re: David Bowie Dead at 69

quote:

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He was important but this is ridiculous

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Not even close to ridiculous. He was the most important. Certainly of the past 50 years when you exclude Elvis. McCartney's void would have been filled to some extent. The Smiths, The Cure, U2, glam rock, grunge.... None of that happens or shapes music the way it did without Bowie. All of the "crap music today" that old ignorant idiots reference can be traced to Bowie.

Obviously, the Beatles were important. But in a relative sense, I just think of them as beating out the competition that would have inevitably filled that role. Maybe The Monkees, Rolling Stones, some other band, whatever..... If Bowie didn't do what he did, I don't think his "replacements" like Lou Reed would have been able to appeal to so many in such a way. He somehow made it cool for people who didn't self identify as weirdos to respect musicians dressed as girls. He may not have left us with a greater catalogue of songs than any other, but his "influence over replacement" is unparalleled. Theres no guarantee somebody else would have taken flamboyancy to the masses in a positive way. I think its pretty safe to say big band crooners wouldn't have prevailed even without the Beatles. A change was gonna come no matter what.