David Bowie

Rock icon David Bowie died yesterday, as you probably have heard by now, after an 18-month battle with cancer, and just a couple days after releasing his final album. Tributes have been pouring in from people across the musical spectrum, from Iggy Pop to Kanye West to Cher. WXPN has been wall-to-wall Bowie since 6:00 this morning, 8 hours and counting.

 

Although going back through my vinyl collection confirms that I bought the Let’s Dance LP at one point, I have to admit that I’ve never been a huge fan of Bowie’s work. I think that’s because I found his frequent changes in persona somewhat offputting – I could never figure out what if anything was at his core in terms of music. (I occasionally wondered, semi-seriously, whether “David Bowie” actually existed, or whether the name was actually handed down from one musician to another at various times over the years.)

 

Nevertheless, I’d have to rate these as my top 5 Bowie tracks:

Let’s Dance (also a great video, which I hadn't seen before)

The Man Who Sold The World (although I prefer Nirvana’s cover)

This Is Not America

Modern Love

Suffragette City