The issues relating to Bowie's significance and the adulation of the media are salient, I think. It is interesting how the expectations of pop music are lower allowing someone like Bowie to appear to be a visionary whereas I don't think he was quite on a par with the importance of Pierre Boulez or Paul Bley. The media attention has, I am sure ( tried to avoid it) looked at the cultural significance of Bowie whereas I think there has been a real lack of genuine , informed discussion regarding the dots on the page. This would make the appraisal more interesting. There has also been no discussion regarding the tracks on the LP's that were not realised as singles. How good were these? Someone did comment that his album "Tin machine" was not a success and that was about as critical as the analysis came.
It is interesting to hear pop acts perform live and have certain "artists" either meet your expectations or confirm your expectations. A number of "commercial" pop acts have materialised at the jazz festival in Vienne. The likes of Chic, Earth , Wind and fire , Al Green, Cyndi Lauper and Sting have really surprised me as these are genuinely switched on musicians , capable of improvisation and not leading polished outfits, often featuring jazz musicians in their ranks. It would have been interesting to see if Bowie would have fallen in to this category. On the other hand, I've caught the likes of Joe Cocker and Seal, both of whom I felt to be pretty feeble. I would therefore not write off some artists and would consider that those who have lasted must have a degree of talent.
It is interesting to hear pop acts perform live and have certain "artists" either meet your expectations or confirm your expectations. A number of "commercial" pop acts have materialised at the jazz festival in Vienne. The likes of Chic, Earth , Wind and fire , Al Green, Cyndi Lauper and Sting have really surprised me as these are genuinely switched on musicians , capable of improvisation and not leading polished outfits, often featuring jazz musicians in their ranks. It would have been interesting to see if Bowie would have fallen in to this category. On the other hand, I've caught the likes of Joe Cocker and Seal, both of whom I felt to be pretty feeble. I would therefore not write off some artists and would consider that those who have lasted must have a degree of talent.
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