Month: August 2002

I Have Not Been To Oxford Town…

With excitement mounting for David’s return to Europe, here are a few reminders of his recent visit to this continent. These pictures from last month’s European jaunt, courtesy of Mark Plati, slipped through the net due to the fact that we were so spoilt for choice at the time. Hope you enjoy them…I’m sure we’ll post a few more very soon.

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go…

Some of you may have already spied this story from Tony Philputt which BowieNetter Regina found and posted on the MBs yesterday. Tony is The Man when it comes to all things concerned with The Ledge, and he’s also a charming and very generous person to boot.

Tony is responsible for the very first, and probably the last (there won’t be a need for another) documentary on The Ledge, ‘Cotton Pickin’ Smash! The Story of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy’, and he thought a meeting between The Ledge and David Bowie would be the perfect ending for his film.

That perfect ending happened on Wednesday, August 14th, (not the 18th as reported elsewhere) backstage at David Bowie’s San Francisco show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Tony tells the story perfectly over at www.keyofZ.com, here’s a short excerpt:

“About halfway thru the show, Bowie’s road manager came up to the table, shook our hands and told us how excited David was that we were there. He instructed us to stay where we were and he would come get us after the show. When he returned, we followed him to the front of a line of folks who were waiting for the ol’ “Meet ‘n’ Greet” with David. You could hear some grumbling about why we got placed ahead of them in line since they had been there longer. But mostly I think they were just trying to figure out who the hell we were.

They didn’t wait long. Bowie came around the corner — and his face lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree. “LEDGE!!!!!” came out of his mouth as he rushed up to Norm and gave him a big squeeze. The look on both their faces was priceless. Then he turned to me and said (I swear): “Hey, you’re the bloke who made the movie!” He leaned in and said (again I swear), “Make sure I have your phone number and email address ’cause I think I can help you.”

“Dumbfounded that he even knew who I was, we gave him the various gifts we’d brought (he’s wearing one of them in the photos) and stood around and gabbed for a bit, much to the amazement and befuddlement of the other folks waiting in line. As we left, he pulled me aside again and reiterated how much he enjoyed the film, how he thought my idea for redoing it with a different ending was a great idea, and made sure he had my phone number!”

Here’s a bit Tony didn’t include in his account about the jacket that David is wearing:

“It was VERY difficult for me to part with as it was a gift from Norman to me. But I wanted to thank DB for the kindness and respect that he showed “The Ledge” (Something that as you know is the exception and not the rule) and that made it somewhat easier. It was made for Norman by a fan of his back in 1986.”

I’ve experienced Tony’s generosity first hand too. You may remember he gave me a bugle that belonged to The Ledge (06/16/02 NEWS: LAST NIGHT AT MELTDOWN) that had also been a gift from Norman. What a diamond geezer he is.

On a final note, look out for the latest Legendary Stardust Cowboy release, that includes a “favour returned” in the shape of a completely insane version of ‘Space Oddity’. “I Got The Corn Crib Blues” indeed.

This girl, her world is made of flashlights and films…

Talented rock photographer Myriam Santos-Kayda is the latest to have the honour of a gallery of David Bowie pictures here on BowieNet bestowed upon her. The deliciously diminutive snapper, better known to members as BowieNetter Mask, is more than just a simple photographer though, as those of us that know her well can attest. But exactly what else she is, is hard to put in to actual words, so I’ll let her beautiful photography do the talking.

Many of you will recognise the colour session from this year’s Roseland poster and various magazine and newspaper articles from around the world, seriously, this session has proved very popular with the world’s press. The other shots were taken in NY during tour rehearsals earlier this year.

Click on the image above to take you to the Mask Gallery, which can normally be found in the Mutations panel on the splash page underneath the What’s New box. There you can browse through 26 different Bowie pictures, and you can even contact Mask via the gallery if you’re interested in buying any prints from her. You can also check out her official site via the gallery, which really is worth a look. But, be warned, you may want to go make a cup of tea while it’s loading if you don’t have broadband!

Anyway, well done girl, we’re all very proud of you…we’ve watched you bloom from the spotty little teenager with a nervous tick (played havoc with her early work) who we knew from the early days of chat, to a fully-grown woman renowned the world over…what a lovely tale of triumph over something or other it’s been.

There ya go Mask, I got to the end without once mentioning your arse, cows, or the money…oops sorry, until then at least! – tons of love, Blammo xx };-)

So long as you’re with the London boys…

I have had, understandably, several panicked enquiries via e-mail, and have spied many posts from concerned members on the MBs regarding the possibility of a forthcoming David Bowie London show. Well, I’m afraid I can’t give too much away right now, suffice to say David will be playing a London concert in early October. Stay tuned for more details towards the end of next week, if not a little sooner!

Something I could keep…

‘Everyone Says ‘Hi?’, the second single from ‘Heathen’, is due for a 16th September release here in the UK. The single will be available as three different CDs, collecting together the extra tracks that were originally intended for the withdrawn ‘Slow Burn’ UK release. (05/08/02 NEWS: BONANZA OF EXTRAS FOR SLOW BURN SINGLE)

In addition to these extra tracks, the ‘Everyone Says ‘Hi?’ formats will include another previously unreleased ‘Heathen’ outtake, ‘Safe’, and another track from the unreleased ‘Toy’ album, ‘Baby Loves That Way’, which has only had a limited release on the Japanese five track ‘Slow Burn’ CD.

Here’s the breakdown for each of the formats:

‘EVERYONE SAYS ‘HI” UK CD SINGLE FORMATS

CD1
Everyone Says ‘Hi’
Safe (Outtake from ‘Heathen’ sessions)
Wood Jackson (Outtake from ‘Heathen’ sessions)

CD2
Everyone Says ‘Hi’
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving (From unreleased ‘Toy’ album)
Baby Loves That Way (From unreleased ‘Toy’ album)

CD3
Everyone Says ‘Hi’
When The Boys Come Marching Home (Outtake from ‘Heathen’ sessions)
Shadow Man (From unreleased ‘Toy’ album)

Ahead of its release, ‘Everyone Says ‘Hi?’ has already received the recognition of BBC Radio 2?s ?Record Of The Week?, and during David’s recent live dates the song has proved to be a popular tune among you lot too…So let’s force TOTPs to reshow that recording of ‘Everyone Says ‘Hi?’ from back in June by getting the song into the UK Top 30!

What In The World…

We now have for your perusal, the tracklistings for all 23 versions of ‘Best Of Bowie’. Eagle-eyed members will spot that the listings for versions 22 and 23, the Canadian and USA double CD versions, are identical. Well, the tracklistings are the same but the sleeve notes are different you see. Actually, you don’t have to be eagle-eyed because I just told you about it!

You may also notice that the listing for version 20 includes a song called ‘The Man Who Changed The World’. As appropriate as the title may be for David Bowie, I’m afraid it’s not a new track, it should of course read ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. This little typo will be corrected later. You can reach the listings by clicking here.

Anyway, I’m sure these listings will spark more debate on the MBs, and I look forward to making friends with members in each of the territories for obvious reasons. };-)
While we’re on the subject of new releases…

Paris or maybe hell…

Tickets for the Bowie show at Le Zénith in Paris on 24th September are now completely sold out and a second show has been added for the following day to cope with the extra demand.

We would have brought this information to you sooner, but the promoters started selling this second show today without informing Bowie’s representatives. As I post this, tickets are still available, but it’s a shame that the promoters have yet again jumped the gun.

You can reserve tickets via fnac.com or by calling the international ticket number on 0033 142 313 228. French BowieNetters can call 0892 683 622 within France. The very thorough Susans, has tested this international ticket number and can confirm it is the one to use. Susans also tells me that she had to pay a ?10 charge to have her ticket sent to her.

So if you want tickets to see David Bowie at Le Zénith in Paris on Wednesday 25th September click on the image above or call 0033 142 313 228 now.

Battle For Britons…

What do Aneurin Bevan, Winston Churchill, Aleister Crowley, John Lennon and Emmeline Pankhurst all have in common? Well apart from the fact that they all make an appearance in the lyrics of David Bowie songs*, they are also all listed in the BBC’s 100 greatest Britons shortlist, along with David Bowie himself.

Great Britons, is “a major new series this Autumn on BBC TWO that begins by revealing the British public’s top 100 nominations. The top ten will then feature in a series of one-hour programmes asking: what does it take to be seen as the greatest?”

All of this morning’s press in the UK have large features on the top 100 list, even if they have taken the whole thing a little too seriously. I’m staying tight-lipped on the selection myself, though I have to say it’s nice to see the inclusion of Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web, without whom etc., etc.

Here’s that full list, and no, they’re not my descriptions in brackets:

Alfred the Great (Former monarch)
Julie Andrews (Entertainer)
King Arthur (Former Monarch)
David Attenborough (Wildlife expert)
Jane Austen (Author)
Charles Babbage (Inventor)
Lord Baden Powell (Founder of the Scouts)
Douglas Bader (Spitfire pilot)
David Beckham (Soccer player)
Alexander Graham Bell (Inventor of telephone)
Tony Benn (Former Labor leader)
Tim Berners Lee (Father of the internet)
Aneurin Bevan (Politician)
Tony Blair (Prime Minister)
William Blake (Poet)
William Booth (Salvation Army founder)
Boudicca (Warrior Queen)
David Bowie (Entertainer)
Richard Branson (Entrepreneur)
Robert the Bruce (Scottish )
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Inventor: locomotive)
Richard Burton (Actor)
Donald Campbell (Waterspeed record)
William Caxton (Printing press inventor)
Charlie Chaplin (Entertainer)
Geoffrey Chaucer (Canterbury Tales)
Leonard Cheshire (Advocate for ill/disabled)
Winston Churchill (Former PM))
James Connelly
Captain James Cook (Explorer who claimed Australia)
Michael Crawford (Entertainer)
Oliver Cromwell (Warrior statesman)
Aleister Crowley (Magician)
Charles Darwin (Scientist)
Diana, Princess of Wales
Charles Dickens (Author)
Francis Drake (Explorer)
King Edward I (Former monarch)
Edward Elgar (Composer)
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother
Michael Faraday (Physicist)
Guy Fawkes (Tried to burn down Parliament)
Alexander Fleming (Inventor penicillan)
Bob Geldof (Singer/activist)
Owain Glyndwr (Welsh activist)
George Harrison (Beatle)
John Harrison (Mathematician)
Stephen Hawking (Astro-physicist)
King Henry II (Former monarch)
King Henry V (Former monarch)
King Henry VIII (Former monarch)
Paul Hewson (Bono)
Edward Jenner (Discovered vaccination)
TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
John Lennon (Beatle)
David Livingstone (Explorer)
David Lloyd George (Former PM)
John Logie Baird (TV inventor)
John Lydon (Johnny Rotten)
James Clerk Maxwell (Physicist)
Paul McCartney (Beatle)
Freddie Mercury (Queen lead-singer)
Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery
Bobby Moore (Soccer player)
Thomas More (Chancellor/author)
Eric Morecambe (Entertainer)
Admiral Horatio Nelson
Isaac Newton (Scientist)
Florence Nightingale (Nurse)
George O’Dowd (Boy George)
Thomas Paine (Anti-slavery activist)
Emmeline Pankhurst (Suffragette)
John Peel (Broadcaster)
Enoch Powell (Politician)
Walter Raleigh (Explorer)
Steve Redgrave (Olympic Rower)
King Richard III (Former monarch)
Cliff Richard (Entertainer)
JK Rowling (Author)
Robert Falcon Scott (Explorer)
Ernest Shackleton (Arctic explorer)
William Shakespeare (Author)
George Stephenson (Inventor: steam engine)
Marie Stopes (Family planning pioneer)
Margaret Thatcher (First female PM)
William Tindale (New Testament)
JRR Tolkien (Author)
Alan Turing (Mathematician)
Queen Victoria (Former monarch)
William Wallace (Scottish nationalist)
Barnes Wallis (Aircraft engineer)
James Watt (Inventor)
Unknown soldier
Duke of Wellington
John Wesley (Founder of Methodist church)
Frank Whittle (Father of the jet engine)
William Wilberforce (Anti-slavery activist)
Robbie Williams (Singer)

* For those of you that can’t place all of the names to a Bowie lyric, here ya go:

Aneurin Bevan ? “Bevan tried to change the nation” ? Star
Winston Churchill ? “Living proof of Churchill’s lies” ? Quicksand
Aleister Crowley ? “Immersed in Crowley’s uniform” ? Quicksand
John Lennon – “‘Cause Lennon’s on sale again” – Life On Mars?
Emmeline Pankhurst – OK, so she’s not mentioned by name, but David did write Suffragette City! };-)