This was my first exposure to David Bowie. I was about 9 years old, staying up late and watching SNL, and witnessed the single most mind-bending, consciousness-expanding performance I had ever seen in my short number of years. It was one of the those moments when an artist goes beyond the art and sort of shows you a world of potential far outside anything you had imagined before. There are few moments like that in a lifetime.
David Bowie is one of the rarest sort of creatures — he plays a significant role in every generation. His time was every time. No matter what age you are, there exists a pivotal David Bowie moment in your life. He was what you were listening to in high school in the 60s or 70s or 80s or 90s, right on up to the present day. That’s an amazing feat, and it’s humbling. Bowie connects us all.
Update 01/17/16
It’s gratifying to see this performance impacted so many others as it did me.