ON THE BOX
The man with the square eyes is Mark Ritchie, he is never short of an opinion and he is a lifetime fan of the late and great David Bowie. Inevitable then that he would tune in for The Man Who Changed the World, a documentary film and a memorial, broadcast by the BBC in late 2016 and repeated recently, ten years after Bowie’s untimely death. Mark Writes;
David Bowie was born David Jones in London in 1947 and died in New York back in 2016. Ten years on after Bowie’s demise, perhaps was therighttime to examine the knock-on effects of his absence and reappraise the ground he covered during a life well-lived.
Musician, singer, songwriter, actor on film and on stage,producer, mime artiste, painter,sculptor and chameleon comedian corinthian and caricature (lines from his song The Bewley Brothers), is how Bowie will be remembered. His career in music featured an astonishingly prolific total of 26 studio albums, nine live albums, eight compilation albums, 128 single releases and six box sets. Since his death, there has also been many further releases, including 28 video albums and 72 music videos. Throughout his lifetime David Bowie sold over 100 million records
His friend and fellow superstar, Annie Lennox is probably bang on the money when speakingshortly after news of Bowie’s death on January 10th 2016 filtered through. She said:’ Even those who did not know him personally, are feeling that things will never quite be the same again. It is almost impossible to talk about David in the past tense. As a cutting-edge artistic genius, he continues to live on through his music. David Bowie is deeply embedded within our British culture, influencing every decade, from the first time we heard him with Space Oddity in 1969’. (There are even earlier recordings, dating right back to 1964).
As this illuminating film showed, Ms Lennox was bang on the money. Bowie was gloriously subversive, shapeshifting and utterly mesmerising. Revealing and rarely seen film footage also reveals his wit, particularly in conversation with his best friend, the Oscar-winning actor Gary Oldman.
The ultimate iconoclast, dangerous and legendary in equal measure, The Man Who Changed the World chartsBowie’s life. The title was inspired from a song David wrote many moons ago, The Man Who Sold the World, which was a hit for the rock band Mott the Hoople. It was also the title of an early David Bowie album. The documentary film was writtenand directed by Sonia Anderson.
Those who loved Bowie’s work will be convinced that his music will still be played while the Earthcontinues to spin. Sadly, he was mortal. Many of us believed that the rumours of his being both immortal and from another planet, thus could never die, were quite wrong. The final album, while David was alive, was named Blackstar. Here he is writing and recording an obituary. I am ashamed to say, listening to the album makes me quite sad and Isimply cannot bear to listen. The definition of the term ‘Blackstar’, is a star experiencing total collapse.Perhaps best to leave it there.
To express your views on UK-TV, please e-mail the editor atmark.ritchie@ukcabaret.comand we will include your thoughts and observations on our Readers Letters page.
