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BOWIE AND GLITTER EXPLOITATION OR REJUVENATION?

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So the days flow through my eyes But the days still seem the same And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consolations They're immune to your consolations

They're quite aware of what they're going thru Ch-ch-ch-chChanges

BOWIE 1971

In 1971 a young Englishman named David Bowie hit the rock scene like a thundering bolt. With what Gentleman's Quarterly described as a refreshing new face sporting a "surprisingly tough musical style," Bowie incited a wide range of reactions from every arena of the musical industry. Some heralded him as the "new Beatles" the provocative force behind the innovation of music in the seventies; others dismissed him as "just a lot of hype." Still others, conservatively pre-occupied as they were, expressed fear of Bowie as the Bowie as the anti-Christ, preaching self-indulgence and immorality. And then there were those who viewed him as the propagator of political apathy and promoter of a social environment similar to that of pre-Nazi Germany.

Cer-

All of these charges seem rather severe but indicate how passionately people either love or hate this space oddity from the unleveled future. tainly there is no question that Bowie is a romanHe freely sings of gay love, rock n' roll suicides and Big Brothers; flaunts an outrageous wardrobe, and openly admits he is bisexual. Interestingly, when Bowie was first causing a rumble in Cleveland, (his "home town" in the States,. many gays greeted him with hostility and rejection. I can recall many of my brothers accusing Bowie of exploitation. Bowie, they claimed, through his campy routines was re-inforcing the stereotype of the effeminate, "frivolous fag" that most straight people have had for years. Secondly, many gays who were reared in the "hippie, back to nature, love and peace" school of thought reacted along with their straight brothers and sisters to Bowie's gimmickry. Glitter and lavish stage productions were judged as phony, superficial artifacts to distract from the "fact" that people who sported such wares had no talent. I can't help but remember how people leveled those same accusations toward the now legendary Beatles. Funny how we continue repeating the same tired behaviours over the years. A third reason Bowie did not receive initial acceptance from gaysand this is definately an "important" one was that we just could not dance to his music, or at least we weren't willing to try. Times certainly have chchchanged. Today, Bowie is somewhat of a cultural heroespecially among younger gays. Looking at the Bowie phenomenon objectively, we can conclude that he does in fact surround himself with an ambiguous morality, lyrically fits a Clockwork-Orange, self-indulgence mold, and appears to thrive in a rich, laissez-faire style of life. Insofar as his rise to prominence is concerned, to receive attention in any phase of the mass mediaespecially in the artsit helps to have a gimmick. Dylan had one (protest songs;) the Stones came at us like religious punks. Dali ///////////////////////////////|||||||||||||||||||||||||

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is a living gimmick; Norman Mailer, a dying one. All of these men are extraordinarily talented;

but initially need some unique aura to present When you come them as truly being innovative. right down to it, everything in America is by definition a gimmick. That is in essence a major characteristic of our capitalistic economic structure. Sell, sell, sell.

As far as direct exploitation of gays goes, the evidence is convincing that Bowie, whether in an intentional or indirect manner, has aided the gay cause considerably. By legitimizing himself as a forceful, multi-talented individual who just happens to be gay, he has captured the imagination of a whole generation of young people, many of whom feel that it is not only OK to be gay, but uality up, and tossed it in the face of straight perhaps even an asset. Bowie scooped his bisexAmerica's middle class. They will never be the same again. Aladdin Sane may be campy and outrageous, but he's out of his closet, as we all should be. This is not to say that Bowie was the catalyst behind the gay revolution, for most certainly he was not, but nevertheless he now stands as one of its foremost symbols.

We

We've all grown since 1971. The trends of futuristic-pseudo-decadence have given way to a sense of sophistication and worldliness. know now that sloganizing and attacking one another as strides toward harmony are selfdefeating. Musically, the disco scene has replaced elitist avant-garde works, and psychosocially, individuals are actually living life by their own rules rather than society's. As we progress, with us we take our culture and our arts. Bowie is one of us; the musical master of the seventies, and a man with an endless supply of courage. On top of all that we can finally dance to him. Exploitation Hardly. Me, I hope that I'm crazy

I feel you driving and you're only the wheel

Slow down, let someone love you You've never seen me hanging naked and wired

Somebody lied but I say it's hip To be alive.

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Bowie1975

---John Nosek

HIGH GEAR May, 1975

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