[Login] or [Signup]
Login
Username:
Password:
[Signup]
[Recover Account]

Navigation

Poll


You must be logged in to view polls
Bowie General > Images Vol. 48

You are in:  Forums / Bowie General / Images Vol. 48
Locked
homebrewPosted at 2025-11-15 13:50:31(1 hr ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 48)


Uploaded: 152.57 GB
Downloaded: 375.96 GB
Posts: 160

Ratio: 0.41
Location: United States of America


These articles appear just as they were posted in the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie by group member Jamie Soule aka AladINSAnE. I have made no attempt to alter the formatting, spelling, grammar or edit in any way.

IMAGES: Part 48

On January 3rd, 1981, the last performance of The Elephant Man starring
David Bowie was staged at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. The play's
director, Jack Hofsiss, tried to persuade Bowie to stay with the
production three more months, however Bowie declined. It was over. That
evening the cast, who were at first so apprehensive about his ability to
be able to handle the role, held a party for him. As a gift he was given
the cloth backdrop from the play. It was not only "OVER" for Bowie, it
was over for his listeners as well, only we did not know that at the
time.

Now, I want you to all listen to me closely here, and pay attention to
this.  I mean it too, because I want you to understand what I am about
to say. The reason is that I know fucking well there are many of you out
there who do not know this because you haven't looked, and it is about
time you learned. Every Bowie fan should be aware of this information,
because it tells you everything about Bowie's motivation as an artist,
and this is something, that sadly, far too many Bowie listeners do not
understand. At all.  Ready? Okay, here we go. In TEN YEARS, between
1970, and 1980, this is what David Bowie personally accomplished. Music
wise he wrote, recorded and released a total of TWELVE SOLO ALBUMS. That
is NOT all, he also appeared on thirteen others. Two of those, Lust For
Life, and The Idiot he basically wrote  almost all of the music for Iggy
Pop. Out of these as well, he produced Lou Reed's Transformer, along
with Mick Ronson, and some of Iggy's Raw Power. He single handily saved
the band Mott The Hoople from fading away into obscurity, and they were
on the brink of it when he stepped in. Bowie wrote, and gave them their
first hit, All The Young Dudes, and his production work made the album a
classic. You can add one more album to the thirteen others, with his
narration of Peter And The Wolf. Now, on top of that add five world
tours in the ten years, 72, 74, 76 and 78 were solo tours, and he toured
as a member of Iggy Pop's band in 77. I am far from finished. He played
the lead role in two major film productions, as well as made Ziggy
Stardust The Motion Picture. He was featured in The Cracked Actor
Documentary, and his other television appearances, as well as radio and
personal appearances, are far too numerous to list. There are few Bowie
listeners who are aware that he also made, or was featured in SIXTEEN
videos in those ten years. Then, there is the one Broadway play he
starred in. You take a good look, David Bowie did ALL of that in TEN
YEARS. These however, are only the things that you KNOW ABOUT. It would
be wise of you to remember, that over this period of time, in addition
to the work I have just mentioned, Bowie was also painting, sculpting,
writing, or doing whatever else, that you do not know about.

I have something to say, and I want to say it to everyone of you who
thinks that we didn't LOSE DAVID BOWIE in 1980.  Take a good fucking
look at that list, and you add it all up, and now you show me just ONE
other period in Bowie's career where he EVEN CAME CLOSE to what he
accomplished then, and I mean in QUANTITY, and QUALITY. Well? Come on,
show me. The number's don't lie, they speak for themselves, what I said
he did is the TRUTH. So, to prove your case, all you have to do is show
me another time period where Bowie came close to accomplishing what he
did between 1970 and 1980. I'm waiting. Well, guess what? I have some
rather bad news for you. The thing is, you can't. That's right, you
heard me, you can't. The fact is that there is NO OTHER PERIOD in his
career where Bowie was this, innovative, diverse, inventive and
productive. There is no other period either, where his work was
consistently of such high quality. I defy you to show me a BAD album
from this period. Yes, there may be a WEAK one, such as Pin Ups, but
there is nothing that rates as POOR. Do not attempt to brush the quality
of his albums off as only my OPINION, because it is not my opinion, it
is a fact, and I can prove it. I invite you to visit any place, such as
Teenage Wildlife, the fan based web site where the listeners rate each
Bowie album, and song. You will soon discover that this is not MY
OPINION, it is the opinion of the VAST MAJORITY of listeners, and there
is enough evidence to positively conclude, that as far as Bowie's
listeners are concerned, this period was EXCEPTIONAl, compared to any
other. If you think otherwise, you are in disagreement with every
listener I know who was there in the seventies, and the majority of
other listeners, so this makes your argument an OPINION, not mine. Bowie
never produced this way artistically again. We LOST that.

Now, one more thing. I have people tell me that the reason he stopped
producing to this level was because he got older. Well, I wish to
straighten something out here. You are a first class idiot if you expect
me to believe that, and I mean it. Please, give me more credit than
that, because this is an insult to my intelligence, really. Think about
this for a minute. Think about what you are trying to make me believe
here. You want me to believe that Bowie got old in the space of ONE
YEAR, and stopped producing. Yep, that's what you said. I have to tell
you that you are WRONG, it is NOT because Bowie got older. You see,
according to credited MEDICAL JOURNALS, which are used to train
physicians, aging is a GRADUAL PROCESS, and the reduction of physical
activity is a process which takes many DECADES, not ONE YEAR. The sad
truth is that it WAS BOWIE HIMSELF who decided to stop producing the
innovative and diverse art, that his talent is capable of, in the
quantity, and of the quality, he did in the seventies. Still, it is for
some odd reason, that I will never understand, that some people feel a
need to defend Bowie from those people, such as me, who state the facts,
and then express concern and criticism because of what they lost. These
people are willing to alter reality, and deny the facts, any way they
must in order to "protect" their image of Bowie. To them, the image they
have of Bowie is that he is flawless. They have their own image of other
fans too. They view anyone who would criticize Bowie, as not fit to call
themselves a fan. What is of concern to me however, is that they not
only view those who criticize that way, they also condemn anyone who
would dare to even question Bowie, or his work. Now, how someone could
ever "just accept" something,  without first questioning it extensively
to discover the truth about it, or if it is what it claims to be, is
beyond my reasoning. Correction, it is not just beyond my reasoning, it
is beyond any reasoning.

January 3rd, 1981 was the end of the greatest era in  Bowie's career,
and what followed was a period of near seclusion for two years. Although
he continued to work on some projects during this time, he would rarely
make any public appearances, and he told no one of what his plans were
for the future. After his final performance in The Elephant Man Bowie
left America for his home in Switzerland. Once Bowie was in Japan with
John Lennon, and they were walking around in a market when Bowie
discovered an old Beatles style jacket. He asked Lennon to put it on,
which he did. Bowie said that the jacket looked out of place on Lennon,
meaning that it belonged in another era, and it didn't "fit" anymore.
John Lennon was one of the reasons Bowie did not extend his role in The
Elephant Man, tour, or stay in America. He truly feared for his own
personal safety. The first part of 1981 Bowie relaxed, and engaged in
one of his favourite, skiing. I have a photo of Bowie that I cut out of
some magazine years ago that shows him wearing this enormous snowsuit
and mitts. The caption under the photo says, "Ziggy Snowflake." I think
it should have read, "Ziggy Snowman." Oh, he had a hat on too. February
was spent on the ski slopes with his son Joey, which had become a family
tradition, provided dad was not on tour. Joey, as a matter of fact, had
become a competitive skier, and he has won many medals. Bowie could hold
his own on skis as well. He personally taught Tony Visconti in 1979.
Visconti said Bowie was extremely patient, and an excellent instructor.
He was able to teach Visconti the basics in only two days.

RCA figured it out. Bowie was going to wait it out, in other words, just
sit and do nothing for a couple of years until his contract expires.
Now, even though Bowie under the terms of his contract had fulfilled the
required numbers of albums he was to deliver, he was still obligated to
keep producing, at least something. RCA was not very happy with this
move by Bowie, and so they decided to take action. RCA placed Bowie on
"suspension for non delivery," and by doing so they legally were able to
extend his contract for one year,  until the end of 1982. His
contractual obligations to Tony Defries and MainMan would not expire
until 1983, and he was not about to further line their pockets more than
he had already. Simple, David Bowie would not work, and RCA, along with
Defries, would continue repackaging his back catalog. On March 30th,
they released the single Up The Hill Backwards, backed by Crystal Japan
on the B side

At the end of February Bowie returned to London. Record Mirror magazine
had run its annual readers poll, and Bowie won awards in two categories,
Best Male Singer, and Best Co-Director  of the number one video of the
year, Ashes  To Ashes. At the annual Rock And Pop Awards Ceremony, held
at the New London Theatre, and sponsored by Record Mirror magazine and
BBC Radio, David Bowie won again as Top Male Vocalist. In May the
soundtrack was released for Christine F. The album was not a huge
seller, only 25,000 copies were shipped to the UK, however the film's
popularity was a different story. At the time of its release Christine
F. became the most successful film in the history of German cinema. In
July the BBC made an announcement of of a series of condensed plays that
they planned to produce and broadcast in 1982. One of them being a play
written by Bertolt Brecht called Baal, and David Bowie quite admired
this man's work. Bertolt Brecht was a German playwright, poet and a
theatrical performer. It is no wonder that Bowie was fascinated by the
work of Bertolt Brecht, as his style, beliefs, and some of his views on
how to present art mimicked those of Bowie, or the other way around
perhaps. Brecht was born in 1898 and he experimented with dada and
expressionism, which are also two styles that Bowie experimented with,
and talked about very frequently pertaining to his music, as well as his
painting. A major influencing factor on Bowie's work, and also his
personal life was isolation, and he often chose, or forced himself, to
live in this state. I quoted Bowie in an earlier installment of Images
where he said that he chose to live in isolation, so he could write
about it. Isolation fascinated Brecht, so much so that it heavily
influenced his work. He detested the "common" form of plays, and cinema
where the audience was made to focus on a main character. The emotional
state of the audience is then determined by the things that happen to
the main character, such as if he is hurt, they feel sad, and feel anger
and revenge against the one that hurt him. Brecht said that the
emotional attachment to the main character basically put the audience
into a trance, leading to a state of self oblivion. This is not what he
wanted to happen with his work, instead, he wanted the audience to
"think," rather than become emotional. Brecht experimented attempting to
achieve this through his art, and although he was never completely
successful, he did gain credit for developing a technique  known as
"verfremdungseffekt" or the "alienation effect". It was designed to
remove any thoughts of criticism from the audience, so their response to
his work would be analytical, as opposed to emotional. Bowie's
isolationism was different of course than Brecht's, as his only applied
to himself.


Brecht was born with a congenital heart condition and was also plagued
with a facial tic. He gained quite a reputation as being
"uncontrollable," during his school years.  At the age of twelve he
suffered a heart attack, which he fully recovered from, and he later
returned to school. It was in school where he began to write, and he
ended up a co-founding and co-editing a school magazine called "The
Harvest".  By the age of fourteen he had his first poems published, and
by the age of sixteen he was writing for a local newspaper and had
written his first play, The Bible. The play is about a girl who must
choose whether between living,  dying, or saving  others. He got into
trouble and was almost expelled from school at age eighteen for
disagreeing on whether it was necessary to defend his country in time of
war. Brecht left school when he was nineteen, and by that time the First
World War had broken out. His medical condition prevented him from
active military service, and therefore he was assigned clerical duties
instead. In 1917 he resumed his education, this time studying medicine
at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, and while there he attended
seminars on the theater. During this time his mother was terminally ill
from cancer, heavily drugged with morphine, and it was also at this time
that Brecht wrote Baal.

Can art imitate life? I think so.  Like Brecht, Baal is a poet. Baal is
also a singer, drunk, lazy, selfish and ruthless. When he is befriended
by a gentleman who is rather wealthy, and a connoisseur of the arts, he
promptly seduces the man's wife. His motto is revealed early in the
play, and it states, "Take what you can get, and when you've got it all
move on to greener pastures." Baal had some rather interesting
philosophies, one being, "The toilet! Best place in God's creation,
where you can calmly sit in contemplation. Your dreams are on the wall
before your eyes. Your accomplishments below you, drawing flies."
Earning the admiration of a middle-class age student, which he rebukes,
only to take her fifteen year old girlfriend instead, who later drowns
herself. He later finds another vulnerable woman, who he makes his
mistress, only to publicly humiliate her in the filthy cabaret where he
is now working as a singer. He gives up singing in the cabaret, in
favour of wandering around the countryside with his mistress, and his
musician friend Ekart. When he discovers that his mistress is pregnant,
he abandons her, leaving her by the roadside. In memory of the fifteen
year old who drowned herself because of him he sings a song called The
Drowned Girl. It tells of her suicide, adding how the human body
physically merges with plants, seeds, and water. Years later Baal, and
his friend Ekart, return to the cabaret where they one performed, only
to find the two women that Baal earlier discarded. Both have lost the
womanly sensitivities they once had, both having now become rather
"rough."  Baal also discovers that his mother has died. Ekhart seduces
the worse one of the two and is caught by Baal, who then murders him. in
a jealous rage. Baal's debauchery has left a trail of deflowered
virgins, dead or abandoned lover's, and murdered friends. He is now
being sought by the police, so he flees to the forest finding refuge in
a woodcutter's camp. Here he dies of pneumonia while still standing on
his feet, and his arms stretched out at the sky.

Now, although Brecht's life did not mimic that of Baal's, there are
certain similarities, and his life can best be described as quite
colourful. Like the character Baal, Brecht's mother passed away while he
was writing the play. In order to "broaden his experiences," Brecht
began frequenting brothels at the age of sixteen. As a child, one of
their servants by the name of Marie Miller had a rather interesting game
to amuse Bertolt and his brother. She used to hide objects in her
underwear and allow the boys to "search" for them. Apparently his mother
had a habit of smelling his clothes to determine the extent of his
sexual activity. No, I am NOT making this up. Let me assure you, that
like you, I  also had a bit of difficulty believing it. I found some of
this stuff quite bizarre indeed,  so I checked it all out, and it is
strange, but it is also true.  He simultaneously pursued eight girls,
between the ages of sixteen and twenty, one being Paula Banholzer, who
gave birth to his illegitimate child in 1919. He did slow down
marginally in his adult life, but still having  no less than three
mistresses at any given time.  Brecht is known to have experimented with
homosexuality, often inviting artistically inclined male friends to his
room on weekends to read erotic literature. His diaries, although vague,
make mention of his need for both male and female sexual gratification.
Apart from his countless affairs with both women and men, he was married
twice and fathered four children, two of them illegitimate.

Brecht's political leanings were with Communism, starting  in 1919, and
he joined the Independent Social Democratic party.  He believed that the
freedom of the  individual must be suppressed today so that in the
future mankind will be able to achieve  freedom. The artistic
influences, that effected his work, have got to be the most diverse, and
the most incompatible, that I have personally ever seen.  He studied
Chinese, Japanese, and Indian theatre, focussing heavily on Shakespeare
and other writers from that era. He adopted elements of Greek tragedy in
his work, and that of other German playwrights. He enjoyed  Bavarian
folk plays as well. Now, as impossible as this sounds, and as crazy,
Brecht had a phenomenal ability to take these incompatible writings,
blend them together, and incorporate them into his own work. He also
trained other actors, one of them being  Lotte Lenya, the wife of Kurt
Weil, whose work Bowie listeners have heard. Kurt Weil was a composer,
who wrote several critically acclaimed operas, and he collaborated at
times with Brecht, who wrote  lyrics to Weil's music. Those familiar
with Bowie will instantly recognize a song he recorded, that was
originally written by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weil. It is called Alabama
Song. Brecht got a first hand lesson in the application of his political
beliefs about the suppression of individual freedom during the 1930's,
when his books and plays were banned in Germany, and performances of his
work were interrupted by the police or, forbidden.  Oddly enough, and
unlike his doctrine favouring suppression of the individual, he failed
to see this as a positive step towards mankind achieving freedom in the
future, and in 1933 he fled to Zurich, and later into exile in Denmark.
Weil, suffering the same fate also left in 1933,  but for France
instead, and then on to the United States in 1935. So much for the
freedom of mankind, I guess. In 1935 the Nazis revoked Brecht's German
citizenship. He truly feared the Nazis, moving to Stockholm, as a result
of the growing pressure on Denmark from the Nazis. The advance of German
troops on Sweden, caused him to move to Finland in 1940, and in 1941 he
fled to Moscow. It was from Moscow that he arranged passage by ship to
Los Angeles,  and once there he settled in Santa Monica.

In 1947, Brecht was summoned to appear before the House Committee for
Un-American Activities, led by Senator McCarthy, in order to investigate
the "subversion" of Hollywood by the Communists. In reality it was
nothing more than a "witch hunt," driven by the ignorance and stupidity
of McCarthy, who had convinced himself, without a scrap of evidence,
that there was a Communist behind every tree in America. In addition he
was thoroughly convinced that there were actors in Hollywood, who were
in fact COMMUNIST SYMPATHIZERS or AGENTS, whose mission it was to use
the field of entertainment to CAPTURE THE HEARTS AND MINDS of innocent
American citizens. Now, all of this appears so  ridiculous, it is
difficult to imagine it hurting anyone, but that is far from the truth.
In the wake of this "investigation," to weed out Communism, many people
suffered for the remainder of their lives. Hundreds of, actors, writers,
musicians and others in the entertainment industry were hauled in front
of this committee and questioned about any affiliation they had to
Communism. Those brought before the committee included actress Shirley
Temple, who was ten years old at the time. The pressure was put on
people to give names, and turn in those they worked with, who they
thought may be Communist sympathizers. Every person was made to take a
pledge stating that what they say is the absolute truth, and then answer
this question, "Are you now, or have you ever been, a member of the
communist party?" As funny as it sounds there were ten actors jailed for
refusing to take the pledge, give names, or provide testimony against
others. Those who were found to be "Communist Sympathizers," were "rail
roaded,"  usually found guilty based on hearsay, and unreliable
evidence. As a result their names were "Blacklisted" in Hollywood,
meaning, they could not work, because no one would hire them, and if
they did, then they would be branded as a Communist. The careers ended
for most of those who were blacklisted, although some continued to work
by leaving  and working in foreign countries, or writing under an
"assumed" name.  Brecht left the United States for Switzerland the next
day. In 1948 he went to East Berlin, and in 1950 to Austria where he
was  granted citizenship. He also briefly returned for a short period in
that time frame to Germany. In 1955 Brecht received the Stalin Peace
Prize. The next year he contracted a lung infection, and died of a
coronary thrombosis on August 14, 1956, in East Berlin.  He had left
instructions, that when he died, he wanted a stiletto put through his
heart. and to be buried in a steel coffin so that his body would not
become riddled with worms. Can you see now why Bowie was so fascinated
by this person? I thought so.

AlaDInsaNE

To be continued, if I remember.................................


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
Report This Post Go to the top of the page
 

<< Prev  1   Next >>

Locked
You are not permitted to post in this forum.

Latest Forum Posts
Latest Topic TitleRepliesViewsAuthorLast Post
Images Vol. 4807homebrewby homebrew
2025-11-15 13:50:31
Images Vol. 472248homebrewby homebrew
2025-11-13 19:54:13
DONATIONS15137214Steveboyby Steveboy
2025-11-12 15:41:46
David Bowie - NMC BBC SESSIONS 1969 197211883john1981by Steveboy
2025-11-11 14:49:56
I Can’t Give Everything Away304840Portlandbillby professormouse
2025-11-06 16:13:38
Images Vol. 460275homebrewby homebrew
2025-11-01 13:54:26
Bowie - explains Ashes To Ashes lyrics0352imperialby imperial
2025-10-29 19:35:45
Images Vol 450548homebrewby homebrew
2025-10-25 18:01:19
Images Vol. 442562homebrewby homebrew
2025-10-23 19:22:44
Images Vol. 431683homebrewby professormouse
2025-10-13 23:55:17
Boston '7251336averybowieby imperial
2025-10-06 16:10:13
1997-09-16 Warfield, San Francisco, csb > d7 source5772interplayby Steveboy
2025-10-06 13:43:29
Images Vol. 420519homebrewby homebrew
2025-10-04 14:03:16
how do you record a spotify stream ?71176professormouseby professormouse
2025-09-28 22:17:26


Online Users

Newest Members
Modified by JanErik |- Page Generated In 0.052990 secs.
-|- RSS Feed -|- Feed Info
Theme Base By: Nikkbu | Modified by: paperdragon | Graphics by: MossGarden
Email: bowiestation(AT)bowiestation.com