Obituary for David Bowie

'Ain't there one damn song that can make me break down and cry'

David Bowie: 1947-2016. As much as it pains me to write these words, David Bowie died this morning after suffering with liver cancer for 18 months. Living long enough to see the release of his latest album Blackstar, he died just two days afterwards. Suddenly, the album clicks into place: 'I Can't Give Everything Away' seemed before like a tease, and now becomes a final goodbye; the opening lyrics to 'Lazarus', 'Look up here, I'm in heaven/I've got scars that can't be seen', fall into place as a veiled reference to the cancer. Blackstar becomes his swan song, his final parting gift to the world.

Looking at the incredible span of his career, it's hard to believe that one individual can have accomplished so much. David Jones became David Bowie became Major Tom became Ziggy Stardust became Aladdin Sane became The Thin White Duke became The Man Who Fell To Earth. He reinvented himself again and again and again before anyone had a chance to call him old hat. There is so much of modern life and culture that only exists because Bowie had the guts to push the boundaries, to boldly go where no man had dared to go.

Maybe because he wasn't fully a man. You have to consider the courage and strength of will it must have taken to have written such an astounding album as Blackstar whilst suffering from cancer and, at the same time, keeping both of the above heavily under wraps. He remained stoic to the last, maintaining his mystical allure by refusing interviews and tours, drawing the world further into his mysticism. Furthermore, what man could dare to embody the alien beauty of Ziggy? What man had his ethereal handsomeness? What man could pull off a knitted jumpsuit like David Bowie? He was and shall remain superhuman, extra terrestrial, not quite of this world.

There are not enough words in the world to even begin to touch on the wealth of creativity Bowie possessed. Not quite content with storming the music industry, he branched out into acting, delivering fantastically memorable performances: as Jareth the Goblin King in Labyrinth, Thomas Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth, himself in Zoolander, Nikolas Tesla in The Prestige. No child who has watched Labyrinth can ever forget The Bulge.

As silly as it is, I feel deeply touched by his death, as though I've lost someone incredibly close to me. And I tell myself that I have no right to feel this way, that I didn't know him personally, and it's a terrible affront to all of his nearest and dearest that I have the nerve to presume such an affinity with him. But in all honesty, the fact that so many people feel this way demonstrates his absolute and undeniable talent. If his music was powerful enough to make an eight year old, sat in her bedroom listening to Ziggy Stardust and dreaming of the starman, feel as though she experienced the day Ziggy died in 1973, then his career was a success. To make people feel the core of your music is surely the goal of all musicians. Bowie achieved this in force. Goodbye to the man who sold the world, gone to join the stars that he came from.

Obituary for Lou Reed

Source: Allmusic

On Sunday 27th October, the world was greeted with the news that Lou Reed, frontman of The Velvet Underground and a brilliant solo artist in his own right, had died at the age of 71. Reed had had a liver transplant in May, and his literary agent confirmed his cause of death was "liver-related ailment". Having been a self-confessed drinker and drug user for many years, it may come as no surprise to some that this has happened. However, to the majority of the music world, it was a very sad day indeed.

Iggy Pop has said it was "devastating news". The Who tweeted "RIP Lou Reed. Walk on the peaceful side". John Cale, fellow member of The Velvet Underground, posted on his website that "the world has lost a fine songwriter and poet... I've lost my 'school-yard buddy'". David Bowie said of Reed, his old friend: "He was a master." For all of these musical legends to say such affectionate things about Reed shows his popular and widespread appeal to anyone and everyone who loved, and loves, music.

Indeed, Bowie, Pop and Reed became relatively close in the early 70s. The two American musicians met Bowie in 1971, when Bowie was just another British musician trying to make it in America. The friendship between the three musicians grew, and in 1972, Bowie ended up producing, along with his guitarist Mick Ronson, Lou Reed's epic first album Transformer. The collaboration of the two Brits on this album undoubtedly gave Reed's creative flow a new lease of life, and gave him a new direction in which to make pioneering tracks. From this album come Lou Reed's most famous singles: Perfect Day, Walk on the Wild Side and Satellite of Love.

Source: Allmusic

The Velvet Underground made headway into a difficult musical environment by producing guitar driven rock. It helped that they were the proteges of Andy Warhol, but even without his influence it's clear that The Velvet Underground would still have had the same lasting influence on music that they had at the time. In their heyday, the band never really had commercial success. Despite that, the impression they had on many people, musicians or otherwise, is evident and immortal. Their music is so accessible that you could come from any walk of life, pick up their self-titled third album and fall instantly in love. Brian Eno famously summed up their wide-reaching impact by saying "the first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band." Hard to beat that, really.

Although Lou Reed then went on to have a long-lived solo career, it's his first album that sticks in one's mind as particularly brilliant/epic/influential/beautiful (please delete as applicable). With the aforementioned Big 3 Tunes on it, how could it not be? These three songs, Perfect Day, Satellite of Love and Walk on the Wild Side, sum up Lou Reed's career in a relatively succinct and lovely way. Each of them are tragically beautiful, like many of Reed's songs and like Reed's life itself. Take Perfect Day, for example. It starts off with what you might think was typical love song lyrics ("you make me forget myself", "it's such a perfect day, I'm glad I spent it with you") to then go into the hauntingly bitter repeated line of "you're going to reap just what you sow". That one line is enough to make me stop and think, any time and anywhere.

Source: Allmusic
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On the face of it, Lou Reed's music was, much like his life, rock and roll, baby. Delving deeper, it's plain to see that there's a whole other level of emotional intelligence that's lost upon the average listener. Like getting to know a person, it takes time to get to know Reed's music very, very well. Every time you re-listen to an album, you discover new things about it that you'd previously been unaware of. If you don't believe me, listen to Pale Blue Eyes over and over and I guarantee you'll find something each time.

 Discussing Lou Reed with a friend, we came upon the perfect way to describe him. It's like musical philosophy; one song is enough to make you ponder your entire existence.