April 29th – I wrote about Marilyn Manson yesterday and, as I
was writing it occurred, not for the first time that he almost comes across as
a poor-man’s David Bowie. Is that unkind? Hope not, it’s just an observation
not a vendetta. As far as adopting a new persona, the pop-butterfly effect if
you will, Mr. Bowie is second to none and his incarnations…that’s his changes
in personality I mean, not that he’s covered in wedding button-holes…his incarnations,
geddit?...oh never mind, his incarnations, Kabuki Hero, Ziggy Stardust, Thin
White Duke, and whatever he is at the moment; Rich White Man? Dunno, anyway,
he’s done the make-up and character work to death over the years and this is
what makes Mrs. Marilyn/Mr. Manson seem shop-soiled to me.
I saw Mr. Bowie, as you know, on the
ZS tour in Brum – T’was ‘mazin’, and that’s from someone who’s sort of fallen
out from his performance appreciation tree, certainly after he finished with Ziggy. Don’t think this was because I
missed the point of the character, not even slightly, I just thought that Bowie
disappeared up his own anus after that and still think his best
solo-with-session-men work was on The Man
Who Sold The World album; nothing that followed comes close IMHO.
Anyway, ZS was a great show, but it
wasn't just simply because of Mr. Bowie; it was largely because he was so ably
supported by his lead guitarist, Mick Ronson; The Spiders would have been so much the poorer without him. Was I
the only one who thought that Mr. Bowie used him a bit, not just on the tour
but throughout their time together after the initial honeymoon? Probably just
me. It was just the dynamic that exuded during the show seemed to be indicative
of the larger panorama of the collective, to me at any rate. Maybe they were
just fed up with doing the gig, it happens, even on the most successful of
tours. Just thought that Mr. Bowie projected a level of callousness toward…no,
not callousness, a sort of indifference toward Mr. Ronson that seeped over and
off the stage. I mean, OK, using him for the sexual imagery he portrayed during
the act maybe, but the rest of the time, between numbers, sidestage…? Maybe
that was the point, the extension of Ziggy
– the character…the usuary, the indifference the ‘bring the band on down behind
me boys’ attitude…? If it was it worked, suckered me in all the way.
Clever musician, Mr. Ronson.
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, record producer. Played on Mr. Bowie’s
most successful albums – Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin
Sane, Pin-ups. Clever enough to go it alone, worked with them all, the
greats, rated amongst the best guitarists of all time. On this day in 1993, he
died of cancer at the age of 46 and, IMHO, on the Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars tour, although Mr. Bowie
was undeniably good, Mr. Ronson made him look undeniably great.
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