Three years have passed since the sad death of David Bowie, it seems like yesterday that the news dropped early in the morning, the anniversary being tomorrow. On his birthday in 2013 I remember the excitement that he had suddenly reappeared with no warning and released 'Where Are We Now?' and there was a feeling that he might tour. This was sadly never to be, I personally wonder if he knew then that he was on borrowed time. When you think about it he did things the right way round, usually you work all your life before retiring if you are lucky to get that far. However people in the entertainment industry tend to work until they drop without enjoying that well deserved rest. David Bowie did it in typically skewed fashion by spending ten years doing very little work-wise so he could be at home and be a dad to his daughter before hitting a final creative peak right before the end. It is easy to listen to the album Blackstar in retrospect and read between the lines looking for clues, especially within the video for 'Lazarus'. 

Although I observed his birthday as I will the anniversary of his death tomorrow, quietly to myself, there was something that disturbed me slightly. The news showed up on the official Bowie Twitter feed (I am against the practise of verifying Twitter accounts for people who get someone else to do it, which was the case when Bowie was alive, but that's a different story) that Parlophone are going to release a collection of rare tracks and demos. 

Maybe Bowie made provision for this, he did seem quite organised after all, if you saw the David Bowie Is... exhibition you would realise the attention to detail that played a part in his life. I don't doubt that there is a lot of music in the vaults, but what I am worried about is the over selling of the legend. Spying Through A Keyhole isn't an album, it is a collection of 7" singles of rare tracks and previously unheard demo versions of well known songs. Once upon a time I would have bought anything, I would have bought a tape of David Bowie reading takeaway menus but my feelings are changing. 

Since the death of David Bowie, his social media has turned into advertising space for reissues, picture discs, and other such lucrative endeavours. You only have to look at the way that Brian May and Roger Taylor has squeezed every drop of goodwill out of the Queen legacy to worry that David Bowie will be the next victim of this. After all, they do say that death is the best career move for a musician.

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Ever since the death of David Bowie there have been a great many reports regarding what in retrospect would appear to be hidden messages from beyond the grave within his final album Blackstar. There is also a vast wealth of conspiracy theories by people who should really get out of the house more, such as the dimwit who found the time to come up with the idea that the K-West sign on the cover of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars was in fact a reference to hip hop buffoon Kanye West. As he died two days after the release of the album it stands to reason that he was leaving himself open to speculation, especially as he enjoyed the mystery element in his later years. Obviously we now know that the reason for his secrecy was that he was close to death, and it isn't totally unrealistic to imagine that such a meticulous planner could have laid a few crumbs out for his fans. Although it is doubtful that he could have known the exact day of his death, he must have known he didn't have long, something that a post-death look at the video for 'Lazarus' tells us. 

Something that hasn't been reported on, mainly because I made the whole thing up while walking Jack, is that David Bowie predicted his career and death way back in 1967. The proof of this is in the lyrics to 'The Laughing Gnome'. Don't believe me? Of course you don't, this is all bollocks but let's go with it anyway.

I was walking down the high street

when I heard footsteps behind me. 

Was he talking about his own ghost?

And there was a little old man

In scarlet and grey, shuffling away.

For such a colourful person, David Bowie wore grey on some occasions. Each picture depicts David Bowie as an older man than he was in 1967.

Then I put him on the train to Eastbourne

Carried his bag, gave him a fag

Eastbourne is a place jokingly referred to as a place where elderly people go to die, and long time smoker David Bowie died of cancer.

In the morning when I woke up

He was sitting on the edge of my bed

David Bowie appeared on a bed in the video for 'Lazarus' in which he appeared to be talking from beyond the grave.

If none of the above totally invented facts are not enough for you, how about the London Records label for 'The Laughing Gnome'? That's right, there's a black star on it and Bowie's final album was called Blackstar.

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 This week's edition of The Sunday Alternative is here. 

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