Get to Know Me Post 2: David Bowie

 

I don't remember when I first heard a David Bowie song. I had to be quite young. My parents always listened (and still listen) to the radio station 94.7 WLS FM and that is where I know I first heard Bowie. I don't know if it was "Modern Love" or "Changes" or "Let's Dance" but I know it was one of those. I always learned a song by hearing it over and over again and when I finally learned who David Bowie was, I surprised myself by knowing the words to those songs already. I didn't really know how I knew the words or even knew the songs but I went with it like I always did. I first heard about David Bowie in November 2015. There was an academic team question about him and neither I nor my team mate (there were only two of us that day) knew who he was so we didn't get the points for that question. I went home and asked my mom since he seemed like the kind of musician my mom would have listened to. She told me he was kind of like Alice Cooper. Now that I know who David Bowie is, I think she was referring to the fact they put on "shows" at their concerts. Cooper shocked the audience while Bowie created a character and a story to go with that character. I googled him and was met with the picture I had seen twice before at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and had asked my mom about both times. It was Ziggy Stardust (first picture). Being 15 and getting into new music, I thought 'ok I'll give this guy a try'. And I did. I heard "Heroes" and really liked what I heard. 

Christmas was approaching so I wasn't able to go out and get any music to listen to so I was a little stuck with whatever was on Amazon prime. I didn't mind. I got into the movie The Prestige and, my luck being what is, Bowie is in the movie as Nikola Tesla. But I didn't know it. I didn't know it for another month. I had to get up early January 11, 2016 because we were doing something. Even though it was winter I was wearing ripped skinny jeans, knock off converse that had Elsa from Frozen on them, purple and green striped socks, and a tie-dye shirt. I was brushing my teeth when my mom came in the bathroom to tell me Bowie had died. I was half-asleep so I didn't really process what she had said. I just nodded and continued doing what I was doing. I went to school and people weren't really talking about it. I got to lunch and, as was habit because of a class I was in, I checked the news. For the second time that day, I got the news that Bowie had died and he had released an album, Blackstar, literally just before he died. I looked at my friends and they seemed to know what was going through my head. It seemed like they had been waiting for me to mention it all day since I was really getting into Bowie's music. Lunch was quiet that day. I went home and we ended up watching The Prestige and my mom saw Tesla and said "that's David Bowie" and I was like "huh?" Apparently I had been watching him for a couple of months and didn't know it. 

The first chance I got, I went to this record store by my house. I knew what I was going to buy for the first time since I had walked into that story for the very first time. I knew I was going to buy The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (I still just call it Ziggy Stardust. Such a long name) and another Bowie album. I ended up getting Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane (I love the play with the name (a lad insane) as well as the album cover). I loved the music and the idea of dressing up as this character and going onstage to perform as a "fake band". It was so different than what I was used to. And I loved it. I went back a couple of times and got other Bowie CDs and I got a couple of CDs as well as songs off of Amazon. 

Then while looking for new old movies for me to watch, I found something amazing. I found a Jim Henson George Lucas movie called Labyrinth. I finally found a copy of the movie and I watched it. I had no idea what it was going to be and I was going in like a kid in a candy store. It was David Bowie, Jim Henson (the creator of the Muppets), and George Lucas all in one movie. I saw it once and I fell in love with it. The music was so unique and it fit the movie so well and I wasn't surprised to learn Bowie only agreed to do the movie if he could write the music for it. My favorite part is the ballroom scene about halfway through the movie. There are some pretty great quotes in the movie too. There was so much I got from this movie that I didn't expect when I first decided to watch it. 


I'd love to go back to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame now just because I know so many more of the inductees and I am a fan of them. I can appreciate the things in there now. I've included some of my favorite songs below as well as the ballroom scene from Labyrinth.




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