David Bowie Dies At Age 69 (bbc.co.uk)

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David Bowie Dies At Age 69 (bbc.co.uk)

Posted by Soulskill on Monday January 11, 2016 @01:49AM from the rest-in-peace dept.

echo-e writes: Renowned singer David Bowie has died after an 18-month battle with cancer. His latest album, Blackstar, was only just released on Friday — his birthday. His last live show was in 2006. Bowie rose to fame in the 1970s, and he is known for hits such as Under Pressure, Let's Dance, and Space Oddity. He also appeared in handful of films, such as Labyrinth in 1986. Bowie was also notable for being one of the few musicians to immediately see the value and staying power of MP3s and the digital distribution of music. If anything, he was overly optimistic about it. In 2002, he said, "I don't even know why I would want to be on a label in a few years, because I don't think it's going to work by labels and by distribution systems in the same way. The absolute transformation of everything that we ever thought about music will take place within 10 years, and nothing is going to be able to stop it. I see absolutely no point in pretending that it's not going to happen. I'm fully confident that copyright, for instance, will no longer exist in 10 years, and authorship and intellectual property is in for such a bashing."

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Awful... by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-11 01:52 · Score: 5, Insightful

I'll miss him and his excellent music.
Tribute by The+Evil+Atheist · 2016-01-11 01:52 · Score: 5, Interesting

Send his ashes to Mars.

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Those who do not learn from commit history are doomed to regress it.
1. Re:Tribute by seven+of+five · 2016-01-11 01:53 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  Don't know about that... they'll probably just fall to Earth...
True artist by Aethedor · 2016-01-11 01:58 · Score: 5, Insightful

Whether you like his music or not, there is no denying that David Bowie was a true artist, a real entertainer. There was nothing fake about him. Nowadays, we don't see real artists like him very often.

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It doesn't have to be like this. All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
1. Re:True artist by rgbatduke · 2016-01-11 02:32 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  And he would have made a great Elrond...
  
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  Even when the experts all agree, they may well be mistaken. --- Bertrand Russell.
2. Re:True artist by TWX · 2016-01-11 02:51 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  I still think that's incorrect. The majority of modern acts that record labels push are, to an extent, puppets of the record labels, but mostly because, like how Hollywood wants every movie to be a blockbuster, these are the acts that they're convinced will knock it out of the park. Why would a label spend a moderate amount of money to get a simple equal return, when they can spend a bit more and get an order of magnitude more?
  
  These acts getting arrested for doing stupid things also helps with their sales, so long as the things they do to get arrested are that which we all point and laugh at rather than being truly revolted by. Young, dumb singers whose teen angst bullshit is highly public are great targets. Nearly all of us had our share of it, but we lacked the financial means to get into real trouble or to be so highly visible while doing it. These singers and musicians that the record labels are using have that means and thus when they do the same kinds of dumb shit that we all did, they get busted but also increase their profiles.
  
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  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
3. Re:True artist by mwvdlee · 2016-01-11 02:59 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Long story short; we don't see many musicians of his caliber today and we didn't see many back then either.
  
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4. Re:True artist by Ol+Olsoc · 2016-01-11 03:27 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Whether you like his music or not, there is no denying that David Bowie was a true artist, a real entertainer. There was nothing fake about him. Nowadays, we don't see real artists like him very often.
  I suspect that you're seeing history through rose-tinted glasses. There were plenty of pop-acts in every era that Bowie overlapped with, we simply don't remember many of them.
  Which is why we remember Bowie.
  I wonder if anyone 30 years from now will remember Beyonce. We are officially in a worse period of music than disco.
  
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  The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
5. Re:True artist by TWX · 2016-01-11 03:48 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Could be. Linda Ronstadt was hugely popular in the late seventies but is virtually forgotten today. The Manhattan Transfer won multiple Grammys and used to sell-out auditoriums like rock groups but is down to 2,000 seat auditoriums.
  
  Bowie had staying power because he continually reinvented himself and managed to keep up with what the public wanted in addition to giving them something new to consider. He was willing to vary his look- Bowie in the Ziggy Stardust era versus The Man Who Fell To Earth era vs Labyrinth are basically completely different acts.
  
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  Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
Watch the new videos by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-11 02:02 · Score: 5, Informative

He just released an album, its good, but bleak.
He must have recorded knowing his death was imminent. You'd think why he didn't say he had cancer, but if you watch the videos he did say.
Blackstar, is full of lonely candles and a Dead Major Tom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kszLwBaC4Sw
Love is lost,
http://prostheticknowledge.tumblr.com/post/137078250186/prostheticknowledge-love-is-lost-hello-steve
But for me, the best track he's never remembered for is "Andy Warhol"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4sANPkk3ys
Goodbye David.
1. Re:Watch the new videos by thegarbz · 2016-01-11 04:32 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  He must have recorded knowing his death was imminent.
  The video for Lazarus was released on Friday. David Bowie in a hospital bed. First lines of the song "Look up, I'm in heaven"
  He will be missed. Even his death was a creative form of art.
Re: Major Tom will be giving the eulogy by Hognoxious · 2016-01-11 02:04 · Score: 4, Informative

Hey Einstein, get this - there aren't actually any spiders on Mars either.

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Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
No mention of banker Bowie by clovis · 2016-01-11 02:10 · Score: 4, Informative

So far the articles I saw made no mention of his adventure as a banker and alternative currencies.
Bowie was a more interesting person than your typical rock star.
Hell of a guy by SMoynihan · 2016-01-11 02:11 · Score: 4, Informative

The guy was razor sharp, and at times almost prescient.
From around 6 minutes in this interview, he talks re. the music industry's rot, and predicts much of the internet's climb over the last decade and a half. All to Paxman's skepticism...
We have an emptier world today
RIP Thin White Duke by markpg · 2016-01-11 02:24 · Score: 5, Interesting

Just spent the weekend listening to the new album and trying to figure out the meaning behind the Blackstar video. It suddenly all makes sense.
He will be missed, but it's nice to know he left at the top of his game.

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..now where did that .sig go??
he died, a crontroversial figure. by nimbius · 2016-01-11 02:33 · Score: 4, Funny

Bowies eccentricities aside, Ive never understood why his kidnapping charge wasnt investigated? Sure, he certainly as a monarch reserved diplomatic immunity but his 13 hour standoff over the child was completely uncalled for.
Now that hes gone, what of his estate? I certrainly hope someone does something with the bog of eternal stench he was so enamoured with...and that horrible room full of staircases? certainly someones complained of trip hazards and safety violations...Rest in peace Goblin King.

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Good people go to bed earlier.
Re:Possibly Lung by PopeRatzo · 2016-01-11 02:51 · Score: 4, Informative

It seems they're being rather tight lipped about what type of cancer it was
News stories are saying liver cancer.

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You are welcome on my lawn.
Coolness on fleek by PopeRatzo · 2016-01-11 02:54 · Score: 5, Informative

The dude played fucking Nikola Tesla in the movies. Because of course he did. That's how cool he was.

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You are welcome on my lawn.
Re:Who gives a shit by clovis · 2016-01-11 02:56 · Score: 5, Informative

How is this tech news?
How is it that you don't know what are the topics at the top of the slashdot web page? It says:
Topics: Devices Build Entertainment Technology Open Source Science YRO
This article is about Davis Bowie, so it concerns
1) entertainment; music
2) technology; digital distribution of music
3) YRO; copyright issues
Re:Possibly Lung by Anonymous Coward · 2016-01-11 03:05 · Score: 4, Insightful

If that's true, then he knew what the risks were when he was smoking. It's a horrible way to go but it's simply paying the piper for things you did earlier in life. It happens to the best of us.
Keith Richards is laughing at you right now.
Played as Nikola Tesla by necro81 · 2016-01-11 03:55 · Score: 4, Informative

Gosh. On /. I would have figured that some people would have chimed in that he played Nikola Tesla in the film "The Prestige." Bonus: his lab assistant was played by Andy Serkis, in one of his few live-action roles.
Re:Possibly Lung by spire3661 · 2016-01-11 04:09 · Score: 4, Insightful

Shove this self-righteous crap up your ass.

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Good-bye