Month: May 2006

Distorted view, see through baby blue…

I got the impression from somebody somewhere on the MBs that some of you might like to see a few more pictures from David Bowie’s triumphant return to the British stage, following yesterday’s item about the David Gilmour gig. (05.30.2006 NEWS: DB SURPRISE GUEST AT LONDON GILMOUR GIG)

So here you go, three of the more unusual shots I took on the night, plus a wonderfully touching shot from a proper photographer, Brian Rasic.

BowieNet members who wish to do so, can view a larger version of the above picture that I’ve posted on the MBs by going here.

The concert has now been widely reported on the internet, including pieces on these particular publications’ websites, among many others: BBC News, Evening Standard, Independent, NME, Telegraph, TimesOnline.

Here’s a couple of excerpts…

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David Gilmour, Royal Albert Hall, London by James McNair for The Independent

It began at 7.30pm and finally ended at about 11pm, Gilmour encoring with a very special guest. When David Bowie showed up to sing the verses of “Comfortably Numb”, he broke a long hiatus from performing. The Thin White Duke also fronted a take on Pink Floyd’s debut single, “Arnold Layne”. He looked effortlessly suave in a dark-brown suit, the crowd joyously flabbergasted at the kind of stellar collaboration normally reserved for Live8 and the like.

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Brilliant illuminations and shining guest stars by Robert Sandall for The Telegraph

Then came a show-stopper that instantly brought the whole hall to its feet. A grey-suited David Bowie strolled on to supply a beautifully apt mockney lead on the Floyd’s first single, Arnold Layne. As the lights went mental, and Bowie and Gilmour duetted on Comfortably Numb, a patchy show miraculously pipped Pink Floyd for drama in the end.

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David Gilmour at Albert Hall by David Sinclair for The Times

As if such theatrical and musical splendour were not enough, David Bowie then arrived to perform an encore of Arnold Layne and to share the vocal with Gilmour on Comfortably Numb, bringing the curtain down on a show that not only echoed, but surely rivalled, the glories of Pink Floyd themselves.

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I’ll leave you with aforementioned Brian Rasic picture…Awwrrrr, isn’t it lovely!

The Gospel According To Tony V…

The impossibly talented Tony Visconti is the subject of the third instalment of BBC Radio 2’s The Record Producers series tonight. Here’s the blurb from the website:

The Record Producers: Tony Visconti

Richard Allinson and Steve Levine look at the work of Tony Visconti – a man who doesn’t fit neatly into any one particular category of producer. He is also engineer, orchestral arranger and mixer.

With nearly 40 years of work to draw on, the programme focuses on his work with David Bowie, Marc Bolan and Sparks, but also illustrates his work with The Move, Paul McCartney, Thin Lizzy and Morrissey.

From an extensive interview recorded exclusively for the programme, Tony talks about recording with these artists, studio tricks used on key tracks, the inspiration for particular arrangements and anecdotes from his illustrious career.

Though the programme airs at 19:00 (UK time) this evening, don’t worry if you read this too late as you will be able to check it out using the listen again feature.

Well I can ease your pain, Get you on your feet again…

“David Bowie’s on the phone, dad…” my daughter Holly casually announced late yesterday afternoon, “though it’s probably somebody messing around,” she reasonably suspected.

“Blam, what are you up to this evening?” Well, it certainly sounded like HIM. “Erm…nothing,” I spluttered. “Well, I’m doing a bit of an impromptu at the Royal Albert, grab your camera and get over here as soon as you can!” And he wasn’t messing around.

I got there in lunatic time and sat through two accomplished sets by David Gilmour and his collection of even more accomplished musicians, who boasted Roxy man Phil Manzanera among their number.

The first set kicked off with the Pink Floyd favourite, Breathe/Time/Breathe (Reprise), and continued with the whole of David Gilmour’s latest solo offering On An Island from start to finish.

The unsuspecting audience seemed most appreciative of the vocal contributions from guests David Crosby and Graham Nash and who could fail to be impressed by Robert Wyatt and his distinctive cornet?

Little did they know what was to come.

A second set of six Pink Floyd favourites followed, from the sublime ode to Syd Barrett, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, through to the mind-expanding space jam of Echoes…and then they were gone.

So, two whole sets, and no sign of DB. Was he winding me up? There were certainly no whispers of his name from where I sat.

But in no time at all, the band was back on stage for an encore which kicked off with a quite beautiful Wish You Were Here, followed by a very short interlude of Crosby and Nash’s own Find The Cost Of Freedom.

Normally the audience would have expected an end to proceedings round about now, and I’m not sure many of them actually believed Gilmour when he said something along the lines of: “We’re not done yet, please welcome our very special guest…David Bowie!”

David bounded on to an immediate standing ovation and was straight into a cracking version of Syd’s Arnold Layne…his grey suit and black scarf with crimson top even seemed to echo the mod clobber of the time…though I’m probably way off the mark with that observation. (I’ll get back to you on that)

The song is well-suited to David’s voice, and his love of all things Syd was more than apparent in the brilliant delivery.

The crowd was more animated than at any other point in the evening, but the temperature rose even further in the well sold out hall as the audience recognised the intro to Comfortably Numb, and David took the microphone once again…“Hello. Is there anybody in there? Just nod if you can hear me. Is there anyone home?”

Another superb delivery which saw David vanish from the shadows as Gilmour went in to that epic solo that completes the last few minutes of the song.

Inevitably the news filtered out via mobile phones and message boards…but still people seemed disbelieving until Sailor himself confirmed his appearance shortly afterwards via the BowieNet MBs, thus:

“Great stuff! Gig rumour is true. I had a ball tonight singing with David Gilmour and the band. He invited me up to do Arnold Layne and Uncomfortably Numb. Sailor.” He returned shortly after to say that the deliberate mistake of “Uncomfortably Numb” was “jus my little joke.”

It was great to finally see David sing in this fine old venue…how cool would it be to have a Bowie show there? And no, I’m not hinting at anything…just thinking aloud.

The official David Gilmour site posted a brief mention last night, including this line: “Best-kept secret of the night was the appearance of David Bowie, in the encore section, who gained a standing ovation after his unique renditions of both Arnold Layne and Comfortably Numb. Who knows what new thrills await in the next two days? Keep tuning in for the latest…”

Well, while we’re on the subject, I can tell you that DB doesn’t plan to join the proceedings again over the next two RAH Gilmour gigs.

For those of you that like to keep a record of such things, here’s the full set list:

David Gimour – Royal Albert Hall, London. May 29 2006

Part 1
Breathe/Time/Breathe (Reprise)
Castellorizon
On An Island (with Crosby and Nash)
The Blue (with Crosby and Nash)
Red Sky At Night
This Heaven
Then I Close My Eyes (with Robert Wyatt on cornet)
Smile
Take A Breath
A Pocketful Of Stones
Where We Start

Part 2
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (with Crosby and Nash)
Wot’s… Uh The Deal
Wearing The Inside Out
Coming Back To Life
High Hopes
Echoes

EncoresWish You Were Here
Find The Cost Of Freedom (with Crosby and Nash)
Arnold Layne (with David Bowie)
Comfortably Numb (with David Bowie)

(PS – A very happy birthday to Duncan Jones and Holly Adams)

Heard about a place today, Nothing never hurts again…

I know there is a solid core of BowieNetters who are big Labyrinth fans and are most likely pleased to learn that another Labyrinth region 2 DVD is being released on June 5th. I know I am.

This time it’s part of a box set with The Dark Crystal and Mirrormask and promises tons of special features which I doubt are new to this edition.

If you’ve yet to buy the film on DVD because you’re a Bowie fan, then you’re probably better off with one of the previous collector edition releases of the film, as neither The Dark Crystal or Mirrormask feature the man with the big hair, big boots, big packet and tights.

If, however, fantasy adventure does it for you, then this is a delightful presentation that I’m sure you will enjoy.

Gotta get a word through one of these days…

Not long to go for the first monthly BowieNet give-away open to all current BowieNet subscribers.

See the following news items if you’ve not yet taken part:

05.01.06 NEWS: MONTHLY BOWIENET GIVE-AWAY STARTS TODAY

04.16.2006 NEWS: BOWIENET VAULT POINTS LIST…HONEST GUV!

And don’t forget, in the words of the host of some crap Saturday night TV game show: “You have to be in it to win it!”

In other words, don’t come moaning to me when you see the fabulous goodies we’re handing out if you didn’t even bother to enter.

Questioning saint-like and fantastic heroes…

“An androgynous Seventies icon who wondered is there life on Mars is one of the specialist subjects on Mastermind on Thursday 1st June at 10pm on BBC TWO. Ground control to Major Tom, anybody?”

That’s how the new season of Mastermind, the highly regarded and somewhat intellectual 30-year-old British quiz show, was heralded on the BBC2 website recently.

Visitors to the BowieNet calendar will already be aware of this, but it’s worth a reminder for those of you in the UK who didn’t know about it.

The specialist subjects in this first edition of the new series, hosted by John Humphrys, include: Films of Stanley Kubrick, Anglo-Scottish Warfare, the Bodyline Ashes Tour and the Life and Music of David Bowie.

The show was recorded in Manchester in December, after Bowie fans were invited to join the audience.

Well let’s hope the questions were a little tougher than the teaser in the above opening line, and, indeed, just a teeny bit more taxing than the one in the above screen grab. Even my dog got that right!

Joe the leppard, YEAH! YEAH!…

Regular visitors to these pages over the past few years will know just how big a fan Joe Elliot is of David Bowie’s music. Indeed, he was kind enough to let me interview him about his Bowie fandom for BowieNet back in 2001, (07.09.2001 NEWS: EXCLUSIVE – JOE ELLIOTT SPEAKS TO BOWIENET) when he released a whole album of Bowie cover versions as the singer of Cybernauts. You may remember the band included the rhythm section of a group called The Spiders From Mars…or something mad like that.

Anyway, under his more familiar guise as singer of Def Leppard, Joe today releases (tomorrow in North America) his very own Pin Ups, entitled YEAH! The only rule the band had for the 14 songs included on the album was that they all had to have been hits in Britain before Def Leppard signed their own recording contract.

Here’s the songs they chose:

01 20th Century Boy – Originally recorded by T REX / UK No. 3, March 1973
02 Rock On – Originally recorded by DAVID ESSEX / UK No. 3, September 1973
03 Hanging On The Telephone – Originally recorded by BLONDIE / UK No. 6, November 1978
04 Waterloo Sunset – Originally recorded by THE KINKS / UK No. 2, May 1967
05 Hell Raiser – Originally recorded by SWEET / UK No. 2, May 1973
06 10538 Overture – Originally recorded by ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA / UK No. 12, August 1972
07 Street Life – Originally recorded by ROXY MUSIC / UK No. 9, December 1973
08 Drive-In Saturday – Originally recorded by DAVID BOWIE / UK No. 3, April 1973
09 Little Bit Of Love – Originally recorded by FREE / UK No. 16, July 1972
10. The Golden Age Of Rock ‘n’ Roll – Originally recorded by MOTT THE HOOPLE / UK No. 17, April 1974
11. No Matter What – Originally recorded by BADFINGER / UK No. 6, February 1971
12. He’s Gonna Step On You Again – Originally recorded by JOHN KONGOS / UK No. 5, July 1971
13. Don’t Believe A Word – Originally recorded by THIN LIZZY / UK No. 13, February 1977
14. Stay With Me – Originally recorded by FACES / UK No. 6, January 1972

It’s a great album and the band’s enthusiasm for the songs shines through. It’s also clear they had a lot of fun making this record.

Here’s an excerpt from Joe’s liner notes regarding his memories of the original Drive-In Saturday:

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David Bowie, along with Marc Bolan and Mott The Hoople are the three main reasons I wanted to be in a band.

Some of you will be aware that in 2001, myself and Phil covered a whole lotta Bowie on our Cybernauts project, so we were somewhat limited with our choice of material. However, and I stress this, we probably would have picked this one anyway because it was the natural choice of all five us!!

I remember seeing DB do Drive-In Saturday on the Russell Harty show back in 1973 and genuinely thinking he was an alien!!! The earrings were a bit of a give-away though…no way would anyone from Mars wear that sort of thing.

He scared our parents in a way that would be difficult to explain nowadays to a Slipknot or a Marilyn Manson fan, but with this song he showed a softer side of his many characters, which had a charm all of its own. Probably my favourite track on YEAH!

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With over half the songs on YEAH! representing the glam rock era, who better to take care of photographic duties than Michael Rock himself. Mick was responsible for the recreation of several classic sleeves for the CD’s booklet.

Joe obviously plumbed for Ziggy Stardust, recreating the iconic telephone box shot (above) based on Brian Ward‘s original Ziggy back cover.

Mick must have had a strong feeling of déjà vu while shooting Rick Savage as Freddie Mercury on the sleeve of Queen II, Rick Allen as Lou Reed on the cover of Transformer and Phil Collen as Iggy Pop on the front of Raw Power, seeing as he was responsible for all three of the original sleeves.

Elsewhere Vivian Campbell was the subject for the astonishingly accurate reproduction of Electric Warrior, and the whole band fill the centre pages of the booklet with a less flamboyant version of the inner gatefold of Roxy Music‘s For Your Pleasure.

Finally, Wal-Mart in the US are selling the above bonus CD with the following tracklisting:

01 American Girl – Originally recorded by Tom Petty
02 Backstage Interview #1
03 Search & Destroy – Originally recorded by Iggy & The Stooges
04 Backstage Interview #2
05 Space Oddity – Originally recorded by David Bowie
06 Backstage Interview #3
07 Dear Friends – Originally recorded by Queen
08 Heartbeat – Originally recorded by Jobriath

Apart from the 8-track CD being sold instore, the tracks are also available individually as downloads on the Wal-Mart site.

I spoke to Joe about his version of Space Oddity: “I originally recorded the song as a present for my dad’s 73rd birthday. Believe it or not it’s his very favourite song of all time, which I always thought was pretty cool.

I play every instrument on this myself, from the drums and bass through to the guitars, mellotron and the vocal harmonies, the lot. I tried to stay as true to the spirit of Bowie’s original as I could, as that was the version my dad liked.

Anyway, he seemed pretty pleased with it and I think I did a pretty good job of it considering I was on me tod. So when they asked us for extra tracks for the three YEAH! bonus CDs, I dusted off Space Oddity, tarted it up a little, and hey presto!”

Well, as the man says, he did do a pretty good job on it…a very good job actually.

The band kicks of it’s European tour on June 3rd, which runs in to a North American tour right through to the end of September.

Check out the official Def Leppard site for all this and more.Wal-Mart

Made for a real world cup…

The UK television company ITV has announced plans for its 2006 football World Cup coverage including the news that the theme tune to the opening titles of its World Cup matches will be an exclusive new recording of David Bowie?s legendary track “Heroes”, by British band Kasabian.

Kasabian said: ?We are delighted to be asked to cover this classic song for the World Cup. Come on England!?

The coverage starts on ITV at 20:00 (UK time) on Friday June 9th, when Poland play Ecuador in group A.

And I’m gone, Like I’m dancing on angels…

Details regarding the passing on Saturday of Stephen Nichols, better known as Skeeter Rabbit, remain unclear.

Bowie fans will remember Skeeter for his breathtaking dance moves as part of David Bowie?s Glass Spider troupe on the 1987 world tour. His work with DB was captured for posterity via the official film of the tour and in the Time Will Crawl promo video.

Skeeter first started dancing as a youngster growing up in the streets of Los Angeles. He started out locking and soon after began popping with his cousins Boogaloo Sam and Poppin Pete around 1978. In 1979 he became an official member of the vElectric Boogaloos and went on to become a pioneer of the popping and boogaloo dance styles.

Skeeter continued to spread funk styles knowledge through shows, appearances and classes around the world, and, apart from his work with Bowie, he appeared in videos alongside artists including Thomas Dolby, Talking Heads, Toni Basil, Chaka Khan, Madonna, Usher and Michael and Janet Jackson.

A Google search of Skeeter Rabbit proves just how respected a dancer he was and how dearly he will be missed in the Hip-Hop fraternity.

(NB: Sorry for the delay in posting this news?A kaput motherboard does hamper one?s progress somewhat. Anybody got any recommendations for a laptop that lasts longer than three months?!)

Friday on my mind…

As mentioned in a recent reminder, BowieNet will be down for maintenance over the next few days. Here?s a bit from the tech guys?

Site Maintenance
DavidBowie.com will be down temporarily from May 19th ? 22nd. We will have the site back up as soon as possible and appreciate your patience while our team performs some necessary maintenance.

So there you have it? Don?t be expecting big changes, this is simply maintenance, though members should see some improvements to the MBs, such as faster loading, a buddy list and status alerts?I?m sure that means something to somebody.

See you on the other side kidz.