Wiretap's Jonathan Goldstein reveals David Bowie obsession
Jonathan Goldstein is the writer, host and co-producer (along with Mira Burt-Wintonick and Cristal Duhaime) of Wiretap a show the Toronto Star descrbed as "[pitting] the absurd against the plausible. The sense is of a world not completely unlike our own that runs parallel... conversation, storytelling and introspection, culled from equal parts real-world experience and the warp of Goldstein's imagination."
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I asked Jonathan if he would divulge 10 of the most influential songs of his youth. In this musical version of high school confidential, Jonathan’s answers were surprisingly honest, revealing and funny.
‘When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with David Bowie in a way that I don't think I've ever come close to feeling about anything or anyone before or since. Every inch of my bedroom walls was covered with posters. I owned German bootlegs, biographies, and a had a dozen T-shirts. I even forced myself to sit through Labyrinth , a film where Bowie had hair like one of the girl's from Bananarama and starred opposite puppets. (HOW. FUCKING. DARE. YOU. THROWING. SHADE. AT. LABYRINTH YOU MOTHERFUCKER?)
To this day, when my father sees David Bowie on Entertainment Tonight, he'll call up and say, "Turn to channel 12. Your buddy's on TV." I always know who he's talking about. My feelings weren't anything my father could understand, and frankly, to this day, I don't know if it was anything I understand. But whenever I hear certain Bowie songs, I'm transported back to my teenage bedroom. It's pretty powerful.
Here, in no particular order, are my top ten favourite Bowie songs from those years:
Life on Mars:
Such a beautiful song. Felt like Bowie was gazing down on all the problems of mankind while seated in the clouds, sipping champagne in a mink coat and feeling bad for all the suffering. But not too bad.
Five Years:
When I figured out how to overdub sound onto video cassettes, I created my own video for this song by overlaying it onto a clip of Mr. Rogers making a sandwich on his show. I even managed to convince my friend Lenny that it really was a David Bowie video and that Mr. Rogers was originally a Bowie persona.
Lady Stardust:
I was really into Billie Holiday, too, and I'd listen to it pretending it was his homage to her. But really, it was an homage to himself.
Changes:
Probably one of my favourite songs of all. I remember when I heard the live version where Bowie changed "These children that you spit on" to "these children that you shit on" I was so shocked, I kept rewinding it over and over.
Sorrow:
Always wanted to use Bowie's cover for the beginning of a movie: The credits start to roll, and the song starts to play. Close up on the protagonist (me, of course), eating a poutine in the driver's seat of a car pulled over at the side of the road in the middle of the night.
Diamond Dogs:
Obsessed with the album cover. I'd stare at it, a painting of Bowie with the body of a dog, and spend hours wondering what it would feel like to be half Bowie, half dog? Would I like dog food? Or Quaaludes?
Be My Wife:
I would lie in bed listening to this song on my 15-pound Walkman, imagining playing the song on a piano to my fiancee. I recently learned that Bowie recorded this whole album while living on heroine and milk. I think he weighed about five pounds.
Up The Hill Backwards:
Never had any idea what this song was about, but it always felt like the perfect storm of pop candy and noise.
Modern Love:
From the Serious Moonlight tour era. Very big impact on me, fashion-wise. Even went through an unfortunate period where I started wearing suspenders and a belt at the same time. You'd think it'd ensure my never getting panted. It didn't.
Heroes:
If I could have any song be the theme song to my radio show, it'd be this. The word "heroes" starts off sounding ironic, but ends up sounding so sincere it's heart-breaking.
CBC
Happy 420, ONTD. List your favs by Bowie (personally I would've chosen entirely different top 10 Bowie songs). Also, I know I said it before but Outside and Earthling are seriously underrated albums. I still prefer the 70's albums but I loved his 90s stuff.
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Jonathan Goldstein is the writer, host and co-producer (along with Mira Burt-Wintonick and Cristal Duhaime) of Wiretap a show the Toronto Star descrbed as "[pitting] the absurd against the plausible. The sense is of a world not completely unlike our own that runs parallel... conversation, storytelling and introspection, culled from equal parts real-world experience and the warp of Goldstein's imagination."
I asked Jonathan if he would divulge 10 of the most influential songs of his youth. In this musical version of high school confidential, Jonathan’s answers were surprisingly honest, revealing and funny.
‘When I was a teenager, I was obsessed with David Bowie in a way that I don't think I've ever come close to feeling about anything or anyone before or since. Every inch of my bedroom walls was covered with posters. I owned German bootlegs, biographies, and a had a dozen T-shirts. I even forced myself to sit through Labyrinth , a film where Bowie had hair like one of the girl's from Bananarama and starred opposite puppets. (HOW. FUCKING. DARE. YOU. THROWING. SHADE. AT. LABYRINTH YOU MOTHERFUCKER?)
To this day, when my father sees David Bowie on Entertainment Tonight, he'll call up and say, "Turn to channel 12. Your buddy's on TV." I always know who he's talking about. My feelings weren't anything my father could understand, and frankly, to this day, I don't know if it was anything I understand. But whenever I hear certain Bowie songs, I'm transported back to my teenage bedroom. It's pretty powerful.
Here, in no particular order, are my top ten favourite Bowie songs from those years:
Life on Mars:
Such a beautiful song. Felt like Bowie was gazing down on all the problems of mankind while seated in the clouds, sipping champagne in a mink coat and feeling bad for all the suffering. But not too bad.
Five Years:
When I figured out how to overdub sound onto video cassettes, I created my own video for this song by overlaying it onto a clip of Mr. Rogers making a sandwich on his show. I even managed to convince my friend Lenny that it really was a David Bowie video and that Mr. Rogers was originally a Bowie persona.
Lady Stardust:
I was really into Billie Holiday, too, and I'd listen to it pretending it was his homage to her. But really, it was an homage to himself.
Changes:
Probably one of my favourite songs of all. I remember when I heard the live version where Bowie changed "These children that you spit on" to "these children that you shit on" I was so shocked, I kept rewinding it over and over.
Sorrow:
Always wanted to use Bowie's cover for the beginning of a movie: The credits start to roll, and the song starts to play. Close up on the protagonist (me, of course), eating a poutine in the driver's seat of a car pulled over at the side of the road in the middle of the night.
Diamond Dogs:
Obsessed with the album cover. I'd stare at it, a painting of Bowie with the body of a dog, and spend hours wondering what it would feel like to be half Bowie, half dog? Would I like dog food? Or Quaaludes?
Be My Wife:
I would lie in bed listening to this song on my 15-pound Walkman, imagining playing the song on a piano to my fiancee. I recently learned that Bowie recorded this whole album while living on heroine and milk. I think he weighed about five pounds.
Up The Hill Backwards:
Never had any idea what this song was about, but it always felt like the perfect storm of pop candy and noise.
Modern Love:
From the Serious Moonlight tour era. Very big impact on me, fashion-wise. Even went through an unfortunate period where I started wearing suspenders and a belt at the same time. You'd think it'd ensure my never getting panted. It didn't.
Heroes:
If I could have any song be the theme song to my radio show, it'd be this. The word "heroes" starts off sounding ironic, but ends up sounding so sincere it's heart-breaking.
CBC
Happy 420, ONTD. List your favs by Bowie (personally I would've chosen entirely different top 10 Bowie songs). Also, I know I said it before but Outside and Earthling are seriously underrated albums. I still prefer the 70's albums but I loved his 90s stuff.
