star wars ain't original u tried***

DAVID BOWIE IS THE FUCKING SHIT

there aren’t many people in the world that can hold a legacy as well as david bowie can and is currently doing- even a year after his death.  he isn’t just considered one of the greats: he is the great.  the shit, the big kahuna, and rock god all easily are titles that can be placed before his name or his pseudonym of ziggy stardust. his music began in a time where it was starting to become a little more open to who you are (except if you were black or gay because america); because of this he was able to fully divulge himself into a new identity and open up about his life through his music.  as previously mentioned, it was difficult in the 60s and 70s to be openly gay or have any part in the lgbtq community, david bowie confronted that problem full force and turned the music industry into an outlet not only for suffering lgbtq people, but for anyone having difficulty breaking out of their shell.  

society in the 1970’s was a weird thing.  born just after the peak of hippie culture, people were still going mad over wars, nuclear weapons, and equal rights (again, except if you were gay or black because america).  everyone’s senses were heightened to the point where political, economical, and social advocacy were the main focal point of any rally or even daily conversation.  well, to no one’s surprise, pop culture and the media eventually figured that out.  artists, producers, and musicians started to hop on the hippie bandwagon and sooner rather than later, everyone was jumping through new ideas, technological advances, and the belief that because you live in america you can do whatever you want...fuck yeah.  the 70s gave way to, in my opinion, some of the best films and music produced pre-turn of the century. the variety of media outlets was phenomenal where timeless movies such as rocky, star wars, the godfather, and monty python emerged and allowed that generation to laugh, cry, and believe they could do whatever they wanted.

music arose artists such as fleetwood mac, pink floyd, led zeppelin and other greats which could easily be considered the voice of the 70s.  all in all, it was a time where people began to break out of their shell, do what they pleased, and fight for their rights.

david bowie was right in the midst of this new found field of pop culture, and while he obviously left his mark on the world in a grand way, he didn’t do it the same way other greats (as mentioned above) did it.  he could be considered one of the greatest movers and shakers of social liberty for generations to come.  bowie was always for the underdogs and his music showed it.  as a musician of the late 20th century, he was easily one of the greatest cultural influences of our time in many different ways. he took a cultural problem of the time and turned it into a pop cultural phenomenon.

1. the rise of sexuality

obviously david bowie came into a generation who seemed they could take on the social task of gender roles and such.  what with movies like rocky horror picture show being hits it’s obvious it wasn’t so much a crime anymore to be openly in the lgbtq community. however, it still wasn’t normal. It was still a tad disturbing for some people to see bowie openly talking about his homosexuality later in his career after a separation with his wife, flirting with his guitarist, and obviously going by pseudonym, ziggy stardust, as seemingly a transvestite.  bowie not only paved the way for equality and causing a raging gender bender but also showing the world how you can create music as an outing for any internal ragers the world was having.

2. genre bender
does anyone actually know what genre this man was put in?  i don’t and i dont think anyone could find a suitable place to fit him in either.  he was hard rock (“rebel, rebel”, “suffragette city”), soulful (“young americans”), funky (“fame”), and whatever category you can put “space oddity” into. he started as more of an acoustic artist (i would actually compare him to the likes of phil collins and james taylor) and then slowly moved into a pop and rock field; this semi-dramatic change allowed him to appeal to a larger audience with his dynamic music sound.

3. remember the sabbath day and keep it holy
one of the most iconic things bowie ever did was take a siesta in berlin in 1976. he described his choice of berlin as a place where no one cared about some american rock artist as they were still struggling with the divide of their city by the berlin wall. he found solace in his anonymity and was able to collaborate with other famous artist, iggy pop, and bust out what was known as the "berlin trilogy." low and heroes came out in 1977 while lodger debuted in 1979. this onset of albums came through his detox from cocaine addiction and the stress that 1970s los angeles was placing on him. this paved a new path in the pop culture world that not only was taking a break a good thing, but also started the realization that drugs might not be the best thing for you (especially cocaine which was insanely popular in the 70s, especially in los angeles).

4. the rise of music videos

even though mtv first unleashed its mighty claws with “video killed the radio star” let's be honest, the buggles didn’t pave the music video chain- it was bowie.  his 1969 “space oddity” video was one of the most iconic videos of the time and turned the world and pop culture into a frenzy for music videos.  

5. fashion icon

in my interview last week, one of my questions was "what was the first thing that comes to mind with david bowie?" and my interviewee, mclovin (i still can't stop laughing), immediately said his sense of fashion and how he pioneered the way for the likes of people like lady gaga and katy perry.  fashion was definitely at the forefront of bowie’s cultural boom and gave him definition that left many other artists attempting to create their own signature look as well.  

6. also, HE LITERALLY ANNOUNCED HIS OWN DEATH

not two weeks before bowie tragically passed, he released an album “blackstar” on his 69th birthday.  the first song, “lazarus”, on the album has a music video that shows bowie in a hospital with bandages and buttons for eyes.  if that isn’t eerie enough, the main words of the song are “look up here, im in heaven.”

i hope you liked my cute little list of how david bowie is fucking awesome and culturally paved the way for society in freedom of ideas, fashion, genre, and sexuality and also crushed gender norms under his mighty pink boot.  however, bowie also tops another list...and that is one of the best artists to get high too.  lucky enough, we are now in the 70s, and as you know already...the 70s is for the weeds (and cocaine but 10/10 don't recommend cocaine just ask glenn frey).

i’m just going to start with the most basic song you can listen to while high (and actually might be a toker’s staple): “space oddity.”  one of his most famous songs who no one actually knows why he wrote it is literally perfect for smoking.  just put it on repeat, kinda freaky and honestly might be a stoner's nightmare but who cares it's trippy.

another one that would be good is “moonage daydream” (don’t ask about the space theme just remember star wars came out at this time too and roll with it).  this one is just honestly a good song but it’s the smooth guitars that will keep you rolling.  bowie knew what he was doing with this one and honestly i think he was on something while writing it too so there ya go.

the final song that I think is perfect for smoking too is “life on mars” (again, don’t question the space thing).  it is the perfect mix of tweaky and scary as post- space race left the country shattered over whether or not life on other planets exist.  this will leave the listener raveled in the reality that both options of whether or not there is life on other planets exist are equally terrifying...happy listening.

***i really also love star wars more than life so like keep doing you with your stardust thing cause i totally saw rogue one in theaters like 12 times so just go with it***

sounds like a drug honestly

Abraxas- Santana

“we stood before it and began to freeze inside from the exertion.  we questioned the painting, berated it, made love to it, prayed to it: we called it mother, called it whore and slut, called it our beloved, called it abraxas.”**

“hey, how is it going?” might be the most famous lyric 70’s rock band, santana, has ever produced.  of course, it wasn’t exactly as “normal-spongebob” as “hey, how is it going?” it was actually just “oye como va” which is so much smoother and sexier than the previously stated phrase.  this was santana’s legacy: the sexiest sounding rock band of the 70’s.  

while santana was jamming with bongo drums and the start of synthesizers in the hippy age, the birth of what is now known as classic rock and heavy metal was only just beginning.  it was a strange time where everyone was running around trying to figure out what the hell the genres actually were as so many bands were recording so many different sounds and pieces but they all had something in common.  rock music grew out of the oldies kind of rhythm and blues that was popular just before and it was subsequently turned into a rampant on war and drugs which was also the forefront of the world at the time. the late 1950’s into the 1960’s were incredibly focused on making the world a more peaceful place again and hippies ran amok.  the grateful dead, fleetwood mac, the eagles, and santana were the leaders in this movement regarding music.  in the last post i talked about how black sabbath changed the way rock viewed the world from the awesomeness of “flower power” into the realistic side of drugs and war- a dark and macabre scene that few would want to involve themselves in.  they gave way to a new statement of rock that could be dubbed as the start of heavy metal.  this of course just continued to break away in the 80’s into bands like guns n roses, metallica, van halen, etc. classic rock has a very obscure ending to it.  some people consider that this kind of music continues into the 90’s with grunge bands like nirvana while others like to cut the genre and classic rock stations off when boy bands started to rise at the end of the 80’s.

santana was lucky enough to be in the gap of rock where other cultures and music were welcomed in the rock and music scene.  rock was the forefront of music in the time of santana’s reign and, while they weren’t the only racially diverse group or artist in the genre, they were one of the few that did have their songs in another language or a varying tone of music. carlos santana (a mexican-american guitarist) formed the band in 1966 originally as a blues band.  that all changed when they performed at woodstock in 1969. they turned from a blues band into a trippy rock band- to match their fans and the surrounding society of the time. this allowed their music to become incredibly popular due to their hippy vibe.  it also helped that their style of music was popular not only in the US but mexico as well.  this really got the hippies rolling as to them it promoted peace among nations.

santana’s music could easily be as famous as it is due to the trippy vibes and crazy repertoire of instruments used.  they combine classic latin music with oldies american blues and then with the traditional 70s smoothness of music to create a sound that could be their own genre if they really wanted it.  much like other bands at the time (e.g. pink floyd), santana, combined multiple instruments that, honestly, probably shouldn’t sound good together but hell they make it work and santana made it work incredibly well.  

their best album that showcases this mess of music is their 1970 album “abraxas.”  the title, abraxas, came from a line in hermann hesse’s book, demian, which is quoted at the top.  the album cover, however, is actually a painting by mati klarwein in 1961 titled annunciation. the word abraxas is a gnostic word showcasing magic and wonder in the world revolving around the seven classic planets.  while the album might be named after classics,  this album alone holds two of the band’s most classic songs.  “oye como va” and “black magic woman” gave the band their reputation and their set sound that would make them famous.  “black magic woman” was a cover of a previous fleetwood mac song, however, topped the charts at number four on the billboard hot 100 and then as number one on the billboard top 200. in “black magic woman” they mix together a saxophone with a guitar and other synthesizers that would sound crazy in any other sense but their mix in of salsa made the music have a merengue dance vibe clash with stoner rock and thus produced this wonderful chart-topper.  “black magic woman” and “oye como va” aren’t the only two songs that have a strong sense of culture in them, “el nicoya” is a song that is full drums and light singing that can be easily pictured as being played on the side of the road in their home country of mexico.  “incident at neshabur” is another interesting song on this album and also has strong hispanic roots, however, they really amp up the mixture of instruments and sounds as it goes from something you’d hear at a fancy restaurant playing on the piano to a crazy bridge that shoves the melodies of all the other songs on the album together.   

if  you couldn’t tell already by the fact that Santana played at Woodstock, they had a huge following of the stoner crowd behind them.  as mentioned, their combinations of instruments and salsa vibes create a great dancing sound that would make your head roll. santana was essentially hailed as some of the leaders of the hippy movement because of their music being so easily paired with toking out.  this type of music may not have lasted with other bands that got their footing in this age due to the rise of hard rock and metal, but santana continued producing the same style of music through each album and continues to do so today.  their music speaks to people in such a way that keeps today’s generation still clinging to their album abraxas whenever emotions run high or they just simply are high. In the words of carlos santana “the most valuable possession you can own is an open heart, the most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”

**if that ain’t some hippy shit I don’t know what is