10/06/98 NEWS: From today’s The Guardian in Britain:POP STARS HAIL BOWIE’S INFLUENCEDavid Bowie, the chameleon of rock ‘n’ roll whose career has lasted more than three decades, has once again proved to be an enduring hit with music industry insiders voting him the most influential pop star of the past 30 years.
Bowie, who last year became the first major artist to turn himself into a Wall Street investment when the star netted an estimated 34 million LST, fought off competition from the Beatles and Bob Marley to take the accolade.
Contributors to the survey, compiled by the London listings magazine, Time Out, to mark its’ 30th birthday, included Boy George, Mick Hucknall and Johnny Marr.
Bowie, aged 51, released his first album 31 years ago and has continually reinvented himself to take account of prevailing fashions – if not actually shaping them. He was at the forefront of glam, rock, Seventies soul and Eighties funk as well as being a leading light of the New Romantic era. The artist, who once shocked audiences with his outlandish clothes and alien appearance, now lives a quiet teetotal, drug-free existence.
The Time Out critic, Garry Mulholland said, “David Bowie irrevocably altered our culture. In terms of influence, the only new development in pop’s last 30 years that he hasn’t had some kind of influence on is drum ‘n’ bass.” However, not all the celebrities who took part in the survey voted for Bowie. The former Take That star, Robbie Williams, considered Tom Jones to be the most influential musician of the past 30 years and described him as the “pop entertainer of all time”.
The magazine also compiled a list of films, television programmes and theatre productions. Fawlty Towers, the 1970’s sitcom starring John Cleese, was voted best television show; followed by The Simpsons and Steve Coogan’s I’m Alan Partridge. Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” parts I and II were the biggest hits in the film world. “Chinatown” and “Raging Bull” came second and third. Peter Brook’s 1971 RSC production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” was voted best theatre production, followed by Robert Lepage’s 1987 production of “The Dragon’s Trilogy”.
