Let the Bowie Remixes Begin
It will be interesting to see how history interprets Bowie’s work. In the short term, there are likely to be a flood of tributes. After Cole Porter died in 1964 (incidentally the same year of Bowie’s very early material), there were probably many tributes. When Sinatra died, the elder jazz community lamented the loss of a hero. But actual memories are not something that nicely translates into digital re-stitchings of it from recordings. Even if we could upload Bowie’s brain, neither his creativity could be replicated, nor the experiences of millions of fans. This is why I don’t think music history can be properly represented through technology alone. (I just wonder if remix for the sake of itself necessarily makes for an interesting sonic precis.)
Cole Porter came of age in the 19-teens, amid cubism and dada, and wound up writing songs that in retrospect are comparatively very conservative and square. Paul McCartney has intimated that Cole Porter was an influence, but there was no rebellion in his music, certainly not in accordance with what the 60s counterculture was trying to do. Perhaps this is where technology can close those gaps, filling in information that might be omitted simply because of the lack of access. Homage is an abstraction that is perhaps more holistic and humanistic, whereas remix has a tendency to scoop up everything, regardless if it had anything to do with the artist’s life. It is simply a fact that generational amnesia has a big impact on posthumous derivative work.
So how will a 15-year old access and remix the life and work of David Bowie, if at all? There weren’t many young people in 1964 that were into Edith Piaf, but look how Bowie pulled that into the mix!
It’s also interesting to note how language really takes a beating over time, with song titles like “Let’s Do It”, “Gay Divorce”, “You’re the Top”, “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”; “Dubarry Was a Lady”, which are not inconsistent for Cole Porter, but are completely stripped of original meaning.
1/2024: The remixes perhaps went on for a while but I don't see any lasting influence in the same way that Bowie's influences were readily apparent to his fans, especially in the 2014 Bowie retrospective. AI now does all the remixing and people just take "snapshots" of it, perhaps not even knowing much about Bowie.
