David Bowie

This year is starting with too much death. Today I hear that David Bowie has died. It is hard to know what to say - his importance is obvious; he was one of the great ones. I haven't gotten to him in my band of the month series, largely because he is hard to sum up - too protean by half, a master of everything he turned his hand to. A very fine actor, when he tried it - in Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence - in the Man Who Fell to Earth, his star power, his beauty and his skill create powerful characters, unique characters. Though even as a musician, he was maybe first an actor - building new characters, in the songs and to sing the songs - songs always as performances, in every sense. Look through a bunch of performances of a single song - how they change, music, attitude, pose, character - it's wonderful.

I will miss him.

Here is Heroes, on Marc Bolan's show - a glorious performance:



And a neat video to Space Oddity, 1969:



And finally, playing Waiting for the Man with Lou Reed: