Month: September 2010

I like the tee shirts…

You may have noticed that the Station To Station Microsite we told you about a couple of weeks ago is now up and fully functional. (09.02.2010 NEWS: EMI’s S2S MICROSITE LAUNCHES NEXT WEEK – WIN PROMO T) Be sure to check it out as it has some very cool features which we outlined in that original news item.

If you’ve not yet already pre-ordered either of the S2S Deluxe or Special box sets, you could win a Station To Station promo T-shirt by pre-ordering here.

Of course, if you’re a BowieNet member you also have an extra chance right here, right now. Well we did say “stay tuned for more contests sooner than you think” in our previous news item!

OK, for this one we’ve posed half a dozen simple T-shirt questions, all with a Rock ‘N Roll theme. And here they are…

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1 – What rock star’s face was featured on the above T-shirts originally? Clue: Pipes Of Pan.

2 – In the full length Jazzin’ For Blue Jean promotional video, what was the wording on Vic’s T-shirt? Clue: Well known band slogan at the time.

3 – According to the song lyric, where in the world does Bowie like the tee shirts? Clue: Some wear Bob Marley.

4 – In Mick Rock’s famous 1972 shot of The Unholy Trinity: David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, what T-shirt is Iggy wearing? Clue: The Prettiest Star.

5 – In a promotional shot with Bob Geldof, what slogan is on David Bowie’s T-shirt. Clue: Used for advertising campaigns for Band Aid/Live Aid.

6 – David Bowie once wore a T-shirt proudly proclaiming his membership of a certain beat combo. What did the T-shirt say? Clue: It was a bit rude but Florence liked it.

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Once you have your six answers, send them to me here. This contest closes on Friday, September 24th, at midnight New York time so that you can plan if you’ll be wearing a winning shirt or not in time for the release date on the 27th…28th North America.

Usual BowieNet rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account and please remember you must enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name. If you do neither of these things you won’t be eligible to enter.

Good Luck and happy research, kidz!

FOOTNOTE: The above photograph is the result of a bizarre, time-travelling, clone experiment we did in the future.

PS: Here’s a contest to win another ten of these shirts that still has a few days left to run.

You thought we were fakers…

OK, you all know about this release of cover versions of Bowie songs by now. If not, check out the two most recent stories regarding We Were So Turned On for an inkling of what’s going on and the tracklisting, etc. (09.01.2010 NEWS: MANIMAL WAR CHILD BOWIE TRIBUTE FEATURED IN NME & 09.06.2010 NEWS: DURAN DURAN AND CARLA BRUNI FOR NEXT MANIMAL SINGLE)

That’s both sides of the opened out digi-pack double CD above, which isn’t available in this format in Europe until October 11th. It’s been available elsewhere around the globe on CD and everywhere digitally since September 6th.

France is producing it’s own 3CD version instead, which will be available through naive who were also responsible for the Bowie Mania tribute CD in 2007. They’re so independent those French.

Anyway, this is your chance to win one of ten copies of the regular 2CD version pictured above and it’s a very simple single question and answer contest.

As you are aware, David Bowie has recorded several cover versions himself over the years and we want you tell us what they are.

We only want to know about covers from original studio albums (no reissues) and they must all be songs which Bowie had no hand in writing at all. Don’t include Pin-Ups as that was obviously an album that contained only cover versions so it would be pointless to simply list every track on it. Don’t include soundtracks either.

Once you think you have your answer, send the titles of each song to me here. The contest closes on Friday, October 1st, at midnight New York time.

Usual BowieNet rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account and please remember you must enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name. If you do neither of these things you won’t be eligible to enter.

Good Luck and stay tuned for more contests sooner than you think!

It’s safe in the City…

The Steven Kasher Gallery in New York has just opened a new exhibition celebrating the launch of Max’s Kansas City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll, a chronicle of the famed venue in words and pictures.

The book features photography by Bob Gruen, Anton Perich and many others, and writing by Lou Reed, Lenny Kaye, Danny Fields, Lorraine O’Grady, and Steven Watson. It is edited by Steven Kasher.

The inset picture above of David Johansen & David Bowie at Max’s Kansas City was taken by Bob Gruen in 1974 and you can view many of the pictures showing at the exhibition here…including another shot of Bowie introducing Devo at Max’s in November 1977. However, the pedants among us will probably notice the pictures have been mislabelled and are both a year out.

Max’s Kansas City: Art, Glamour, Rock and Roll is published via Abrams Image and the exhibition runs until October 9th, 2010. Check out this page for more detailed information.

You’re born once again for me…

More glowing endorsements for the Station To Station reissue, this time from Mark Edwards in The Sunday Times Culture magazine and Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone…and you can read them both in their entirety here now.

It’s the Hearts Filthy Lesson, Tell the others…

The Hearts Filthy Lesson was perhaps the bravest of David Bowie’s single releases, taken out of context as it was from the 1. Outside album, which would follow a couple of weeks later.

Seemingly uncommercial, the song peaked at #35 on the UK singles chart, the exact same position his previous chart entry, The Buddha Of Suburbia, managed almost two years earlier.

However, the song wormed it’s way further into the public’s hearts and brains via the end credits of the harrowing film, Seven.

The Samuel Bayer directed promotional video for The Hearts Filthy Lesson was as equally macabre and menacing as Seven in some ways. But despite this it remains, for my money at least, among the very best and most beautiful Bowie videos of all time.

Combined with the hugely successful Outside World Tour, (which kicked of in Hartford in the US with NIN a few days later on September 14th, 1995) the new direction the Outside recordings took David Bowie in created a whole new army of fans, while shaking off a few of the more faint-hearted members of the “Phil Collins’ audience” Bowie had attracted during the previous decade.

The Hearts Filthy Lesson was released in many different formats and you can read more about those over on Ruud Altenburg‘s consistently brilliant Illustrated db Discography.

Uncage the colours, Unfurl the flag, Luck just kissed you hello, When you’re a boy…

Smarties in Australia have produced eight TV adverts for their current promotion, 8 Colours of Fun.

In Project Purple, a young lad called Ryan is given the Aladdin Sane flash, albeit in purple!

It’s all part of a collaboration with photographer Thom Kerr and it will make more sense if you go and watch the promo on the SmartiesAustralia YouTube channel. Scroll down to Project Purple on the right hand side.

Thanx to BowieNetter Daz in Australia for the pointer.

Your paintings are all your own…

Following on from last month’s instalment (08.02.2010 NEWS: IT’S ALADDIN SANE LIGHTNING BOLT ROUND-UP TIME) here’s a couple more instances of the recreation of David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane cover image by everyday folk.

We already covered the transformation of Cherie Currie in the film The Runaways last week. (09.06.2010 NEWS: RUNAWAYS IN UK CINEMAS ON FRIDAY) But here’s a couple more instances for your Glam God appreciation…

Marc Riley, DJ and occasional mime artist, (despite his general awkwardness, he’s actually very good) has contributed the above painting to artist Pete McKee’s Cover Version project which has just opened at the ?a Month of Sundays? Gallery in Sheffield.

Here’s what Marc had to say about his inspiration…

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My life changed in the June of 1972. I’d gone straight from school to my gran’s house in Didsbury and as usual switched on the tv and sat down to watch a programme called Lift Off With Ayesha. Ayesha was in fact Ayesha Brough and she co-hosted the programme with a bloke called Wally Whyton and an owl called Ollie Beak.

When David Bowie appeared with the Spiders in tow performing Starman for the first time on TV I was blown away. By the time he made his first appearance on Top of the Pops the following week I was already what became known as a Bowie-nut.

I spent all my money on magazines and when we eventually got a record player – records. I’d listen to Johnny Walker on his daytime Radio 1 show knowing that he was a fellow Bowie fan and would probably play his new single.

I spent all my waking hours (school included) lost in a world that was mostly Bowie – and partly T Rex, Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed, Cockney Rebel and Queen. I had scrap-books full of Bowie…I was a member of his fan-club… I dreamt one day I might even get to see him play live.

I remember seeing the cover of Aladdin Sane for the first time. It was an advert in the NME. The image was (and is) so striking…I was beside myself with excitement over its imminent arrival.

The album lived up to the cover of course. Sealing, for me, Bowie’s title of Britain’s greatest ever rock star.

Marc Riley

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Interesting that he’s depicted the later RCA International pressing…probably some kind of anti-fashion statement. Well, he was in The Fall you know. Anyway, it’s clear from Marc’s efforts that he has hidden talents.

Meanwhile, Pete McKee himself has committed the image of the Aladdin Sane era Bowie to paper via a series of illustrations depicting our man in everyday situations.

Here’s one of them and it’s titled: Ziggy bought some milk and a four pack of bog roll for the Spiders From Mars.

We’ll bring you a couple more of Pete’s pieces in the near future.

The Cover Version exhibition is free to view and will be running until 14th October at ?a Month of Sundays? Gallery which is situated at 365 Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield, S11 8ZG. Go here for more information.

And so, on to the next contender…

Strung out in heaven’s high…

Well, it’s all there in the headline, see below for what NME reckons of Warpaint‘s contribution to We Were So Turned On, which is available as a 7″ 45 as well as digitally and on the album. (09.01.2010 NEWS: MANIMAL WAR CHILD BOWIE TRIBUTE FEATURED IN NME)

But, before I leave you with NME’s verdict, I just want to say stay tuned for our contest to win copies of the double CD, above, shortly…Oh, and we will still be running that much-delayed Deram contest and the Station To Station contest and the 2011 calendar contest…and …and…

A real life adventure…

Ash are due to release their cover of David Bowie’s 1980 classic, Teenage Wildlife, as a bonus track on their A-Z Vol.2 CD on October 11th.

It’s a brave move considering the DB original is probably in the top ten favourite Bowie recordings of the majority of David’s fans.

However, Ash pull it off with great style and it’s a wonderfully faithful version, save for a slight tempo change and the substitution in the lyric from David to Tim.

Front man Tim Wheeler delivers a great vocal with no attempt at aping the Bowie original, though his magnificent guitar playing is pretty close.

You can read more about the A-Z series here, where you can also listen to a 30-second snippet of Ash’s version of Teenage Wildlife among all the other tracks.

Speaking of cover versions…

When I live my dream, I’ll take you with me…

This is an excerpt from a recent blog on the Goldfrapp site written by the wonderful Alison Goldfrapp herself.

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i had a dream about david bowie last night. i was sitting in my car and he suddenly appeared at the gate so i said ‘hello david bowie’ and he looked at me as if he was really surprised to see anyone. he then struck a pose, the sun beamed down on his long dark leather coat and his little round glasses flashed a milky blue. he spun round and went back indoors. god knows what thats all about?! it was great to see him though even if it was in dream! hee hee.

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The image above is an actual grab from the dream captured using a new bit of kit invented by Alison’s musical partner, Will Gregory, probably.

Speaking of pop ladies who like our man…