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S'està carregant… Bowie on Bowie: Interviews and Encounters with David Bowiede Sean Egan (Editor)
   Cap No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra.  JBarringer | Dec 30, 2017 | 
This review is a first for me. I am going to review two books, but I decided to review them together, at the suggestion of my wife, Stacy, who came up with the idea. I am blessed by that fact that she is not only my wife, but someone canny enough to see that putting these two books together gives me a rare opportunity; this review can not only inform you about these books, but can also tell you a bit about the artists who inspired them. So, here are two books, as different as night and day, about artists as different as night and day. Rock-n-roll fans, I give you a dream concert: Elvis Costello and David Bowie. **** If you are like me, you might remember how it felt when you first heard Elvis Costello. My Aim Is True was a record that changed my view of the world, that made me punch out windows and shout out loud. Well, maybe not literally, but when I first heard “Blame It On Cain” I did kick an old Adirondack chair, damaging the leg. My dad always wondered how it got broke. What you have to understand is that the radio was full of disco and the Bee Gees, and that if you wanted to hear someone like the Ramones or The Dead Boys or Richard Hell, you had to search for it. What Elvis Is King does so well is capture the spirit of that time. Mr. Crouse obviously loved the time, the music, and the people who made it. He understands what made Elvis so special is that he had the angst and anger of other bands, but he also had a rare sense of melody and craft, along with smart lyrics. He does an exceptional job of showing how Elvis’ sensibilities were formed, and how he, and others like Nick Lowe and Ian Drury helped make an exciting new twist on a very old form. Mr. Crouse makes the details come alive, with stories about the size of the stories and the size of the performer’s egos. All in all it’s an intimate and scrappy love-note about how and when an artist found his voice and started his career. Elvis Is King makes the case that My Aim Is True was a truly rare phenomenon, and an album that was absolutely the right sound at the right time. This book is not that, but it’s pretty darn close. *** There are few characters in the rock-n-roll world as interesting as David Bowie. His changing personas are legendary, but more importantly, his music has changed as much. The one constant is that it is always interesting. In Bowie on Bowie it’s easy to trace the evolution of Bowie’s character, but the music isn’t there. It is a thought provoking work, because Bowie has always been an excellent subject for interviewers, but Sean Egan’s brief introductions don’t really add too much to make us see behind the interviews. That Bowie is smart and compelling always comes through, but for some reason, the music isn’t evoked, giving this book an unfinished feel. In addition, I know that the book has to have some editing, but there are some excellent interviews left out, ones so good that I actually remember them, and I was looking forward to re-reading. Still, any Bowie is better that no Bowie. Review by: Mark Palm Full Reviews Available at: http://www.thebookendfamily.weebly.co... Pertany a aquestes sèriesLlistes notables
"Bowie on Bowie presents some of the best interviews David Bowie has granted in his near five-decade career. Each featured interview traces a new step in his unique journey, successively freezing him in time in all of his various incarnations, from a young novelty hit-maker and Ziggy Stardust to plastic soul player, 1980s sell-out, and the artistically reborn and beloved elder statesman of challenging popular music. In all of these iterations he is remarkably articulate and also preternaturally polite as almost every interviewer remarks upon his charm. The features in this book come from outlets both prestigious--Melody Maker, MOJO, New Musical Express, Q, Rolling Stone--and less well-known--the Drummer, Guitar, Ikon, Mr. Showbiz--but no matter the renown of the magazine, newspaper, or website, Bowie lets us approach the nerve center of his notoriously creative output"-- No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
Debats actualsCapCobertes populars
 Google Books — S'està carregant…GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)782.42166092The arts Music Vocal music Secular Forms of vocal music Secular songs General principles and musical forms Song genres Rock songs History, geographic treatment, biography BiographyLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana: (4)
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I usually find collections of interviews a bit tedious, but despite the almost unavoidable repetitiveness in this book, it was surprisingly readable. Sure, every interviewer wants David Bowie to talk about the same parts of his life, so that you get his perspectives on his 1970's albums and shows when they are new, and in every few interviews for the rest of his life. After he had his bad drugs experience, that became one of the stories everyone had to get him to talk about, all the way up to recent interviews, and the two less inspired commercial pop albums he released in the 80's became the other story about Bowie, to the point that much of the book is telling and retelling these two episodes of Bowie's life. But each time the story comes across differently, depending on how sympathetic or interested or informed the interviewer is, and on Bowie's current perspective. The way the biography morphs over time was quite interesting to observe.
I wound up listening to most of Bowie's albums on spotify while reading this book. Really, for anyone my age or younger, who was not really old enough to buy music when David Bowie was a big deal, it is hard to get much out of this book without listening to the albums being discussed. Even the music industry people I know through my old music blog who live and breathe music and were alive and buying music in the 70's still may not actually remember the earlier albums without rehearing them. It is a fun thought, actually, and one that dovetails nicely with some of the conversations in this book, that we can, with Internet access and a free spotify account, listen to most of David Bowie's music whenever we wish. I found several songs while reading this book that I actually quite liked (I am not fond of "Let's Dance" or most of the other songs of his that are popular on US radio), and I would have liked to have spent some time chatting with Mr. Bowie myself, I think, about books, an area I had not known he was so fond of.
I definitely recommend this book to any readers who like music history, music, or biographies.
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