“Nobody is supporting them”: The reason why talented bands break up, according to David Bowie
There was always an element of disillusionment in the aura of David Bowie. Not only did his general posture emanate the entire idea, but the characters and worlds he created existed out of this unyielding urge to deliver something mystical and never before seen or experienced. And on top of all of that—the ‘Starman’ got to witness the downfall of a business hell-bent on monetising an art form no matter what it meant for its future.
Obviously, Bowie was never the typical commercial musician. While he occasionally dabbled in more mainstream styles, it was often to prove that he could succeed within the business’ hamster wheel if he chose to. However, his prioritisation of artistic expression over commercial trends proved that creativity and individuality will ultimately always emerge on top.
That said, even Bowie’s self-perception wasn’t always perfect, and despite his efforts to switch up a stale industry, he viewed himself as something of a fraud from time to time. On the subject of innovation within rock and roll, for instance, he once deemed himself as the sole purpose for it becoming pretentious because, in his view, “The only thing that seems to shock anybody anymore is something that’s pretentious or kitsch.”
Still, it was Bowie’s self-proclaimed pretentiousness that won him a legion of loyal fans—many of them well-regarded musical innovators in their own right—who saw his work as undeniably revolutionary. After all, perhaps his honesty about the world around him and his disillusionment with the capitalist tropes within the music industry made others even more endeared to his perspective. In that respect, his art could be viewed as the product of a mind far removed from any snooty principles of a broader corporate agenda.
This awareness made him sensitive to the struggles of those around him, especially since he knew firsthand the frustration of meeting expectations and deadlines while his heart longed to explore other creative avenues. In his view, talented artists who weren’t getting their deserved recognition were the ultimate casualties of the industry’s growing focus on profit, and if this trend continued, many world-class acts would be left behind.
One which touched the sides of this insidiousness was Pixies, which Bowie once regarded as a “necessary” addition to their era despite their erasure from mainstream American radio outlets. “They never sold any albums, and they broke up” as a result of this, Bowie reflected, which sparked an observation of a long list of follow-up bands enduring the same avoidable fate.
“You’ve got bands like Grandaddy, Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips— they don’t get played, they don’t sell albums, and, if you’re not careful, they’re going to go under. More creative and really inventive artists are going to disappear after two or three years ’cause nobody’s out there supporting them,” the singer argued. Taking his sentiment a step further, he concluded: “There is crap on American radio. Real crap.”
In Bowie’s view, therefore, the compromise that capitalism in the industry placed on artistic integrity was the ultimate signifier of an art form gone awry, and the only way to remedy the situation was a collective effort to support those who deserved it. Although pressure to conform to the demands of the industry, which included labels, managers, and so on, would always be prominent, Bowie urged experimentation on resistance to begin the much-needed move away from mainstream pop structures.
