The Daily Swarm

Flavorwire:

Marc Spitz, author of the new biography Bowie, knows this first-hand. Scattered throughout his absorbing, thorough and exuberant book are instances from his own life as a Bowie fanatic: for example, the moment when a college-aged Spitz bragged to his extended family that he’d kissed a man. In writing the book, he wanted his admiration of Bowie to be clear. “I think all these British [biographers] really pretend they’re not a fan, but they would shit their pants if they got to have a beer with him,” he says. “I just wanted to throw it out there that I would shit my pants if I got to have a beer with him.

Of course, there are hundreds of thousands of people who feel the same way. And perhaps that helps to explain why Bowie has had such a massive influence on pop culture. After the jump, we talk with Spitz about the erstwhile Ziggy Stardust’s lasting impact within the musical realm and beyond.

Flavorpill: These days, every other band cites David Bowie as an inspiration. When do you think he started to become a major influence on pop music?

Marc Spitz: It was as early as the late ’70s, when the first wave of kids who were really influenced by Bowie started their own bands — Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Echo and the Bunnymen. They saw him play “Starman” on Top of the Pops and decided that’s what they wanted to do, too. It was their equivalent of The Beatles on Ed Sullivan. There were also the bands that were influenced by Bowie’s Eno records, the whole synth-pop wave: Human League, Soft Cell.

When you say, “The Killers were influenced by Bowie, or Of Montreal was influenced by Bowie” — they’re basically doing a Ziggy Stardust pastiche. Three decades on, these are the most recent examples of a 30-year-long impact the guy made on rock ‘n roll and culture. I think he’s still as influential as he ever was. He’s just not releasing new music.