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| Irony is, Bowie is quite The Company Man these days, very much a walking corporation albeit one that merchandises a single product, one unit of content, one intellectual property. He currently maintains a lush, if small production office named Isolar housed in the Olympic Towers overlooking St. Patrick Cathedral in New York City. Isolar essentially decentralizes all fiscal and creative decision making from his new record company--Virgin-- an extremely unusual arrangement borne out of Bowie's power as a legend and his justified paranoia about mismanagement. His management very much works for him and is separated from his lawyers who then monitor the managers rigorously and vice versa. His promotional team resides in-house. All decisions concerning re-mixes, videos, photography and design are orchestrated by Isolar. |
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| Two years ago, Isolar commissioned a focus group study comprised of mostly fourteen year olds and what the survey revealed was that the current record buying target audience, born- in the years 1976 - 1980, had a brutal disregard for history and legacies. |
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When asked who they considered to be classic rock artists, after a moment of hesitation they volunteered Prince and Michael Jackson and Madonna. When asked what words came to mind regarding David Bowie, they retorted with such telling codes as " Let's Dance" and "gay". (For the record , they had never heard of Blondie, but Duran Duran did cause an excited rustle or two). Subsequent to these findings, the marketing division began to scheme feverently. How could they reconnect with this disrespectful new generation? Many a fascinating proposition drifted through the flurry of meetings. A collaboration with Jodeci's errant cocksman Devante Swing was thrown in the mix but sadly nixed. Plans for a Bowie cover album were concocted. One member of the marketing team wanted new blood hip-hop and rave artists like Mank re-working anthems like "Space Oddity" , Bowie wanted Axl Rose doing "Rebel/Rebel". |
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| Does the NIN tie-in now loom logical? Can we not see our beleaguered modern icon in a chalk striped Paul Smith suit slumped in the conference room of Isolar playing the "Closer" video over and over again. The legend is listening to the abrasive industrial chords, looking at Mark Romanek's fashionable but transgressive imagery , while checking out Trent Reznor's Soundscan sales figures and going... hmmmmm... |
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