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Abstract
David Bowie doesn’t matter very much. That seems like a bizarre remark, particularly in a special issue dedicated to the opposite view. But in Latin America, he is of minimal importance by contrast with other prominent English-language pop-music exports that journal readers will know, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Smiths or The Cure. How can this be true of an artist who is routinely labelled a world icon? Our paper identifies several reasons: nation-building and rock music’s first steps in Latin America, progressive cultural politics, conservative gender norms and a continent dominated by dictatorships when Bowie was becoming a putative ‘world icon’.
Acknowledgement
Many thanks to the editors for their comments, to our interviewees for their collaboration and to other kind informants: Abeyamí Ortega, Leandro González, Noah Zweig, Gabriel Moreno, Ana Wortman and Claudia Lagos.
Notes
2. TeleSur, the Venezuelan-based regional TV news network that provides what it calls an alternative to Anglo domination, claimed greater status for Bowie in the region than we do. This appears to be an ideologically-driven endorsement, because he was quoted during a visit to Latin America denouncing Yanqui cultural homogeneity (‘David Bowie in Latin America’ Citation2016).
3. https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=%22David+Bowie%22+icono&start=20 represents one search for Spanish-language media engagement with David Bowie, which mostly found sources in Spain.
4. The informal sector largely operates through hardware. High-quality broadband remains scarce.
7. His so-called world renown largely relies on recordings and identities from the decade between Ziggy Stardust (Citation1972) and Let’s Dance (Citation1983). In part due to numerous changes in the management and ownership of Bowie’s titles, coming up with reliable sales figures for him in general is difficult, let alone in Latin America http://www.musicweek.com/analysis/read/official-charts-analysis-david-bowie-s-uk-chart-life/063808.
8. http://www.abpd.org.br/home/certificados/?busca_artista=David+Bowie; http://www.abpd.org.br/home/certificados/?busca_artista=The+Beatles; http://www.abpd.org.br/home/certificados/?busca_artista=Rolling+Stones; http://www.abpd.org.br/home/certificados/?busca_artista=The+Smiths.
9. http://www.amprofon.com.mx/certificaciones-amprofon.php?disquera=&anio=&tipoAlbum=&tipoCertificacion=&aniocer=&key=David+Bowie&action=Buscar; http://www.amprofon.com.mx/certificaciones-amprofon.php?disquera=&anio=&tipoAlbum=&tipoCertificacion=&aniocer=&key=The+Beatles&action=Buscar.
10. The most important study here is Robert Kapsis’ classic work (Citation1992) on Alfred Hitchcock curating the fantasy of himself as auteur. Stuart Cunningham’s account of Charles Chauvel is also compelling (Citation1991).
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr7muW9mvN0; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6id1C3SDWWI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7rvFk41aRA; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1REIQdNRl0; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6AUnhlkFc; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0BAVbOuTLc.
12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rsg65AHcaFc; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjRmkaPNpWc; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHFBGQS4tHI.
19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIrGQD84F1 g; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_seoh-uOoI; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGlEvnY7oBc; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLk4EH9FWwI&list=PL0GAjFpaictI5gS6VGydWJ4GvkbegsoVW.
20. They don’t write them like that anymore.