Month: August 2001

Is there life on Mars?

Well, we all knew that the French Post Office had their finger on the pulse when they chose to use ‘Life On Mars?’ in a recent advertising campaign, and now it seems their good taste has been endorsed by the UK’s ultra-hip Xfm radio station with the publication of its annual X-list.

The X-List 2001 is a poll of around 15,000 Xfm listeners’ three favourite tracks in attempt to determine the best 104 recordings of all time, and David Bowie’s ‘Life On Mars?’ is in the top ten for the second year in a row.

Taken from the ‘Hunky Dory’ album, this classic Bowie track was first released as a single in the UK, complete with a beautiful picture sleeve (see above), during the Aladdin Sane tour in June 1973. Backed with ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, ‘Life On Mars?’ reached #3 on the UK singles chart just in time for Bowie to retire Ziggy at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

While the track has slipped from last year’s position of two to number six in this year’s list, David is still one of only three artists in the list that started recording during the 1960s, the others being The Beatles at number eight with ‘Revolution’, and Jimi Hendrix at 56 with ‘All Along The Watchtower’. Just goes to prove the kids still have taste, and it’s further confirmation of the popularity of ‘Hunky Dory’ to the youngsters who are just discovering the music of David Bowie.

See below for the artists that occupy the top ten positions this year, last year’s positions are bracketed.

01. Nirvana – ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ (25)
02. Radiohead – ‘Creep’ (36)
03. Stone Roses – ‘I Am The Resurrection’ (4)
04. Clash – ‘London Calling’ (10)
05. Smiths – ‘How Soon Is Now’ (34)
06. David Bowie – ‘Life On Mars’ (2)
07. Blur – ‘Song 2’ (14)
08. Beatles – ‘Revolution’ (15)
09. Radiohead – ‘Just’ (1)
10. Strokes – ‘The Modern Age’ (New)

Thanx to Chris of Man of Music for the La Poste link and to BowieNetter Paul McFarlane for alerting me to a report about this story at dotmusic.com. Paul is a man even happier than I to see The Strokes straight in at number ten with their first single, ‘The Modern Age’, and I’m over the moon!

But her mummy is yelling “No”…

Nikkie@davidbowie.com and Malone@davidbowie.com are the two winners of the FITTNB competition we posted on Wednesday. (08/29/01 NEWS: WIN TICKETS FOR FITTNB HOME RUN) Both of you correctly stated that the chap who play’s the lead character of Martin is the very talented Alex Clarke.

For those of you that didn’t win, but still fancy attending this final run of Adrian Berry’s production, go here for booking details.

Meanwhile, If you two winners would like to mail me at MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.Com with a subject heading of: ‘FITTNB Barnet ticket winners’, I’ll give you details of how to get your tickets. See you there tomorrow!

Hear this Robert Smith…

You may be aware that Mark Plati has been in the studio with The Cure to record four new songs and help the band “look for those two elusive new singles” for a forthcoming Cure greatest hits collection, due for the end of the year. But it would seem that Mark has also been teaching Robert Smith some classic Bowie licks too. Go here and click on day three for the evidence…You will have to go right to the end of the clip to see it though…”This week dragged past me so slowly.”

Many thanks for the pointer to Chris, who is webmaster of his own French language Bowie site, Man of Music

David Bowie is set to have a plaque erected in his honour outside a South London pub where he played 30 years ago. The Rat & Parrot on Beckenham High Street near Bromley will unveil the memorial in November. At that time it was called The Three Tuns and frequently played host to Bowie and his ‘Arts Lab’ sessions. It was here that the ‘Ziggy Stardust’ character and concept was conceived.

The pub manager told NME.COM that although the exact wording of the plaque had not been agreed, it would say something close to David Bowie, Rock Legend, played here 1969-1973′. Unlike English heritage distinctive blue plaques, erected in memorial of the dead, Bowie’s plaque will most likely bered. Locals have recently written to the star to tell him about the plaque and are currently awaiting a response.

To my mother, my dog, and clowns*

This is your very last chance to win one of two pairs of tickets for the last performances of ‘From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads’. Three shows this weekend (Saturday September 1st & Sunday the 2nd at 8pm, plus a matinee on Sunday at 4pm) at The Bull, 68 High Street, Barnet, London, will be the final performances of Adrian Berry’s best selling show.

To enter, please make sure you can definitely attend and then tell me the real name of the play’s lead character Martin. The information you need can be found on this site. Send your answer with preferred date to me at MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.Com with a subject heading of: ‘FITTNB Barnet tickets’. We will announce the winners tomorrow.

(*And anybody else who fancies their chances actually)

Genius : The Times : 08/25/01 In an interview with Timothy Spall ( who could forget that face? – above) he names his favourite films, sports, books and music :- “I think that Bowie is a genius. He is superb as a balladeer; his voice is beautiful and heart-rending.”

Christiane F : Dot Music : Aug 2001 From their review of the album :- Some of Bowie’s very best music is compiled here. There are the obviously cinematic tracks – the steely proto-techno glide of ‘V-2 Schneider’, the dark ambience of ‘Warszawa’ and ‘Sense Of Doubt’ – alongside the jagged pop of ‘Boys Keep Swinging’.

Good boy and adoring husband : Evening Standard : 08/23/01 In a lifestyle article about a new women’s advice booklet called “The Boyfriend Training Kit”, David is listed among the “Good Boys” for his qualities as an adoring husband.

Awesome : Undercover : 08/03/01 : Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen tells of his plans to record a solo album :- He says he would like to write with Courtney Love for it but hasn’t talked to her yet, and he would also like to have David Bowie on the album although he thinks he would be too much in awe of Bowie in the studio.

Genre-straddling : New York Times : 08/26/01 In an article about the 10th anniversary of the death of Serge Gainsbourg:- Increasingly, though, critical consensus is placing Gainsbourg in the more esteemed company of pop craftsmen like Burt Bachrach and genre-straddling innovators like David Bowie.

Artist : The Guardian : 08/03/01 From a profile of the artist, Gavin Turk :- Beyond such post-modern musical mayhem, there is always David Bowie. “David Bowie is the other man in my old girlfriends’ lives,” Turk explains. For many years, I went out with a string of girls who all worshipped David Bowie, so the only reason I listened to him myself is because these girls went on about him all the time. Maybe there were just a lot of female Bowie fans around at the time. It was always the album Hunky Dory. But it made me realise that he was a true artist before he realised that he was making art.

(contributors : rochelle, bonster, spaceface)

:))

To the seat with the clearest view…

Thanks to the continued generosity of Tiny Dynamite, we are giving away another two pairs of tickets for a couple more performances of ‘From Ibiza to the Norfolk Broads’, fresh from its astonishing success at the Edinburgh Festival. The play is on at the home of Tiny Dynamite: The Bull, 68 High Street, Barnet, London on Sept 1 & 2 at 8pm (plus a matinee on Sunday at 4pm).

Before you enter, please make sure you can definitely attend. Now all you have to do is tell me the real name of the play’s lead character Martin. The information you need can be found on this site. Send your answer with preferred date to me at MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.Com with a subject heading of: ‘FITTNB Barnet tickets’. The competition ends midnight Thursday (GMT) and we will announce the winners on Friday, when we will also be posting a round-up of the reviews of the Edinburgh run of the play. See you there.

With you by my side, it should be fine…

You’re possibly getting the hang of this one by now…Just two weeks to go before ‘American Dream’ is released as part of the ‘Training Day’ soundtrack. Hope we don’t run out of pictures before then. };-)

On another floor, in the back of a car…

A recently released soundtrack CD that includes two Bowie tracks seems to have slipped through the BowieNet, erm… Bowie net. Details are a little sketchy at the moment but this is what I know to be fact. There are at least two versions of the CD (see covers above) one released in Germany and another in France, both versions released through Virgin France. Not sure just yet about plans for the rest of the world.

The two versions have the same tracklisting, including David Bowie’s ‘Candidate’ and ‘The Motel’. The latter is the normal album version, but the former is the first time that ‘Candidate’ has been made available as a track in its own right.

This is a unique mix of the song that fades at the point where ‘Candidate’ would normally run into ‘Sweet Thing (reprise)’. But, as incredible a piece of music as ‘Candidate’ is, it does sound a little odd out of context like this to be honest, a bit like removing the middle panel of that really famous triptych that everybody knows all about, and showing it without the outer panels…having said that, it probably works in isolation for those not familiar with the full ‘Sweet Thing’/’Candidate’/’Sweet Thing (reprise)’ track from the ‘Diamond Dogs’ album which we all know and love.

Other artists on the CD that help make this a pretty stunning line-up include: Tindersticks, The Clash, (the criminally overlooked) Clinic, Dream City Film Club, Iggy Pop (‘Consolation Prizes’ and the awesome, and appropriately entitled ‘Penetration’), Nick Cave (incredible and hard to find version of the Elvis song, ‘In The Ghetto’) and Eyeless In Gaza. The second half of the album comprises the original score by Eric Neveux, which I don’t think would be too lazy to say was ambient in an Eno style at times, and particularly on the last track, ‘Last Wednesday In New Cross’, which wouldn’t sound out of place on Eno’s own ‘Apollo album.

‘Intimacy’, or ‘Intimité’ as it is known to the French, is the soundtrack to Patrice Chéreau’s film of the same name, that, despite it’s success elsewhere, was made entirely on location in London…The Elephant & Castle, Battersea and Brixton to be precise. The film’s cast includes: Mark Rylance, Kerry Fox, Timothy Spall, Alastair Galbraith, Philippe Calvario, Marianne Faithfull, Susannah Harker and Rebecca Palmer.

‘Intimacy’ is based on a story by Hanif Kureishi, who you will remember was also responsible for ‘The Buddha of Suburbia’, which is currently being re-run on the BBC’s Knowledge channel. (08/23/01 NEWS: BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA ON BBC KNOWLEDGE)

For the German version of the site go here, and go here, for the French version of the site, that has a rather saucy and emotionally charged trailer that is probably only meant to be viewed by the French.

Thanks very much to BowieNetter Markus Michels who pointed out the German version of the CD to me in the first place.

We’re delighted to announce that the new Gallery is here, and it’s better than ever! The previous five categories have been expanded into nine categories including Poetry, Prose, Photography, Paint/Draw, Sculpture/Other Images, Original Music, Bowie Covers, Multimedia and Nomadz! You’ll also find a dedicated message board where you can give and receive feedback and exchange ideas. Those of you familiar with the old Gallery will find other subtle improvements as well; we hope you enjoy it!!