Month: December 2003

DAVID BOWIE has been forced to postpone the first two shows of the North American leg of his “A Reality Tour” this weekend, as doctors have ordered him to remain in bed for a number of days until he shakes the flu. Fans who were planning to attend these two shows–December 6 (Atlantic City, NJ, The Borgata) and December 7 (Washington, D.C., Patriot Center)–should retain their tickets until a new show date is announced. Tickets for the previously scheduled performances will be honored at the rescheduled events.

BOWIE is coming off a sold-out and critically acclaimed tour of Europe and the U.K. in connection with his current album REALITY, which debuted in the #1 position on Billboard?s Pan European chart and entered the Top 10 in 15 countries. Yesterday, he was honored with a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for “New Killer Star,” a track from REALITY and a highlight of the live show.

It is expected that BOWIE will now launch his North American tour Tuesday, December 9 at the Fleet Center in Boston.

We have just gotten notice that David has come down with the flu and doctors have recommended several days of bed rest.The following shows scheduled for this weekend have been postponed:

12-06-03	Atlantic City	US	The Borgata
12-07-03	Washington	US	Patriot Center

Details on the whether or not the Boston show will be affected are currently unknown.Any forthcoming information will be posted here. Check back for updates.

Fans should retain their tickets to these postponed performances as they will be honoured at the rescheduled events.

Rescheduled show dates will be forthcoming.
Click here to read the official press release.

I’m stiff on my legend, the films that I made…

It is our sad duty to report that David Leslie Edward Hemmings, actor, director and producer, died suddenly on Wednesday following a heart attack while filming Samantha’s Child in Romania. Born November 18 1941, Hemmings was just 62 when he died.

Though very well known and respected for his roles in iconic 60s films such as Antonioni‘s Blow Up, (on which the recent Bowie/Moss Q shoot was based) and Barbarella, Bowie fans will probably know him best for the film Just A Jigolo in which DB starred and in which Hemmings appeared in and directed.

Dismissed by DB at the time as “My 33 Elvis movies rolled into one,” Just A Gigolo isn’t quite as bad as it’s reputation would have you believe. If you’ve never seen it, it is worth at least one look, if not only for the sight of David Bowie walking around with a pig under his arm!

Another product of the two David’s union is the as-yet-unreleased film of the The 1978 World Tour called Stage, which David Hemmings directed, and, you guessed it, David Bowie starred in.

Apart from wanting to see this film for obvious reasons, I’d also like to see if I made it to the final cut, as I remember being filmed by a chap holding a camera with Isolar stickers on it as I flounced my way to the front of Earls Court, resplendent in fake leopard skin coat back in June 1978… actually, in the name of good taste, I hope that particular piece of footage hit the cutting room floor!

Anyway, click on either of the images above to read an Obituary, courtesy of The Guardian newspaper.

Living on a movie…

Well they say ants are the most industrious creatures on the planet, and our very own Anthony is proof of that. We’ve got a couple of new films created by him, one of which some of you have already stumbled upon.

Firstly there is some great footage from Stuttgart including a few words from DB direct to camera, and a re-enactment of Cat and David getting in a bit of a tangle. This film is entitled: “Stuck on Cat in Stuttgart” – You will die and thou shalt get hooked to some kind of strange costume. A title that will make more sense once you’ve viewed the film.

The second (which is the one you may have stumbled upon) is a compilation of random bits of footage, even more enigmatically entitled: Untitled View No. 1 – danse manatee. But, be warned, this one starts with David performing a striptease!

Click on either of the stills on this page to take you to the video page of the Virtual Ticket section. Thanx once more to Anthony for all this wonderful stuff, and stay tuned to BowieNet for more exclusives like these in the near future.

Black Tie Wight Noise…

As I announced on the boards earlier today, tickets for the Isle of Wight Festival go on sale tomorrow morning (Friday) at 9:00am. Here are the details that only BowieNet members have right now, so please keep them within this community:

IOW Festival – Discount tickets for BowieNet members up until 31st December.

Day tickets will be £28.50 + booking fee & postage (for Sunday 13th – David’s headline day)
Weekend tickets (11,12,13 June) will be £57 + booking fee & postage

These discounted tickets can only be purchased from Ticketzone on 08705 321 321 from Friday 5th December at 9:00am. You may be asked for your BowieNet user name, and the password is SAILOR.

If you missed our original piece about this event, check out this news item: 11/30/03 NEWS: T IN THE PARK ON SALE MONDAY PLUS IOW CONFIRMATION

And other friends of mine…

The stars were out for David Bowie’s Wembley shows last week… and photographer Jason Fraser was there to record the evidence. We’ll start with the above photo taken on the first night. Clockwise from left we have: Roxy Music‘s very tall guitarist, Phil Manzanera; The five-foot-ten-and-a-half Rock God, David Bowie; A gigantic Paul Merton (either that or he’s tip-toeing); Short-arsed Ricky Gervais; and last, but vertically-challenged, Eddie Izzard, …oh sorry, he’s kneeling.

I had a quick chat with Ricky this morning, and he told me that he thought the Bowie gig at Wembley was easily the best show he had seen this year. He also asked if I could use a shot from the aftershow that “Izzard hadn’t managed to push his way in to”. So, just for you Ricky… here’s a lovely shot of David and Eddie alone.

Another comedian my wife spotted on the night was Jack Dee… and I also bumped into ex-Roxy Music member Brian Eno the following evening… I guess that’s the closest him and Phil get to a reunion.

The next couple of shots are also from the aftershow on the second night of Wembley:

As you can see, DB was visited by singer Beverly Knight and self-proclaimed Bowie freak, Travis bass player Dougie Payne. Dougie has never made a secret of his love for all things Bowie, as readers of these pages will know. Not only did Dougie sing lead vocals on a live Travis version of All The Young Dudes (later released as bonus track), but, the band’s latest album, 12 Memories, features a picture of Dougie sporting a Bowie T-shirt. As if that wasn’t enough, I’ll leave you with a bit from Dougie’s biog on the official Travis website:

My first musical memory is, being made to sing ‘Bye Bye Baby’ (the Bay City Rollers), by 2 of my older sisters . A slightly more pleasant memory is my sister Gill playing me Hunky Dory by David Bowie when I was about 6. It was the first album I ever listened to, and I was immediately smitten. I was lucky to grow up with a sister in the next room who had very good taste in music. Years later I would buy albums by the Beatles and Bowie, and wonder how I knew all the words.

Here today, gone tomorrow…

Don’t forget that Earl Slick will be popping in to BowieNet for a chat today. It looks like we may be starting a little earlier now, we’re aiming for 2:30pm NY time approx… 7:30pm UK time.

Mr Slick is planning to be around for around 90 minutes at the moment, and I understand there will be some CD give-a-ways and stuff too.

Hopefully, for those of you not familiar with the geography of BowieNet, the above CD cover should link to the chat area if you click on it shortly before kick off.

Don’t you wonder sometimes, ‘Bout sound and vision…

The Sound + Vision 4-CD Box Set that we first told you about way back in July (07/18/03 NEWS: SOUND+VISION BOX SET DUE IN THE AUTUMN) was released yesterday, apart from in the US where it is released today.

We will be running a competition for five copies of this beauty sometime next week, so stay tuned if your tour budget doesn’t allow you to go get a set just yet! The tracklisting is the same as it was when we originally told you about this splendid package, but here it is once more just to remind you what a bargain this box set is:

CD 1:
     Space Oddity (original demo 1969)
     The Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud (rare B-side version 1969)
     The Prettiest Star (single version 1970)
     London Bye Ta-Ta (stereo mix recorded 1970) previously unreleased stereo mix
     Black Country Rock (from The Man Who Sold The World)
     The Man Who Sold The World (from The Man Who Sold The World)
     The Bewlay Brothers (from Hunky Dory)
     Changes (from Hunky Dory)
     Round And Round (alt vocal take 1971) previously unreleased alternate vocal take
     Moonage Daydream (from Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars)
     John, I’m Only Dancing (Aladdin Sane outtake 1973)
     Drive-In Saturday (from Aladdin Sane)
     Panic In Detroit (from Aladdin Sane)
     Ziggy Stardust (live from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 1973)
     White Light, White Heat (live from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 1973)
     Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (live from Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture 1973)
     Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (from Pinups 1973)
     Sorrow (from Pinups 1973)
     Don’t Bring Me Down (from Pinups 1973)

CD 2:
     1984/Dodo (recorded 1973)
     Big Brother (from Diamond Dogs 1974)
     Rebel Rebel (rare single version 1974)
     Suffragette City (from David Live 1974)
     Watch That Man (from David Live 1974)
     Cracked Actor (from David Live 1974)
     Young Americans (from Young Americans 1975)
     Fascination (from Young Americans 1975)
     After Today (Young Americans outtake 1975)
     It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City (recorded 1975)
     TVC15 (from Station To Station 1976)
     Wild Is The Wind (from Station To Station 1976)
     Sound And Vision (from Low 1977)
     Be My Wife (from Low 1977)
     Speed Of Life (from Low 1977)
     “Helden” (German version of “Heroes” 1989 remix)
     Joe The Lion (from “Heroes” 1977)
     Sons Of The Silent Age (from “Heroes” 1977)

CD 3:
     Station To Station (from Stage 1978)
     Warszawa (from Stage 1978)
     Breaking Glass (from Stage 1978)
     Red Sails (from Lodger 1979)
     Look Back In Anger (from Lodger 1979)
     Boys Keep Swinging (from Lodger 1979)
     Up The Hill Backwards (from Scary Monsters 1980)
     Kingdom Come (from Scary Monsters 1980)
     Ashes To Ashes (from Scary Monsters 1980)
     Baal’s Hymn (from Baal E.P.) previously unreleased on CD
     Drowned Girl (from Baal E.P.) previously unreleased on CD
     Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (soundtrack album version)
     China Girl (from Let’s Dance)
     Ricochet (from Let’s Dance)
     Modern Love (Live) (B-side) previously unreleased on CD
     Loving The Alien (from Tonight)
     Dancing With The Big Boys (from Tonight)

CD 4:
     Blue Jean (from Tonight)
     Time Will Crawl (from Never Let Me Down)
     Baby Can Dance (from Tin Machine)
     Amazing (from Tin Machine)
     I Can’t Read (from Tin Machine)
     Shopping For Girls (from Tin Machine II)
     Goodbye Mr. Ed (from Tin Machine II)
     Amlapura (from Tin Machine II)
     You’ve Been Around (from Black Tie White Noise)
     Nite Flights (Moodswings Back To Basics Remix Radio Edit) previously unreleased
     Pallas Athena (Gone Midnight Mix) previously unreleased Jack Dangers Remix
     Jump They Say (from Black Tie White Noise)
     Buddha Of Suburbia (from Buddha Of Suburbia)
     Dead Against It (from Buddha Of Suburbia)
     South Horizon (from Buddha Of Suburbia)
     Pallas Athena (Live as Tao Jones Index)

I’m under Japanese influence…

A pre-sale for a second Melbourne date and the three previously mentioned Japanese shows (11/19/03 NEWS: JAPAN TICKET UPDATE AND NEW ZEALAND PRE-SALE TODAY) go on sale here on BowieNet in a few moments.

The extra Oz show takes place on Friday 27th February at the Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, and the pre-sale for all four of the shows commences here on BowieNet at 5:00pm NY time this evening.

Here’s a recap of the shows newly-available to BowieNetters from today:

Friday 27 February – Melbourne, Australia – Rod Laver Arena
Monday 08 March – Tokyo, Japan – Budokan
Tuesday 09 March – Tokyo, Japan – Budokan
Thursday 11 March – Osaka, Japan – Castle Hall

You can get your tickets by clicking on the above image at aforementioned time.

There’s a brand new talk…

King of Cool, Mr Earl Slick, will be popping in for a BowieNet chat this coming Wednesday. We’ve not finalised a time yet, but we’re aiming to kick off around 3:00pm NY time at the moment… I’ll let you know if this changes.

Earl, who is in-between Bowie shows right now, releases his new studio album, Zig Zag, next week. As we told you absolutely years ago, the album contains contributions from the likes of Robert Smith, Joe Elliot, Royston Langdon, Martha Davis and David Bowie.

Zig Zag will be released on Sanctuary Records, and here’s the full tracklisting:

01 Dancing with Eleanor
02 Believe (Vocals: Robert Smith of The Cure)
03 Isn’t It Evening (The Revolutionary) (Vocals: David Bowie)
04 1735
05 Zig Zag (Vocals: Royston Langdon of Spacehog)
06 Pike St.
07 Crunched
08 St. Mark’s Place (Vocals: Martha Davis of The Motels)
09 Psycho Twang (Vocals: Joe Elliot of Def Leppard)
10 The Cat

The album’s first single will be Believe featuring Robert Smith, and Mr Slick had this to say about the singers on the album: “Each vocalist wrote his or her own melodies and lyrics. Some of them got really rough demos from me and still managed to come up with amazing ideas. They really helped make this a unique record.”

Slick goes on to talk about David’s particular contribution: “David sounds amazing on the song. I remember being in the studio when he recorded the vocals and thinking, ?This is weird. For once, I?m on the other side of the glass and he?s playing on a track for me. He nailed his vocals in one or two takes and it came out great?that?s the beauty of working with David.”

Do try and make it along on Wednesday folx, apart from talking to Slick about his new album, I’m sure you all have some questions for him regarding his on-off working relationship with David over the past thirty years…almost.

Click on either of the above images to take you to a recently-published press release.