I'm Afraid of Americans...

My sister Pam has great taste in books and music. She introduced me to books like Stephen King’s Dark Tower series, and music like America and Don Henley. She listened to a classic rock station that played bands that I’ve grown to love like Rush, King Crimson, and Pink Floyd. Pink Floyd? That’s a whole other blog for some other day.

When you mention David Bowie, most people would immediately bring up songs like Suffragette City, Ziggy Stardust, Changes, Heroes, even his collaboration with Queen and their song Under Pressure. Christmas just isn’t Christmas, in my humble opinion, without hearing Bowie and Bing Crosby singing Little Drummer Boy which still conjures boyhood memories of the holidays.

On the topic of remakes, which I take very seriously, Nirvana’s remake of The Man Who Sold the World, although good, does not live up to the original. But Saigon Kick’s remake of Space Oddity is one of the best. It’s all a matter of preference really.

As a teenager during and after the Grunge explosion, being the insane Nine Inch Nails fan I was, if Trent Reznor looked at something funny I was into it. So when he appeared in the video for I’m Afraid of Americans, I was immediately hooked. I immediately bought the single, and wore it out in my CD player. I remember it had a good half dozen remixes on it that were fantastic as well, but the best of them was the released version.

I’m Afraid of Americans is hands down my favorite David Bowie song. I was never a huge fan of his, but that song will always be attached to me because he happened to collaborate with a few of my favorite musicians. It’s funny what celebrities leave behind for you and it’s different for all of us. I have my sister Pam to thank for this.

This is my story about David Bowie and I’m sticking to it.