Month: October 2001

After reading your emails and posts, we have recently implemented many of your suggestions on the Message Boards.We have changed some of the Topics, made some modifications, and
added some new features. Have a look! Here are some other changes that are a direct result of your online enthusiasmCleaning out the BoardsAs we have mentioned over the last few weeks, we have cleared out the Message Boards. This is simply part of site maintenance that needs to be performed every 6 months or so. Also, due to members requests, we have left the postings from September 11th and 12th for the community to reflect upon.Ignore Feature:Due to the unfortunate verbal warfare between a minority of B-Netters, we will implement an ignore feature. We always tried to maintain an open discussion here but over zealous posters have made this feature necessary. So we will offer an ignore option as you requested. If you don’t want to be exposed to what a member is saying, IGNORE them!Community Feedback and Support:In hopes of providing a less confusing line of communication between BNET and the community, the ?Rants and Feedback? category will be eliminated. All posts offering suggestions on improving the site and/or complaints will find a home in the ?Naggers Top 10.? Technical support will remain. ONLY technical issues will be addressed here. This is not the place for suggestions. All posts not involving a direct technical issue will be moved or deleted.KarmaWith everything going on in our world, we felt like there might be enough negative karma out there. We have decided to remove the ability for a post to go into “Negative Karma” for the next few months. Actually, you can still NEG a posting down, but only down to zero. This gives the uppers and the downers an outlet without giving them a weapon. Let’s give it a try and see how it does!Understanding our policiesIn light of some negative activity on the boards we would like you to revisit our AUP ?Acceptable Use Policy?. This can be found at www.davidbowie.com/aup Bottom line: Let’s act as a community and try to be civil to each other.Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:*UltraStar have the right to remove any content.*Do not post and/or alter other members images and personal information without their permission.*Do not post members real names*Do not impersonate other members, bnet employees, etc*Do not post racist material*Do not post anything illegalIf you have an issue with something that has been posted, please send the message ID and reason for your complaint to violations@davidbowie.com – UltraStar will review these posts. We hope you enjoy the modifications. We will be announcing an UltraStar chat in the coming weeks where we can all chat about what’s next for BowieNet.

If I had not ripped the fabric…

www.mickrock.com has had a facelift, and very nice it is too. The gallery area now features six sections: classic images, live shots, new work, black & whites, ripart collection and chimeras. The image above is taken from the ‘ripart’ section, where you can find several of Mick’s artworks including a few of David.

All of the sections include classic Bowie images, from early Ziggy to the present day, excluding the chimeras section which is certainly worth a look too. The site will be updated with new pictures and news on a regular basis, including details of upcoming publications and exhibitions. Speaking of which…

Mick has an exhibition of his photo-art upstairs at the Cooper Classics Collection gallery in Greenwich Village, New York, from November 1st through January 1st. The show concentrates mainly on Mr Rock’s artworks, collages and etchings, but also includes several of the works shown at the recent Blood and Glitter exhibition in London, including a beautiful new picture, that remains unpublished, from the same session as the picture below.

The tragic events of September 11th inspired Mick to produce three new works which can be viewed at the same location. Look out too for a big print of the image Mick produced for the Hedwig and the Angry Inch movie poster. We will shortly be running a competition to win this stunning large format poster, signed by both Mick Rock and John Cameron Mitchell.

…favourite melodies…

Remember PinUps? Well so does David. Check out the new David Asks to see how you could hypothetically contribute to a PinUps2.

For I’ve never been a winner in my life…

Until now that is. We set you the seemingly impossible task of guessing the song, apart from ‘Heroes’, that David would perform at MSG on Saturday. Incredibly, BowieNetter Leeza, appropriately a citizen of NYC herself, correctly predicted Paul Simon’s ‘America’. Here she explains how she arrived at her choice:

“..So I pulled out an old Simon and Garfunkle CD, and while I was listening to it, I logged on to BowieNet. As I was reading about the “guess the song” contest…’America’ started playing, and I flashed to how moved I was when I heard them play it at their “reunion” concert in Central Park. I also listened to the lyrics with new ears. Of course, I never thought db would play it, but since I was listening to that song at the moment I read about the contest, I figured I may as well write that down, rather than think of one of a billion other songs it might be! Imagine my shock when I heard him sing it!”

“I’ve never won anything in my life…”, Leeza sort of sobbed (well it was via e-mail) when I first informed her of her win, (she didn’t know she was the only correct answer at that point) “…tell David there’s no need to launder it before he sends it” she pleaded. Well done girl, not a bad first win then.

Not enough room to post your incredible list of suggestions here folx, but, by far and away the most popular choices were John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ (which David did sing in Honk Kong during the Serious Moonlight tour of 1983) and Frank Sinatra’s, (and no doubt a cast of thousands) ‘New York, New York’.

Sorry for the tease btw Leeza…Oh what fun. };-)

The Children of the summer’s end…

For those of you that don’t look at the ‘What’s New’ panel or visit the MBs…yes it’s true, David posted another journal yesterday. Without giving too much away, go here for the low-down on the band line up for the new album (including a visit from an old friend), and why some cat people really shouldn’t be. Also find out who turned up for a B-B-Q at GT, and why Gail Anne Dorsey needs to learn the new stuff.

It’s nearing the end of the month and there are slim pickings for SOTM! Get your votes and submissions in before it’s too late.

There will be new features added to the BowieNet message boards tomorrow. As a result, you may experience brief interruptions during the time of the upgrade. Please bear with us as we implement these new and improved features. Look for a fully detailed article on the upgrade in tomorrow’s news.

A figure sitting cross-legged on the floor…

David Bowie last night performed to a highly appreciative audience at MSG as the opening act at The Concert For New York City. Kicking of with a bizarre, but beautiful, version of Paul Simon’s ‘America’, David had the audience entranced from the moment a single white spotlight picked him out sitting cross-legged on the floor.

Dressed in “street clothes and sneakers” (The T shirt is the same one as the Vanity Fair ‘eating’ shot with Gwen and Beck), David performed the song solo, accompanying himself on an Omnichord, the tiny 80’s low-tech keyboard made by Suzuki, which you will be able to find “somewhere on the new album”.

This really was a remarkable performance of the song, sort of Victorian fairground with a Cockney twang. Excepting the words, this version wouldn’t have been out of place on David Lynch’s ‘Elephant Man’ soundtrack.

After the song David addressed the audience:

“Thank you very much. Hi friends. Hi fellow New Yorkers. I’d particularly like to say hello to the folks from my local ladder. You know where you are…I must say it’s an absolute privilege to play for you tonight. Without further ado…”

Then Gail and Mark joined David and the house band for an emotionally charged ‘Heroes’. The stage now swathed in white light and everybody teary-eyed. This was one of the more remarkable performances of this classic Bowie perennial, that managed to capture the spirit of the whole event, best summed up in a review from this morning’s Mail On Sunday:

“But perhaps it was David Bowie’s stunning performance of his classic hit “Heroes” which captured the defiant survival mood of the night.”

After the song David thanked the audience and wished them a great evening. That’s what I call a hard act to follow. When I asked our man how he felt his performance had gone, he replied:

“My part of the show rushed past so quickly it felt like I was on stage for about two minutes. Fabulous crowd. So well dressed. (smile) New York at its finest.”

Of course you are all dying to know if anybody actually won David’s ‘lover’ T-shirt that we put up as a competition yesterday. Well, incredibly, we do have a winner. You know who you are if you sent in ‘America’ as your guess, but were you the first? Tune in tomorrow to find out. };-)

Femme fatales emerged from shadows to watch this creature fair. Boys stood upon their chairs….

Here is a summary of all the broadcast information available so far. Thanks to everyone who has posted details on the message boards and elsewhere. Please bear in mind that all these shows were scheduled at the last minute and could be subject to change. Check your local listings if possible. Please note that the concert may run past midnight.

If anyone has further information, please do email me, and I will add it to the calendar. All the information below is also available in our calendar.

NB : All times are LOCAL.

Enjoy!!

:))

Saturday 20th October.

AOL webcast : 7.00PM ET/12.00AM UK. AOL Keyword : Concert for New York City. Repeat showing 2.00PM ET/7.00PM UK, Sunday 21st October. ( These webcasts can be accessed from wherever you are in the world.)

VH1 (USA) TV : 7.00PM ET, 6.00PM CT, 7.00PM PT. Also, pre-show from 6-7PM.

Miramax (USA) TV : 7.00PM ET

Cablevision (USA) TV : 7.00PM ET

CBS-FM (New York) Radio : 7.00PM ET

VH1 Radio Network : 7.00PM ET

Sunday 21st October.

RTL (Germany) TV : 1.00AM

MTV (Italy) TV : 3.00PM

VH1 (UK) TV : 7.00PM

Monday 22nd October.

MTV (Germany) TV : 8.00PM

LATE ADDITIONS!

Saturday 20th October

PBS Channel 13 (New York) : 7.00PM ET

Musimax Canada : 7.00PM

Sunday 21st October

VH1 Europe : 9.00PM CET

It Ain’t Easy…

We all know that David Bowie will be performing the anthemic (if such a word exists) ‘Heroes’ when he opens the show live at the Concert For New York City at Madison Square Garden tonight. And, as David told us yesterday, we all know that there will be two songs performed:

“‘Heroes’ will be one of them but there will be another, very unusual choice!”

Well, in what is easily the hardest competition we’ve ever set on BowieNet, we want you to try and guess that other song. I’m afraid we don’t have any clues at all, but to narrow the choice of millions by a few hundred at least, I can tell you that David described the song thus:

“NEVER done it before – Not my song”

Yes, I know it’s an impossible task, but the first person to send me the correct answer before 6:00 EST this evening will win an impossibly special prize for their trouble. That gives you a little over seven hours to try and figure the workings of Mr Bowie’s mind.

Members of the Bowie household, band members and psychics are banned from entering. Send your answer (only one answer per member I’m afraid) to MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.Com with a subject line of “That Other Song”.

I must reiterate that there really are no clues hidden within this story…I would wish you good luck, but I think you’re going to need more than that!