David Bowie's 'The Next Day'

Hi Bill:

Well, looks like you got yourself noticed yet again with a whacked-out rant against the new David Bowie video.

Bowie is back after a decade-long hiatus with a killer album The Next Day, which you made clear on the Catholic League website and in the press that you’re not thrilled about. The video for the song “The Next Day" frosted your cupcake, and you called it the work of a "switch-hitting, bisexual senior citizen from London" that "is strewn with characteristic excess," according to Rolling Stone.

The clip stars Gary Oldham and shows priests frolicking with scantily clad women in a nightclub where a Christ-like singer, played by Bowie, is performing. One of the women develops a pretty bloody stigmata before Bowie ascends into heaven.

"In short, the video reflects the artist – it is a mess," you wrote, noting Bowie's statements over the years about various faiths and dogmas as proof that the singer "is nothing if not confused about religion."

That got you noticed, as this mention in the column proves. But here’s the thing -- it got Bowie noticed, too. Many articles written about your windbag whines also featured a YouTube clip of the offending video, making it that much easier for people to click over to the link and see what all the fuss was about.

To be sure, Bowie made a provocative video rich in gothic Catholic imagery of Opus Dei floggings.
Yes, he was a bit heavy-handed in the blood and gore department during the stigmata scene, and this reviewer thought that the song was great but the video was rather pointless.

Bowie wanted your reaction when he cast the beautiful models writhing around him, and the dour men with priest collars look on disapprovingly. In the process, he cast himself in the role of rebellious teen and you as the dowdy and prudish dad, even though he is a few months older than you are.

Your over-the-top outrage doesn’t do much for your cause or for the image of Irish Americans in particular. In this instance, you came off as unhinged and Bowie got his money’s worth out of this viral publicity stunt.

Maybe the next Bowie video should be a remake of a Warner Brothers cartoon, with Bowie cast as the quick-witted wascally wabbit Bugs Bunny and you as the clueless Elmo Fudd?

Th-th-that’s all, folks!

Fondly,
The Off the Record Crew

Check out the (explicit) video for David Bowie's 'The Next Day' here: