
David Bowie Has Died - hccampos
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/david-bowie-dead-legendary-artist-854364
======
synthmeat
_I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I
don’t think it’s going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the
same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about
music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop
it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it’s not going to happen. I’m
fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10
years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing.

Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity. So it’s
like, just take advantage of these last few years because none of this is ever
going to happen again. You’d better be prepared for doing a lot of touring
because that’s really the only unique situation that’s going to be left. It’s
terribly exciting. But on the other hand it doesn’t matter if you think it’s
exciting or not; it’s what’s going to happen._

~ David Bowie, 2002

~~~
braythwayt

      > I don’t even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years,
      > because I don’t think  it’s going to work by labels and by distribution
      > systems in the same way.
      >
      > --David Bowie, 2002
    

Something to think about in music that also happens in startups and software:

These are _social_ activities. People don’t judge music solely by some kind of
independent metric of appeal. They also judge whether the music is popular
within their social circle. Choice of music is one of the mediums people use
for communicating.

To listen to something nobody except you likes is a little like programming in
a language nobody you know uses. We make up all sorts of stories about how
network effects affect the quality of a language, the availability of tools,
and so on, and all that is true.

But it’s also true that we self-identify in a tribal way with our choices, and
that those choices have social import. Even if you brag defiantly that you’re
a pragmatist who doesn’t care who does or doesn’t use a tool: That’s a lot
like being a hipster growing a beard and putting on plaid.

So back to music. The vast majority of people wish to belong to the tribe of
“The vast majority of people.” They work very hard to study what is and isn’t
“mainstream.” There is thus a very natural force _by the market_ to want to
have some kind of pop music dominated by just a few superstars at a time.

This, I believe, drives a winner-take-all market for pop music, which in turn
is a huge incentive for the existence of massive pop marketing machines. Even
if you take all the friction out of distribution and discovery, the mainstream
_want_ there to be a massive marketing push for pop artists, it helps them
judge who is going to be popular.

It’s not that much different than picking a JavaScript library because some
large and well-heeled organization is devoting themselves to support it. You
may personally say it has something to do with bug fixes, but for most people
that fact helps them judge whether other people will adopt the library, which
helps them judge whether they want to belong to that particular tribe.

And most people want to belong to the biggest tribe, and will follow the
signals with the biggest boost.

Thus, labels or some other kind of very big, very efficient machine for
manipulating pop culture.

~~~
sjclemmy
I think Bowie was the antithesis of this.

If you'll forgive the hyperbole, he is the archetypal outsider, the patron
saint of the dispossessed. So for all those who don't feel that they belong,
Bowie's activities provided a message - 'It's OK to be an outsider', and,
curiously, through that message provided a sense of belonging - I'm going to
get all metaphysical and say that that is alchemical / transformative in a
very profound way for many people.

~~~
braythwayt
Bowie may have been an outsider, but consider that your exact feelings are
social, those feelings of belonging and connection to an icon.

The music industry is just as adept at monetizing those feelings as they are
of monetizing teen-age angst or adolescent her-worship of boy bands.

My point being, that while Bowie and many others can stand outside of the
industry, I don’t believe the basic dynamics are going to change. Radio may go
away. Physical media may go away. Apple may disrupt the labels.

Bt I believe that massive marketing machines will continue to slice and dice
the market for music and continue to dominate people’s choices.

Remember, you only heard of Bowie because he played the game.

~~~
sjclemmy
I totally agree with your points - the market economy finds ways to monetise
and that's its job.

I'm not actually a big fan of Bowie, I'm a bit too young, but it's something
I'm observing. I'm also aware that those feelings of alienation are keenest
for teenagers and that the music industry exploits that. However, whilst the
music machine exploits the latest pop star - if you were to compare and
contrast say, Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift with Bowie, then there is a
difference in what they symbolise for the fan, and, whilst the outcome of a
sense of belonging is effected in both instances, Bieber / Swift do not
represent the outsider, they are just more grist for the mill.

------
avolcano
It's funny, these threads always devolve into comparisons to modern day pop
stars, how none of them compare.

And you're all right, of course, no one could ever compare. He was the best,
period, in my mind, and while he may not be in your mind, but his
accomplishments and career are undeniable.

But every rock and pop singer today has something from Bowie. Kanye and Gaga
found ways to navigate both pop stardom and the art world; bands like Of
Montreal incorporated theatricality blended with musicianship in their records
and live shows. I could list, so, so many more, from Janelle Monae to St
Vincent, but unfortunately I think a list of every rock or pop musician since
1970 would take up significantly more room than I have in this comment box.
They created something new using his life and music as inspiration - and
that's fine.

Because we like to act as if Bowie is this fount of perfect originality, ideas
springing from the ether - and, don't get me wrong, he certainly was inventive
- but to ignore his influences is to create a myth. We talk about him as the
chameleon, but he never morphed into truly untread ground - he always found
what was there, and improved, innovated, found new ways to incorporate it.
Young Americans followed Philadelphia soul. "Blackout" followed "Nite
Flights". The man operated a goddamn ISP in the late 90s, as another comment
mentioned. Blackstar followed experimental jazz and had inspiration from
everyone from Kendrick Lamar to James Murphy.

I wouldn't dare to try to distill his life into a single takeaway, as there's
far, far too many angles to cover. But here's the lesson that springs to mind
first, which, now that I write it, comes out slightly more inspirational-
poster than I'd like, but maybe that's okay:

Creative work isn't made in a vacuum, and to try is futile. Embrace what's
next, no matter how different, how weird. Keep your eyes forward and your ears
and mind open.

~~~
joshschreuder
Beautifully put. Thank you.

------
eropple
This sucks.

Not because I listened to a lot of Bowie. I mean, I did, but only relatively
recently. But because of how insanely influential his stuff is on almost
everything we listen to. The ripples of his work are close to incalculable.
You don't have to have listened to a minute of David Bowie to go "oh, shit"
right now and mean it wholly.

 _> When in doubt, listen to David Bowie. In 1968, Bowie was a gay, ginger,
bonk-eyed, snaffle toothed freak walking round South London in a dress, being
shouted at by thugs. Four years later, he was still exactly that – but
everyone else wanted to be like him, too. If David Bowie can make being David
Bowie cool, you can make being you cool. PLUS, unlike David Bowie, you get to
listen to David Bowie for inspiration. So you’re one up on him, really. YOU’RE
ALREADY ONE AHEAD OF DAVID BOWIE._

~~~
pbhjpbhj
I don't really care beyond it being a point of fact but I thought Bowie was
famously bisexual and that he had marketed himself at various points as
homosexual.

In 1968 Bowie was 2 years off getting married and 3 years from having a son by
his wife.

------
wyclif
If you listen to Bowie's new album "Blackstar" now, it has to rank as one of
the greatest "going out with class" artistic moments in pop music.

The lead single is called "Lazarus" and the first line of the song is "Look up
here, I'm in heaven."

~~~
TheOtherHobbes
The video for Lazarus came out a few days ago.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JqH1M4Ya8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-JqH1M4Ya8)

That's one hell of an exit.

The video and song for Blackstar are even more astonishing.

For various reasons I was never a big Bowie fan, but Blackstar was one of the
few tracks from anyone ever that made me think "WTF did I just hear/watch?!"
\- and I mean that in a good way.

Some people make music. Bowie invented mythologies, turned them into sung
performance art, and put them out on vinyl and CD.

~~~
Intermernet
Wow.

I'm a huge Bowie fan and I just watched the video clip for Blackstar for the
first time.

Genres redefined again with masterful production by all involved. I'll be
having stranger than usual dreams tonight.

> That's one hell of an exit.

Yes, yes it is. I'll miss him.

------
mrcsparker
I know that I'm not the only one crying.

Bowie's music meant a lot to me. He was a weirdo that made it cool to be a
weirdo. His music was always on while I was coding, running, having a drink,
taking to my daughter. Everyone in the house are asleep - they will be
heartbroken tomorrow morning. His music was part of the soundtrack to our
lives. My sister got me into Bowie and my older daughter and wife love his
music. I thought that Bowie would somehow live forever.

------
brunorsini
Such sad news. Given the Golden Globes is just over, it might be timely to
rewatch the classic Extras segment in which Bowie roasts Gervais -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv6mEv_rDdE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv6mEv_rDdE)

~~~
josteink
"This video contains content from BBC Worldwide, who has blocked it in your
country on copyright grounds."

You just have to love modern copyright.

~~~
ZeroMinx
Same(?) clip on dailymotion;

[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnleeu_extras-david-
bowie_s...](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xnleeu_extras-david-
bowie_shortfilms)

It's available from Malta, whereas the Youtube one isn't.

------
dmoo
I bought my first Bowie album probably 35 years ago, I still carry Bowie music
around on my phone. Back then buying music seemed like such an important
thing. It was both a choice, you could only afford one record out of many, and
a statement, your record collection said something about you to your peers. I
guess social media takes it's place in that you use it to express who you are
and what you like. Back then you listened to every album you bought hundreds
of times and really made a connection with the ones you liked. One of my Bowie
LP's developed a skip and I still expect to hear it jump when I hear the track
now on the radio or spotify.

~~~
nly
Your comparison between this kind of behaviour to social media seems fairly
insightful. Is this a realisation you came up with just now, previously, or
picked up somewhere?

~~~
dmoo
I was just thinking of the Bowie vinyl that I had and remembered what the
experience of buying it was like. Having 'cool' albums was a thing, it said
something about you. Now that I have teenagers myself I don't see that with
them. Music is not something they own, it's free (if you don't mind the ads)
and anyone can have anything they like. No effort is required and maybe
because of that They don't seem to appreciate it the same way.

I wouldn't claim that any idea I had was original but for sure I see a
similarity between the way people seem to curate their social media profile so
that they appear in a certain light to others to the way my peers and I used
to curate our record collections to portray something about ourselves as kids

------
arethuza
I think this tweet from David Baddiel, read out on BBC Radio 4 this morning,
sums it up for me:

 _" Not just upset by Bowie's death but disorientated: like I've woken up and
the ... I think I assumed he was immortal."_

------
rmason
There used to be a show on American TV Saturday night called the Midnight
Special. In 1973 they turned the entire show over to David Bowie who did a
special from London. It was hosted at a seminal rock palace called the Marquee
Club. I remember it as one of the best hours of rock on television.

Among the artists he invited to perform with him was Marianne Faithful. It
made such a deep impression on me that when I visited London for the first
time two years later I made certain to visit the Marquee Club. It looked one
hell of a lot smaller in person than it ever did on TV.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquee_Club](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marquee_Club)

~~~
avolcano
the full recording survives in mixed quality, but his performance of I Got You
Babe with Marianne is relatively-well preserved. great hidden gem in his back
catalogue :)

[https://youtu.be/EeBTz8n0vzw?t=2085](https://youtu.be/EeBTz8n0vzw?t=2085)

------
jmduke
_And these children that you spit on / As they try to change their worlds /
Are immune to your consultations / They're quite aware of what they're going
through_

~ from _Changes_

Bowie is a legend.

~~~
jacquesm
Even if I don't have a record player any more I still have that on vynil. This
sucks.

------
ryporter
His influence extended well beyond music. He was the first to make use of
Celebrity Bonds. [1] While it's true that Bowie Bonds didn't ending doing very
well for investors, the principle behind them is sound. By bringing in
investors to share his financial risk, Bowie was able to buy the rights to his
songs.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_bond](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_bond)

------
beat
David Bowie was one of the greatest _entrepreneurs_ ever. He singlehandedly
changed the direction of the entire music industry - repeatedly - for
_decades_. He pulled in ideas and imagery from the most avant-garde corners of
culture, and made it accessible and popular. There's hardly a musician out
there in rock music or many other forms that hasn't been influenced directly
by him.

David Bowie _relentlessly_ delivered bold, daring new products. He never, ever
sat on his laurels, never was content with what he'd done before. He produced
the best work he possibly could, with the best collaborators. So, so many
artists had their finest moments playing on his records or in his bands.

His only peer, as far as I'm concerned, is Miles Davis.

I'm a musician myself, and it's hard to even describe how I feel about Bowie's
music. "Role model" is woefully insufficient. I think I feel about him the way
priests feel about saints.

~~~
eblanshey
> He singlehandedly changed the direction of the entire music industry -
> repeatedly - for decades.

Mind expanding on this? I don't know too much about him.

~~~
beat
In the early 70s, he was the leader of the glam movement, introducing
androgyny and bisexuality to the music industry, bringing in visuals from the
decidedly underground drag and cabaret scenes. In the mid-70s, he crossed
American soul into British pop, creating an image that has been used ever
since by thousands of lesser pop musicians.

Besides making his own records, he produced albums for barely-controllable
outsiders like Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, helping them achieve pop crossover
success and survive their own demons.

In the late 70s, he went to Berlin and cranked out three albums of ambient,
experimental music that kicked open doors for radical new sounds that fueled
the New Wave movement (again with shallow imitation). But he ignored New Wave
himself, and instead made fresh, soulful, pop with Let's Dance. In the 1990s,
he got heavily involved in the early internet, putting multimedia content on
cds and even founding an ISP.

He dialed things back in the 2000s, as age and health took their toll. His two
most recent albums were his first in many years. The Next Day was a throwback
to his 1970s rock styles. Blackstar brought in jazz and modern hip-hop ideas.

One of the most amazing things about his output, besides how many times he
forged new sounds and new visuals for the entire industry, is how timeless it
all is. Pretty much all of his records, especially the best ones, sound
timeless and modern, even decades later.

------
ktamura
When September 11 happened, I was living in New York City, and like many other
NYC residents -American or not- I was distressed.

Paul McCartney and Co. put together a concert to cheer us up
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_for_New_York_City](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Concert_for_New_York_City)),
and that was the first time I had a chance to listen to Bowie live.

It turned out to be the last time. RIP.

~~~
tjl
Wow, I feel old. I saw him in concert over a decade earlier for his Sound +
Vision tour.

~~~
huxley
Me too, on July 2 1990 in New Brunswick. I won't ever forget it not just
because Bowie was awesome but because a woman that climbed on stage to grab
Bowie's arse leapt over the barriers and landed on my girlfriend, knocking her
out.

I had to lift Em over the barrier so the roadies could take her off to get
medical treatment and I spent the rest of the concert trying to find her. Poor
Em was a bit stunned by the blow so when they asked her if she wanted to meet
Bowie, she said, "no, I need to find my boyfriend."

~~~
luxpir
What became of Em?

~~~
huxley
She was fine, the doctors kept her for observation. Of course, back then we
didn't have cellphones so it was tough to reconnect, but eventually the
concert staff tracked her down.

She and I dated for a few more months but kinda drifted apart as teenagers do,
though we're still keep in touch. That's always a fun memory to relive.

------
SonicSoul
Simon Pegg tweeted it nicely:

 _If you 're sad today, just remember the world is over 4 billion years old
and you somehow managed to exist at the same time as David Bowie._

~~~
jazz
Simon Pegg tweeted:

 _A quote attributed to Simon regarding the sad loss of the great David Bowie
seems to have originated from tweeter, @JeSuisDean, not Simon._

Nice tweet however.

------
Hydragyrum
In terms of Music, I dont think there's been any British artist more
influential than Bowie other than the Beatles.

Listen to Low and then listen to music today, he was just so far ahead of his
time.

His constant changes in image, his unapologetic flamboyance and willingness to
sacrifice commercial success for his are.

I dont think we'll see anyone quite like him again.

------
paulojreis
It was a nice surprise to see this on #1 here on HN.

Farewell, Major Tom.

------
imagex
The first and last time I was fortunate enough to see him live was The Glass
Spider Tour
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Spider_Tour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass_Spider_Tour)
which was performance art like I'd never experienced.

Very glad managed to see Blackstar released, it's a fascinating, eerie album.
The eponymous track was playing when I read the announcement he had passed.

Long Live Bowie.

~~~
tjl
I saw him live for his Sound + Vision tour. That was pretty incredible. It
truly was a blend of the two as he put together some great visuals to go with
each of the songs. Plus, it was a "greatest hits" kind of tour so you got a
wide range of songs. I still regularly listen to my Sound + Vision box set.
Unfortunately, I don't have anything that can play the video from my CD-V now.

------
agumonkey
It feels like a golden age is fading away ... What an odd sensation.

~~~
nunodonato
we still have Bieber.. stay strong! /s

~~~
agumonkey
As easy that joke was, I'm very often wondering about generations these days.
I often feel this generation is really cheap. Now, surely most people feel
this way about how the new one isn't worth their own, but really there were
such iconic periods from the 50s to the 90s (in a westerner point of view) ..
and this makes his leaving (among other peers who shaped the 70s) as powerful
as hurting.

~~~
eropple
The "50s to the 90s"\--which is so laughably general, that's _four_
generations of music, if not more--had The Beatles and David Bowie and it also
had The Monkees and Men Without Hats. We have the artists who it's funny to
make fun of, like Bieber, and we have Jack White, we have Kanye West, we have
Radiohead--and we _had_ David Bowie, he's a modern artist _today_ , have you
listened to Blackstar, which openly tips its cap to Kendrick Lamar?

Twenty years from now, Bowie and Kanye will be spoken of in the same breath
(and sure, that happens today, but that's by the people who pay attention),
and that's fine. Great work is done today just as much, if not more, as it was
in the past, and you're being That Guy and you should never, ever, _ever_ be
That Guy.

~~~
paganel
> we have Kanye West

For what it's worth Kanye West is still regarded like a sort of a joke in most
of Europe, at least for people like me, who are over 30.

> and we have Jack White

At first I said to myself "who's that?", then I saw that he used to sing for
the White Stripes. It's a so-and-so band, at least one of their songs got
pretty popular among the football ultras, as did the Pet Shop Boys' "Go West!"
back in the 90s.

> we have Radiohead

This is a late '90s - early 2000s band. Some say (at least I say) that they
haven't been able to produce anything quite as good as the albums from that
time in the last 10+ years. At the very least they are not as influential as
they used to be back then.

~~~
petercooper
_For what it 's worth Kanye West is still regarded like a sort of a joke in
most of Europe, at least for people like me, who are over 30._

I'm not sure old people were known for being massive Bowie or Stones fans in
the 60s either.

~~~
agumonkey
I wasn't born and always assumed they weren't just pop star of the moment. As
a kid later, even without knowing anything, I felt these song were infectious.
When I criticize today's mainstream it's that this quality isn't there
anymore. I could say the same about movie score too.

~~~
eertami
>When I criticize today's mainstream it's that this quality isn't there
anymore.

No, it's because you don't like it and can't feel superior any longer if you
were to enjoy it. It's just incredibly elitist to assume the music you don't
like doesn't have any quality.

One of the best "mainstream" albums in recent times was Kanye's My Beautiful
Dark Twisted Fantasy. A record with such masterful production, songwriting and
depth that is absolutely high quality.

In 40 years people will look back on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy much in
the same way we look back on Ziggy Stardust now. Likewise it will be
remembered for it's fearlessness, creativity and influence.

~~~
paganel
> One of the best "mainstream" albums in recent times was Kanye's My Beautiful
> Dark Twisted Fantasy.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJae2OpoHeE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJae2OpoHeE)
, his latest YT video is basically an ad. And while I tried listening to some
of his other melodies I found out that most of them are about his material
accomplishments, and that's about it. Or maybe this is all a post-modernist
thingie where this is a veiled critique about today's society, in which case
I'll pass.

For comparison, take this IAM piece:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQ_X6nQ8xk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uQ_X6nQ8xk)
, which talks about real people with real problems from the real world.
They're miles ahead in terms of artistic performance and impact.

------
firstworldman
_" The future is not only going to be about hard-edged people with metal
faces. There will be broken hearts in the future."_

That's a Bowie quote I think of with unusual regularity. It appeared 16 years
ago in Spin Magazine. He was asked why his then newest album wasn't as
contemporary sounding as his previous album, Earthling.

It's advice that may be applicable to the projects worked on by many here as
well.

------
elmar
Look up here,I'm in #heaven. I've got scars that can't be seen. I've got
drama, can't be stolen.

[http://payload342.cargocollective.com/1/16/514318/9158551/DB...](http://payload342.cargocollective.com/1/16/514318/9158551/DB-
Transformation-Colour.gif)

------
jafingi
Devastating news this morning. David Bowie is a legend. Was raised with his
music. Even named my dog Ziggy after him.

His memory will live on with his music.

RIP David.

------
somberi
A nice Adieu. His latest release Blackstar seems to be well rated.

[http://www.avclub.com/review/david-bowie-goes-noir-
intoxicat...](http://www.avclub.com/review/david-bowie-goes-noir-intoxicating-
blackstar-230272)

------
donkeyd
I'ts quite amazing that he died 2 days after releasing his album, even though
the release date was announced in October.

------
auvrw
noooooo!!!!

i now understand why some prefer to think Elvis is still alive.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUK4FMAGc4M&index=4&list=PLJ...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUK4FMAGc4M&index=4&list=PLJ8y7DDcrI_px_K27gnzaU6Mr9IbV0cbJ)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enOETfTI62A&index=2&list=PLJ...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enOETfTI62A&index=2&list=PLJ8y7DDcrI_px_K27gnzaU6Mr9IbV0cbJ)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLG10PejwQ&list=PLJ8y7DDcrI...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESLG10PejwQ&list=PLJ8y7DDcrI_px_K27gnzaU6Mr9IbV0cbJ&index=3)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDRi30GNFMc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDRi30GNFMc)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP2SS8ggLtU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oP2SS8ggLtU)

~~~
pygy_
The first three videos are not available here (France). I think it's his
official account
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvY1eVE6lTebXsdFbbXUtkQ](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvY1eVE6lTebXsdFbbXUtkQ).

Edit: Edit: ah, no... "This channel was generated automatically by YouTube's
video discovery system."

------
venomsnake
It's only forever. Not long at all. -Jared the Goblin King

First Lemmy, now David - one hell of a supergroup is gathering in the skies.

------
rogeryu
His remains should be sent to Mars. If there's not Life on Mars, at least he
is the first to be Dead on Mars.

------
siculars
"The sun machine is coming down, and we're gonna have a party."

------
TeMPOraL
Everyone here has probably heard Space Oddity. Until recently that was the
only song of David Bowie I've known. But then, thanks to The Martian, I found
this one, Starman:

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRcPA7Fzebw)

Really, go listen to it. It's just beautiful. It captures imagination and hope
for the future. And I think it has a perfect message for us, about both his
legacy and our responsibility.

    
    
      There's a starman waiting in the sky
      He's told us not to blow it
      Cause he knows it's all worthwhile
    

So, "Let the children lose it", and let's build a better world for them.

Thank you, David Bowie.

------
MilnerRoute
If you haven't seen it, Bowie's 2015 video "Lazarus" is stunning.

[https://youtu.be/y-JqH1M4Ya8](https://youtu.be/y-JqH1M4Ya8)

------
apryldelancey
I was saddened to hear this when I woke up this morning. I've listened to his
music my entire life and can't remember a time without him. Cancer sucks!

------
ck2
69 seems relatively young, cancer is still kicking humanity's butt sadly.

Still, his 69 years were far more filled than most.

Loved "The Man Who Fell To Earth" \- he made it fantastic.

------
xxs
Yesterday, I was checking "Omikron: The Nomad Soul"(1999), he created the
soundtrack.

Devastating news.

RIP

~~~
brobinson
He also voiced (and digitally portrayed) one of the characters in the game.
Additionally, there are three secret concerts which you can attend after
finding their fliers at which original songs are played.

------
Shivetya
and here I just got down watching him as Tesla from the movie The Prestige; a
very good movie about old time stage magicians starring people you would not
expect let alone Bowie

------
paublyrne
I'll be listening to a lot Bowie today.

An artist in every sense of the word.

------
__david__
Ah, man. This probably shouldn't make me sad (I never knew the guy), but it
does. I've listened to his music for years and years, seen his songs permeate
pop culture and leave his mark upon the world. The guy was a consummate artist
and I regret never seeing him live. :-(

~~~
spoondan
Your sadness is completely justified. As John Donne observed nearly 400 years
ago, "any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind."

~~~
eropple
I never expected to see a John Donne reference on Hacker News. We could use
more of it. Thanks.

------
antirez
Since I never liked Bowie I spent 60 min listening to him today, in a try-
again attempt. No luck. RIP.

~~~
DanBC
This comment reminds me of RAM Album Club.

[http://ramalbumclub.com/](http://ramalbumclub.com/)

> 1) Each week we pick a guest

> 2) We give the guest a critically acclaimed album they've never listened to.

> 3) The guest explains why they've never listened to it, laying out any
> potential prejudice in advance. i.e. "I've never liked the cut of Pink
> Floyd's jib" or "Mark E Smith frightens me".

> 4) The guest has to listen to the album at least three times, this acclaimed
> album that they've never bothered listening to, and then tell us whether it
> was worth it or not.

------
dougb5
Check out his description of some software he used to inspire lyrics which he
calls the Verbasizer:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Sgq0XoxPw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7Sgq0XoxPw)

------
jgrahamc
At least now there's a starman waiting in the sky. And he did blow our minds
when we got to meet him.

RIP

------
thomnottom
It's cliche to say someone like Bowie was timeless, but it is really true in
his case. He was not only ahead of his time, but he was behind his time. The
man was able to find new trends but also take old and existing ones and turn
them into his own.

I remember listening to Earthling for the first time and feeling those
hyperkinetic d'n'b beats and thinking "How does this 50 year-old man continue
to make himself so relevant?"

I tend to have momentary sadness when a celebrity I appreciate passes away,
but it feels like this one will last for a bit longer.

------
davi
"The day will come when David Bowie is a star and the crushed remains of his
melodies are broadcast from Muzak boxes in every elevator and hotel lobby in
town."

\- Nancy Erlich, July 11 1971 New York Times
([http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/07/11/9130...](http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1971/07/11/91304467.html?pageNumber=142))

------
gargravarr
So shocked to see Bowie passed this morning. Although I wasn only a casual
fan, I appreciated his musical talent and most of the musicians in my
favourites list were influenced by him. Without any doubt, the 1980s wouldn't
have been the same without him. A household name for 50 years, still making
music right to the end. I don't think anyone could ask for more.

RIP Ziggy Stardust.

------
jcrei
15 years ago, he predicted the impact of the internet on music and society.
[https://www.facebook.com/FACTmagazine/videos/vb.52725749686/...](https://www.facebook.com/FACTmagazine/videos/vb.52725749686/10153819928364687/?type=2&theater)

------
pseudonymous119
Though I'm certainly saddened to hear David Bowie has died, I think his death
is absolutely off-topic for HN. Yet compare the number of points and comments
this thread has with this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10832624](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10832624)
or this:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10557793](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10557793)

It seems like HN's content is becoming less and less technical over time and
much more political and social, and this thread is a great example. I've also
noticed more and more "agenda pushers" posting here, people who can't
contribute on the technical threads but aggressively upvote and comment on the
non-technical threads.

I was about to suggest new, clearer guidelines restricting much of this non-
technical content to reverse the decline, but according to the current
guidelines, it seems like it's already prohibited:

 _Off-Topic: Most stories about politics, or crime, or sports, unless they 're
evidence of some interesting new phenomenon._

Maybe stricter enforcement would be in order (dang? jascquesm?)

~~~
darkstar999
Except the top comment thread found a way to be very relevant to the interests
of HN. It's better to just move on instead of complaining.

~~~
pseudonymous119
A passing comment about the impact of technology on the music industry is
enough to make someone's death relevant here?

But you're correct; if I consider HN to be heading inexorably in a direction I
dislike, I shouldn't waste my time here. Have fun posting and commenting on
celebrity news, articles from the The Guardian and The Intercept without me.

~~~
abdulhaq
It seems like an idle threat when you are using an anonymous post to protect
your karma...

------
aniijbod
He was the inventor of continuous public self-reinvention. He saw the job of
re-imagining and then sculpting his own public identity as being inseparable
from the musical inspiration that propelled it. For him, if any new musical
idea he had felt unique enough, he would feel driven to create a new persona
to perform it.

------
anatoly
[https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-
xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1...](https://scontent-frt3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-
xpf1/v/t1.0-9/12259_10207298901805277_3248838247522739236_n.jpg?oh=0da79de20403bc66a978ffe2d83a0a2a&oe=57110E08)

------
elmar
Ashes to Ashes

[https://youtu.be/CMThz7eQ6K0](https://youtu.be/CMThz7eQ6K0)

------
jrbedard
Interview in 1999 with his predictions about the internet, with career/songs
comparison
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WaPXKfFHms&feature=youtu.be...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WaPXKfFHms&feature=youtu.be&t=3m4s)

------
aaronbrethorst
This is terrible. He's, by far, one of my favorite musicians of all time. In
case you're unfamiliar with David Bowie's music:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYZRfDhCHlc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYZRfDhCHlc)

------
nerdcity
Anyone else remember BowieNet? The man had his own ISP back in 98, for crying
out loud...

A true visionary of an artist. He really understood technology, and what
changes would be wrought by it for people, the arts, social systems, the music
business, etc.

Dance, magic dance, Mr. Bowie. Dance, magic dance.

------
MikeNomad
A sad way to start my day. His version of Hallo Spaceboy w/ Foo Fighters
immediately came to mind.

Wrong bit in the article... Tony Sales was the drummer in Tin Machine. His
brother is Hunt Sales, who was the bass player in the same band.

Bowie has a half-brother, Terry, who passed in the mid-80s.

~~~
MikeNomad
Very sorry, I had Hunt And Tony playing each others instruments...

------
chiph
David Bowie was always ahead of everyone else. Who is going to lead us into
the future now?

------
slavik81
Well, that's bad news for the Labyrinth sequel, unless they've filmed it
already.

~~~
ekianjo
That movie was a rumor and was not happening anyway

~~~
slavik81
I guess I'll just have to rewatch the original.

~~~
ekianjo
Which is a good thing. It's a pretty fun movie.

------
dools
"Chubby Little Loser"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7S6-Ta3yg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ge7S6-Ta3yg)
easily my favourite Bowie performance.

------
wilhil
I work in Heddon Street, London... This is where the famous album cover was
taken.

There are so many news crews outside... Pretty crazy.

[http://i.imgur.com/70Owout.jpg](http://i.imgur.com/70Owout.jpg)

------
finnjohnsen2
Just go listen to "Under Pressure" with David Bowie and Freddy Mercury
already! Such titans.

ps. if you start humming "ice ice baby", thats ok too I guess :D

------
supernintendo
Very sad news. Bowie's music has brought me so much joy. His influence on rock
n' roll (and popular music in general) remains evident to this day.

------
major505
"Look up here, I’m in heaven I’ve got scars that can’t be seen I’ve got drama,
can’t be stolen Everybody knows me now"

We sure know Mr. Bowie. We sure know.

------
stplsd
[http://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/bowie.html](http://www.scaruffi.com/vol3/bowie.html)

------
Chris64SQ
Sorry to hear,his music was to me some good(just a few)...the others
well...not,but anyway he came from an era in music that produced great stuff!

------
joe5150
"Look up here / I'm in heaven"

------
Chris64SQ
Sad to hear,he made some good music!

------
pmcpinto
RIP David. An amazing creative mind

------
msie
You hear promising things about Cancer treatment and yet we couldn't save this
man.

------
jokoon
Is it me, or there are too many articles about celebrities dying?

~~~
vox_mollis
No need to complain. Just flag and move on. You and I don't understand why
celebrities deserve coverage, but clearly plenty of others do.

~~~
vixen99
Of course you understand. The media are businesses. As such they provide what
the customers want and what they know about. As a personal view, it isn't
until one looks at alternative news coverage (which I'll define as 'that which
is not one's usual bill of fare') that the partiality of journalists and media
empires becomes apparent.

~~~
vox_mollis
Right, but the OP is likely questioning why HN, which is supposedly a medium
at least slightly immune to the vagaries of normal celebrity worship, is
covering it.

------
rbanffy
"We could steal time, just for one day" :-(

------
purpled_haze
R.I.P.

------
LeoPanthera
The chances that anyone here hasn't seen it are almost zero, but just in case,
if you haven't seen Chris Hadfield's cover of Space Oddity, recorded on the
ISS, you really should:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo)

I don't have a source but I heard that David preferred this version to the
original.

~~~
ptaipale
Oh, good to know that's available again. At some point it was pulled for
copyright reasons.

[http://boingboing.net/2014/05/18/bowies-takedown-of-
hadfield...](http://boingboing.net/2014/05/18/bowies-takedown-of-
hadfield.html)

~~~
chc4
I heard that they arranged a deal for a 1 year lease, and after that year had
to take it down. I didn't know that it was back either, that's great news.

~~~
ptaipale
Seems that this time it's a two year lease, so it's still not going to be
available permanently.

------
browseatwork
Doesn't this quotation strongly apply to software engineers? I find engineers
have more trouble applying the same logic to software engineering, while
applying it to artists, especially musicians, without much reflection.

~~~
readymade
There's such a pervasive notion, especially among techies and other white
collar types, that artists and musicians either don't deserve a good living or
should be happy just to get to do what they do, regardless of income. It's a
tremendous sense of entitlement on the one hand, to express contempt for the
individual while expecting unlimited access to their work. I believe Astra
Taylor made an interesting point about how this idea of the artist as the
mandatorily broke but (ideally) self-fulfilled creator is also increasingly
extended as a metaphor in recent business press when discussing the plight of
graduates, interns and freelancers.

~~~
gnaritas
> that artists and musicians either don't deserve a good living or should be
> happy just to get to do what they do

They don't; that's simply a fact, no one is owed or deserves a living, you
have to work for it like everyone else. If there is demand for what you do,
monetize it, if you can't, then pick another career because the market has
spoken. You can't mandate that X career deserves to be paid, the market does
that naturally via demand.

> It's a tremendous sense of entitlement on the one hand, to express contempt
> for the individual while expecting unlimited access to their work.

Stating facts about their lack of being entitled to anything isn't expressing
contempt. If they don't want people accessing their work, they don't have to
publish it, but expecting perpetual payment anytime anyone looks at what you
put out is absurd; intellectual property is a flawed notion that only worked
well when distribution was a challenge. With virtually free distribution, you
cannot prevent information being free, i.e. copying, and thus you cannot rely
on making money from distribution; you better learn how to make money
performing live, as has been done historically.

~~~
readymade
It's funny how tech companies are making money from the distribution of this
supposedly valueless content that the market supposedly has no demand for.

~~~
gnaritas
Tech companies tend to sell services, which have value, and can be removed
from those who don't want to pay. Websites are services.

------
Podwicker
Thanks, Ziggy!

------
pearjuice
Though unfortunate, I don't think this belongs on HN.

~~~
kunai
HN's guidelines suggest things hackers would find interesting; Bowie's genius,
non-conformity, and willingness to experiment with musical form are certainly
characteristics hackers would find interesting. His loss is a loss to the
entire world of art and music, and he was one of my favorite musicians — my
single favorite for a very long time. May he rest in peace.

~~~
eterm
The same guidelines suggest, "If TV news covers it, it's likely off topic"

~~~
kunai
It's not black-or-white.

