Month: October 2002

You’ve got your transmission and your live wire

If you missed yesterday morning’s Early Show broadcast, or you are outside the USA, then get on over to their website, which now has a great page about David’s peformance, including links to video of Cactus and Rebel Rebel – the two songs broadcast. And if I may say so, they ROCKED! If you were in the audience, this also gives you endless chances to spot you and db in the same frame. 🙂

There is also a very cool quote from David about his writing.

…for me personally, I get a sense of I’m writing in a very natural way. It’s not a problem to write. And I keep writing. And it’s just glorious. I love this part of my life. It’s as it should be. I can’t say anything more.

(thanks to cinqstars who posted the link on the boards)

:))

There’s a brand new talk

Monday 4th November sees the premiere of a new, hour long TV programme about David. ‘VH1 Reveals: David Bowie’ airs at 8.00PM on VH1 in the UK. There is a lovely, long teaser about the content of this in-depth interview showing over at VH1’s UK website. You need to click on ‘Channel Highlights’ and then on the title of the show to read it. Here are one or two extracts:-

David reveals how becoming a father again recently has affected his songwriting. He goes on to explain how he worries about what kind of environment and society she is going to grow up in. However it seems his biggest concern is keeping his daughter away from his old Ziggy wardrobe and costumes!

Throughout the interview we learn of David’s high and low points in his career. Which have included getting to know the likes of Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend and John Lennon and even working on a Marlene Dietrich film. He admits John Lennon referred to his style and approach to music as “rock’n’roll with lipstick”!

The programme airs again on Tuesday 5th November at 11.00PM, Wednesday 6th at 8.00PM and Friday 8th at 8.00PM.

While you are over at the VH1 page, make sure to check out their dedicated ‘Best Of Bowie’ page, which includes a competition to win David’s entire back catalogue, the CD and DVD of Best Of Bowie, and a Mick Rock ‘Ziggy’ print, signed by Mick himself.

:))

We could do it, we could do, we could do it…

Back at the start of October we posted a bit about the fact that DavidBowie.com has been nominated in the Web Award category for this year’s MTV Europe Music Awards. (10/01/02 NEWS: VOTE FOR BOWIENET IN MTV EUROPE MUSIC AWARDS)

Well, we obviously can’t win without your support, so if you haven’t voted for BowieNet, or friends and members of your family haven’t had a chance yet, get voting now!

It’s easy enough, just click on the image above to take you right there. Voting is open right up until the day of the award ceremony that takes place in Barcelona on November 14th 2002. Let’s show the world the might of the online BowieNet army! };-)

We like dancing and we look divine…

The current issue of Vanity Fair (Nov 2002) is a 240-page music special. Among the features is a twelve-page Seventies New York special written by long time champion of all things Bowie, Lisa Robinson. Lisa is more than qualified to have some say on the subject, seeing as how she covered the scene for Creem, Rock Scene, Hit Parader, NME and a syndicated newspaper column.

And, even though people often have a different memory of the same event, Lisa’s piece makes for a cool potted history of what was a very exciting decade for the New York music scene. Here’s the blurb from the magazine:

REBEL NIGHTS – The New York 70s rock scene that saw the rise of Lou Reed, The New York Dolls, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Television, The Ramones and Blondie began as an intoxicating mix of drag-queen theatre, British “glam rock” and a hard-core rebellion against uninspiring radio. LISA ROBINSON recaptures the amped-up, sequin-studded, punk-powered explosion she experienced at the Mercer Arts Centre, Max’s Kansas City, and CBGB’s.

The article is littered with references to and quotes from DB, and among pictures of all the main offenders there are three Ziggy era shots.

Elsewhere in the mag, Elvis Costello chooses Hunky Dory as one of the albums that helps him through the day. Vanity Fair also comes with a free glossy brochure called Brit Beat, which is produced in support of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity. Inside there is a page about the charity, including a small pic of David and Laurence Alexander of O2, both who sponsered the Silver Clef Award and lunch that we mentioned back in July. (07/14/02 NEWS: FULL PAGE BOWIE & DIDO PIC IN HELLO)

Skin on skin but there’s heaven…

The goodies page has been updated with a BEST OF BOWIE skin for the Windows Media Player.

Click here, or the image above to check it out.

Enjoy!!

wake up tomorrow

Just a reminder that David’s appearance on The Early Show will be broadcast tomorrow morning, Wednesday the 30th October and not the 31st as previously stated in our calendar. The show starts at 7.00AM, with David likely to appear between 8.30 and 9.00AM ET.

David recorded four songs on October 25th – Cactus, Rebel Rebel, Slip Away, and Afraid – and lots of you were there in the audience (10/24/02 NEWS: EARLY SHOW WINNERS!!). After the recording, the message boards were full of delighted posts so even if you didn’t attend, don’t miss this one!

:))

I looked at you and wondered if you saw things my way…

An intriguing little snippet has reached me from David Brighton of Space Oddity, the American David Bowie Tribute act. David, who recreates many of DB’s personas with much style, has just completed filming as Ziggy Stardust (see still above) for the multimedia portion of Shakira‘s first world tour.

Unfortunately, David can’t tell us much more than that, but I’m sure one of you Shakira fans will let us know exactly what Mr Brighton’s contribution has been when the Shakira tour kicks off on November 8th in San Diego.

If you get a chance to go and see Space Oddity, do. Meanwhile, check out their website for details of upcoming shows, live footage, pictures and much more.

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While we’re on the subject of Ziggy impersonators, if you’re in the Miami area this Halloween (Oct 31st) you should go check out Spackle at the Tobacco Road Bar & Cabaret. Spackle will be performing the whole of Ziggy Stardust as an anniversary tribute to Bowie and the album.

Spackle, who I was told about by DB’s lighting man, Tom, will be joined by two other local bands, The Omine Band and The Kind…Punters are encouraged to glam it up, and generally dress with a Ziggy vibe.

Roni Enten of Spackle tells me: “We’re all great fans and pumped about the event…It should be a fun night (runs 10-2 am), and the first of its kind in Miami.”

Here are the details you need:

Date: October 31st 2002 – Halloween
Venue: Tobacco Road Bar & Cabaret
Address: 626 S. Miami Ave Miami FL 33130
Phone: 305-374-1198
Email: Spackletheband@hotmail.com
Showtime: 10 pm upstairs cabaret
Ticket price: $5
Attire: Glam bowie from Ziggy era and all other costumes encouraged.

You made me forget myself…

I’m sure I’ve expressed frequently enough my love for the classic Lou Reed album, ‘Transformer’, here on BowieNet. (08/02/01 NEWS: LIVE LOU AND RONNO CDS OUT NOW & 12/21/01 NEWS: BOWIE ON TRANSFORMER DOCUMENTARY BROADCAST) Well, if you don’t already own it, now’s the time to grab yourself a copy.

Transformer [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED] is reissued today in the UK, and it’s been out for a week in the US already. Apart from the fact that the album has been remastered, another reason to buy this edition is the fact that it contains two bonus tracks in Lou’s previously unreleased acoustic demos of ‘Hangin’ ‘Round’ and ‘Perfect Day’. There is also a hidden bonus, but I’m not going to tell you what that is.

Apart from being the album that broke Lou in the UK, ‘Transformer’ is also notable for its brilliant Bowie/Ronson production. In short, this is a masterpiece, own it!

Photograph king, watches you go…

The October issue of Contemporary magazine sports a particularly striking photograph (above) taken by David LaChapelle. I’m not quite sure of the content of the Bowie feature just now, but many of you will be familiar with the front cover shot which is a detail from a LaChapelle picture taken of DB in 1995.

LaChapelle is responsible for more than one unusual shot of David, and it’s safe to say that the world his pictures inhabit is more than a little strange, if not very beautiful. But don’t take my word for it, if you’re in the London area be sure to take time to visit LaChapelle’s first British exhibition at The Barbican. Here’s a bit from the blurb:

This is the first British exhibition of cult American fashion and portrait photographer, David LaChapelle, one of the most exciting and innovative photographers of his generation. LaChapelle?s unique blend of surrealism and kitsch has changed the direction of fashion and portrait photography over the past decade.

In his work LaChapelle recreates the popular icons of the last twenty years. Madonna becomes an ethereal goddess, served by three white swans. Britney Spears is a glamorous Lolita in a bedroom full of stuffed toys. The exhibition also includes portraits of Alexander McQueen, Naomi Campbell and David Beckham. Regularly commissioned by leading style and fashion magazines, including I-D, The Face and Vanity Fair, LaChapelle shows us the famous and the fashionable as we have never seen them before.

This is what DB had to say about the picture above:

A simple trick but very effective. Cut out eyes from a magazine and pop them into place over ones’ own. Highly recommended for the morning after if you have a meeting with the boss and want to come over all bright-eyed and bushy..erm, tailed.

I would post a third nipple-tweaking picture that LaChapelle took of David, but I’m worried that the more fainthearted among you may not be able to cope with it. Hopefully it’s one of the shots included in The Barbican exhibition.

Whatever, I feel duty-bound to pass on the following warning from the organiser’s of The Barbican LaChapelle exhibition: Parents and teachers are asked to use their discretion as some of the images are of a sexual nature..”

The exhibition runs through to Monday 23rd December. See ya there! };-)