Classes 12 & 13 thoroughly enjoyed their trip to St. Canices Christmas Tree Festival. All entries were fantastic and very creative. We were also lucky enough to go up to the top of the round tower.

“I had to phone someone so I picked on you…”:

How one line inspired a generation

 

Within the wake of July 1972, David Bowie’s live performance of ‘Starman’ on Top of the Pops would singlehandedly shock the nation’s music scene. Its unusual style (along with Bowie’s iconic glam rock persona) had surprised those who witnessed it. With reddish-brown dyed hair, striking costumes and ingenious lyrics, Bowie defied the expectations of those who tuned in. Innovative and otherworldly for its time, Bowie’s performance, along with Mick Ronson’s iconic acoustic guitar and string arrangements, ultra-weird hairdos and Bowie’s backing band: The Spiders from Mars, would soon change the course of British music and his own life forever. Serving as a late entry into Bowie’s concept album ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars’ released within the same year and taking inspiration from his own interests in science fiction and space travel, much like ‘Life on Mars?’ and ‘Space Oddity’ before that, Starman tells a story from Bowie’s alter-ego, the extra-terrestrial rock and roll messiah ‘Ziggy Stardust’ (drawing inspiration from British Rock and Roll singer Vince Taylor) and his messenger ‘Starman’, carrying a hopeful message towards the youths of Planet Earth. Bowie created different personas to tell a whole new story from his songs. Bowie wrote a majority of his songs based on feelings of alienation and difference, writing about outer space to write about inner space.

“Music on Planet Earth will never be the same again.” ~ Jarvis Crocker of Pulp

As the song’s second verse began, when Bowie pointed directly at the camera as he sings the line “I had to phone someone so I picked on you”, fans immediately felt that this was his direct message towards them. He remained a mysterious figure to older generations but was something important and influential to young people. Four decades onwards, Bowie’s influential stance in music has been felt through young people today. His inspiration carried on through a variety of bands and artists, such as Madonna, Lady Gaga, Marilyn Manson, The Killers, Arcade Fire and Blur being prime examples. Breaking the boundaries of creativity in music, as well as establishing a whole new set-piece and postmodernist view of British music, his tremendous influence could be viewed throughout different areas of pop culture (his Sixth studio album ‘Aladdin Sane’ depicting his iconic lightning bolt symbol, remains a bona fide pop culture icon) and music, ranging from punk, new wave, alternate rock to the Britpop movement of the mid-1990s. Beforehand, he gained an adequate recognition for his commercially successful 1969 hit ‘Space Oddity’ (inspired by the 1968 epic science fiction film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’) and his mildly successful Fourth studio album ‘Hunky Dory’, but from Starman, it almost seemed like Bowie came out of nowhere, like an alien. The song’s live performance set the motion for Bowie’s future, shaping an iconic image which continued to gain widespread appeal from audiences across Britain and North America, though Bowie’s unrelenting determination to move forward departed him from his Eighteen month Stardust image in the glam rock scene, experimenting with different musical styles adapted onto his later albums such as his first R&B debut ‘Young Americans’ in 1975 and his Thin White Duke period with ‘Station to Station’, which later inspired the proclaimed ‘Berlin Trilogy’ of Bowie’s career. Bowie’s success continued onwards into the 1980’s (Starting with ‘Scary Monsters’), with the ‘Let’s Dance’ album being one of his most prominent works.

“Let’s sway. Sway through the crowd to an empty space.” ~ David Bowie, Let’s Dance 1983

As he continued to evolve into newer imagery, critical and public reactions from Bowie’s later projects had begun to take a temporary slide, with his ‘Glass Spider’ concert tour (Bowie’s most expensive and elaborate tour at that point in time) and his ‘Never Let Me Down’ album receiving polarised reviews. Criticism was mainly drawn towards the lack of originality. Even Bowie admittedly stated that ‘Tonight’ (1984) and ‘Never Let Me Down’ weren’t his strongest albums. However, despite mixed critical reception in the late 80’s, ‘Never Let Me Down’ remains an essential to die-hard Bowie fans. The album has been more positively received in later years for initially being different to Bowie’s previous works, which has been enjoyed from a creative standpoint.

“Of the 26 albums I’ve made I think there were two when I really wasn’t involved and that was ‘Tonight’ and ‘Never Let Me Down’, the Two follow-ups to ‘Let’s Dance’. That period was my Phil Collins years.” ~ David Bowie, 2002

This criticism had instead motivated Bowie to creatively revitalise his career, leading to his founding of the band ‘Tin Machine’, which enjoyed considerable success in the early 1990’s. Bowie returned solo again in 1992, to which his 18^th studio album ‘Black Tie White Noise’ was released the following year to critical acclaim, taking inspiration from the House music scene at the time. This was the final album guitarist Mick Ronson had worked on closely with Bowie, before he passed away from cancer before the album’s release. ‘Black Tie White Noise’s had since then been viewed as an artistic renaissance for Bowie; an incredible return to Bowie’s creative style which continued on for the next two decades until his death on 10^th January 2016, two days after the release of his swan song masterpiece, ‘Blackstar’, a parting gift album towards Bowie’s beloved fans.

Bowie’s legacy continues to live on through the hearts of dedicated fans. His message from Starman had inspired a generation, ushering a revolutionary change in music within the 20^th Century. From fans, critics and musicians alike, Bowie had created an extraordinary legacy. Because after all, when he pointed and glimpsed at the camera while singing the second verse, Bowie was talking about us all along.