THIS REVOLUTIONWASTELEVISED ...
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| David Bowie and Mick Ronson enjoy dinner on the Train to Eternity |
It’s hard to believe or even accept David Bowie’s death at the age of 69. There is a theory in left wing politics about Revolution - the theory of ‘permanent revolution’ - where we keep the rebellion going, churning over, re-inventing, polishing, progressing. That was David Bowie’s art in a nutshell. With every album he transformed himself into something new. Ziggy, the Thin White Duke ... the Young Americans, Major Tom, Master of the Dance ... Bowie was everything - pure musical sophistication. His superb ability as a composer of timeless songs was matched by his ever-changing image. Now the Gene Genie is back in the bottle.
I never got to see him live, but I have a frail, tenuous connection to the Great Man. In the 1960s I played guitar in a Hull band called The King Bees. In a fit of petulance I resigned because they wouldn’t let my girlfriend ride in our van. My temporary replacement was a young Hull Corporation gardener named Mick Ronson. Now Mick and David are together again. They’ve already got a bass player up there with Lemmy … Heaven must be like a permanent Glastonbury.