A couple of final salutes: Bowie, Rickman & The Boss

It was a lousy week for icons.

We lost David Bowie. And Alan Rickman.

Bowie was one of my early rock idols. Yes, I loved his music. But something else he did also appealed to me. His bizarre antics and androgynous looks drove our parents crazy.

But he was even more important to my wife.

I took a couple of blog items from last week and weaved them into my Monday print column, a salute to the Man Who Fell to Earth.

And that includes a special bonus item from the best writer in the family. Hint: It's not me.

I guess I am going to show my age again.

I was a bit taken aback when news arrived of the death of Rickman. Everyone started talking about Harry Potter?

As usual, I was on the outside looking in. I was never a Harry Potter fan. I've read any of the books that my kids devoured.

To me, Alan Rickman will always be Hans Gruber, the superb villain from Bruce Willis' original "Die Hard" movie.

In the meantime, one of my other rock idols, Bruce Springsteen, kicked off his 'River' in Pittsburgh over the weekend. The Boss talked about how Bowie was influential on his music, and how he once took a bus to Philly to see him when he was recording his 'Young Americans' album at Sigma Sounds Studios.

The Bruce did the kind of thing that makes him Bruce, that resonates with fans, and shows you he gets it, he understands the connection between fans the those folks on the stage.

He paid homage to Bowie in the best way possible.

Here it is:

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