well, this is all rather unexpected. it is around about now, or a couple of weeks (if not just one) that i reasonably expected to be speaking of how the David Bowie Estate, or Warner, look you see, now had a substantial amount of my net worth in their bank account. it is the big one, as it were. yes, the 50th anniversary, or if you like "birthday", of The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.
did Bowie do better records? all in the ears of the listener, but yes. what about bigger selling records? very much so. and yet it was, is and always shall be Ziggy which slammed Bowie into the realm of the iconic, the extraordinary, the superstar who shall be heard so long as we all have ears. a reasonable assumption would be that the 50th anniversary of this album, even allowing for this disastrous and frankly "f*** you, fans" nature of releases by the Estate for the last three or four years, would herald a new way and a great deal of commemorative celebration.
yet no. something weird is going on. after a sustained two (or three) year bombardment of Space Oddity, then release after release for The Man Who Sold The World, anniversaries and Bowie appear to have been ceased. for some reason they jettisoned any celebration of Hunky Dory turning 50 so as to punt the quite considerably worse Toy official release. and now, for Ziggy, then have done, from what i can see on the official site, a vinyl release, a vinyl picture disc, a jigsaw puzzle and a mug.
it is quite rare that i would ever have much business to conduct with a turf accountant (the bookies), but above is, well, there we are. my reason for entering such a premises was strange, and not really related to the above. during a random encounter, someone abruptly ceased a sentence to rather tell me that my fortune waited with a horse that had an "a", either as an initial or of name. intrigued enough to test this, i went into a turf accountant (bookies) and gazed at the horses running. which was when i noticed a horse called Ziggy running, and so got distracted.
as it happens, the horse Ziggy was what they call a "non-runner", which i am reliably informed means that the horse did not start, or subsequently run, the race. so, i got the (massive) £1 wager i placed on it back, leaving me having gained nor lost not a thing. except the time to place the bet and then to retrieve the money.
rather an apt metaphor for the lack of celebrations of Ziggy Stardust proper, then. here, Bowie Estate, here Warner, have some money. oh, you don't wish for it. fine. let me muddle on with the copies of the album i already have then.
certainly i understand that it is so vinyl is having an unexpected (yet very welcome) revival, and so any release now comes on that much loved format. but, really? nothing for those of us presently unable (such as i, in my time of exile) to play records? a bombardment of CDs for Space Oddity and Man Who Sold The World, CD and tape for Toy, but for considerably better, easily more important albums, not a thing, bar a jigsaw or mug?
strange. as mentioned, the Bowie Estate has excelled in limiting availability of things of interest, yet flooded the market with things that are not quite so interesting. one had hoped, considering how they handled (in a very fan friendly way) Fleetwood Mac and Prince, Warner would have worked wonders with the Bowie catalogue, but not so far.
let me keep my money, then, and just enjoy the music as it was originally released. also, not having to worry about jiggling the shelves to house more CDs is a weight lifted, i suppose.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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