"Ain't there one damn song..."

"He's Chameleon, Comedian, Corinthian and Caricature"

I remember it as clear as day....1981, a cold, dark, damp Saturday afternoon in my early teens; my mum had dragged me and my sister into town to look for a new washing machine. As they stood in the Co-op listening to a salesman wax lyrical about spin cycles and programmes I sloped off to Parrot Records with my pocket money burning a hole in my pocket. I emerged some 15 minuiutes later with a copy of 'Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars' clutched in my greasy mitts. On the way home we called in to see my grandparents for cuppa and where I would watch the wrestling on World Of Sport with my grandfather, something I normally enjoyed..but today I just wanted to get home and play my new record. Eventually we did get home and the minute the needle dropped and the first strains of 'Five Years' emerged from the speakers I knew that things would never be the same.



From that day Bowie soundtracked my adolescence as I hungrily went about collecting his back catalogue, immersing myself in the worlds of Halloween Jack, the Thin White Duke, Aladdin Sane and, of course, Ziggy himself. It was to Bowie that I turned in times of upset and times of elation. When I was dumped by my first 'proper' girlfriend it was Bowie who helped heal the pain; when I wanted to rage at the world it was Bowie who calmed the angst. On returning from school I would retire to my bedroom with a cup of tea and a packet of biscuits, plug in and listen to Bowie, trying to decipher the meaning behind 'The Bewlay Brothers'. At night 'Ziggy Stardust...The Motion Picture' soundtrack would carry me to the land of nod, the sound of 'Width Of A Circle' still ringing in my ears.

As I grew up bands came and went, fashions were in and then out again, haircuts were cool and then mocked (I'll gloss over my ill advised attempt to replicate his hairstyle circa 'Let's Dance'). My music taste changed frequently but Bowie was always there. My goth days were filled with Bauhaus, Sisters Of Mercy etc but there was always room for Bowie. When hardcore punk was my bag I always (sometimes secretly) listened to Bowie....he WAS music.

In the last fifteen or so years the obsession waned as my tastes expanded and grew, but he was always there and his records still 'go to' when needed. I still bought the vinyl, even the...ahem....'lean' years. This wasn't misplaced loyalty, this was justified loyalty....Bowie had seen me through some hard times, the least I could do was to return the favour (although 'Never Let Me Down' tested that loyalty somewhat). Things seemed OK 'cos Bowie was there and would always be there.

Musically it was Bowie that led me to the New York Dolls and Velvet Underground; it was Bowie's work with Iggy Pop that pointed the direction to The Stooges, and the Berlin albums opened my ears to Eno and to krautrock...and most importantly it was Bowie that showed me that you don't have to follow the crowd, it's OK to plough your own furrow.



When I got up this morning and turned on the news to be greeted by the news that Bowie had died, there were no tears and no histrionics, just a hug from my wife and the sad knowledge that that things will never be the same. Rest in peace David Bowie...you will be sorely missed.