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Bowie General > Images Vol. 35

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homebrewPosted at 2025-08-17 14:08:50(1 wk ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 35)


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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 35


There are a few radio stations that I can spend a bit of time listening
to. These are usually the ones that they call "classic" rock stations.
However, there is not one that I have discovered, that I could listen to
on a regular basis day after day, because they all have the same major
problem. The problem is that they all tend to play the same songs over
and over again for decades at a time, and it gets rather annoying after
awhile.  Ziggy Stardust, Changes, Suffragette City, Rebel Rebel, Jean
Genie,  Golden Years, Young Americans, Modern Love, Space Oddity and a
few others are the extent of their Bowie menu. Maybe you are different,
me. well, I prefer not to be yelled at, especially first thing in the
morning. Not only is this not nice, but I am not a "morning person," so
you may be committing suicide to do so. I do not need some fucking DJ
yelling at me, as most of them now do, ever. I also do not need their
lame jokes, or a bantering "morning" show laced with foolish commentary.
The thing that I need least though, is to enter their contests. I will
not put my balls in a vice, food processor, or a meat grinder while at
the same time wiping my ass with #6 grade sand paper, snorting a vinegar
and hamburger fat mixture, while singing Amazing Grace, all for the
chance of getting my name entered in a draw for the chance to win two
theatre tickets, or fifty dollars. The GRAND PRIZE of two airline
tickets to Nigeria to see Britney Spears, and meet her backstage for an
autograph session, have a non nude photo taken of her, plus a complete
set of her whinings on cd, surprising as it may seem to you, does not
interest me.

Look, I am in the publishing business, I know that radio is supported by
advertising, and by the amount I hear on the radio, the owners of these
stations are all Zillionaires. As I was parking at the grocery store one
day the DJ said that Roxanne by the Police was coming up next. They were
about twenty seconds into song when I got back into my car, TEN MINUTES
LATER. I couldn't believe it. It never used to be like any of this
before. There were DJ's who were knowledgeable, and spoke to you as if
you were a listener with some intelligence. The commercials were
reasonable in numbers, and the music WAS music. Radio has now become an
insult to one's level of intelligence and display of poor taste. How sad
this is for a once respected medium for music. I hated Abba, but I found
myself singing along to Dancing Queen one day, and then I realized
something. The stuff that we thought was garbage back then, is better
than most of what we have today. Yep. That's the way it is. We've
progressed? Really, where?

It came out of nowhere and it hit hard, consuming not only music, but
society as a whole, everything changed. The Disco Era. They had Disco
album burning rallies that were organized by "music" lovers at venues as
large as baseball stadiums. They were well attended. Polyester suit, a
multi coloured "Hawaiian Shirt" open at the top to reveal the gold
chains around your neck, on which one of them hung a big gaudy gold
medallion. Loafers, slicked backed hair, grease optional but encouraged,
and a thick "police style" moustache rounded off the "look." The place
of worship was the Discotechque, which had unimaginably long lines in
front of it  most days, and every weekend. Cocaine was the drug of
choice for the wealthy, now costing $60.00 to $80.00 a gram, was $180.00
a gram them,  I know that because I read it somewhere of course. The
Mecca of Disco's was in New York, Studio 54, and it was the celebrity
haunt of the day. EVERYBODY went there. The only way that the "ordinary"
person was granted admission was by your "look." A mass of people
striving for the honour of being allowed through the sacred door would
huddle outside. The door men would go around and "judge" those who were
waiting, and if you were dressed outrageous enough, or beautiful enough,
then they may allow you to enter. In my opinion this practice was not
only degrading to people, and therefore disgusting, but also morally
bankrupt. The entire place was a sickening display of excess. Bianca
Jagger, on her birthday, entered Studio 54 on the back of a white horse.
A big neon "man in the moon" adorned one wall, with it's hand moving up
and down to its nose holding a spoon full of cocaine. It was smiling.
Federal Marshals, armed with a search warrant, raided Studio 54 to seize
the company records and books on suspicion of tax evasion hit the
jackpot. In the safe located in the office they found not only the books
that got the owners convicted on the tax evasion charges, but a sizeable
amount of cocaine in a few bags, enough to lay charges of possession for
the purpose of trafficking. Studio 54 was permanently closed, and the
owners went to Federal Prison for several years.

Georgio Moroder, who wrote the music for Cat People, Nile Rogers, who
worked with  Bowie as a producer and a few others were the talent in
this era. The rest, well, fucking horrible. The bad part was that Disco
was MINDLESS, and it seeped into every nook and cranny effecting
everything. The Rolling Stones, Miss You, and too many more songs they
wrote were Disco. How does one go from Gimme Shelter, Monkey Man, Wild
Horses and Angie to Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo,  Woo Woo Woo Woo Woo, Woo Woo
Woo Woo? Especially The Stones. I bet it wasn't Richards idea. It not
only got the Stones either, it got others too. Under the guidance of
those who obviously have NO FUCKING RESPECT, took one, if not the most,
important pieces of music ever made, demeaned, disrespected and degraded
it beyond belief. Robert Fripp, and many other musicians, made their
decision to make a career out of music after hearing this album. Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was made into a movie, and in the
process it was degraded in every way possible. How badly? Well, first
off, starring in the "film," I use that word loosely were one of the
biggest names in DISCO, THE BEE GEES. Yes, Sgt. Pepper goes to the
Disco. Add Peter Frampton. Had enough yet? Here is a review,
"Impressively ridiculous, candy-colored, rock star-packed musical
vaguely based on classic 60s album. Die-hard Beatles fans love it. Fans
of goofy camp will also find its senseless and gauche style appealing."
If you ever swallow bad dope and need to puke, go to:
http://www.stomptokyo.com/badmoviereport/sgt_pepper.html, and get the
full story.
I can't handle telling you, I would have to be hospitalized.

If you look at the audience, you can see why the real talent during this
era went unrecognized by the Disco crowd beyond it. As for Georgio
Moroder, well, they would recognize his work on  Donna Summer albums,
and on the movie  Flash dance.  However his work with Jon Anderson of
Yes, Roger Daltrey, Asia, Blondie and Freddie Mercury probably escaped
them. Now add  Cheap Trick,  Kenny Loggins,   David Bowie, Barbra
Streisand, Janet Jackson, Cher, Olivia Newton-John, Elton John, Billy
Squier, Bonnie Tyler, the list goes on too far, and you have a man who
gets around. Add a few film scores such as Scarface, Midnight Express,
Metropolis, Top Gun, and over twenty more, some Grammy and Golden Globe
awards as well, and you get an idea of his talents. Guitarist  Nile
Rogers, and producer of Let's Dance belongs here as well. In the late
seventies Rodgers teamed up with fellow guitarist Bernard Edwards, to
form the band Chic. Now, while dance bands may not be your personal
preference, it is worth noting that the area of music that is known as
R&B, became heavily influenced by what is known as, the "Chic" sound.
The other members were Bowie drummer Tony Thompson, plus vocalists.
Norma Jean Wright, and Alfa Anderson. Chic was not signed to any label
when they recorded their first single, Dance Dance Dance. They shopped
it around to the different labels, getting a poor reception, until it
was picked up by Atlantic Records, and they signed CHIC. The label was
not aware at the time that they hit the mother load, you see, Dance
Dance Dance sold over a million copies in ONE MONTH! Two more songs, Le
Freak and Good Times, were also hits. A surprising number of other
artists contributed to CHIC over the years, and many are Bowie related.
Drummer  Sterling Campbell, Heathen and Outside to name a few. Omar
Hakim, the drummer on Let's Dance, Lenny Pickett, who played the wind
instruments on Heathen, as well as "those two." in 84 and 87, and so did
saxophone player,  Stan Harrison. Add flute and sax player Steve Elson
in with Pickett and Harrison. Richard Hilton, keyboards on Black Tie
White Noise, and of course drummer Tony Thompson. Last, but certainly
not least, the man who added so much soul to Young Americans, Luther
Vandross.

This should be  fascinating, as well as fun.
Look at these.

Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Heart Of Glass - Blondie
Music Box Dancer - Frank Mills
Knock On Wood -  Amil Stewart
Stumblin' In - Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman
In The Navy -  Village People
I Want Your Love - Chic
Goodnight Tonight - Wings
Take Me Home - Cher
He's The Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge

Hot Stuff  - Donna Summer
Reunited - Peaches & Herb
Love You Inside Out -  Bee Gees
We Are Family -  Sister Sledge
Goodnight Tonight - Wings
Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) - The Jacksons
Just When I Needed You Most -  Randy  Vanwarmer
In The Navy -  Village People
The Logical Song -   Supertramp
Love Is The Answer -  England Dan & John Ford Coley

Do you want to REALLY KNOW how pioneering Bowie was? Do you want to
REALLY KNOW how small and select a group of core  listeners he had? Do
you want to REALLY KNOW why his albums did not sell? DO YOU WANT TO KNOW
WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A BOWIE LISTENER BACK THEN? I can tell you in ONE
sentence. Lodger came out in May of 1979, and those two song lists are
the top ten songs  from a pop chart from May and June of that year. Now
do you see? Wow, I just realized something that I never thought of
before, and it turns out to be a rather important discovery. There are
FAR MORE CATEGORIES for music and "noise" now. We had only a few back
then really. Today, well, Hip Hop, Rap, Thechno, Disco, Grunge,
Industrial, Ambient, New Age, Punk, Alternative, Rock, Dance, and it
goes on forever I imagine, if you really want to make a complete list.
Back then, there were less. Now, I may miss a few here because I never
really paid attention to much of what I did not listen to. If I am in
error please forgive me, this list is meant as a representation, and not
as a complete guide to the genres of music in 1979. There was Disco,
Rock, New Wave and Punk. Now, what I state here, as far as percentages
are concerned,  is  based only on MY PERSONAL RECOLLECTION of things at
the time, and not on any studies. I am asking for you to trust me on
this, but I want you to know that even though I strongly doubt it, I may
be incorrect.

In 1979  Disco was all the rage. Everyone went to the Disco on Friday
and Saturday nights. Who? Me? I won't lie, ever, so, yes I did too. But
hold on here, I never went on a regular basis, and this will exonerate
me, my motives for going were not pure, in the least. You see "They"
went home after work, ate, showered and then made the necessary
preparations to go out. The opening of the door on their clothes closet
revealed the hangers, on which hung their personal collection of the
worst fabric Satan's little helpers ever wove. Polyester. The stuff was
stain resistant, machine washable and you could throw it in the dryer.
it was worshipped, if not for those reasons, then it was for this one
alone, it was "WRINKLE FREE!"  No more IRONING, and  without  those
wrinkles  you always looked great. I guess the mirror had not been
invented yet. Oh, and the colours, they were just spectacular. Lack of
oxygen blue, lima bean diarrhoea brown, giraffe urine yellow, infection
puss green, bathtub mould beige, cadaver grey, rotting Halloween pumpkin
orange, gangrene black, rabies foam white and several other magnificent
colours to be seen in. There is also a dazzling array of multi coloured
polyester material on the market, and the clothes made from this
material literally have to be seen to be believed. Tenth floor suicide
splatter,  pizza and binge drinking vomit, calico cat and steam roller,
mouldy marzipan, and others.

Although it is difficult to imagine how such a product could ever be
improved, they still spent a Baszillion Kazillion dollars, and put the
best minds in the world on it. As improbable as it sounds, it turned out
that the investment and the research was not  in vain. It resulted in
the discovery of "STRETCH POLYESTER." This now meant that "full bodied"
individuals would never have to worry again about finding clothes that
fit. I know what you are fearing now, the loss of all of those lovely
colours and shades to choose from? Do not worry, all the hues found in a
garbage dump were saved, not only were they saved, they were enhanced.
The  colours  themselves found in stretch polyester clothing are the
same as in the regular line of fashion designs, only they are much
brighter. They glow like neon would be an accurate description. Now, a
forty year old man who is "well rounded," meaning at 340 lbs. he is more
"hearty" than your average person, can now do, what others do. He can
shed his track suit forever. Imagine the feeling of freedom as he
buttons up his blunt object trauma to the head polyester shirt, this is
of course after he has "stretched" his rotting lettuce, brown with a few
off green highlights, over the bottom half of his excessive frame, next
comes his stool sample coloured jacket. As he applies the #6 grade
grease recommended by the manufacturers of the rotating drill parts used
on offshore oil rigs, he realizes that he now has freedom, he can do
what other people do. You see, polyester was not just clothing, it was a
liberator, and it freed many in the Disco sect. This man probably
reflected on his personal empowerment through polyester as he
demonstrated his moves to those around him on the Disco dance floor,
wearing enough Old Spice cologne to kill a skunk, all to the beat of
Golden Years. Oh, the mindset.

Isn't that it though? The mindset. Bowie's song DJ is a perfect
commentary on the very mindset that was prevalent in this era.
Everything about it had no substance or depth whatsoever. Disco was a
"LOOK,", as foolish as it was. Leisure suits, sexual freedom, the lack
of morals did not kill you back then, gold chains, probably 4kt,  fake
rings. There was NOTHING BEHIND IT.  Bowie wrote in DJ, "You think this
is easy, realism." A wake up call from an illusion? Sure. "I am a D.J.,
I am what I play," says it all, and is in my opinion one of the best
lines Bowie ever penned. So is this, "He used to be my boss and now he
is a puppet dancer.  I am a D.J., and I've got believers." If you look
at all of the songs from the pop charts that I listed you will notice
one thing in particular. Almost all of the songs are written about the
same subject matter, boys and girls. How original. The subject matter of
the music that was prevalent during this era truly represents the
mentality of the majority of music listeners at the time. I know, I was
there, and it was sad to see the level of mediocrity that the radio, the
music, as well as the listeners had sunk.

Bowie, New Wave and Punk listeners I can assure you were not too
interested in any activity required to "Shake Your Body (Down To The
Ground)." As far as "Love Is The Answer," well, we had a different one.
It was called a MIND. Rock music, another foolish label for something if
you ask me, was divided into two main categories, Rock and Progressive
Rock. In the Rock category were what you would call the "Heavy" rock
bands, or the ones that were more "beat" oriented. Led Zeppelin, The
Who, Nazareth, Bad Company, The Stones, Aerosmith, and others who were
similar in musical style, fell into the "Heavy," or "Beat" categories.
The "Progressive Rock" bands focused on the music they composed, viewing
it as a "creative" art form involving sound. Like painters, sculptors,
film directors and other "artists," they created through
experimentation. The purpose of Rock was to fill you with energy, to
make you move, while Progressive Rock was clearly aimed at the head, its
purpose was to make you LISTEN. Genesis, Eno, Pink Floyd, Yes, Strawbs,
Jethro Tull, Gentle Giant, Hawkwind, Mike Oldfield, Roxy Music, Emerson
Lake & Palmer, as well as  similar artists, were all described as
Progressive. Bowie? Well, the media in all of its glorious ignorance
labelled him as "Rock." The ones who were completely ignorant, idiots,
morons, brain dead, fucked in the head, with with a bit of stupidity
added to the mixture, called Bowie's work, "Glam Rock." Now as difficult
as this is to admit, I know full well that there are those who call
themselves Bowie fans that also consider him to be "Glam Rock." To those
of you I want to say this, and I will say it only once. Go and listen to
the music, and the subject matter, that comes from the likes of Gary
Glitter, Sweet, T Rex, Kiss and the other Glam bands. Now, is  Bowie's
music the same as these bands, is is simple three chord pop? Hmmmmm?
How, about the lyrics? Was Gary Glitter, Kiss, or the others comparable
in depth, subject matter, vocabulary, insight, perception and
intelligence? Would you care to compliment Bowie personally on having
the intelligence of Gary Glitter? Well? Okay, the clothes, the make up,
the hair, and the rest of what makes up the "Glam Look." What was
Bowie's look derived from? Do you know where? It was based on
traditional Japanese Kabuki Theatre, that Bowie had studied, and was
very well educated about. Do you believe that the members of Sweet or
Kiss studied art history? What then is their "look" based on, something
of equal intelligence? Oh?  Hmmmmm? So, may I ask what there is about
Bowie which qualifies him to have all of the dignity and wisdom of these
fine artists? The logic of a flea would be MORE than sufficient to
rationalize the fact that to take an artist like David Bowie, and place
him along side these others, would be in fact one of the GREATEST
FUCKING INSULTS you could  bestow on him! It is in fact YOU that
qualifies as Glam Rock, not Bowie, or me either. Understand?

This I say is a fact, however I do not have any  information  to give
you from second or third party to substantiate it this time, as I
usually do. I say this from my encounters with other Bowie listeners of
my generation. I am so sure of this that I can't recall EVER crossing
another where this was not the case. Really. Bowie fans had the Heavy
and the Beat oriented music in their piles of albums at home. Some had a
few, some had many, it depended on the individual. As I said, I can't
remember once where this was not the case, their preference was
Progressive Music. They considered it far above what "they" listened to
in every aspect. The "other stuff" was frowned upon, so much so that
they could be quite condescending when referring to it. Talking to fans
of that era will show you that this has not changed one bit, even to
this day, myself being the largest example one could ever find. New Wave
was an interest,  Punk was Iggy, this new Punk, well, it was attitude.
Out of all of the songs listed on those pop charts, I can safely say
that the ONLY ONE that I guarantee would be completely acceptable to
Bowie fans as far as any depth goes would be The Logical Song by
Supertramp.

I had my own Disco look. Long hair, jeans, canvass runners and a T-shirt
that had this written on it,  "There's Old Wave - There's New Wave - And
There's David Bowie. The picture on the front showed Bowie in a leather
jacket leaning against a brick wall, head tilted, and looking really
fucking "cool." My shirt was NOT polyester, or worn with a dog puke off
white leisure suit. I weighed 150 at the time so there was no need to
stretch into anything, save a condom. Disco lights look great on acid I
noticed sometimes, as I belted back Tequila Sunrises in my efforts to
get really wasted, andmarvelled at the stupidity of those who were
prancing around showing off what they learned from the movie Grease.
Their attempts to look normal in their open neck Hawaiian tourist
shirts, poor fitting and cheap no wrinkle suits, two tone loafers, fake
jewellery and cop moustaches was hilarious. The shallowness though, was
pathetic. My motives for going to a Disco had no morals, were self
serving, manipulative, ethically wrong and inconsiderate, it was to get
laid. I was intelligent enough you see, to put two and two together. It
was logic that led me to the conclusion based on the fact that if the
girls who frequented these places were stupid enough to fall for this
shit, then they would fall for pretty much anything. Sometimes I would
even go on the dance floor to show off my moves. I would go out there
and stagger around drunk and stoned to Fame. Terrible? Yes, but it
worked.

This may very well be the last segment of Images for awhile.

AlaDINsaNE


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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homebrewPosted at 2025-08-17 21:28:49(1 wk ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 35)


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At the time this and the previous installment was posted I was a DJ on the radio. Rated number one in my time slot for 10 years running. I tell you that not to brag but to illustrate how seriously I took my job. Any DJ can get lucky and hit the top of the Arbitron ratings once with the right format and the right hit songs at the right time and you really don't have to do anything but play the hits. But you don't attract the largest audience in any market for that length of time without putting in a lot of work. So AlaDINsaNE's criticism of radio in general and DJ's in particular didn't sit well with me. Now that I have been out of the business for a few years however I can be more objective and while I still think he's full of shit on some points I get his frustration and concede some of his issues. At the time however it ticked me off and I stopped reading his posts even though I still copied and saved them all. So from here on out you and I are reading these for the first time together.

Thank you,
Homebrew


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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