David Bowie

[GoldenMane]

This whole Bowie thing has got me thinking... Look at all the famous pop culture figures that you see on posters and t shirts.
Bob Marley, Che Guevara, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Umm......John Lennon.
You STILL...see these artists adorning clothing even though they are long dead. Just walk past any university or visit a fashionably hip suburb.
You are bound to see these iconic images.

These artists all have one thing in common......

You don't often see Billy Corgan's mug on a tee shirt, and it's not like he's an ugly dude either

 

[blackg]

You don't often see Billy Corgan's mug on a tee shirt, and it's not like he's an ugly dude either

Good point dude!!

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It wouldnt of mattered if Bowie lost his hair. He was just an immense talent on so many levels. The 90s pop ruined music for a while also what the acceptable image was for a pop star, but musicians and artists are starting to break the boundaries with talent like Ed Sheeran hes like a 4. But there have been a great amount of balding/bald stars. Phil Collins, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkle, James Taylor, Elton John, Billy Corgan, Common, Ne-yo (hides under a hat though), Billy Joel, Michael Stipe.... John Lennon was also balding before he got gunned down. Apparently had a spot on his crown he would cover. Now if your just a vocalist having people write songs for you than looks are huge, but if your a talented musician you'll be fine.

And I can't agree with you, mate.

 

[GoldenMane]

I think it's because bald people never look young, and usually when you pit someone's face on a tee shirt, it's a symbol of youth, rebellion or wildness, and nobody ever associates baldness with youth, rebellion or wildness. Baldness is associated with old age, decline, conformity and conservatism/conformity. Not tee shirt material.

 

[F2005]

It wouldnt of mattered if Bowie lost his hair. He was just an immense talent on so many levels. The 90s pop ruined music for a while also what the acceptable image was for a pop star, but musicians and artists are starting to break the boundaries with talent like Ed Sheeran hes like a 4. But there have been a great amount of balding/bald stars. Phil Collins, Paul Simon, Art Garfunkle, James Taylor, Elton John, Billy Corgan, Common, Ne-yo (hides under a hat though), Billy Joel, Michael Stipe.... John Lennon was also balding before he got gunned down. Apparently had a spot on his crown he would cover. Now if your just a vocalist having people write songs for you than looks are huge, but if your a talented musician you'll be fine.

Bowie's image was huge, as he was part of the early glam movement of the 70's. And how "glam" would it be if he was bald. I can rattle off a long list of musicians whose bands would not nearly have the success that they had if their members were bald. When it comes to rock n roll, image is huge and is often even more important than the music. Lots of these guys are viewed as sex symbols and since baldness often signifies ugliness and old age, it would stand in direct contrast to the vibe that the music embodies. A lot of the guys you mention like James Taylor or Billy Joel actually went bald once they got older, when they were already established huge talents. Billy Joel had a bouffant of hair when he was at his biggest in the 80s.

 

[blackg]

The guys you mentioned were all well established at the time they lost a good amount of hair. If they had lost their hair in their early - mid 20s they would have fallen off the grid.

Lennon had essentially a full head of hair at the time of his death. Look at the photos on the two virgin disc, which was his last one:

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Fantasy-John-Lennon/dp/B00004WGEK

Simon and garfunkle both had hair a good way into their careers. Simon wore a piece for awhile.


For Elton John's Honkey Chateau he had a little thinning so they hid his head:

http://www.amazon.com/Elton-John-Honky-Château/dp/B000001EGE

Elton's pic isn't even on the cover of Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ZNYqcaE1M

Or madman across the water:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/madman-across-the-water-mw0000190515

Or tumble weed connection:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/tumbleweed-connection-mw0000650322

For goodbye yellow brick road they did a drawing of Elton with a full head of hair:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/37869140?...88309288&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=89023729488&veh=sem

For rock of the westies they put him under a hat:

http://www.amazon.com/Elton-John-Rock-The-Westies/dp/B000001EM3

In Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy they made a drawing of him and put him under a hat:

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...tXMUqnWSUXpSaW5BdZgaWKrcD6yoqqTAwBohq_pFIAAAA

As far as Billie Joe goes not only was he well established after he lost a bunch of hair but once he put out Piano Man he had a good shot of sticking because the industry found out how good he is. In the middle of his career he still had a bunch of his hair as evinced by the glass houses disc and the stranger:

http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Houses-Billy-Joel/dp/B00000DDMH

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1819EYY79E6DEK5V9S2V

Ed Sheeran isn't even a big name and never was cuz I've never heard of him. Same for Michael Stripe and Ne-yo, whoever they are.

James Taylor had a bunch of hair a long way into his career.

When Phil Collins got in he had a bunch of hair and he built up a fan base with Genesis. He was the most talented member of Genesis.

Once a musician gets into the industry with some hits the industry is going to let him keep producing because they never know if he might come up with another hit. But getting into the industry missing hair is another matter. There may be a few musicians who got in missing hair but not many. Bobby Darin wore a piece and so did Sinatra.

Dude, you put some effort into that!! And ya never heard of Ed Shyteran???? I wouldn't worry too much. Once his hair loss becomes very noticeable he will sink like a dead body in the East River!!

 

[kmm179]

The guys you mentioned were all well established at the time they lost a good amount of hair. If they had lost their hair in their early - mid 20s they would have fallen off the grid.

Lennon had essentially a full head of hair at the time of his death. Look at the photos on the two virgin disc, which was his last one:

http://www.amazon.com/Double-Fantasy-John-Lennon/dp/B00004WGEK

Simon and garfunkle both had hair a good way into their careers. Simon wore a piece for awhile.


For Elton John's Honkey Chateau he had a little thinning so they hid his head:

http://www.amazon.com/Elton-John-Honky-Château/dp/B000001EGE

Elton's pic isn't even on the cover of Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1ZNYqcaE1M

Or madman across the water:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/madman-across-the-water-mw0000190515

Or tumble weed connection:

http://www.allmusic.com/album/tumbleweed-connection-mw0000650322

For goodbye yellow brick road they did a drawing of Elton with a full head of hair:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/37869140?...88309288&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=89023729488&veh=sem

For rock of the westies they put him under a hat:

http://www.amazon.com/Elton-John-Rock-The-Westies/dp/B000001EM3

In Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy they made a drawing of him and put him under a hat:

https://www.google.com/webhp?source...tXMUqnWSUXpSaW5BdZgaWKrcD6yoqqTAwBohq_pFIAAAA

As far as Billie Joe goes not only was he well established after he lost a bunch of hair but once he put out Piano Man he had a good shot of sticking because the industry found out how good he is. In the middle of his career he still had a bunch of his hair as evinced by the glass houses disc and the stranger:

http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Houses-Billy-Joel/dp/B00000DDMH

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0..._m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1819EYY79E6DEK5V9S2V

Ed Sheeran isn't even a big name and never was cuz I've never heard of him. Same for Michael Stripe and Ne-yo, whoever they are.

James Taylor had a bunch of hair a long way into his career.

When Phil Collins got in he had a bunch of hair and he built up a fan base with Genesis. He was the most talented member of Genesis.

Once a musician gets into the industry with some hits the industry is going to let him keep producing because they never know if he might come up with another hit. But getting into the industry missing hair is another matter. There may be a few musicians who got in missing hair but not many. Bobby Darin wore a piece and so did Sinatra.

You completely missed the point I was making. Hairloss didnt effect those guys careers at all. Most of them had visible hairloss when starting. If Bowie lost his hair it would not of effected his career. Guy made good records. How he was dressed on stage was a tiny part of a huge character he created with 98% of it being in the music. People didn't come to see him stand on a stage in make up they came to see him perform his music.....Also because Elton wore a had sometimes didnt hide his baldness from the world. Fact is everyone new he was bald/balding. This is how he looked in most of his performances. Straight norwood 4 status.
And I said John had a bald spot on his crown he used to cover up which you can actually see on his last album cover which is Double Fantasy not Two Virgins. Something is clearly going on.

 

[hellouser]

Moby, Elton John.

Elton John wears a wig.

Moby is almost NEVER in the spotlight. Worse yet, he's largely been irrelevant since his Play album, which was what... almost 15 years ago?

 

[nameless]

You completely missed the point I was making. Hairloss didnt effect those guys careers at all. Most of them had visible hairloss when starting. If Bowie lost his hair it would not of effected his career. Guy made good records. How he was dressed on stage was a tiny part of a huge character he created with 98% of it being in the music. People didn't come to see him stand on a stage in make up they came to see him perform his music.....Also because Elton wore a had sometimes didnt hide his baldness from the world. Fact is everyone new he was bald/balding. This is how he looked in most of his performances. Straight norwood 4 status. View attachment 37483View attachment 37484
And I said John had a bald spot on his crown he used to cover up which you can actually see on his last album cover which is Double Fantasy not Two Virgins. Something is clearly going on.

I did not miss your point; I totally disagree with your point. The picture you showed us of Elton is from late 1973 or afterwards. By that point Elton was an entrenched fixture in the music industry and with fans.

Elton's hair loss was not REAL noticeable until well into his career about the time of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and even then it wasn't real bad. And by the time of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Elton was entrenched big time with major hits. There was no way the industry was going to dump him after some of these songs. He was probably going to get to stick with the industry by 1971 and certainly by 1972. In 1970 "Your Song" was a smash hit and Border Song, Burn Down the Mission, and Country Comfort were all decent hits. Rod Stewart did a cover of Country Comfort. Then in 1971 you get Tiny Dancer, Levon, and Indian Sunset all on one disc. This is probably the point when Elton became a keeper for the recording industry. Then in 1972 he came out with Rocket Man and Honky Cat and if he wasn't entrenched after Tiny Dancer, Levon and Indian Sunset in 1971 then he was entrenched in 1972 with Honky Cat and Rocket Man. And it wasn't until after this that his rock-n-roll hair loss started to crumble. But it was too late to hurt him because he was already solidly entrenched. To this day they still call him "Rocket Man." And even by his next album (don't shoot me I'm only the piano player) he still had a bit of his rock-n-roll looking hair. And this disc had Daniel and Crocodile Rock.

Elton John (1970) Your song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTa8U0Wa0q8

Elton John (1970) Burn down the mission:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFbCd-gGigM

Elton John (1970) Border Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VIH11m6QGk

Elton John (1970) Take me to the Pilot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSEX2yrZDks

Elton John (1970) Country Comfort (The link shows pics of Elton if you play the song through)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttu5DL3-1s4

Elton John (1971) Tiny Dancer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xuSYEeo9Wc

Elton John (1971) Levon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mire1WJKdR8

Elton John (1972) Honky Cat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly07GWoK9aY

Elton John (1972) Mona Lisas and mad Hatters:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrOu0oc9aB4

Elton John (1972) Rocket Man:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os6KT66-LKs

And even in early 1973 while his rock-n-roll hair was fading it wasn't completely gone yet. Take a look at these two 1973 performances:

First here is early 1973 with the song Daniel and this is the same disc (Don't shoot me I'm only the piano player - January 1973) that had Crocodile Rock. The rock-n-roll look of his hair is fading for sure but it's still a little visible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f0TMfQNRk8

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road came out October 1973 (about 9 months after don't shoot me I'm only the piano player) and this is when his hair lost its' rock-n-roll look, but by this point he was firmly established and so were his rock-n-roll credentials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttcROXOTbtg

 

[GoldenMane]

How about we list artists that became famous AFTER male pattern baldness struck rather than artists who lost their hair well into successful established careers?

So Moby then? Lol!

Even the likes of Michael Stipe, Billy Corgan, Rob Halford (Judas Priest) had already established themselves as successful recording artists before it struck. Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley, James Morrison, Che Guevara et al would not be adorning tee shirts to this day had they been challenged in the hair department. The two qualifiers are (A) dying and (B) not looking like an old man/man in decline.

 

[nameless]

How about we list artists that became famous AFTER male pattern baldness struck rather than artists who lost their hair well into successful established careers?

So Moby then? Lol!

Even the likes of Michael Stipe, Billy Corgan, Rob Halford (Judas Priest) had already established themselves as successful recording artists before it struck. Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley, James Morrison, Che Guevara et al would not be adorning tee shirts to this day had they been challenged in the hair department. The two qualifiers are (A) dying and (B) not looking like an old man/man in decline.

I don't understand how someone could think otherwise. Of course rock performers will need big beautiful hair to get into the industry. I haven't even heard of this one outlier guy Moby so even this one guy isn't earth-shattering famous.

 

[Dench57]

I'd like to think Bowie's talent was so immense that he would've been a huge success regardless of his hair. I actually never noticed how good his hair was until watching the tributes yesterday and he was still NW1 at 69. His image was a huge part of his success though, especially in his early career, and he always rocked crazy hairstyles through the 70s and 80s.

 

[kmm179]

Elton John wears a wig.

Moby is almost NEVER in the spotlight. Worse yet, he's largely been irrelevant since his Play album, which was what... almost 15 years ago?

Yeah he has for a while in the 70s he was rocking a horseshoe.

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So all those people who are now bald and balded during there careers shouldn't count bc they weren't norwood 6s before? All of them had visible hairloss. Hair did not effect there careers. So your saying if Elton John would of been a norwood 6 in 1970 he wouldn't of made it? Get out of here with that flawed logic when you write songs like that you could be purple with a ****ing horns and still make it....Also one of the biggest stars of the last 20 years is Tupac....He's on shirts too so suck it.

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There's actually a good amount of bald hip hop stars that came up like that LL Cool J, DMX, Jada Kiss, Common. You'll start to notice more if you look. The reason why there aren't too many norwood 6s before they got famous is A alot of these guys got famous young and B norwood 6 by early 20s is very aggressive and uncommon. Alot of the hip hop stars got famous later when hairloss was in full effect. But all these guys are so talented hairloss hasn't effected their careers. Not everyone reacts likes us and goes into hiding you know...

 

[nameless]

I'd like to think Bowie's talent was so immense that he would've been a huge success regardless of his hair. I actually never noticed how good his hair was until watching the tributes yesterday and he was still NW1 at 69. His image was a huge part of his success though, especially in his early career, and he always rocked crazy hairstyles through the 70s and 80s.

The last sentence about Bowie's image being a big part of his success and rocking crazy hair styles is very true. That hair of his and that image it helped him create were big parts of what Bowie was in the beginning. Ziggie Stardust without hair...I don't think so.

 

[kmm179]

Your one person. The fans and recording companies knew he had great hair.

I agree with that Dench. I'm sure most his fans couldn't of cared less if he had hair or not. He had a very interesting fan base coming out as gay and bisexual in the 70s. No one cared about his sexual orientation or looks. He got fans bc of his music and talent not because he was a norwood one....Thats honestly a slap in the face to a legend if you think that.

 

[hellouser]

Yeah he has for a while in the 70s he was rocking a horseshoe.

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So all those people who are now bald and balded during there careers shouldn't count bc they weren't norwood 6s before? All of them had visible hairloss. Hair did not effect there careers. So your saying if Elton John would of been a norwood 6 in 1970 he wouldn't of made it? Get out of here with that flawed logic when you write songs like that you could be purple with a ****ing horns and still make it....Also one of the biggest stars of the last 20 years is Tupac....He's on shirts too so suck it.

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There's actually a good amount of bald hip hop stars that came up like that LL Cool J, DMX, Jada Kiss, Common. You'll start to notice more if you look. The reason why there aren't too many norwood 6s before they got famous is A alot of these guys got famous young and B norwood 6 by early 20s is very aggressive and uncommon. Alot of the hip hop stars got famous later when hairloss was in full effect. But all these guys are so talented hairloss hasn't effected their careers. Not everyone reacts likes us and goes into hiding you know...

Black people are exempt, their looks aren't ruined by baldness.

 

[nameless]

First you tried to peddle off a 197 NW4 pic of Elton from later in his career as relevant even though he was well established by then and now you talk about how the people who disagree with you have flawed logic. Give me a break. Your logic is so flawed that you have to use deceit picture of Elton take after he was established as one of the biggest pop stars of all time so you're the one who needs to take your flawed logic and deceit and get out of here . Elton's hair may have been thinning early but he could still make it look rock-n-roll for the period that mattered most - 1969 - early 1972. This period got him solidly entrenched with fans and the music industry. Your NW4 picture did not take place until after that period. And if he had been NW4 when he started I do believe things would not have gone the way things went.

All these other guys you mention (Tupac, LL Cool, DMC etc , etc, etc,) are not rock-n-roll except for Kiss started out with big rock-n-roll hair. And Kiss were rockers not hipsters or rappers like the others you mentioned. Rock is not the same as hip-hop or rap. We are talking about rock. And throwing Kiss (pure rockers) in with the hipsters and rappers is more deceit because Kiss is rock AND Kiss had a lot of hair early in their career. Hair was a big part of Kiss's image. Hair was a huge part of their image as they tossed it back and forth and side to side to show it off. Check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMD7Usflbg

Now I'm done with you and your cr@p dude. You don't know which end is up.

 

[kmm179]

That pic was Thanksgiving 1974 him and John Lennon performed at MSG....He was 27...Peddling a pic later in his career lol, a little delusional? All the guys I named in my earlier post were rockers, but apparently they didn't meet your criteria bc they werent bald enough or young enough. So I name artists/ performers who were And look they still don't count to you. Every single guy I named experienced hairloss and it hasn't effected there careers. No one banished them or burned them alive. There still just as successful, they didn't lose fans. Also I dk why you think you get the make the criteria of what is an exceptional balding star... If they are a performer and balding there a balding star....

 

[nameless]

Black people are exempt, their looks aren't ruined by baldness.

Also, the black people he brought up aren't even rock stars. I'm a rocker and I do not put hip-hop or rap into the same category. Most true rockers are hoping for rap and hip hop to go away so we can get back to rock. And when he brought up Kiss with the rap/hip-hop crowd as if Kiss is rap/hip-hop and as if Kiss didn't have a bunch of big hair when they started I decided the guy is full of sh!t. Kiss are rockers, they had a ton of big hair when they started and they used to toss that hair in all directions as big tossing rebellious hair was a major part of their act:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMD7Usflbg

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I agree with that Dench. I'm sure most his fans couldn't of cared less if he had hair or not. He had a very interesting fan base coming out as gay and bisexual in the 70s. No one cared about his sexual orientation or looks. He got fans bc of his music and talent not because he was a norwood one....Thats honestly a slap in the face to a legend if you think that.

You're a troll or dense. Your mischaracterizing what Dench said. Nobody agrees with you. Dench's first sentence said he merely wanted to believe Bowie didn't need his hair not that he truly didn't need his hair. And in Dench's follow-up sentences he talks about how Bowies hair was indeed part of his image. Nobody agrees with you. Young Ziggy Stardust w/o hair = no Ziggy Stardust.

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That pic was Thanksgiving 1974 him and John Lennon performed at MSG....He was 27...Peddling a pic later in his career lol, a little delusional? All the guys I named in my earlier post were rockers, but apparently they didn't meet your criteria bc they werent bald enough or young enough. So I name artists/ performers who were And look they still don't count to you. Every single guy I named experienced hairloss and it hasn't effected there careers. No one banished them or burned them alive. There still just as successful, they didn't lose fans. Also I dk why you think you get the make the criteria of what is an exceptional balding star... If they are a performer and balding there a balding star....

The guys you mentioned are not true rockers except for Kiss and Kiss had a bunch of big hair, and their big hair was part of their wild rebellious image as they tossed it a lot. And you are now making a big deal that Elton was ONLY 27 by the time his hair lost the rock look but his age doesn't matter because he had a string of some of rock's biggest hits by then and he was firmly entrenched with the industry and the fans as I've already proved.

Here's a video of Kiss when they were establishing themselves. Big hair was a big part of their act:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFMD7Usflbg

 

[kmm179]

Your clearly have some issues my friend. Norwood 4 by 26-27 is very bald very young. You still seem to be acting completely ignorant to the point of my original post. Hairloss did not effect their careers. If Bowie would of lost his hair earlier you think he wouldn't of sold albums or sold out Arenas? Wrong. If Elton was norwood 6 by 20 you think pple would think the music he wrote was bad all of a sudden bc he was bad....wrong. If your a talented singer, song writer, musician then looks really don't matter. Music broke racial barriers....People really don't care what you look like. You listen to music with your ears not your eyes....

 

[nameless]

You're dumb. I never said hair loss in a person's 20's isn't young. I said that hair loss for rockers from the beginning of their careers would kill their careers but once they're established with solid hits they can get a pass after they lose their rock-n-roll hair. How about you showing me ALL of the entry level bald rockers and don't include hip-hop or rappers. Rock is rock.

And I'm not deciding who is and isn't an exceptional star. I'm deciding who is and isn't established since you keep bringing up these cases where the person lost his hair AFTER he was established and entrenched. It makes a big difference if the stars were already established by the time they lost their rock-n-roll hair, as is the case with Elton. And I'm also deciding what is and isn't rock because we are talking about "rockers" needing their hair early on. We are not talking about black hip-hoppers or rappers needing their hair early on. You are trying to mx rap and hip hop into the discussion but rap is not rock and neither is hip hop. Rock is rock