made up a little bit of him as a person?
- How does he tell a story through his songs differently than other rock bands or musical artists?
- Throughout Auslander’s article, how does Auslander describe David Bowie’s performances in theatrical ways? How does this translate after seeing it onstage? In the show, it shows David Bowie being a little funny and theatrical in a scene at 1:06:49; after reading the article and seeing him through this performance, do you believe he was an actor, performer, artist, or all of these?
- How was lighting used as a special effect in his shows? Do you believe this was effective through his show? Some specific places light was used dramatically were in,18:40 37:33 , 48:12, 1:01:47. Specifically in the Auslander article he talks about a moment that happens in 35:34 of the show.
- In Auslander’s article, he talks about Ronson and Bowie’s relationship. In the show, there is a clip at 50:55 to 56:12 that is talked about in Auslander’s article. What characteristics are they presenting? Does this show any characteristics that Bowie is perceived as having? What type of characteristics does Ronson show? How did this effect Ronson’s character on stage?
- After reading the interview by Cameron Crowe, I noticed that Bowie wasn’t really complying during the interview. He would either give very blunt statements or completely redirect the topic to something not as similar as what the interviewer was asking him. If David Bowie was going to be noncompliant why did he agree to do the interview in the first place? Why do you think he was being very incompliant?
2. From the readings, I gather that Bowie was well-respected by his adoring fans, but not as much by other musicians, specifically rock musicians. This is due to the fact that he loved and embraced theater, even identifying as a theater artist rather than a musician as in the Auslander reading. Theater was seen as the antithesis of rock and thus would lead to other rock artists viewing him as in a genre of his own. Additionally, Bowie openly called out artists, specifically Elton John, in his Playboy interview for taking stylistic inspiration (or copying) him while also proudly admitting to stealing from Mick Jagger as he described himself as a “tasteful thief.” Usually, an artist’s goal is to be original or authentic, and Bowie openly was not. Furthermore, Bowie’s many characters made him difficult to understand, with the Auslander article stating it was hard to “embrace Bowie because his actorly stance made it impossible to equate his performances with the real person.” This created a great divide among Bowie as a performer and other rock artists at the time.
Bowie’s sexuality played a big role in his career, much bigger than anyone’s private life should have. There have been interviews where Bowie has claimed that he regretted coming out because he felt a pressure to do so and he called himself a “closeted heterosexual” (he later took back those statements but still). It’s a shame that people had such high expectations for him to be gay due to his flamboyant look and personality to the point that he felt pressured to come out. David Bowie is a victim to gay stereotypes, and he should never have had to define his sexuality publicly unless he actually wanted to do it himself.
I think that David Bowie was mysterious and extremely respected. I think that Ziggy Stardust was simply a character that he put on and barely someone that he actually was, mainly because he calls him a character but also because he calls it plastic. It seems like calling something plastic was his way of insulting something and his calls rock-and-roll plastic throughout most of his interview. He seems to hint that he created Ziggy Stardust because people needed it and that is what would be the hit of the time. Also I think he definitely tells stories different through his music than most rock and roll songs, because his were written without a strong message and were half done as he calls it. Even listening to a few of his songs with how they trail off to an end and watching clips you can tell that the song itself needs almost a movie like take on it (which I believe is what he intended). While most of the other true rock and roll performers wrote songs with clear messages and stories that they wanted the audience to connect to.
6. So, the way Bowie tells story is very much shaped by the very British narrative story style. The reading briefly mentioned this, but I think it is worth reiterating that the British tradition of telling a story of love/whoa/disaster through song results in this huge innovatory of folk ballads. While those rockstars can definitely do this (John Lennon definitely has a few), they way Bowie did this is different. Hyper -glamorized, -sexualized, and -stylized is what sets him apart from others. I think Bowie is outrageous, but not so outrageous that he is a spectacle more than a performer. If Bowie is nothing else, he is a performer.