Death Waits For No One: David Bowie—1947-2016
By Brian Nixon and Dan Wooding, Special to the ASSIST News Service
ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO; LAKE FOREST, CA (ANS – Jan. 11, 2016)
-- Like countless of other kids growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s,
David Bowie’s presence was a given. He was everywhere: on the radio, in
the movies, on TV, and at the important events: art openings, stage
performances, and other cultural endeavors.
I [Brian] first remember hearing Bowie’s name from my uncle, Mark, who returned from seeing Bowie in Arizona during his Ziggy Stardust
tour. According to Mark, his concert still stands as one of the finest
he’s seen (and he’s seen lots). Mark said David was an amazing
performer, having people in the palm of his hand. “I stood astonished at
what I was witnessing,” he said.
When
I developed my own taste in music in the early 1980’s, I found that
Bowie influenced many of the bands and artists I was fond of: Joy
Division, David Sylvain, and a host of post-punk bands that looked to
Bowie as the architect of atmosphere and rebellion.
Bowie was still heard on the radio at the time—the early 1980’s, particularly his pairing with the rock band Queen on the song, Under Pressure. And of course, people in my generation knew his previous hits: Space Oddity, Changes, Rebel Rebel, Heroes, Ashes to Ashes, Fame, and the like.
And
for the kids growing up in the 1980’s—with the onset of MTV—David
Bowie’s visual presentations were spellbinding. One moment he was a
clown walking a beach, the next moment a space traveler, and later in
the 1980’s, a debonair rock star.
To say the least, David Bowie’s influence loomed large in our cultural hemisphere.
So
when I turned on the TV to see that Bowie died in New York at age 69,
my heart sank. The first thing I thought was that death waits for no
one—not even brilliant rock stars. I then began to listen to Bowie’s
recent album, Blackstar, which I recently downloaded but didn’t get a chance to listen to.
I
thought to myself, David was recording this as he was dying. And the
imagery on the album is very telling with themes such as heaven, death,
and the meaninglessness of living without something greater to live for,
an existential holler.
Born
David Robert Jones in Brixton, a mixed-race area of inner London, he
was raised in a normal middle class family. Early in life he was
introduced to music and theater, which later led him to enroll in art
school where he studied the arts—design and music.
His big musical break came in 1969 with the song, Space Oddity
-- a song that many still remember from the opening line, “Ground
control to Major Tom.” The song, which was initially banned in the US,
was about a fictional astronaut. Famed keyboard legend, Rick Wakeman,
who later played with the British super group, Yes, played mellotron [an
electronic keyboard instrument in which each key controls the playback
of a single prerecorded musical sound]
Wakeman
had gone to Bowie’s home in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley –
which he jokingly called “Beckenham Palace” after the Queen’s royal
residence, Buckingham Palace, and said that he was astonished when David
Bowie began playing for him an incredible collection of songs, and he
asked Rick to arrange them for him, which he did.
The
song set the stage for Bowie’s sound -- atmosphere, intrigue, and
catchy tunes—all the components that led to a string of hits for two
generations, impacting countless of lives.
Rick also played on several of Bowie’s early hits including Life on Mars,
and during a series of concerts that Wakeman did for ASSIST Ministries
in Southern California, he played his unique arrangements of both Space Oddity and Life on Mars, which were later included in a live benefit album called Simply Acoustic, an Evening of Acoustic Grand Piano (Hope Records 2001).
As
with any public figure that has passed, one wonders of his religious
belief. Other than references to Buddhism and Eastern thought found in
some of his music, David considered himself agnostic, saying, he was
“not quite and atheist.” But Bowie said he was “in awe of the universe,”
and has a passion for “religious ritual.” Some news reports claim an
interest in Christianity as well [1]. Of course one could interpret his
music from the existential vantage point of seeking God, but this is
something that Mr. Bowie himself didn’t gives clues.
Though
David didn’t believe in God most of his life, the fact of the matter is
that God believed in David Bowie, gifting him with immense talent and
intelligence. Let’s hope David returned the gift in his final days;
seeing his life not as a lost astronaut or alien, but a found prodigal,
secure in the arms of His maker.
Dan
Wooding recalls the one-and-only time he met David Bowie. It took place
in the late 1970s outside the London recording studio run by Tony
Visconti, Bowie’s record producer.
I had just co-authored a book called King Squealer
with a London gangster called Maurice O’Mahoney, for which Rick Wakeman
wrote the foreword. “Mo”, as I called him, had somehow got a security
job with Bowie and he called me one day at my newspaper office, and
said, “Dan, how would you like to meet David Bowie?” “Of course I
would,” I replied.
We
arranged to meet a few hours later outside the Soho studio and soon
Bowie arrived, got out of his limousine, and waved to the crowds waiting
to go into the studio for a special event with him. “Mo” rushed over to
the star, put his hand on his shoulder and guided him towards me,
saying, “David, I’d like you to meet my friend, Dan Wooding from the Sunday People. Say hello to him.”
A
bemused Bowie shook my hand and said simply, “Hello.” But that wasn’t
enough for “Mo” who then reprimanded him and said, “David, say more than
that!”, to which Bowie again said “Hello”, and then disappeared into
the studio, followed by his fans. It certainly was a bizarre and
extremely short meeting with the man who made such an impact on the
music world.
It was what I later called a “Mo Oddity.”
O’Mahoney has since also passed away, but my King Squealer book has been re-released by Gonzo Media in London, and can be obtained at: http://www.amazon.com/King-Squealer-A-True-Story/dp/1908728353.
Photo
captions: 1) Album cover shoot for Aladdin Sane, 1973. (Photograph by
Brian Duffy © Duffy Archive). 2) David Bowie on the cover of Rolling
Stone. 3) Dan Wooding and Rick Wakeman handcuffed to Maurice O’Mahoney
after attending a Wakeman concert in London. 4) Brian Nixon pictured
with Dan Wooding.
About
the writers: Brian Nixon is a regular correspondent for the ASSIST News
Service (ANS), and Dan Wooding is an international author, broadcaster
and journalist who founded the ASSIST News Service.
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