Liking Bowie Regarded as Silly in Vaguely Semi-highbrow Indie Rock Publication Ca. 1988

i quite remember that both bowie and roxy were considered to be pretty cool in the late 80s (though never let me down had kinda knocked off some of bowie's luster).

The highbrow alt-indie magazine of America for a while there. Closest parallel I can think of is an American Wire but one that always put more marketable alt/pop figures on the cover instead of the free jazz and atonal composers that made up half the features and reviews section.

that still doesn't explain the dissing of roxy music.

That's the key line there. ZZ Top and Neil Young are perceived to be as authentic as they come, so I guess they got through unquestioned. And authenticity was a pretty key thing in the 80s US scene right? Seem to recall the "artifice and posturing" thing being thrown at Pussy Galore quite a few times for instance.

ZZ "Eliminator" Top were perceived as totally authentic, without posturing? Whatever. Their 80's stuff, vidoes particularly, was pretty glitzed up and certainly not very cool.

And while substatial elements of the hardcore scene may have been homophobic, I don't think it's fair to tar the whole American underground scene of the 80's as a bunch of bigots - witness Husker Du, for example. Just because you're anti-fashion/posturing (which yes, I know, constitutes a fashion and a posture in and of itself) doesn't mean you're anti-gay.

Yeah, but for all the glitz, you'd never mistake them for something they weren't, they were basically just a pimped-up version of their old redneck selves. You could still tell they had that there boogie in their goddamn bones. Sure put 'em in shiny jackets, but they still looked liked a bunch of shit-kickin' pig-farmers.

Actually, what I'm wondering is whether or not there's any disagreement with this fundamental proposition:

Bowie? The master of artifice and posturing?

There's also the fact that traditional European popular music (British music hall, French chanson, German cabaret etc) has always been more about exaggeration and role-playing, compared to American traditional popular forms, which have been more about self-expression and the authentic.

In other words, put Bowie in his English and European context, he seems much less of a "master of artifice", and more of a reflection of the popular culture.

richie unterberger was one of the bigwigs at both op and option, and can currently be found all over AMG, among other places.

scott becker was another bigwig at both.

i don't recall holly george-warren having any connection to it, but i might not have been paying attention.

A-and Tin Machine (inspired by this very article?) would go on to cover Roxy -- three years later! The circle of "- gulp - prog rock" is complete!

Bowie? The master of artifice and posturing?

I've definitely heard the sentiment before -- most notably in a review of The Breakfast Club (where quoting "Changes" in The Breakfast Club is supposedly considered symbolic of the pretentious/nigh-on-cloying high schooler-appealing sentiments in both Bowie's lyrics and in the movie).

Tres Hombres stomps all over Bowie's puny little face and torso.