One of Bowies best features as an artist was the way he deliberately held himself visually during a particular performance on stage or in a video, this was as a direct result of his training in mime, for example the whole performance throughout the ZSTMP Ziggy farewell gig was an object lesson to anyone on how to hold and move / position your body through out a performance, in this case throughout an entire show! not a single movement was wasted and was deliberately designed to keep people transfixed.

However for me the Heroes video demonstrates probably Bowies best particular performance stance, the way he moves and contorts his body through out the video gives what is basically a simple video a totally unique feel and look to that particular performance, the use of his body movements to interpret the song quite simply transfixes the viewer and stamps the whole thing with that special Bowiness that no one can ever truly repeat.

I love Ziggy but for me his Heroes video movements ( stance ) is probably the ultimate in Bowie body expression.




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Completely spoiled by dreadful lip syncing

Love On.
Craig

"but for me his Heroes video movements ( stance ) is probably the ultimate in Bowie body expression. "


Completely agree 100%

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"Humming Rheingold
We scavenge up our clothes"
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[[ Completely spoiled by dreadful lip syncing ]]

Hum, yeah I know where your coming from Craig but leaving that aside do you not agree that the way he holds and moves his body through out this video is fantastic Bowieism for want of a better word.

For me it combines his obvious mime training with a music performance perfectly. There have been many other examples through out his career but the Heroes video body movement [ and facial expressions BTW ) is for me probably the best example of this particular string to Bowie's bow

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I agree, but I have to add Diamond Dogs Tour, Stage Tour and Outside Tour and videos.

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*Claude*

for :)nce i agree with BBO, my fav bowie moment ever!

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what a beautiful thread, tell the others.

[[I agree, but I have to add Diamond Dogs Tour, Stage Tour and Outside Tour and videos. ]]


I think my second favourite Bowie visual Bowie-ism has got to be his Aladdin Sane performance on the Diamond Dogs / Philly Dogs tour especially the part of the performance featuring the kabuki mask, it's just so achingly brilliant.






[[ for :)nce i agree with BBO, my fav bowie moment ever! ]]

I think what makes Bowie's Heroes video movement so special ppop is the sheer minimalism of it all, its totally captivating. He looks so cool as well, I don't think Bowie has ever looked or should that be acted cooler than he does in the Heroes video.





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*Claude*

Im teasing Trevor, but you,re right .... the mime training coming into play. Kemp taught him to make the most from his body with the minimum of movement. Also the mouth has always played an important part in Bowie videos, which was why he had the perfect teeth for such performances.

Love On.
Craig

[[ Im teasing Trevor, but you,re right .... the mime training coming into play. Kemp taught him to make the most from his body with the minimum of movement. Also the mouth has always played an important part in Bowie videos, which was why he had the perfect teeth for such performances ]]

LOL! your right though it is pretty bad lip syncing. Interesting thing about the teeth, it's no coincidence that when he had his teeth fixed some of the visual Bowie-ism was lost forever. Also in later tours especially the Reality tour I don't think the control of his body movements were quite as special as they seemed to be in the early days, it's like as he got older he went more conventional with the result that again some of that special visual Bowie-ism just sort of went.

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i have a feeling i will be alone on this but what about the NLMD video?

The Heroes video is dreadful! Not the best example of our shining star.

Certainly the mask performance during the 74 soul/dd tour or the upturned hands as spectacles during the scary monsters serious moonlight tour video would be more demonstrative of Bowie stances...also the jaw mime with the skull on Crack'd Actor revisited live.

I love the 'attitude' he has for the Be My Wife video; posy, yes and definitely 'tortured' and arrogant a kind of you can look but don't touch stance.

Best of all though, is with his back to the audience!!

Actually, the "Heroes" video from the Bing Crosby 1977 Xmas special was better than the original video. A lot more expressive and Bowie was singing live too (well at least the vocal sounded far different).

The Cracked Actor performance with the skull was indeed a brilliant piece of visual Bowie-ism as was the Kabuki mask thing during Aladdin Sane ( 74 tour ) but for me what stands the Heroes video performance out from anything else is that it's just Bowies body movements and facial expressions that carry it off, set against a dark minimalist background no props or anything, to just use your body and facial expressions is extremely hard to do and is where the brilliant art form that mime really comes into its own.


I maybe clouded this topic a bit by mentioning the Aladdin Sane performance as my 2nd favourite piece of visual Bowie-ism where as I should maybe have confined the topic to Bowies stance without actual props, looking at it that way I can't think of a better visual Bowie-ism ( stance ) than the Heroes video its like Bowie is saying I'm David Bowie, this IS! David Bowie and I'm David Bowie expressing this song in a unique to David Bowie way.



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I think Bowie's laughing at himself a bit in the 'Be My Wife' video, particularly midway through when he looks at the camera and tilts his head slightly, and has a slight grin on his lips. It's like he's saying to himself 'Would YOU marry someone who looks like this??'

Mist.

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, simply surrounded by assholes." - William Gibson.

with everyone who said the "Heroes" video is the best visual stance.
It is so simple and zen and very mesmerising.
A few years ago I went to see the Michael Clark Bowie tribute during the Edinburgh International Festival. It was a brilliant show from a brilliant contemporary dance group.
During the "Heroes" piece, the projected video started to move across the back of the stage from right to left. Suddenly my eyes moved from the dancers to the video. I took a quick look at the audience and everyone was following the video. It was remarkable, the power of that simple piece on video . . .

http://edinburgh-festivals.com/viewpreview.aspx?id=143

I didn't see the Michael Clark 'Heroes' show live, but I have the documentary which was broadcast on STV.

Mist.

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, simply surrounded by assholes." - William Gibson.

a blinder Michael. I saw it at the Playhouse and the Jean Genie dance was mind blowing too. It was hilarious to see all these old New Town types (obviously most had gone purely because it was a hyped EIF event) shuffling out at the end as Iggy & Stooges No Fun (I think) blasting out. Happy days . . .

Yeah, it looks good on the telly. The dancers wearing the leather jacket leotards for 'Heroes', and it also features Jean Genie, which has a red background (I think, it's been a while since I watched it). Maybe you're on it, they interviewed a few of the audience and there are people wandering about in the background.

Mist.

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, simply surrounded by assholes." - William Gibson.

I was rushing out to get to the pub!

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*Claude*

Ah The mask,:-)a brilliant piece of no props visual Bowie-ism Claude every time I watch The Mask it reminds me just how accomplished Bowie was as a proper mime artist so much so he could quite easily have carved out a career on par with mimes very best should he have gone that way instead of music. I love that footage where he is pulling out his intestines I think it was filmed at the Andy Warhol factory?, macabre but totally fascinating.

I don't think his mime skills came through often enough during his stage and music video performances, yes he drew on them but I have always been left with a slight nagging feeling that he could have made so much more of those skills, its perhaps the reason why I love his body and facial movements so much during the Heroes video and ZSTMP DVD.

I have several bootlegs DVDs of the S&V tour, one shows him clearly using mime to replicate the use of a walking stick! ( I can't remember the name of the DVD off hand without digging them all out but I'm sure those who have it will know the one I'm meaning ) I remember thinking when I saw it, brilliant! thats so David Bowie, why haven't we seen many more actual mime sketches during his many video and stage performances than we actually did?

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