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June 11, 2015
September 20, 2021
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A nexus point: Science
Fiction and David Bowie. The once reviled, underground
genre of Science Fiction has
long since crossed-over and
David Bowie's first big hit was become a major element of the
"Space Oddity" (1969), a bit of mainstream culture.
near-future space fiction for
the space race era, about "Major David Bowie's working of
Tom", an astronaut that's lost Science Fiction into rock
in space. The July release was songs is one symptom of it's
perfectly timed to coincide with increasing acceptance...
the Apollo 11 moon landing. and maybe one of the driving
forces.
From one point of view, "Space
Oddity" was Bowie's breakthrough,
but he had to keep scambling after Listening to it now,
this to keep from being a one-hit it's a bit better than
wonder. "period kitsch", largely (Was Marc
because of it's musical Bolan on
From there he went even further quality. guitar on
out-- he was one of the first to this one?)
recognize that our culture was
now so steeped in Science
Fiction that it was part of our
shared background. It was MISMATCHED_PAIR
possible to do very tight, fast
exposition of basic SF premises
and squeeze them into the space
of a pop song:
"President Joe, once had a dream.
The world held his hand, gave him their pledge,
so he told them his scheme for a Saviour machine.
They called it the Prayer.
It's answer was law.
It's logic stopped war ..."
The premise of "Saviour Machine" was
immediately recognizeable to anyone at From Bowie's 1970 release
all familiar with Science Fiction. "Man Who Sold the World".
For example, it was also featured And that title's a play
in a movie released the same year, off of the Heinlein story
"Colossus: the Forbin Project", "Man Who Sold the Moon".
based on a novel from 1966. Then
there's the movie "Alphaville"
(1965) which features a similar
"master computer" idea. Yes: "master computer", the very
phrase I was looking for... I'm
ALPHAVILLE not a fan of tvtropes, but if
you need to name-that-cliche...
Even it's central message
about the dangers of such https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MasterComputer
technology is hardly
suprising-- What's unique That was the image of computers
about it is the attempt at in those days: gigantic, super
getting inside the intelligent centralized control
point-of-view of The systems. They were taking IBM's
Machine... You get the marketing a little too seriously.
sense that Bowie sympathizes
with the Saviour Machine's The first season of "Mannix"
impulse to threaten to in 1967 had a man-against-
destroy humanity ("your computer theme, with the hero
minds are too green!"). at odds with the orders from
his company's computers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mannix
Points on the timeline: Evidently, they backed
off from the master
"Oh! You Pretty Things" off of computer idea because
"Hunky Dory" (1971) they thought it was too
weird for the masses.
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"Starman" off of Compare that to David
"Ziggy Stardust" (1972) Bowie's attitude: a half
dozen lines and he expects
you to get it, and you
"Five Years" off of *do* get it.
"Ziggy Stardust" (1972)
"1984" and "Big Brother" off
of Diamond Dogs (1974)
("just another future song")
Other Bowie songs pop out of that
frame ("go meta") and talk about how It's now impossible to talk
the science fiction framing spoke to about Today's Youth without
the young listeners... sounding hopelessly retro,
but mid-boom the importance
"Life on Mars" off of of the New Generation was
"Hunky Dory" (1971) presumed...
"Moonage Daydream" off of
"Ziggy Stardust" (1971)
Those get into the way the fantastic can
get inside your head and infect your way In "Life on Mars" this is
of thinking, they become a constant lens celebrated, in "Moonage
you use to view reality... Daydream" it's parodied.
Bowie's vision from that era blended
together the bisexual freak subculture He wasn't the only one: among
with aliens and mutants... the freakloids things like
"Stranger in a Strange Land"
was very popular, as was
comic books like "The Silver
Surfer"...
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