David Bowie

I just thought I'd interrupt my blogging break to put down a few thoughts.

It was just another ordinary Monday morning and as I got ready for work the news stopped me in my tracks.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one to greet the news of David Bowie's death with shock and disbelief.  After all, no-one but those closest to him knew that he had been unwell; but in this modern world where every minute detail of the lives of the world's most fame-hungry celebs is posted online, privacy and dignity are rare and treasured qualities, in life and in death.  Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.

It was only a few days ago that the singer's final album "Blackstar" was released and many comments have been made today about the uncanny timing of the album and the prophetic lyrics of its single "Lazarus".

As I grew up in the 70s, my house was always filled with music.  And my mum always had a special place in her heart for David Bowie back in those days.  She was fascinated by his changing image and innovative music; although she was more of a singles than albums fan so that explains why we wore out that vinyl copy of the Best of Bowie, eventually replacing it years later with an updated greatest hits CD .  Her favourite Bowie song was "Drive In Saturday" with "Space Oddity" and "Ashes to Ashes" close behind; whilst my favourites were "Life On Mars", "Starman" and "Golden Years".  She reserved particular hatred for "The Laughing Gnome" which I used to play because I knew it annoyed her so much; and later on, her impersonation of Bowie singing "Alabama Song" used to reduce both of us to a giggling fit.

But Bowie's music moved on and so did we; although our enthusiasm waned for his later material, but we continued to play those classic songs from the 70s.  I lost count of the amount of times that mum watched the Ziggy Stardust concert.  One night whilst watching it she told me that she wished she'd had the opportunity to see him live in the 1970s.  We never did get to see him play live, for whatever reason....but the nearest we got, a few years ago, was when we went along to see a fantastic tribute show called "Ultimate Bowie" by Ed Blaney and his band, which covered every stage of the singer's career in intense detail, right down to costumes, make-up and vocal style.  The number of hardcore Bowie fans at the show spoke volumes about the quality of this guy's performance, and the setlist didn't just include the big hits but also the "fan favourites" which the more casual Bowie fan may not have been aware of.  I hope that Ed and his band will continue to keep this great music alive.

It would be impossible to imagine an artist of David Bowie's calibre breaking through in these times of bland music, when the dullest artists are acclaimed as worldwide stars.  But he made it big at the right time, when his creativity was allowed to flourish and all on his own terms rather than some contrived record company invention.  The fact that his death was the lead item on all our news programmes today proves just how influential, enduring, popular and unique an artist he was.   But I just want to say thank you, Mr Bowie, for soundtracking my 70s childhood.  Your music made us happy, and it will live on.  R.I.P.

R.I.P. Stephen Gately

I don't really have much to add to what everyone's already been saying in blog-land today. This morning I switched on the radio and heard the news that the Boyzone singer and musical theatre star died suddenly in his sleep yesterday whilst on holiday in Majorca. I'm sad and shocked and still can't quite take it in. Only 33 years old...far too young to leave us.

Stephen of course found fame in the 90s as a member of Boyzone, the Irish boy band, and his distinctive soft vocals provided a contrast to those of Ronan Keating. Stephen will always be remembered for "coming out" at a time when this still seemed to be frowned upon within the pop community - he was the first boyband member to ever publicly express his lifestyle.

Happily he received lots of support following this announcement and when Boyzone took a break he went on to have a brief solo career and he starred in various musical theatre productions and also got his skates on to appear on "Dancing On Ice".

When Boyzone reunited, Stephen was part of the line-up which made a comeback tour and album. In recent years he married his partner Andrew in a civil partnership ceremony and his latest venture was writing a children's fantasy novel.

By all accounts Stephen was happy and healthy, and his final message on his Twitter page (http://twitter.com/stephenofficial) posted on 06.10.2009 read "still busy - lots going on. Focussing on finishing my book next so may be quiet here".

Rest in peace Stephen.

Michael Jackson

I woke up this morning to the news that Michael Jackson died yesterday, aged 50. He lived his life in a big, bold, bizarre and controversial way and the more I think about it, it's not so surprising that he died so young. He was probably the first worldwide megastar of 'our' generation, and the first to leave us.

Predictable things followed....notably those phoney showbiz obituaries, and his songs were, unsurprisingly, all over the radio.

Everyone's talking and writing about him today. I don't have anything new, or original, to add. All I will say is that MJ made two fantastic albums which still sound so fresh today - "Off The Wall" and "Thriller", and nothing recorded after them came anywhere near their greatness. As a performer, his influence lives on in many of today's artists.

Just like Elvis and John Lennon before him, Jackson's records will sell again in their millions -so you can expect every top 40 singles and album chart in the world to be dominated by him this week.

Eartha Kitt, R.I.P.

Just found out that Eartha Kitt has died - now there was a legend.

Decided to pay my own little tribute here with the mighty "Cha Cha Heels" which was a big favourite here at EuropeCrazy HQ back in the day :)

Esbjörn Svensson

The Swedish jazz musician Esbjörn Svensson died last Saturday, following a scuba diving accident in Sweden. He was 44 years old.

His band, the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (or E.S.T.), were responsible for bringing jazz to a new audience with their own particular blend of jazz with classical influences and a unique Scandinavian flavour. Esbjörn Svensson came to my attention in 2004 when he featured on Tomas Ledin’s jazz-flavoured album "Med Vidoppna Fonster", marked by his distinctive piano playing style.

Svensson was an innovative performer who will be sadly missed.