Every once in a while, we encounter a person who turns out to be very, very important to the evolution of life on Earth. There are religious figures—Jesus, the Buddha, Muhammad; scientists: Isaac Newton, Einstein, the team that invented the transistor.
We have inventors: Cai Lun, the inventor of paper; Johannes Gutenberg, who gave us the printing press; Tim Berners-Lee, who came up with the concept of the internet.
What about music? There are a lot of those: Elvis, Chuck Berry, the Beatles, Dylan, Marley, Hendrix, Prince—and David Bowie.
Bowie lived a thousand lifetimes in his 69 years. He moved at an accelerated rate, especially through the 1970s, when he shattered norms, confounded expectations, and wasn’t afraid to constantly rip everything up and start again. We never knew what Bowie was going to do next—and when he did it, it was something we couldn’t imagine we needed in music. This happened again and again.
I read someone who said that Bowie was like an old-school explorer who dared to sail to distant lands and then brought back treasures beyond our imaginations. He was a great autodidact. He absorbed everything—music, art, painting, books, film, fashion, technology—and then spun it together for us. And he looked so cool doing it.
And here’s the wild thing: even though he’s been gone for a while, we’re still learning about what he did and what he meant to music—and beyond. There was—and may never again be—anyone like him.
This is part three of “Why David Bowie Still Matters.”
Songs heard on this show (all songs by David Bowie):
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- Five Years
- Little Wonder
- Telling Lies
- What’s Really Happening?
- Young Americans
- I’ve Been Waiting for You
- Where are We Now?
- Lazarus
As usual, Eric Wilhite has a playlist for us.
The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations. Don’t forget that there’s a podcast version, too, in case you miss any episodes. Get them for free wherever you get your podcasts.
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- 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm
- Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm
- Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
- 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm
- FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
- Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
- 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
- Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
- The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 8am and 9pm
- The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
- The Goat Network/Interior BC
- Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
- WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Akron, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm
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