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THE FINAL BOW by Mr Biffo

11/1/2016

10 Comments

 
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​I try not to join the all-in national mourning that occurs when a celebrity dies.

Clearly, it's a shock when we lose those icons - the Princess Dianas or Michael Jacksons, who are part of the fabric of the world.

​But, sad as it was for his family and friends - even his fans - I felt little over the recent death of Motorhead's Lemmy. Cynical it might've been, but I wondered how many of those lamenting his passing were really upset. I was more affected by the loss of DJ Ed Stewart, who died at the weekend. Though that's only because I once went to watch a taping of the kids show Crackerjack, which he presented. 

Losing Bowie, however... that's a big one. It's hard to think of many remaining musical icons of his stature. Bowie going is Lennon big, and all the sadder given the creative success of his new album.

My plan today had been to listen to Blackstar (not "Backstair" thanks, autocorrect) while I worked. I was genuinely excited about that. Instead, I woke up to the news - like the rest of us - that Bowie was dead, simultaneously reading the headline on BBC news, as I received a text from my daughter telling me the same.

​Frankly, I'm writing about it, because I'm trying to process it. 

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BOWIE GAME
​David Bowie was only involved in one video game - the less-than-stellar Omikron: The Nomad Soul, a poorly-received sci-fi game for the PC and Dreamcast, released in 1999.

​He had input into the story and characters, as well as contributing music, and appearing as a couple of characters. Several of the songs on his underrated album Hours were written specifically for Omikron.

It was a shame that his one foray into video games was wasted on such a broken mess; a botched attempt at cramming several different styles of play under its bonnet, without any sort of cohering structure. It was an ambitious, ahead-of-its-time, open-world game in search of identity. Literally; its body-swapping central conceit may have been influenced by Bowie's famously chameleonic tendencies.

It was inevitable, though, that he'd have had some involvement in video games; he was a pioneer in so many areas. Lest we forget that 
Bowie also created Bowienet - the "the first artist-created internet service provider". 


BULLY FOR YOU, CHILLY FOR ME
Obviously, Bowie won't be remembered for his one dalliance with creating video games. His lasting legacy will be the influence he had on music, art, fashion, gender... but the thing I really take away from his life is how he handled fame in his later years.

​The few public appearances he made in the last decade or so simply cemented him in my mind as a gentleman - courteous, humble, but self-aware. A decent guy, who had lived an extraordinary life. Somebody who no longer needed to be famous, whose last couple of albums indicated an artistic spirit, rather than creating as a means to a more narcissistic end, like so many musicians.

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The closest I ever got to meeting Bowie was 20th April 1992 - the day of the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert for AIDS Awareness. I've mentioned this before on here, I know, but it remains one of the more special moments of my life.

I was working on the Wembley Stadium scoreboard that day, and - hours before the concert was due to start - I went out into the stands to eat my lunch. Usually on event days, the stadium was a hive of activity.

That day, it was eerily quiet... until Queen and Bowie stepped out on stage, and ran through a complete performance of Under Pressure by way of a soundcheck.

I later read in a Bowie biography that he'd asked for the stadium to be cleared for that performance. Nobody had noticed me sat at the very back, eating my sandwiches.


DRAGGED OUT
​This might sound strange, but I thought a lot about Bowie when I dragged Mr Biffo out of retirement at the end of 2014.

Clearly, I've never been Bowie famous (indeed, I'm barely famous at all, thank god). Unfortunately, the brief brushes I'd had with public awareness coincided with some of the most terrible times in my life, and being under even a tiny, albeit fiercely concentrated, spotlight didn't help me. For a while it felt like I was trapped in a feedback loop of shittiness, and would have understood if my public obituary had been "Mr Biffo: twat". 

Reflecting on how Bowie could hold onto his self, his privacy, and his manners, while being one of the most famous people in the world, was eye-opening. It seemed as if he had gotten his priorities right. It felt like he was putting family, and living, first. 

Plus, in the last three decades you'd be hard-pressed to find a story about Bowie acting unpleasantly towards anyone. I've found that every bit as inspiring as his artistic legacy.


In some ways, it's actually irritating that I feel so upset about Bowie dying. I feel like I've stumbled aboard the national grief bandwagon that I'm usually happy to watch drive past. I remember when 9/11 happened, and how annoyed I was when so many people tried to make out they were personally affected by it; "Oh, my uncle's friend's boss's sister once went to New York..."

I don't want to be one of those people who tried to manufacture some personal grief just to join in. Yet I've seen some on Twitter attack those who have expressed their sorrow, as if we can stop ourselves from feeling the loss of someone who were important to us, even if we never knew them personally. Of course those who knew him best are those who will feel his death most acutely. Of course it's not as heartbreaking as losing your father, or husband. 

But I can't help it. For me, like so many other of David Bowie's fans, it's a terrible day.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
A FEW WORDS ABOUT SATORU IWATA
​
GAMES OF MY YEARS: 16-BIT - PART ONE by Mr Biffo
10 Comments
colincidence link
11/1/2016 01:07:40 pm

Nice to see some rep for the maligned Hours! That's among the albums I'll put on today.

I bought Omikron as a Bowie completionist... and couldn't endure much of it.

I'm a musician, and David Bowie is my paragon in the categories of 'songwriter' and 'performer'. He has contributed so damn much to popular culture, and I don't think any solo artist who writes their own stuff has ever or will ever match his impact on the music scene.

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Mr Smith
11/1/2016 01:31:21 pm

Awwww... :(

I actually really, really liked Omikron. A lot. Here's something I posted elsewhere, earlier:
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Seems like now is the time to replay through Omikron: Nomad Soul. I actually finished it the year before last, the PC version, thanks to GOG having it on a sale. It's unique. A real mind-job in terms of plot and mechanics. It's the kind of creative work which is only possible as a videogame, and is probably David Cage's best work to date (also: his first). The body-swapping mechanic isn't fully utilised, there's annoying (and insane) difficulty spikes, almost game killing bugs, and the blend of open-world car driving, one-on-one fighter, first-person shooter, and graphic adventure mash together in a barely coherent mess, but for a unique experience it's quite special. Part cyberpunk, part Panzer Dragoon-esque fantasy, part GTA, part Snatcher, it's like someone threw every ingredient in the pot while seriously baked. They don't make games like this today. Oh, and it has David Bowie both as a central NPC, an in-game celebrity musician, and the official musician/vocalist for several in-game tracks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7bA57xNw20

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Harry Steele
11/1/2016 01:36:17 pm

I think it's okay to be upset if your're upset, you know? I have been tearful all day which has caught me by surprise. Even though I've been a fan of his for as long as I can remember. I guess we'd all imagined he'd always be with us. He was truly one of the greats.

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Omni
11/1/2016 03:25:11 pm

Hey, Nomad Soul was a brilliant game! Way ahead of its time. It stumbled in areas where it tried to incorporate extra gaming genres, but overall it was a sublime creation.

I remember reading an article (by David Cage I think) about the creation of Nomad Soul, where he said they came up with this cheeky idea to ask David Bowie to be in it. They all thought there was no way he'd ever agree to it, but they got in contact with his agent and tried. His immediate response was, "yep I'll do it." That's how cool David Bowie was.

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Merson Croak
11/1/2016 03:48:05 pm

I knew I could rely on you to bring the Nomad Soul action to the Bowie party. This is pleasing.

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colincidence link
11/1/2016 04:06:20 pm

btw David's main contribution to the world of video games is the 600 characters who are obviously based on him.

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RetroResolution link
11/1/2016 04:13:04 pm

Today I find myself thinking of entropy and the human condition.

I awoke this morning from a night battling an excruciating migraine to the devastating news that David Bowie is no longer in the world.

I became a fan indirectly through someone very special to me in my late teenage years. When you're a long-term fan you tend to amass memories of myriad times and places, good and bad alike, interconnected through a common thread. Bowie's music reminds me of better times; helped me through worse times; I'm not sure that right now his music can bring comfort, but it will again in the future.

RIP, DB

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James of the North
11/1/2016 05:33:41 pm

A sad loss, though his place in British pop culture will last and last.

Omikron is one of my favourite games of all time, and gave me the distinction of writing the final reader review on the old Digitiser.

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alan
12/1/2016 12:01:58 am

It was in fairness surprising news given the release of the album last week as there didnt really seem to be any hint (to the wider public at least) that while age had caught up with him,there was anything wrong,it is sad but i cant help but feel that he'd all but retired anyway perhaps lessening the impact of his death today than had he been a touring artist.

I saw him in '83 at Milton Keynes and while it was most certainly an '80's show and all the big shoulder pads that era brought he was excellent,i was also lucky enough to see him at Live Aid a couple of years later so i count myself lucky to have seen him at perhaps just past his peak,i shudder to think what he was like in a smaller venue 10 years previously.

I too have tried to play Omnikron and thought it was fair woeful frankly but thats just me.

In finishing i've only ever been totally silenced and reduced to tears by a celeb's passing and that was the shooting of Lennon,i was what 14 at the time and i genuinely didnt know what to,no social media back in those days and to see my parents also reduced to near speechlessness was an odd thing to see,the only thing i could think to do was to head off to Liverpool town centre with my sister the sunday after it happened and share with many thousands of other people stories of a man i never knew,i can't see i'd ever do that again.

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Ugly Cygnet
12/1/2016 12:31:24 pm

Thanks for this. He wasn't just a celebrity to me, he was a poet. Maybe a bad one Im no expert, but his lyrics spoke to me and that's on top of the musical amazingness. I've been a fan for most of my life and I flight that feeling of being silly for being so sad all day yesterday.

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