David Bowie from 'Cracked Actor' Documentary, LA, 1974

David Bowie

Meant different things to different people, and redefined himself for each new generation.*  So what pic. to use ?  May as well go with the less obvious, the less familiar.  RIP.


* For me, it will always be the Ziggy Stardust album, Life on Mars, and the early 80's work.  But, as I said...  For some out there, it could be The Laughing Gnome.

Claude François: Comme d'habitude

Why, you might ask, does this song sound familiar ?  What, you might say, is this Frenchie doing singing a cover-version of Sinatra ?  Of course, in fact, Sinatra's was the cover, as the original song was a French composition, written by Jacques Revaux, with...the singer here.

The connection with France Gall I have to say is new to me:*

Revaux reportedly not satisfied with Vilard's version of the song, approached Claude François to re-record it. François accepted but asked that an underlying theme of a couple in a strained relationship be included, in reference to his recent breakup with fellow French singer France Gall. Revaux agreed and with some rewriting from Gilles Thibaut the song became "Comme d'habitude" and was released by Claude François in 1968.

And no, I can't resist following this with the obvious:

* Even more bizarrely, there's the role this song had in the origins of Life on Mars by Bowie...

David Bowie: Cracked Actor

David Bowie: Panic in Detroit

Historically, geographically, the wholesale abandonment of Detroit by non- 'African-American' populations makes no sense.  And what other similar territory in the US would not, decades later, have been gentrified by now ?  What is it about this particular piece of real estate, with wealthy white suburbs ringing it all about, with nearby Arab-heavy suburban communities, and with so many auto factories relocated just north of the border into Canada ?  Where else in the US is the line between populations so explicitly marked along stark white and black lines ?  For what reason, and to what end ?  By rights, Detroit could have been/should be one of the jewels of America's crown.  Instead, it's a perpetual embarrassment, and a racial case-history upon which no race seems hugely inclined to dwell.  I could go into the current right-wing 'emergency measures' being put forward for the 'reform' of Detroit, but I don't think my heart could stand it.  Detroit deserved/deserves better.

Of course Detroit is merely practice.  YourTown, USA is next on the Billionaire agenda.  Your time will come, and sooner than you think...