David Bowie reveals his “greatest mistake”
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David Bowie on the two artists who have no competition
David Bowie was in a league of his own, and although plenty of artists were trying to take his position, he never felt like he needed to compete with his peers. Instead, Bowie focussed solely on his own artistry and didn’t sweat about others.
Bowie’s constant ingenuity had placed him in this fortunate position, and he knew only a couple of artists on the planet could relate to his circumstances. However, it wasn’t always that way for the singer. It took years to establish himself as a masterful talent before he began to get the recognition he deserved after surpassing those who emerged at a similar time.
There was no direct competition for Bowie, even though a small number of artists could sell similar tickets and records, but that was where the comparison ended. For Bowie, only The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan were also in an unparalleled position with nobody breathing down their neck, ready to steal their place.
Speaking on the Dutch music programme, Countdown in 1990, Bowie explained: “I feel that frankly over the last 20 years or so I’m pretty much my own man. I suppose is very cheeky of me to put myself in the same light but if I look at Bob Dylan, he doesn’t have competition, he is just Bob Dylan. Whether you like him or don’t like him, whether he does good stuff or bad stuff, he is still Bob Dylan.”
While musically, there wasn’t much that aligned Bowie, Dylan and The Stones in 1990, they had all spent decades proving themselves as greats, placing them at the top of the tree. Their body of work which they had built up, allowed the trio luxuries which weren’t accessible to others because of the cache attached to their name.
Bowie elaborated: “You don’t compare him with anybody, it’s not a competitive kind of thing. It’s the same with The Stones, I know they create mock competitions for them with other bands. I’ve noticed in America it’s been happening. But there is really no way that you can compare The Stones with anybody, and I would hope, I think I’m probably in the same kind of position. I’m David Bowie, I’m either good, a pile of shit, I’m accessible or not accessible, obscure, or very commercial. I changed all the time. But I’m still me.”
In the same interview, after maintaining, “I don’t feel that I’m in a competition”, Bowie explained why he feels it’s extremely different for new artists because they need to decide how they want to market themselves to audiences.
His one word of warning to new musicians was to focus on the music, and the rest will fall into place. Bowie continued: “When you want to make music or use the music to obtain fame, if you wanna use it to become famous, then you will just be shallow, and it will be superfluous. But if you’re doing it because you wanna do the music and fame comes out of it, that’s a whole different thing.”
Bowie then used the boy band New Kids On The Block as an example of a band who focussed on style over substance and insinuated they used music as a vehicle to become famous, which was the antithesis of everything he stood for.
Watch the full interview of Bowie on Countdown in 1990 below.
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