We should start with a statement of the obvious. David Bowie will never be forgotten. However, as we approach the one-year anniversary of his passing, it seems like an entirely apposite moment to pause for a moment. To reflect and consider in our ADHD, always on culture about the power, influence, and imagination of The Thin White Duke.
Whether you loved Bowie or loathed him, you could never ignore him.Here at Ghost Cult, bands that we champion have been influenced by him, directly and obliquely. We have lost count of the number of artists: Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana, Joy Division, Trent Reznor, Pixies, The Cure, Suede, Blur, Placebo, Moby. We could go on. It’s stunning.
.Bowie’s passing, much like that of Lemmy Kilmister a couple of weeks earlier and then of Prince, a few months later was one of those horrible, disorienting moments of not realising what you’ve got until it’s gone.
As I wrote a year ago, I had never been lucky enough to have sung backing vocals on his albums; never walked passed him at a movie première; never had a walk-on part in one of his films; never played his records on the radio (which would have enabled me to trawl the TV studios giving out all my views to everyone and anyone who wanted to listen to them).
I never did his make-up, sell a t-shirt for him, interview him or produce one of his timeless albums. I never met him, or shared a glass of wine with him, or was in any way part of his rich, varied and fabulous life. But he was a big part of mine. And yours. And Yours. And yours, too. Bigger than perhaps we had ever realised.
He showed us what was possible; how to make the ephemeral, permanent; the frivolous, important.
His relentless, shape-shifting, envelope-pushing of his art is unlikely to be repeated. Bowie has never been dull, mediocre or uninteresting. Bowie just didn’t do dull. Dull was for other people.
He made music that is full of ebullience, sparkle, and elan. Timeless, ingenious, masterly music. Music that’s in your head. Right now. Bowie gave us all permission to be what we want and say what we want.
He was mine, yours, all of ours. May he rest in Peace.
MAT DAVIES