Sad to hear the news this morning of David Bowie’s death. Bowie was the soundtrack to my teenage and student years, though I suspect his initial appeal was more to do with the fact that he didn’t conform and my parents didn’t like him. I can’t pretend I always understood all of his work, and at times I didn’t like everything he did, but for my formative years he was there either in the background, or very much in the foreground.

In my later teens when I had a better understanding and appreciation, he was a major part of the music scene that my friends and I followed. The fact that we came from Hull meant we were also in thrall to Mick Ronson and the other “Yorkshire” Spiders. We loved the style and the creativity.

Bowie was also a forerunner and godfather to a genre of music that will always have a place in my heart. The New Romantic movement that he spawned, formed the background to my student years.

Bowie was a lesson to us all in how to, live life to the full, ignore the critics and do it your way. Thanks for the music and the memories.

To maintain a book theme here’s a feature on Bowie’s 100 must read books. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/01/david-bowie-books-kerouac-milligan