Monday, January 11, 2016

I'm a Blackstar!




Here's the original version of David Bowie's song 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore, which appears as the 1st track on the 10" single of Sue (In A Season of Crime).  The b-side is a 7 minute plus version of Sue.  I'm lucky I scored the vinyl on RSD last year.  Now the version on the LP Blackstar which I just acquired and listened to has really been amped up for prime time FM radio bandwidth and mp3 download.  Vinyl's resurgence is real because even Randy's Records in downtown SLC have gotten rid of their CDs entirely. I asked the clerk there and he said "CDs don't sell."  Lucky for me I preordered db's clear die hard edition of Blackstar because little did I or anyone else know that he knew all along he was going to die and had carefully prepared his final album as a swang song love letter to his fanbase, which turns out to be pretty much the entire planet Earth.



Now this second track is the official LP version of 'Tis a Pity She Was a Whore, off Blackstar.  This is a great song that has morphed into a full blown contemporary avant garde track which easily shatters all present commercial airwave expectations with an inescapable defiance. It sets the mark and draws the line for an entire new generation of artists and musicians to springboard from. It clears the field and resets the playing ground to zero. And it does it with such an air of casual finesse, setting a bar high enough to reach for and only dream of aspiring to touch the stars.  The entire album Blackstar comprised of just seven songs acquires a new watermark for the legendary performer and as far as I'm concerned he's aimed for the moon and somehow achieved the impossible dream.

I bravely shout out to the crowd "I'm a Blackstar!" and I think you should to. It's what David Bowie would want us all to do.   Rest in peace you crazy diamond dreamer singer songwriter poet actor painter rocker super star! Not to mention grade-A gentleman and human being. You tore down all the fucking walls there are to be had in this insane world!


(to be cont.)