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“Looks like you’ve been there too”
As Valentine’s Day draws to a close in the UK, we trust YouTube had a happy 10th birthday and we celebrate the release of the Rebel Rebel 45.
However, even though the press ads back in 1974 claimed the track was “A VALENTINE DAY RELEASE”, the single didn’t actually come out till the following day, February 15 1974.
So what better way of celebrating both facts than watching the Reality Tour live version of Rebel Rebel on YouTube now?
“Don’t lean on me man, ‘cos you can’t afford the ticket”
After a false start (Aylesbury Jan 29), three non-starters (Lanchester Polytechnic Arts Festival, Coventry, Feb 3 – Cleopatra’s in Derby, Feb 4 – Guild Hall, Southampton, Feb 7), a pub gig (the official start of the tour at the Toby Jug, Tolworth, Surrey, Feb 10) and a debatable (High Wycombe Town Hall, Feb 11), David Bowie’s UK Ziggy Stardust tour got underway properly with the first Ziggy and The Spiders show (though not yet billed as such) in London at The Great Hall in Imperial College, South Kensington on Feb 12, 1972, for a mere 50p admission.
Ray Stevenson took the black and white shots and the colour picture was taken at Aylesbury a couple of weeks earlier on Jan 29, where Bowie wore the same outfit.
Here follows a piece by Andy Barding of Cygnet Committee, whose partner-in-crime, Martyn Hammond, kindly supplied the ticket from the show in our montage.
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David Bowie at The Great Hall, Imperial College, London, Feb 12, 1972 by Andy Barding.
Set included: Queen Bitch, The Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud, Space Oddity, Amsterdam, Andy Warhol, I Feel Free, Round And Round, Suffragette City, Waiting For The Man and Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide
Just two shows into their first ever tour and the pressure was on: Bowie and the Spiders would make their central London live debut in front of a few hundred bemused students, a handful of cynical rock hacks and – perhaps most daunting of all – a TV film crew from France.
Claude Ventura, director of France’s leading ‘Pop Deux’ music programme, was flitting in and out of London throughout the first few weeks of 1972, capturing various touring prog and art-rock acts on film. The previous night, Monsieur Ventura and his two-man crew had filmed and interviewed Detroit’s legendary MC5 at Aylesbury Friars. And on this Saturday night, the team travelled to Kensington to catch a very young and still rather raw Ziggy Stardust in action. Not a bad weekend’s work…
Some 20 minutes of the set was filmed on 16mm colour stock, but only one song appears to have made it to broadcast on French TV screens – ‘Suffragette City’
Apparently, the remaining footage suffers from badly-distorted sound and was therefore unsuitable for airing. It remains in the vaults.
In the mid 00’s, though, several archived editions of Pop Deux were made available online through the French video archive house, INA. It gave many Bowie fans a first tantalising glimpse of a young Ziggy and the Spiders with a bit of a way to go still in terms of confidence and finesse.
It’s a great clip: Bowie and Ronson look and sound great together, though the lyrics are almost entirely fluffed and Mick mistakenly drops out completely just before the final chorus. But the interplay between the two, and the spectacle of the sparkly and spangly stage clothes (Bowie in high-topped wrestling boots, white satin trousers and the black and white cropped satin top that would later be immortalised on the reissued ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ cover) shines through the single-point camerawork in spades.
It’s raw, but impressive. And belies the difficulty that Bowie had in getting going this particular night. In his excellent autobiography “Apathy For The Devil”, early fan Nick Kent (then a reviewer for Frendz magazine) recalls a power cut striking just as the band are about to launch into their opening number. The tune aired by French TV was close to the end of the set – which might well have proved just as well. Reviews from the time indicate a difficult start to the show.
Technical hitches aside, the reasonable crowd and energetic performance proved a score for Bowie and the Spiders. Though one final gesture, shamelessly copied from Bowie’s then hero Iggy Pop, almost fell flat… literally.
In emulation of the famous clip where the lead Stooge is shown walking on audience members’ hands and smearing peanut butter on his chest, David also tried to summon a few willing strong arms to the front. A grubby still shot from the time, taken by Ray Stevenson, shows Bowie trying to get to his feet atop some shoulders – but sadly there just weren’t enough bodies to make it happen, and he slipped to the floor.
An unnamed audience member at the gig commented that the lights were particularly impressive. There was a bright red spotlight on one side and a bright green one on the right, and at an appropriate moment both would focus on Bowie’s face, so he would be lit half in one colour and half another, with the beams joining right down the middle. No doubt very impressive for the time.
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And here’s the Melody Maker review.
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CAUGHT IN THE ACT – Melody Maker (19 February 1972)
As the band played on and sang “You’re Wonderful” in Edith Piaf emotion-drenched voices, DAVID BOWIE stepped down from the stage into the audience until they picked him up and carried him out in the spot light. No bibbity-bobbity hat, but shimmering white satin trousers and shirt ripped open……….Clothes by Liberty, boots by Michel, as the man said……..
But this was no fag show, a drag act full of lisping gestures and limp hands. Don’t expect Danny La Rue or any Alice Cooper rubbish with boa constrictors and electric chairs. The costumes – and there were several changes – are the gilt on the lily, but they’re not the substance.
The music is muscular, the performances witty and assured. What other group would dare to do “I Feel Free” before a London audience, complete with Cream rip-off solo – so calculated as to be a thing of glorious absurdity? Because Bowie and his band are nothing if not superb parodists, right down to the way in which Ronson walked to the front of the stage and invited the front row to caress the body of his guitar. It plucked the heartstrings, friends, the pathos of that moment.
Bowie has a tremendous sense of pace and timing. He varied things by slotting in a 15-minute acoustic piece, where he did “Port of Amsterdam”, “Andy Warhol” and “Space Oddity”, then threw in rockers like “Reeling and Rocking”, and then highly abstract pieces such as “Wild-Eyed Boy From Freecloud.”
The harmony singing between Bowie and Ronson was brilliant. “Space Oddity” was as perfect as the record.
Not surprisingly, there was references to the Velvet Underground. There was “Queen Bitch”, dedicated to Lou Reed, and even a version of “I’m Waiting For The Man”. Later on, in the dressing room, two chicks were saying they’d see Bowie at his next gig in Brighton. They’d seen all his others so far.
Dedicated to bringing theatrics back to rock music, David Bowie swirled and captivated at London’s Imperial College on Saturday, queening his way through old and new songs, before a house packed to the door. And they hung on every word that dropped from his lips.
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“Well the record’s so white, but it may come clear”
April 18th sees the release of a limited edition white/clear vinyl ‘Side By Side’ 7″ ‘Kingdom Come’. One side features the original Tom Verlaine version of the track and the other has Bowie’s rendition from the album ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’.
‘Kingdom Come’ was first released by ex Television frontman Tom Verlaine on his eponymous solo album in 1979, a year later Bowie covered the song for inclusion on the album ‘Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)’, Bowie wanted to know how the song would sound in the style of Ronnie Spector thus giving us this very unusual performance.
This ‘Side By Side’ release will be issued in a clear stickered sleeve on white/clear vinyl.
DAVID BOWIE/TOM VERLAINE – KINGDOM COME LIMITED EDITION 7″ ‘SIDE BY SIDE’ WHITE/CLEAR VINYL FOR RECORD STORE DAY 2015
A-Side Kingdom Come by Tom Verlaine (1979)
(Tom Verlaine)
Produced by Michael Ewasko and Tom Verlaine
AA-Side Kingdom Come by David Bowie (1980)
(Tom Verlaine)
Produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti
KINGDOM COME is released on Parlophone/Elektra April 18th 2015
“I still don’t know what I was waiting for”
April 18th sees the release of the latest special limited David Bowie 7″ picture disc, the Record Store Day 2015 edition of Changes.
Collectors of the 40th anniversary series of picture discs (which celebrate the original RCA releases of Bowie’s singles), have long bemoaned the absence of Changes from the series on account of it being the first Bowie single on RCA.
For some mad reason, the 40th anniversary releases commenced with Starman, and we didn’t really appease fans with the April 1st story last year regarding a Changes picture disc.
So it is with those reasons in mind that it gives us great pleasure to finally announce this release. Here’s a bit more about the disc.
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‘CHANGES’ was first released in January 1972 and was the first of two singles taken from the album ‘Hunky Dory’, the other being ‘Life On Mars?’ It was originally backed with the ‘Hunky Dory’ track ‘Andy Warhol’.
The AA-side for the 2015 picture disc is ‘EIGHT LINE POEM (GEM PROMO VERSION)’ which is making its official debut with this picture disc.
In August 1971, David Bowie’s then management had a small run of promo LPs made to secure him and another Mainman artist, Dana Gillespie, a record deal. This promo album, featuring seven songs by Bowie on side A and five by Dana Gillespie on the reverse, is often referred to as the GEM Promo, a reference to GEM Records, the company that pressed the album.
The white label LP came in a plain white card cover (sometimes with a green Gem logo sticker) with typed green Gem labels pasted over the white labels, or simply hand-written white labels. The stamped matrix number (BOWPROMO 1A-1/1B-1) is another identifier. Most of the Bowie songs on this promo LP would appear four months later on Hunky Dory. However, as the recording and mixing of that album was not yet completed, it transpired that the Gem Promo LP was the only source for the Bowie song ‘Bombers’, which would not get an official release for a further 20 years. The GEM Promo also contained alternative takes/mixes of the tracks. The 2015 AA-side version of ‘EIGHT LINE POEM’ is taken from this promotional album.
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DAVID BOWIE – CHANGES LIMITED EDITION 7″ PICTURE DISC FOR RECORD STORE DAY 2015
A-Side Changes
(David Bowie)
Produced by Ken Scott and David Bowie
AA-Side Eight Line Poem (GEM promo version)
(David Bowie)
The images used for the picture disc were taken by Brian Ward from the Hunky Dory album shoot. The mono image is a previously unpublished shot from the session.
CHANGES is released on Parlophone April 18th 2015
“And now I close my eyes”
It is with great sadness we report that Rex Ray, the San Francisco-based fine artist, graphic designer and beautiful human being, succumbed to a long illness today.
Rex, who was 58, was active online right up to last week before he entered hospice care over the weekend.
Bowie fans will know him best for a series of incredible album and single artworks along with prints and gig posters for Bowie.
With the news of his death a message was posted on the closed FB group: REX RAY SUPER-ELITE MF FAN CLUB CLUB! And though it may not have been in his own words, it captured his spirit nicely:
“Okay bitches I left the building and for the last time…FU”
Those of us privileged to have known him personally, understood what a generous and talented man he was.
Blessed with a quick wit and a keen intelligence he was a wicked comedian and a hugely popular member of the Bowie community.
He will be sorely missed by many, but leaves an incredible body of breath-taking artworks that will live on as a fitting legacy to this important artist and great man.
Whether you’re familiar with his work or not, take a look at his site or check out this image search page.
We plan to collect together all of his Bowie-related artwork and present it to you as a gallery in the near future.
The only fitting goodbye is a massive collective FU Rex Ray…Now piss off!
“Under the moonlight, this serious moonlight”
Let’s Dance: Bowie Down Under (a film by Ed Gibbs and Rubika Shah), screens at the 65th Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival next week.
Four screenings of the film commence on Tuesday February 10 and here’s the synopsis.
The remarkable, forgotten story behind David Bowie’s biggest-ever hit record – and how an unlikely journey deep into the Australian outback led to its unprecedented success.
An early pioneer of music video, Bowie’s visual legacy hit a new peak in 1983, on the newly launched MTV. With rare political insight, Let’s Dance told the story of a young couple’s struggle with assimilation in the New World – one of the few times Indigenous Australians had been seen on global television by a mainstream audience.
Let’s Dance: Bowie Down Under looks back at this oft-overlooked period of Bowie’s celebrated career, exploring his sudden appearance in the outback, the social and cultural issues of the time, and the legacy of a remarkable work that still resonates today.
Check out the official FB page for links and updates.
FOOTNOTE: scroll the pictures to see the cover for the original Australia & New Zealand Let’s Dance sheet music.
“My, my, the time do fly”
David Bowie’s 1997 album Earthling was released in the UK on February 3rd 1997 (with worldwide regional variations).
The album produced a slew of excellent singles (most of them accompanied by some of Bowie’s best ever videos), in the shape of Telling Lies, Little Wonder, Dead Man Walking, I’m Afraid of Americans and Seven Years In Tibet.
Produced by David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, Earthling reached #6 on the UK album chart and entered the top ten in several other countries.
The band personnel for this release was Reeves Gabrels, Mark Plati, Gail Ann Dorsey, Mike Garson and Zachary Alford, with some brilliant and possibly overlooked solos from Gabrels and Garson. (Listen to Looking For Satellites and Battle for Britain (The Letter) respectively)
Earthling is a remarkable album that not only stands the test of the last eighteen years but still sounds fresh and vital. But don’t take our word for it, check it out here.
“But she jumped into the furnace, Singing old songs we loved”
Orange Is the New Black star Lea DeLaria (Carrie “Big Boo” Black) announced her crowdfunding project last year, a jazz rendition of the greatest hits of David Bowie.
In a video posted on Pledge Music, she had this to say regarding her appeal: “You may not know it, but I have five records on the Warner Brothers jazz label. So now, I am working on ‘House of David: DeLaria + Bowie = Jazz’. I’m recording 12 David Bowie tunes, and I’m swinging the hell out of them.”
She continued: “The trick is to make the people want to hear it in a completely and entirely different way. I think we’ve got it. When you see the beautiful ballad for ‘Life on Mars’ and the big church number in ‘Modern Love,’ and the bossa nova version of ‘Golden Years,’ it’s a completely different sound of Bowie, but all very much within the confines of who he is.”
With just 14 days of the campaign left, DeLaria has reached 78 percent of her goal. For a mere $10 donation, you can get an AccessPass to unlock videos, music, behind the scenes photos and private updates, including live performances of some of the Bowie tunes.
To help fund the project and get House of David released, please make your pledge here.
Keep an eye on Lea’s FB page for updates.
“Does my face show some kind of glow?”
David Bowie’s 1976 ISOLAR tour of North America and Europe in support of the Station To Station album, commenced on February 2 at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, concluding at the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, France, on May 18 the same year, close to seventy shows later.
Variously known as the Station to Station and White Light tours, it is now referred to as the ISOLAR tour, as reflected by the title of the official tour programme. (The 1978 World Tour is now referred to as the ISOLAR 2 tour)
Bowie’s band for the shows (collectively known as Raw Moon) consisted of: Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar), Stacey Heydon (lead guitar), Dennis Davis (drums and percussion), George Murray (bass) and Tony Kaye (keyboards and synthesisers). Bowie himself also played saxophone on occasion.
Our montage shows images from tour rehearsals taken by Andy Kent and a ticket from the opening night.
We’ll tell you more about the rehearsals and the show nearer the publication of the exclusively previewed book at the top of our montage.
It’s the cover of the next publication from Cygnet Committee: The Dawn Of The Duke – David Bowie in Vancouver, 1976,
This volume will feature rare and exclusive Andy Kent shots from rehearsals and the opening show, along with his recollections of both.
The Dawn Of The Duke will also have the usual reviews and memorabilia, with accompanying text by Andy Barding.
Keep an eye on the Cygnet Committee page for updates.