BOWIE: "I'VE ALWAYS COLLECTED PERSONALITIES... A RAVING NUT, A FLOWER CHILD OR A DICTATOR, SOME KIND OF REVEREND - I DON'T KNOW. THAT'S WHAT KEEPS ME FROM GETTING BORED.” ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ I, Michaela, often reminisce about the rapturous, ecstatic, exhilarating, magical, carefree and simple days of the 1990s, where - with the risk of giving away my age - I have visions of my midnight black dyed spiked hair, black eyeliner galore, black vintage store trench coat with a turned up collar, pin-striped tapered flood pants, luxurious shimmering silver silk shirts, and pointed-toed alligator skin, or red patented leather punk rock booties. We planned our outfits well, they were everything to us, we breathed life into them, and lived to party – no less than five nights a week. When in our zone, my entourage and I knew no pain - our temperatures rose, and our hearts beat fast, at the haze-filled, trendy, edgy, cool underground new wave after hours punk rock clubs, the type that required a secret code word to get in, where many a professed misfit rebel could be found. I don’t think we knew how good we had it back then, or that these easily were to be the best days of our lives, and that was in part due to an androgynous, charismatic, sexy, eccentric, beautiful male singer, or better yet other worldly figure who was larger than life, who we all knew by one word – ‘BOWIE!’ Memories of his hit song 'Let’s Dance,’ that set the mood, ambience and vibe – often flood my mind and evoke warm memories. Oh, if only I had a time capsule! So bear with me as I tackle the challenging feat, and attempt to bring justice to the memory of this sexual, enigmatic, mysterious ‘Starman,’ who lived in his own galaxy and deeply touched our hearts and souls. In the 1990s disco and punk co-existed at the same time. Bowie, an offbeat, fearless, daring, iconic genius, was one of the most influential musicians of the past several decades, an Influencer of Androgynous Fashion Style – who inspired thousands of musicians, artists and entertainers across the globe. He amassed a cult following, including young teen groupies (‘Babie Groupies’), that flocked to experience this mesmerizing performer like bees to honey. He performed a concoction of eclectic music from different eras into what became known as ‘GLAM ROCK.’ *** BOWIE’S BIOGRAPHY: David Robert Jones (8 Jan. 1947 – 10 Jan. 2016), an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor, known professionally as David Bowie, was a shy boy from a working class family. He studied art, music and design. At six, he acquired a reputation as a gifted, single-minded child, and a defiant brawler. His voice was considered "adequate" by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder. At the age of nine, during the newly introduced music and movement classes, teachers called his movements “strikingly imaginative,” his interpretations "vividly artistic," and his poise "astonishing" for a child. He dropped out of school to become a rock star, and embarked on a professional career as a musician in 1963. He achieved his greatest commercial success in the 1980s with ‘Let’s Dance.’ Between 1988 and 1992, he fronted the hard rock band Tin Machine before resuming his solo career in 1993. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including industrial and jungle. PERSONAL AND FAMILY LIFE: Bowie married his first wife, Mary Angela Barnett in 1970, and their son Duncan was born in 1971. They had an open marriage and dated other people. He had relationships with model Cyrinda Foxe and ‘Young Americans’ backing singer Ava Cherry. He met Somali-American model Iman in Los Angeles in October 1990. They had one daughter, Alexandria ‘Lexi’ Zahra Jones, born in 2000. BOWIE SPEAKS (EXCERPTS FROM MTV NEWS INTERVIEW, 1995): “It’s sort of AN ENDLESS SEARCH TO EXPAND. I don’t know what I thought I was expanding. I guess I just wanted to experience everything. I think I was esthetically promiscuous… My writing is based on the idea of transience. NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS A REAL REALITY, IT’S NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN HOLD ONTO… it’s a transitory thing… And I DIDN’T WANT TO GET LOCKED INTO BEING THIS ONE THING AND NOT BEING ABLE TO FLIT LIKE A BUTTERFLY FROM FLOWER TO FLOWER POLLINATING MY INTELLECT"… / TO BE CONTD... SEE PART 2