themaninblack

So Jerry, what did you see in the billionaire media mogul Murdoch?

Getting there, just about. There will be 484 teams this year, nearly 900 new names and 90+ new teams...

I'm glad he was able to keep it quiet if that's what he wanted. A fuck you to the corpse chasing media and indirectly to wankers like us. I reckon there's a few dozen would get similar coverage if they died unexpectedly like Bowie: Prince Mick Jagger Jimmy Page Brian May Paul McCartney John Lydon Ringo Starr Bob Geldolf Bono Tina Turner Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Surviving Bee Gees Madonna Billy Joel Lars Ulrich Stevie Wonder Lionel Richie Leonard Cohen Bruce Dickinson Elton John Any member of Pink Floyd Roger Taylor (or any member of The Who) Cliff Richard Any member of Abba My twopenn'orth: In terms of the level of coverage which Bowie has had - Dylan definitely. Jagger, McCartney, Elton John as well. Pink Floyd's an odd one. Syd made the news and made the covers of newspapers when he went (albeit not to the extent of DB). Waters/Gilmour were the powerhouse behind their later success but they tend to be understated (ironic considering their stage shows) but they'll get plenty of coverage no doubt. Bowie was the lead story on TV news, whereas probably most of those on the list may or may not make the first headline on the evening news, depending on whatever happens in the "real" world (politics, terror attacks, natural disasters, you never know). The thing with Bowie was that he wasn't a massive megastar (Rod Stewart and Elton John were more successful (and just as enduring in popularity) in the same time frame) but he was considered culturally important (just like Dylan who was not a massive commercial star). Abba will get their dues, so will Cliff Richard (depending on current investigations) and the Who/Led Zep bunch. I get the feeling Madonna (who we know looks after herself, unless she does a Jim Fixx!) will end up like the nonogenarian Hollywood golden agers we still (just ) have left. She will probably die aged 92 or something, with the golden age of pop, of which she was part will be long gone. She'll be like Betty Davis or something! EDIT: Ooh, let's not forget Kraftwerk, they'll get their dues. They're probably more influential than anyone else on that list!

Is it blasphemy to say I prefer Lulu's version of "The Man Who Sold The World"? No. I do too...

... When Rolf Harris ruled the airwaves! Out of interest, who do you like? What gets Davey Jones (David Bowie's real name!) rocking? I am more of a jazz, French chanson and world music bloke than a rock guy these days. I am a big Peter Gabriel (solo and Genesis) fan though. Peter Gabriel, now you're talking. Only recently into him. I have his first four albums (Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel, Peter Gabriel and Peter Gabriel)

... When Rolf Harris ruled the airwaves! Out of interest, who do you like? What gets Davey Jones (David Bowie's real name!) rocking?

Bloody Australians, they still live in 1950!

I wasn't a massive fan either. I "third" this vote. That said, I have only listened to the Ziggy Stardust album (it was okay-ish) and the Space Oddity and Heroes singles (neither did anything for me.) Might check out some of his Berlin stuff later this morning and see if I like it. That said, he was really good as Tesla in his cameo role in "The Prestige". Let's put this through the Beatles filter: I "third" this vote. That said, I have only listened to the Meet The Beatles album (it was okay-ish) and the Please Please Me and Hey Jude singles (neither did anything for me.) Might check out some of their psychedelic stuff later this morning and see if I like it. That said, Ringo was really good as Peter Sellers' adopted son in "The Magic Christian".

...and Tom Verlaine as well!

Yep. Many of the "greats" are passing or past 70. I know when discussing out DDP team, me and my sister always have arguments about the so-called 'boomer' pop stars as any of them could drop down dead just like that, so without knowledge of illness they're very difficult to predict. Also, most of my heroes and idols are getting to or beyond that that age. If I'm this upset about someone who I liked just a lot, I don't even want to think what it's going to be like when Debbie Harry, Grace Slick or one of Abba goes. For my sake I hope Bryan Ferry has a looong life ahead but I've head rumours about his health as well and he turned 70 in September...

Chap in the background is Tony DeFries, Bowie's old manager and still very much alive. Bloke on the T-shirt's dead an' all!

I did think of another pun involving an urn but I can't remember it now. another one that got away!

I wouldn't say that his death has caused Diana levels of hysteria but according to witnesses, some woman went off her head and hit some tiny children. If the black hadn't have pulled her off, they think she might of killed them...

If Bowie's any indication, 2016 could be a massive year for celebrity deaths, right up there with 1980...

As far as I can gather, he was a miss, no obit from me, suffice to say that the pun would have been "The Man Who Fell Under The Earth." The one that got away...

The fucking weird thing was that only last week, in breaks between uploading teams, I apropos of nothing, decided to re-read a book my brother gave me for my 39th birthday which looked back at Bowies entire career! How odd...

Looking forward to Justin Bieber's cover of 'The Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud' making the number 1 slot. After all, he's the only one who does these days...

Funny to think that Iggy Pop, who many thought wouldn't live beyond 1975, should outlive his old muckers Lou Reed and David Bowie. Such is life...

Farewell Mr Spaceboy, see you on the next trip...

Hadn't heard them rumours myself Spade, and they weren't all nonces; you care to elaborate? He had his first date with his eventual wife when she was 13 and he was 30 something. I've heard of Junior Choice but this is ridiculous!

January 17th last year. Probably around that again, unless Plusnet pull the plug of course!

No video/audio links unless they're mentioned in the text...

Huh! He's sounded fine on TalkSPORT last Sunday!

The vast majority of news items are cribbed, collated and published from new agencies, be it Reuters or Associated Press. In the above case it's got a co.uk in the URL and that's good enough for me, no matter it's original source. That the Daily Mail and Guardian etc pursue US/World stories for their own gain is entirely up to them...

Quelle surprise... Any official judgement regarding Hassan Asif and the "UK version of the paper/site" question? Not with me frantically inputting 450+ teams at the moment, no. But I do recognise that the Grauniad does rather blur it's boundaries as to which edition you are actually reading!