david bowie sings Pugnosed little fat man

Like everybody, I was a big fan of David Bowie and his music, style and incredible class. How many other rock gods could have pulled off the Christmas classic “Little Drummer Boy” duet medley with Bing Crosby? Answer? None. Maybe Robert Plant. OK, Freddy Mercury too.   

But I was not a full-on David Bowie fan. That required a complete lifestyle change akin to - or even of a higher devotion - than “Star Wars” fans but in a more fashion-forward, hipper way. 

The level of devotion David Bowie instilled in his fanatical fans - to be redundant and repeat myself all over again - awe-inspired no less a super star than Mick Jagger. Jagger actually tried to emulate Bowie all the way to his androgyne. A move that I thought was regrettable from a marketing standpoint given the Rolling Stones rock and roll fan base was fairly hetero-centric if not downright homophobic. (Jagger was about as bisexual as Bill Cosby) 

Oh, and “Angie” was about Bowie’s wife, not Bowie. Keith Richards wrote it and named it. 

But the amount of talent David Bowie had was simply astonishing. Sing, dance, act, write, play piano, record, perform, fashion. If you can think of a talent, Bowie had it in spades. And also funny. As you can see from his cameo on “Extras” Bowie was also hilarious. 

And from everything I read, David Bowie was steadfastly kind and polite to everyone.  A true English gentleman.

Baseball’s true stars are called Five Tool Players. Run, hit for power, hit for average, catch, throw. Bowie was a Ten Tool Player. 

But as legendary a rock star as Bowie was, as far as anyone can tell, he would not dream of firing someone over a brown M&M or the wrong package of cigarettes. Just the opposite. One report I read somewhere said he always made his bed. Neatly. Even when he was checking out of a hotel. 

Bowie was so many things to so many people. But in the end he was always the most important thing: Bowie. 

But the thing about David Bowie for me, and the legacy he left music, was his incredible level of style and class. Bowie was, in real life, what those 40’s movie stars pretended to be. 

Rest in peace, Major Tom. We fear they’re not making your like again.