Month: December 2001

Fame, what you need you have to borrow…

Limp Bizkit’s first remix album ‘New Old Songs’ was released last week. The album features remixes of old Limp Bizkit tracks by the likes of Timbaland, P Diddy and Butch Vig. But of more interest to most here is the fact that, along with Josh Abraham, ex-coalman Fred Durst has remixed his own song ‘Faith’, incorporating David Bowie’s ‘Fame’ in the process. If you fancy a listen to Fred’s handy work go here.

While we’re on the subject of people borrowing ‘Fame’…

Ex-Motley Crue naughty boy, Tommy Lee, is scheduled to release a cover of ‘Fame’ on the second Methods of Mayhem album. Lee will be joined on the track by Brandon Boyd & Mike Einziger of Incubus, Cypress Hill’s B-Real and Mixmaster Mike of the Beastie Boys.

Last night they loved you…

The Mercury Rev chat was a jolly wheeze last night as the band fielded questions from David Bowie, Tony Visconti and many a BowieNetter. Rev members Jonathan, Grasshopper and Jeff were all present and answering live from Washington DC just before they were due onstage in that very city.

The band happily answered questions as diverse as Simone’s: “Do you have pets?” (two peacocks, 3 highland cows, 14 snakes, 1 llama and a gaggle of bats) and Andromache’s: “What is your favourite pasta shape?” (Grasshopper – Bowtie. Jeff – Fucilli. Jonathan – Enneagrammo)…and they even had the good grace to answer Alecz’s predictably boring and miserable question “What’s it like being the most boring and miserable band in the world?” with: “I don’t know, you’d have to ask the Manic Street Preachers.” He he.

The subject of David’s music was mentioned on more than one occasion, and it soon became clear that his appreciation of Mercury Rev was mutual when dbfan1847 asked: “…Do you listen to any of David’s music? and if you do, what are some of your fave songs by him?”, this was their reply:

“Yeah we love David’s music. Some of our favorites are: Jonathan – Duet with Bing Crosby. Jeff – Quicksand from Hunky Dory. Grasshopper – Ashes to Ashes”

You still have time to catch Mercury Rev live in Philadelphia tonight and New York tomorrow. The band also have five Japanese dates starting next Monday 17th December, perhaps Eri will put you up if you ask nicely. Go here for further details and ticket availability.

By the time you read this, you should be able to read the full transcript of last night’s chat (including David and Tony’s questions) here…if not, pop back a little bit later, if it’s still not up try a little bit later and so on. };-)

Mercury Revolution comes in the strangest way…

Don’t forget Mercury Rev are tonight’s chat guests folx. The fun will commence at 7:00pm (EST), and David Bowie will join Tony Visconti to pop a couple of questions to the band.

Rev members Jonathan, Grasshopper and Jeff will be plugged in from Washington DC, where they have a gig tonight. I for one look forward to the REVelations with excited anticipation! See ya there.

You can join in the chat by clicking here

You’ll never know the real story…

In the ‘Ask Q’ section of December’s issue of Q magazine, is a question from reader David Plant of Ontario :-

“I vaguely remember hearing a story about how the David Bowie song, Joe The Lion, off ‘Heroes’, was about an artist who nailed himself to the roof of a car. True?”

The answer draws from an interview David gave to huH magazine in Sept 95:-

“Yes, this actually happened. Bowie has said the song – with its line “Nail me to my car, tell you who you are” – was inspired by the Californian conceptual/performance artist Chris Burden….”

We covered this well-known story last year, when the Q writers selected the song for their ‘On Heavy Rotation’ section, (12/30/00 SNIPPET:Q WRITERS LOVE JOE THE LION ) but it remains no less fascinating. You can go here to listen to an audio clip of Chris Burden talking about the 1974 performance in an interview he gave at the Royal Academy Of Fine Arts, Stockholm in Feb 1999, and here to read more of the 1995 interview with David.

:))

Hey man, well she’s a total blam-blam…

I did say we would post the answer to this one on the Eighth Day, which was intended as an O’Connor-tastic pun. And seeing as it is the 8th today, I guess we aren’t actually late with this post at all.

I asked you for the title of the Bowie cover that Her name is Hazel O’Connor released as a 12″ only bonus track back in the early Eighties? (11/13/01 NEWS: DIAMOND GODS CD COMPETITION) And the extra clue I gave was that I wouldn’t exist without this particular song. Well, you all know me as Total Blam Blam and I wouldn’t exist without the David Bowie song, ‘Suffragette City’.

Many of you guessed ‘Time’, and you don’t know how close you were with that guess, as Hazel’s version of ‘Suffragette City’ appeared as a live recording on the b-side of her 1981 single, ‘Time’. But, unfortunately this was not the Bowie composition.

TRS? has dutifully picked five correct answers and the authors of those answers are listed below:

snikpoh@davidbowie.com
cannibalkate@davidbowie.com
janchor@davidbowie.com
ziggielaming@davidbowie.com
dionysia@davidbowie.com

If the five of you could please send your names and addresses to TotalBlamBlam@DavidBowie.com with a subject line of “Hazel Winner”. Please note my change of e-mail address and make sure you do use the subject line “Hazel Winner” as the system is now fully automated.

Thanx again to the folx over at Ncompass who generously donated these five copies of ‘Diamond Gods – Interpretations of Bowie’.

Who’ll love Aladdin Sane?

As Blammo promised in the news on Friday, (12/07/01 NEWS: BECKENHAM REMEMBERS DAVID BOWIE AND THE ARTS LAB) here is a page of photographs and words about the evening event at The Rat and Parrot on Thursday night. Thanks to all who joined us.. It really was a very special day, with an atmosphere of love, pride and camaraderie. Special thanks to Paul Kinder (Rednik) of BowieWonderWorld, without whose hard work and dedication this very special day would not have been possible.

I must say though Paul, I was disappointed that the planned duet with you, Blammo and the original Trident studio piano was cancelled.. 😉

Go here, and check out the page..

:))

We used to be so happy, Remember, remember…

“Hello everyone. We’re here to celebrate the achievements of David Bowie – One of Beckenham’s most illustrious former residents – together with the people who joined him at The Three Tuns to create a weird and wonderful phenomenon called the Beckenham Arts Lab.”

…So begun Mary Finnigan’s unveiling speech at The Rat & Parrot, formerly The Three Tuns, in Beckenham yesterday.

You all know about David’s involvement with Growth and the Beckenham Arts Lab and the characters around that scene, many of whom attended yesterday. It’s also common knowledge that Mary put David up for a while, (no pun intended) as did Christina Jackson and her partner of the time, Barry. (That’s Christina on the left in the picture below)

In her speech, Mary explained how the four of them started the ball rolling for the Arts Lab and what an incredibly fertile place The Three Tuns was for a while:

“David Bowie was the energy and the inspiration behind the success of the Beckenham Arts Lab. We touched the lives of the whole community because we took our enthusiasm into the streets and into the parks. We did a series of concerts and talks at the Bromley Arts Centre and we threw a free festival (Blam note: The very festival that inspired the ‘Space Oddity’ track, ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’) that crowned our summer of love – and made a profit. In 1969 we believed we could change the world and maybe in some ways – we did.”

After Mary’s speech and a few short recollections from Christina, the plaque was unveiled to much cheering from the assembled crowd as a nervous local police force looked on. Then it was all back inside for a short, but very sweet set from Steve Harley. As Steve told us a couple of weeks back, (11/23/01 NEWS: STEVE HARLEY RETURNS TO THE THREE TUNS) he began his professional career at The Three Tuns in 1972.

Mr Harley was accompanied for yesterday’s performance by the ever-faithful and breathtakingly brilliant Robbie Gladwell – who has to be heard to be believed. The pair wowed an appreciative audience with a handful of classics that included ‘Judy Teen’, ‘Sebastian’, ‘Star For A Week’, ‘Mr Soft’ and ‘Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)’.

It was all over too quickly and everybody readied themselves for the evening’s entertainment that our reporter in the field, Spaceface, will be bringing you details and pictorial evidence of in the near future. That’s when she’s dragged herself out of the Beckenham gutter that her and Susans are currently sleeping in. Having left the event soon after Steve Harley’s performance, I asked Susans this morning for details of the evening’s fun (Bowie tribute bands, a raffle an auction etc., etc.) she remembered nothing…which I guess is kind of fitting in a way, as it is often said of The Sixties that if you can remember them*, you just weren’t there!

*You may not remember The Sixties, but with Steve Harley’s help you can remember The Seventies every Tuesday night at 22:00 (GMT), in his regular RADIO2 show, Sounds of the Seventies.

A Mercury Rev fan painted ‘Holes’ on his hands…

It is with the utmost pleasure that I tell you our next chat guest for this coming Monday is the most magical Mercury Rev. David has made no secret of his admiration for the band, and Tony Visconti helped with string arrangements and such on a few tracks on the Rev’s last album, ‘All Is Dream’. (08/02/01 NEWS: TV AND THE NEW MERCURY REV ALBUM)

Though the band have been active for over ten years now, it took a change of line-up and the release of the sublime ‘Deserter’s Songs’ to turn the public at large onto Mercury Rev. The chat will commence at 7:00pm (EST), and it promises to be a whole bunch of damn weird fun!

© Brigitte “Schoki” Schokarth

I’d like to be a gallery…

Some of you weekend BNetters may have missed our new section which we’ve called The Schoki Gallery. If you’ve not yet seen it, you really should go check out this fascinating collection of photographs and writings by Brigitte Schokarth now.

Brigitte, (or Schoki as she is known to those who know her as Schoki) has been writing about, and photographing David through the whole of the Nineties. And her work is truly excellent. But don’t take my word for it. Here are some comments from the MBs regarding The Schoki Gallery:

Wow, now we are all able to see your fantastic photos you took of David :)))!!! Many, many congrats to the gallery!! You deserve it soooooo much!!!! – Bianca

WOW! what great pics!! Love ’em!! thanks for putting them up! – dbfan1847

Great job! Thanks for sharing them with us, loved going through the gallery. – Mask

You can browse The Schoki Gallery by clicking the image above, or from the link in the infectious box on the home page.

© Brigitte “Schoki” Schokarth

I’d like to be a gallery…

We are very proud to present a new feature called Schoki Gallery, wherein the extremely talented BowieNetter, Brigitte Schokarth, presents her photographs and writings relating to David Bowie.

The Schoki Gallery is a fascinating glimpse into the world of rock journalism, Including loads of wonderful pictures and Schoki’s own recollections of the adventures she went through to get her pictures and interviews with David. Adventures that took her through the whole of the Nineties and a zig-zag journey around Europe and New York.

This is hopefully just the first in a few similar galleries that will focus on other photographers and writers who have been inspired by the work of David Bowie.

You can browse the Schoki gallery by clicking the image above, or from the link in the infectious box on the home page.