On Bowie

“I’ve met all the women, and I’ll tell you one thing, I’m more woman than any of ’em. I’m a real woman, because I have love, dependability, I’m good, kind, gentle, and I’ve the power to give real love. Why else would you think that such a strong man as David Bowie would be close to me? He’s a real man, and I’m a real woman. Just like Catherine Dene

It was like that scene in “Five Years”—getting the news, wandering in search of some kind of human connection and finding

Bowie’s audience was his instrument. Ziggy really couldn’t play guitar; what Ziggy played was the kids.

He hit Number 1 in the U.S. with the disco John Lennon collabo “Fame,” which got instantly plundered by James Brown for “Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved)”—making Bowie the rare rock star who could claim James Brown ripped him off.

The ideal collision of vulgarity and high-mindedness.”

Bowie’s space songs were always about isolation and his desire to overcome it.

At this point, everybody listens to pop the way Bowie always listened, which is: this is cool, how can I steal it?

Both sang their fears of losing their youth when they were still basically kids; both aged mysteriously well. Neither ever did anything remotely sane.

“You can hold back from the suffering of the world. You have free permission to do so, and it is in accordance with your nature. But perhaps this very holding back is the one suffering you could have avoided.”