David Bowie and Kraftwerk
I must admit I have in the past tried to listen to David Bowie and appreciate something in his artistic intent. You did a great job explaining some of the influences of Kraftwerk on David Bowie after his crash and burn in the United States in the 60’s. He moved to Europe to enter a period of his life that would be soon consumed with drug addiction, sexual exploitation, alternative relationships and the creation of his Ziggy Stardust character. There has recently been a very introspective look at this period of Bowie’s life in Rolling Stone Magazine, titled “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust”, “How David Bowie Changed the World”. According to author Mikal Gilmore, “David Bowie made rock and roll safe for glitter gods and space oddities – but he was really trying to hold on to his sanity.” It particularly describes his family history of mental illness and his bizarre relationship with Lindsay Kemp, a male dancer and mime artist reportedly responsible for teaching him how to move on stage, how to utilize dark lighting and mime makeup to help reveal a song’s meaning. “… Bowie became Kemp’s lover; Kemp took the affair seriously, Bowie did not. When Kemp discovered that Bowie was also sleeping with the woman who was also Kemp’s show designer, the teacher slashed his wrists before the next evening’s performance, then went onstage, bleeding through the bandages…. Bowie dance alongside him and cried”. His character radicalization reportedly came from his lover and eventual wife, Angela Barnett. Their relationship was tumultuous, with Angela attempting suicide on multiple occasions. She felt she changed Bowie sexually, and Bowie himself described being married to Angela “like living with a blowtorch”. The character Ziggy Stardust was originally intended to be a theatrical invention, but it became his identity. He pushed beyond the sexual envelope with on stage theatrics and appeasement of the disenfranchised and the gay community looking for some form of recognition. Bowie created his character through drug use, mental illness and bizarre personal relationships. Kraftwerk was a small blip in his life at best. So where is Bowie now? He hasn’t performed since a 1996 duet of “Change” with Alicia Keys. He had a massive heart attack in 2004 and currently he just responds, “I’m comfortable”. At least he is still alive.
Rudolph Rustin
References
David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust (From The Motion Picture) - YouTube . (n.d.). YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . Retrieved January 27, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8sdsW93ThQ&ob=av3n
Gilmore, M. (2012, February 2). The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust. Rollig Stone, 1149, 36-43.
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