From Vanilla Ice to Lady Gaga, Bowie inspired many (by Jenny Gordon)

A few years ago, I lived next door to a guy who had two different colored eyes.  One blue, one brown.  He wore glasses so I didn’t notice them right away, but once I discovered his mismatched eyes I would stare at them whenever we talked. I thought they were super cool and fascinating.  David Bowie, the iconic musical artist who died this week at the age of 69, also had mismatched eyes.  Bowie got into a fistfight with a friend as a teen which left his left pupil permanently dilated.  It gave him a unique appearance, like my former neighbor.

What makes someone unique?  The thought keeps popping into my mind after hearing of Bowie's death.  As news outlets around the world are publishing articles about his life, one point keeps coming up again and again - he was known for being unique.  So what does make an artist unique?  Let's start by examining some things about Bowie.

Now before I lose you here ... I understand you may be too young to know much about him.  As someone born at the tail end of Generation X, I am practically a Millennial myself.  My knowledge of him mainly centers on the song "Let's Dance," a catchy tune from the 80's that is still played often today.  I also know that he was married to a model named Iman.  

With my somewhat limited knowledge of Bowie, I consulted an article in the New York Times (published on January 11 by Jon Pareles) to learn more about his life.  Throughout his career, his music could be called pop, rock, electronic dance, jazz, and cabaret.  Sounds pretty ground-breaking to me.  I can't think of a single artist today who has combined all of those genres into a single musical career.

Bowie was also known for his changing appearance.  He was very theatrical in his fashion and was sexually androgynous.  After reading this, my first thought was Adam Lambert, the former American Idol contestant and current artist who is also known for his fashion and glam rock.  Sure enough, Lambert counts Bowie as one of his inspirations.  So can we consider Lambert unique or is he just imitating Bowie?

Then I remembered another David Bowie song.  "Under Pressure" was a collaboration with the group Queen.  When the song starts, the baseline sounds extremely similar to an unforgettable song from the early 90's.  Yep, "Ice, Ice, Baby" by the infamous Vanilla Ice.  Vanilla Ice borrowed the baseline from Bowie.  Interesting, another artist imitating Bowie.  

A current artist known as much for her crazy fashion as her music is surely Lady Gaga.  The woman wore a dress made out of meat to the MTV video music awards!  Gaga also credits Bowie as a major influence in her musical career and taste in unusual fashion.  Maybe if there hadn't been a Bowie, there wouldn't have been a meat dress?!

What is the difference between copying someone and being influenced by them?  When does imitating someone border on copyright infringement?  Lady Gaga came under fire several years ago for her song “Born this Way” which sounded very similar to Madonna’s “Express Yourself.”   

I enjoy a local 80’s cover band called "The Reagan Years."  Being a cover band, they play songs by other artists rather than coming up with new material.  That’s the point of a cover band, and perfectly legit since they are purposely covering songs by other artists.  Their drummer looks like a cross between David Bowie and Billy Idol and sings songs by both.  This isn’t coincidental.  However, at what point are artists like Lady Gaga veering into this territory of copying music versus being inspired by other musicians?

One thing is for sure, even though he was often imitated, there was only one David Bowie.