# David Bowie: Too Cool / Not Cool for School? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 14, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280 "2005-10-14T20:38:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/1 "2005-10-14T20:38:56Z")
Inspired by [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=339550) thread. When I was in high school, I thought (and still do!) one of the greatest all-time hard rock albums was Mr. David Bowie’s [The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggy_Stardust_and_the_Spiders_from_Mars). Right up there with Led Zeppelin’s [Led Zeppelin IV](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Led_Zeppelin_IV) and Black Sabbath’s [Paranoid](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoid_%28album%29), etc. However, as often as I encountered classmates who appreciated Mr. Bowie, I seemed to run into guys who thought it was funny to disparage “David Blowie.” What were (are?) your experiences regarding Mr. Bowie with your peers back in the day? P.S. FYI [The Venture Bros.](http://imdb.com/title/tt0417373/) has a great reference to same in [Ghosts of the Sargasso](http://www.tv.com/venture-brothers/ghosts-of-the-sargasso/episode/349678/summary.html)! still hate that blowie shiite ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/2 "2005-10-14T20:46:40Z")
> [@Operation Ripper](#): > > same “Same” being Mr. David Bowie, of course, not Spiders as Major Tom appeared on [Space Oddity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Oddity). Just wanted to clarify. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/3 "2005-10-14T20:56:34Z")
I was class of ’84 and very few of my classmates cared about Bowie one way or another. The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars was and is one of my favorite albums. A few people just thought he was too queer. Most would just dismiss him as glam rock or Who? I loved Station to Station also. ---
**Author:** ![deevee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@deevee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deevee)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/4 "2005-10-14T21:11:33Z")
Many things that were cool back in the day are ridiculous now. Ultimate cool transcends time and Bowie is the epitome of that. Every time I see an interview with him it amazes me at how he went from silly (but cool) to sublime (and waaay cool) An inspiration. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/5 "2005-10-14T21:21:20Z")
High school in the late 80s – I loved Bowie (still do), and most of his die hard fans at my school were vaguely clueless drama club girls (that would be my set) and the smaller population of guys who hung out with us and wore eye makeup, in other words, the people that are being made fun of on “Goth Talk” 🙂 . Other girls tended to think he was “hot, for an old guy.” Other guys seemed to think that while somewhat on the fey side, Bowie was firmly ensconced in the history of rock music so though they might not be fans, there was no disparaging. Disinterest turned into downright respect when he hooked up with Iman. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/6 "2005-10-14T22:21:40Z")
huge Bowie fan - loved Fame and Young Americans as a kid; he fell off my radar when I was going through my Aerosmith/Nugent phase. My first love loved Ziggy and I found him again. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/7 "2005-10-14T22:25:40Z")
As a late 90s high school grad, Bowie’s music was basically unknown to me and my friends. However, in the last year I’ve gained much appreciation for him. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/8 "2005-10-14T22:25:59Z")
As a late 90s high school grad, Bowie’s music was basically unknown to me and my friends, because they weren’t playing it on the radio. However, in the last year I’ve gained much appreciation for him. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/9 "2005-10-14T23:19:45Z")
I was a teen in the 80’s. My first exposure to Bowie was the _Let’s Dance_ video. I thought it was great. Then, MTV started doing pieces on how Bowie has changed over the years to become a New Wave artist, but I had no interest in 70’s rock. Other people seemed to like Bowie, but he never really took off with the 80’s crowd like Duran Duran and Madonna did. Then came _China Girl_ and _Modern Love_. Good stuff, and still most of my Bowie experience was through MTV. He just had this air about him that was extremely cool. _Blue Jean_ was another great tune, but the _Tonight_ album kinda sucked. It was essentially a $10 single (when full cassette albums cost $10). Then came _Dancing in the Streets_ with Mick Jagger. Very cool (back then), especially when Bowie glares at Jagger for being a showboat and camera hog in the video. Now, it’s soooo cheesy, but I like it anyway. Then came _Day In - Day Out_ and the _Never Let Me Down_ album. I liked it. Critics hated it. Bowie hated it. Then came _Changesbowie_ (Greatest Hits) and my first appreciation for his 1970’s material. Great stuff. Then came Tin Machine. I lost interest. The next thing I remember is the _Outside_ album from round about 1995. This is an excellent album, IMHO. He lost me again with _Earthling_. Interestingly, I think the worst songs on the album are the ones chosen as singles. Bowie has since failed to really impress me with anything, unfortuantely. I want so much to like his newer stuff, and I try, but just can’t seem to get into it much. Though no matter what, I appreciate the Thin White Duke. He will always be cool to me. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/10 "2005-10-14T23:34:39Z")
Graduated high school in 1978 - a few of the guys said “aw he’s a fag” but they weren’t anyone I wanted to hang out with anyway. All the cool people loved Bowie. I still do! ---
**Author:** ![parthenokinesis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/cc9497/32.png) [@parthenokinesis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/parthenokinesis)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/11 "2005-10-15T00:36:20Z")
Anybody who can make Iggy Pop they’re bitch is permanently ensconced in coolsville. And his character in _Into The Night_ was awesome. And I too find _The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars_ to be one of the best albums ever made. To be played at maximum volume. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/12 "2005-10-15T01:17:35Z")
I never quite got David Bowie. I don’t much like his music and I’m creeped out by his pointy little teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/13 "2005-10-15T02:29:50Z")
**Bowie** is simply near the top of the short list of Unassailable Gods of Rock. You just do not get any cooler than Bowie. I totally rocked out to him during my college days in the late '70s and early '80s. Anybody who could make such a mindbending album as _Low_ by playing Oblique Strategies with **Brian Eno** (“Eno is God”), has totally achieved rock-‘n’-roll immortality. Bowie is the Great Rescuer, giving of himself unto his fellow rockers. He wrote “All the Young Dudes” for **Mott the Hoople** and handed them their one big hit. He produced _Transformer_ for **Lou Reed**. When he did “Fame” with **John Lennon** , I had an eargasm. He rejizzed **Iggy** ’s career by producing _The Idiot_ for him. _Let’s Dance_ brought **Stevie Ray Vaughan** to prominence, a master blues guitarist (even though I didn’t think Stevie’s playing actually fit in with Bowie’s music, Stevie was a great musician in his own right, R.I.P.). But when **Bowie** and **Eno** collaborate, stand back. Genius at play. When they planned _Low_, the story goes, Bowie drew a card saying “Make everything different” and Eno drew a card saying “Make everything the same.” They proceeded without each knowing the other’s card. I think his strongest period was 1975-1980, from _Young Americans_ through _Scary Monsters_ (although _Lodger_ was a bit weaker than the others in this era). This is when he made his most challenging, groundbreaking, progressive, romantic innovations. _Scary Monsters_ was just awe-inspiring and for me is the pinnacle of his creativity. He sort of lost me with _Let’s Dance_ (too cold and alienated) and _Blue Jean_ (too dull), and after that I quit paying attention to his new stuff, although his demented acting in _Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me_ caught my attention. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/14 "2005-10-15T02:30:22Z")
> [@csharpmajor](#): > > pointy little teeth. Hehe 😃 ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/15 "2005-10-15T02:36:20Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > … although his demented acting in _Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me_ caught my attention. Ha! That’s a perfect description. It also reminds me of when we rented _The Man Who Fell to Earth_ – a room full of fifteen year olds trying to pretend that we understood the artistic vision and everyone secretly wishing we could just turn it off and watch Friday Night Videos instead. ---
**Author:** ![Caissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Caissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caissa)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/16 "2005-10-15T03:02:01Z")
> [@](#): > > What were (are?) your experiences regarding Mr. Bowie with your peers back in the day? If they knew who **Mick Ronson** was, I knew they were cool. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/17 "2005-10-15T04:53:27Z")
Anyone like Bowie covers? Go to [this page](http://wretchawry.com/happy/rarities/index.html) and scroll down not quite halfway. There’s an _AMAZING_ live cover of “Space Oddity” there. Also “Ashes to Ashes.” I realize, disclaimer, that nothing will touch the originals, but if you’re going to have covers, those are two pretty darn good ones. The Space Oddity is an audience recording, so be kind to the sound quality. ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/18 "2005-10-15T05:14:21Z")
I remember going to see [Christiane F. - Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo](http://imdb.com/title/tt0082176/) in Huntsville, AL at the University Six (?) shortly after its release in the early 80’s. If I remember it correctly, they sort of alternated it with midnight showings of Rocky Horror for a while, so we showed up one night in Picture Show makeup and noone batted an eye. 😉 Ahhh, those were the days. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/19 "2005-10-15T09:55:29Z")
Also: Rock-‘n’-roll Bowie did classical music (_Peter and the Wolf_ by Serge Prokofieff). How cool can you get? Everybody remembers _The Man Who Fell to Earth_. Bowie’s ephebic, sexless nude body was a standout in a deeply enigmatic film. The sex scene in which he and his wife exude cum from every pore in their bodies was a weird triumph of visionary filmmaking. Do _not_ watch this movie if you are susceptible to contact lens removal paranoia. My personal favourite Bowie movie is _Just a Gigolo_ with the legendary **Marlene Dietrich** (_just how cool can you get?! Marlene Dietrich!_). He plays a disoriented young veteran in Weimar Germany. He is stalked by a sinister character with a gay undertone who utters a groaner of a double entendre (“We will have you in the end.”) The surprise ending is absolutely chilling… chilling to the bone. When you see it, you will go, “Of course! I should have seen that coming!” Bowie’s acting in this film rules. Bowie’s role in _The Hunger_ is notable only for his extreme old-man makeup job. The movie was stolen by the lesbian scene with Susan Sarandon and vampire Catherine Deneuve, with the soundtrack an achingly beautiful duet from _Lakmé_ by Léo Delibes. There’s that classical music again. In _Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me_ all Bowie did was look haggard and scream at the camera. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280/20 "2005-10-15T11:38:34Z")
The first concert I ever went to was one of Bowie’s stops on _The Glass Spider Tour_. It was a massively overproduced, high budget, heavily co-ordinated stage production, especially the first half where Bowie danced around the stage in a red leotard. The second half he came out in different clothes and carried a guitar (thus limiting his dancing). It was much better than way. The encore had him standing on top od the stage with a pair of extending silver wings on his back (or near his back). It was unbelievably bombastic, but it was the 80’s. The next thing I was aware of from Bowie was the much more humble and down-to-earth _Tin Machine_. But that didn’t produce anything popular enough for me to be aware of it. I referred to TM as Bowie’s apology for the masturbation of the GST. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/david-bowie-too-cool-not-cool-for-school/326280.md?page=2)