It was unexpected to check on the news this morning and hear that David Bowie passed away yesterday, particularly given that his latest album only came out last week. I think he had kept his illness very quiet – certainly the comments I heard on the album were along the lines of “he’s back” rather than “how will this do as an epitaph”.

Bowie wasn’t a direct influence on me. For example, in the decade or so that I’ve been scrobbling most of my listening to Last.FM to create a personal chart, the evidence shows that I’ve listened to one album, mainly back in 2009 and only repeating the (fantastic) track Life on Mars. However, I recognise that he has been an indirect influence, playing a part in shaping music and society towards freedom to experiment.

In memoriam, I am taking a Bowie track – Starman – along to the ukulele group this lunchtime along with Ace of Spades to mark the recent passing of Lemmy. Whether we’ll quite capture the magic of either song remains to be seen but it serves as a mark of respect to try.