Political Beats

Scot and Jeff discuss the third and final part of David Bowie’s career (1982-2016) with Damon Linker.

Introducing the Band:

Your hosts Scot Bertram (@ScotBertram) and Jeff Blehar (@EsotericCD) with guest Damon Linker, Senior Columnist for The Week. Read Damon's work here and follow him at @DamonLinker on Twitter.

Damon’s Music Pick: David Bowie

Political Beats knows when to go out, and when to stay in, and we’re asking you to stay in and listen to us discuss the brilliant adventure of the latter part of David Bowie’s career from the moment when he first became a true multi-platinum global superstar with Let’s Dance. He then lost the plot for several years after getting captured and trapped by his newfound audience, and struggled to work himself back up into wakefulness in fits and starts, first with his hard rock pseudo-democratic band Tin Machine, then with a series of variant 1990s albums that openly nodded toward his younger peers, and finally with a completely new and full bloom of genius in the 2000s with Heathen, Reality, The Next Day, and his swansong Blackstar. This is the story of a man who finally achieved everything he ever wanted only to realize it was a largely Pyrrhic victory, but then slowly rebuilding himself back up to artistic greatness once again. David Bowie left us in 2016 at a peak equal to anything he had done during his Seventies heyday, and with his final album placed a capstone on an artistic legacy that stands uniquely among the modern era’s musical landscape. Join us as we celebrate it, and drink to a better future.