Glam Rock icon David Bowie dead at 69

David Bowie, what HASN’T been said about this musical giant?! Suffering from cancer, born January 8 1947,the music giant succumbed to the illness January 10, 2016.

During his career, Bowie had been interviewed by everyone under the sun and publicly stood up against musical injustice. One of his most talked about claims to fame, is calling MTV to task and challenging them on the subject of consciously deciding to shut out Black artist’s music from their line up.

During an interview with MTV Veejay Mark Goodman, Bowie interrupted and grilled Goodman on the absence of black music from the channel:

David Bowie: Why are there practically no blacks on the network?

Mark Goodman: We seem to be doing music that fits into what we want to play on MTV. The company is thinking in terms of narrowcasting.

David Bowie: There seem to be a lot of black artists making very good videos that I’m surprised aren’t being used on MTV.

Mark Goodman: We have to try and do what we think not only New York and Los Angeles will appreciate, but also Poughkeepsie or the Midwest. Pick some town in the Midwest which would be scared to death by… a string of other black faces, or black music. We have to play music we think an entire country is going to like, and certainly we’re a rock and roll station.

David Bowie: Don’t you think it’s a frightening predicament to be in?

Mark Goodman: Yeah, but no less so here than in radio.

David Bowie: Don’t say, ‘Well, it’s not me, it’s them.’ Is it not possible it should be a conviction of the station and of the radio stations to be fair… to make the media more integrated?

In a Rolling Stone article, Bowie would publicly call the network racist. His stand is a massive part of the book “Inside MTV” by R. Serge Denisoff.

The Recording Academy (Grammys) released a poignant statement by President/CEO Neil Portnow, on the importance of Bowie to music as a global community, as well as his passing:

David Bowie was truly a Renaissance man and visionary artist with extraordinary talent as a singer, songwriter, performer, actor and producer, and was a musical hero to millions. A GRAMMY® Award Winner and a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, he is remembered and celebrated today for his audacious approach to pushing creative boundaries and ability to reinvent himself time and time again, changing the course of pop music in the process. David was a true original who influenced so many and his art will live on forever. We offer our sincere condolences to his family, friends, creative collaborators and to all of David’s fans across the globe.

From The Hype Magazine we say, thank you David for all you have done not just for black music, but for your innovation, creativity and so many great musical memories. Rest in Paradise.

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About the Author

Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.