There was nothing truly emotional about Bowie but there was something sincere, and this is no contradiction or put down. His intellect and ambition made him approach everything he attempted with great style, reflecting ever present high and low cultural markers, his work handled with genuine and, as we found out with time, gigantic talent. He was art and commerce rolled into one attempt at perfection but it suited him and it fit our era; which is perhaps why I could adore the artist and live for some of his songs and albums, but I could never love the man like I do other musicians whose hearts and insanity are on their sleeves, a little too out there to be true megastars or to become, with age, respected icons. It is the infrequent edge of “falling apart” along with the coldness perceived, that last one sometimes implicit, in the artifice of some of Bowie’s incarnations that explain why I prefer his Thin White Duke period to his Ziggy Stardust say, or even to his elusive Davy Jones persona endorsed by so many of my dear friends and companions, but it is the Berlin Period that became my ultimate, my chosen one, my precious when it comes to the Mainman. Bowie invariably knew what he was doing and he did it with excellence, even on occasions he may have failed at it a little; but even hard drugs and a few arduous years learned that they stood no chance in the face of Bowie’s ultimate brilliance and willpower.

It will be determined I’m sure if Bowie’s was a wonderfully planned exit but it doesn’t make it  any less poignant and devastating, and no one can affirm his last opus Blackstar does not stand on its superlative own. The bitter joke is on us as our world needs a little well-mannered lunacy; presently no one is in line to step up and bewitch us for the next five decades. I fear we will miss David Bowie more in the years to come but that might ultimately be our own fault for not celebrating the truly unique, and sticking with the gorgeously adventurous anymore. Rest in peace, and rest assured Mainman that you will not be replaced soon.