The Starman’s Walk of Fame Star Turns 20

August 15th, 2017 | by Nick
The Starman’s Walk of Fame Star Turns 20
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“If I make any more bad albums, you can come over here and walk all over me, all right?” David Bowie, Hollywood Walk of Fame induction ceremony.

 

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of David Bowie’s induction into Hollywood’s Walk of Fame. At the time of the induction, people kept up with news the old-fashioned way–television and radio, newspapers and magazines, and the new kids on the block, e-mail and chat boards. No surprise, then, that unless you were a hard-core Bowie fan or just paid close attention to all things Hollywood, David’s special day might have come and gone without your even knowing about it.

However, thanks to the wealth of social media tools now available, the twentieth anniversary of Bowie’s star has been widely covered. Even so, during an unplanned fan tweet-up which turned to the subject of Bowie’s induction (shout-out to all participants, with special thanks to @KatAltitude and @jebfd ), I realized I didn’t know as much about the Walk of Fame as I’d always assumed I did.

Curious to know more, I went looking first for Bowie’s acceptance speech and then for Walk history and trivia. Having found all three, I’d like to share a few highlights with you as well as some Bowie-fan Walk of Fame tweets I ran across in the process.

 

BUT FIRST, EXACTLY WHAT IS THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME?

The Walk’s formal (and unglamorous) name is Los Angeles Historical Cultural Monument #194, described on the Walk’s website as “a public sidewalk with embedded stars.”

Actually, it consists of many sidewalks stretching along, according to the website, 2.3-miles (3.7 km) of streets dotted with 2,617 stars. The 2,618th star has been awarded to the incomparable Charles Aznavour and will be unveiled at a ceremony on 24 August 2017.

Meanwhile, for a quick overview of the Walk and its management, take a look at this video tweeted by France’s AFP News Agency:


CLASSMATES

Bowie’s Walk of Fame Class of 1997 consisted of 22 members, as compared to 34 in the Class of 2017 and another 34 in the newly announced Class of 2018. Any number of factors can affect the ultimate size of a class. Whatever the number, however, induction ceremonies take place year-round at the rate of two or three per month.

Class-of-1997-Hall-of-Fame

Bowie’s class included James Brown (far right in the second picture to the right) and John Lee Hooker, both of whom were significant influences on his own artistic development. So lasting was their influence, in fact, that he included an album by each of them in the 2003 David Bowie’s Favorite Albums article he wrote for Vanity Fair magazine.

Another person from Bowie’s past in his Walk of Fame class was Don Cornelius (with young Bowie in the far left picture above), creator and host of Soul Train, the premier African American television dance program which aired for 35 years. During Bowie’s “plastic soul” period, Cornelius invited him to appear on Soul Train, where he participated in an interview and sang “Golden Days” and “Fame”.

THAT SPECIAL STAR ON THE SIDEWALK

There’s much more to say about the Walk of Fame, but little that is directly related to David Bowie’s star. Therefore, I’ll end by sharing a few Walk of Fame tweets by Bowie fans. Please do like and RT any of these that move you–and/or share some of your own Bowie Walk of Fame tweets so we can keep them in circulation.


ONE MORE FAVORITE: THE MEME THAT BACKFIRED

This final tweet responds to one from a young woman who said she’d “stopped to clean” Donald Trump’s Walk of Fame star, adding “Nothing but respect for MY President.” Naturally, the tweet quickly went viral, spawning memes on top of memes.

Thanks so much for checking out this blog on your visit to David Bowie News. You can find me on Twitter as @revisingmyself. Please follow me there if you’re not already doing so. Be blessed and safe!

 

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