Monday, August 22, 2011

Going Commercial with David Bowie

I just finished reading Paul Trynka's Starman: David Bowie - The Definitive Biography and now my mind is chock-full of all things Bowie. Realizing that his career has almost spanned my entire lifetime, it's fitting that he subsists in my unconscious.

BOWIE - innovator, actor, emulator, iconoclast, and commercial entity. For while he is probably one of the most artistic of pop stars, his beautiful face and voice have accumulated millions in cash transactions. Straddling the artistic/commercial line for 40 years now. Hail!

Diamond Dogs ad - At once earnest and absurd, like the 70s.




Young Americans ad - Bowie swings. Fans will just have to understand.




Lodger ad - Is that a jumpsuit? Only he can pull that off.




Pepsi ad with Tina Turner - If you missed 80s pop culture, this pretty much sums it up.




"Changes Bowie" ad - Look at all the Bowies. There were more to come.




Bowie sells XM Radio but even he couldn't save it.




Through the Bowie ages for Vittel - One of the pleasant aspects of the man is his ability to poke fun at himself. He's such a charmer, in an other-worldly, reptilian way.




Bonus! "Boys Keep Swinging" blows 1979 minds sky high.

1 comment:

John said...

David Bowie is always so high-waisted. Every look is skewed with such a high waist on the pants of pantsuits! It's part of what makes him look like an alien.