Good morning and welcome to the Monday Morning
Brief for January 30, 2017.
On March 14, Royal Mail, Great Britain’s
postal service, will release a philatelic
tribute to yet another of that country’s
great rock and roll stars, the late David
Bowie.
Five stamps will feature album covers — "Hunky Dory," "Aladdin Sane," "Heroes," "Let’s Dance,"
and "Earthling" — each of which has a distinctive
photograph of Bowie that captures his quirky
essence at various times during his long career.
A sixth stamp depicts the cover of "Blackstar,"
his final album, released January 8, 2016,
two days before he died.
Additionally, a sheet of stamps will depict
Bowie as seen on stage in his 1972 Ziggy Stardust
tour, 1978 Stage tour, 1983 Serious Moonlight
tour, and 2004 A Reality tour.
The stamps mark what would have been Bowie’s
70th birthday as well as the 50th anniversary
of the release of his first album using the
stage name David Bowie.
On singles released in 1964 and 1965, he used
his birth name — Davy Jones — but he changed
his name to David Bowie in 1966, to avoid
confusion with the Davy Jones who had shot
to fame that year as a member of the Monkees.
Bowie was perhaps the biggest star of the
glam rock era of the 1970s, constantly pushing
the envelope with his music, costumes, hairdo
and makeup, and making people familiar with the
word “androgyny.”
While there are plenty of people who aren’t
rock fans who are not familiar with Bowie’s
standards, like "Changes" and "Modern Love," they
know about him because of one of the most
unlikely guest appearances in television history.
The oddest of odd couples — straight-laced
Bing Crosby and a toned-down David Bowie — performed
a duet on Crosby’s 1977 Christmas special,
filmed just a few weeks before Crosby’s death.
They were to sing the Christmas classic, "The Little Drummer Boy" together.
But it was a song that Bowie abhorred.
So Crosby sang it, while Bowie sang "Peace on Earth" — some words hastily written by the
show’s writers — as a descant over Crosby’s
baritone.
And it worked so well that it became a Christmas
music staple.
Royal Mail began commemorating great British
rock artists 10 years ago with a tribute
to the Beatles.
In 2010, the art of 10 memorable record album
covers by various artists was featured.
One of the album covers in that set was Bowie’s
"The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the
Spiders from Mars."
And in 2016, the concert performances and
album covers of Pink Floyd were commemorated.
Considering all of the British musicians in
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, it is perhaps
safe to say that Royal Mail has only so far scratched the surface.
Similar sets for other rock superstars will
undoubtedly follow in years to come.
For Linn’s Stamp News and the Scott Catalogues,
I’m Marty Frankevicz.
Enjoy your week in stamps.
