Month: December 1998

Here are some updates in our ongoing efforts to support the Heroes Project.

“This is a really great cause. The proceeds of this project will help fund some very positive programs and events, and I would be knocked out if we could get behind this, this Christmas! Order the CD! We will post the ordering info below. Many Thanks” – David Bowie

Click Here to listen to the Heroes track performed by THE HEROES featuring THE DIAMONDOGZ Written by David Bowie and Brian Eno.

Available by mail order directly from:

Community Leisure Projects (CLP)Suite 14B3rd FloorSt. James’s Building79 Oxford StreetManchester, M1 6EJEnglandUnited KingdomTel: 0161 236 1878Fax: 0161 228 0085Prices includes all postage and packing.UK: £4.00 / US: $7.00

Please make cheques/postal orders payable to: CLP

Credit Card Hotline payments by telephone: 0161 236 1878 or Fax: 0161 228 0085

Check out The Heroes Project Website for more details.

Just in time for the Holiday season,Il Mio West opened Friday in theaters throughout Italy. The movie, filmed and produced in Italy stars David Bowie, Leonardo Pieraccioni and Harvey Keitel. The film will be shown in over 400 theatres.

Read about Leonardo Pieraccioni’s experiences making the film in 12.01.98 BowieNews.

Yesterday, LIVE from NYC, Tony Visconti and Mick Rock delivered a hysterical and informative 2.5 hour chat. (New BowieNet Record) After about an hour, David Bowie joined into the chaotic fun. If you weren’t able to attend, read the transcript from yesterday’s chat session here!

Make sure to check out the websites of both our special chat guests: Tony Visconti and Mick Rock. Also, have a look at a special page that Mick Rock has set up for this chat on his website (www.mickrock.com).

Thanks again Tony and Mick for a great chat!

From The National Tabloid Paper, here is a story that has been passed around lately. It includes an interesting conspiracy theory. Have a look…

MAJOR TOM’S NOT PLAYING BALL Question: Was David Bowie’s Major Tom named after the fomer Prime Minister’s [John Major] father? Recent biographers of Bowie maintain that, when writing his tenth single and first hit, Space oddity, in South-East London in early 1969, the budding rock star remembered an old Brixton theatre bill advertising a circus performer named Tom Major and named his song’s doomed spaceman Major Tom. Tom Major, living in Brixton, had changed his name from Abraham Thomas Ball and left the stage and circus to make garden gnomes. David Bowie, born in nearby Bermondsey, changed his name from Jones. Both John Major and David Bowie had older brothers called Terry whom they initially idolized but who later became potential sources of embarrassment to them.

Bowie is famous for ‘remaking’ his image many times during a lengthy career. John Major’s sister Pat has said her brother John ‘remade himself so thoroughly, the creation had become the real thing’. But any suggested connection won’t stand closer examination. When Tom Major- Ball moved his family from Worcester Park, Surrey to Coldharbour Lane, Brixton in 1955, his stage career was already well in the past. Though Tom claimed to have played every theatre in the land, including Brixton, his act had no specific link with the Brixton area, to which he moved only when his gnome business was failing. Bowie’s family had moved from Bermondsey to suburban Bromley by the time he wrote Space Oddity. It would have had to have been a very old poster indeed which attracted his attention if despairing Major Tom was named after performing Tom Major.

Sent by Richard from the UK division of Gossip Inc

New York, Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) — Pop singer Michael Jackson has ended talks with former EMI Capitol Music head Charles Koppelman to raise $100 million by selling bonds backed by Jackson’s future royalties, possibly because of complications regarding ownership of his songs, the Daily News reported, citing an unidentified source close to the transaction. Jackson’s catalogue, Sony/ATV, is partially owned by Sony Corp., which would have to agree to the ond issue. A sale may still take place, as David Pullman, who created “Bowie bonds,” backed by future royalties of rock star David Bowie, may be interested in negotiating with Jackson, the paper said, citing unidentified sources.

Matthew Collings’ follow up to his very successful ‘Blimey’. The period covered by ‘Blimey,’ Bacon to Hirst, is mirrored in his newie ‘IT HURTS’ covering Warhol to Barney. It is the third publication from Bowie’s 21 publishing house, the other being William Boyds provocative ‘Nat Tate.’ Of ‘It Hurts’Bowie writes,”Let us say that Vasari cut his teeth at the knee of Richard Ingrams, apart from the pain to Ingrams’ knee, the result could have been IT HURTS, without the Renaissance man’s revisionism of course. IT HURTS will be published in the USA in the Spring of 1999. (But, of course, can be ordered through BowieArt)

Just a Reminder, GLAM CHAT takes place on Thursday, December 17th at 3:30 p.m. EST / 8:30 GMT (that’s tomorrow)

BowieNet Chat Guests include Tony Visconti and Mick Rock.

The Winter Issue of Modern Painters.

This issue carries a cover interview conducted by David Bowie with painter and film maker Julian Schnabel (as mentioned in David’s Nov. 15th journal). If your bookshop doesn’t have it, get them to order. Or order through BowieArt.

Community Leisure Projects (CLP) are delighted and honoured to announce that DAVID BOWIE through BowieNet (www.davidbowie.com) has officially adopted THE “HEROES” PROJECT for this festive period.David posted the question to the BowieNet community: “What shall we do… and for whom, this Christmas?” and after receiving several requests, BowieNet decided that the “Heroes” fund raising charity project will be their special Christmas community activity.CLP would like to take this opportunity to personally thank everybody concerned in bringing this social awareness campaign to a wider audience.We are not promoting a worthy cause, we are supporting a basic right.

Community Leisure Projects (CLP) is a registered charity based in Manchester, England and covers the whole of the North West region.Our aim is to develop and encourage the social integration of disabled people into mainstream society. We organise a calendar of social events for young disabled people, where they can enjoy socialising in the company of their able bodied friends.We hope that by providing these social activities, disabled people will use the experience as a stepping stone toward achieving social self sufficiency. Of course they can only achieve this with full social acceptance which in turn can only be achieved via social awareness.The events that the CLP stage and the venues we use provide evidence that full integration of disabled people into a social environment is not only achievable, it is also an essential requirement of a rapidly developing and ethically responsible world.

In April 1998, CLP staged our “Flight Of Fancy” project when we hired a Boeing 757 to take over 200 disabled people on a 2 hour pleasure flight around the UK and Ireland.The Discotheque Royale in Manchester is hired twice a year for our Summer and Christmas disco’s attracting over 1,000 revellers to both events. Earlier this year, we organised a group trip to the Beatles exhibition in Liverpool. We regularly take groups to the Manchester Arena to watch the Manchester Giant’s Basketball team. We host carers awareness days and stage equal opportunities training events.Another special project of interest that is currently being organised is “The Amateur Variety Performance Of Youth”.To be staged at the Palace Theatre Manchester next year in conjunction with The Prince’s Trust. Disabled people will naturally be featured in this production given the fact that disabled issues effect every one of the many community cultures that we intend to feature at this event.CLP events serve to increase awareness, promote a better understanding of integration and provide valuable life skill experiences for disabled people.Thank you for your support.

For further information please contact CLP on 0161 236 1878 or fax: 0161 228 0085 or visit our web site at www.bowiewonderworld.com/clp.htmCommunity Leisure Projects (CLP)Suite 14b, 3rd Floor, St. James’s Building, 79 Oxford Street, Manchester M1 6EJ.

Director: L.C. Worsley, MBE.

Chairman: J. Warmisham. Patrons led by Sir David Trippier.
kRegistered UK Charity No. 1016634

UltraStar, pioneers in morphing the entertainment industry with Internet services, today launches BowieNet (www.davidbowie.com) in the United Kingdom. In a prolific career spanning over 30 years, David Bowie has always been on the cutting edge of technology and artistic endeavor and is the logical first to be part of an artist-created Internet Service Provider (ISP). The launch of the UK dial-up service for BowieNet follows on the heels of a successful US launch in September.Commenting on the launch of BowieNet, David Bowie said, “I wanted to create an environment where not just my fans, but all music fans could be part of a single community where vast archives of music and information could be accessed, views stated and ideas exchanged.” UltraStar expects the BowieNet ISP to be operational worldwide by the end of 1999. Users who sign on to have BowieNet as their ISP pay a fee of $US19.95(£10.00) per month. Those who wish to remain with their current provider can access BowieNet for a monthly fee of $5.95. The service offers subscribers not only essential news pertaining to business, sports and finance, but also music and entertainment content exclusive to BowieNet. In effect, BowieNet offers members the combination of exclusive access to David Bowie’s visual artistry, words and music and BowieNet’s unparalleled technical capabilities.

The launch of BowieNet will be kicked-off at 8:30 pm in the UK (12:30 EST) with the world’s first glam rock-themed chat featuring famed music producer Tony Visconti and legendary rock photographer Mick Rock, both of whom worked closely with Bowie during his glam years as Ziggy Stardust. BowieNet member features include:

Personal home page?Each BowieNet member is given 20MB to custom build a home page.

Through a relationship with Lycos and Tripod, BowieNet members will also receive an additional 11MB in the David Bowie Pod to create fan based Web sites.

Email?All members receive a davidbowie.com email address – yourname@davidbowie.co.uk in the UK or yourname@davidbowie.com in the US.

Chat?BowieNet offers members a full schedule of real-time chat sessions with Bowie and other artists and celebrities.

Songwriting competition?BowieNet members were recently invited to co-write one of Bowie’s new songs, titled “What’s Really Happening.” The music and chorus for the song have already been penned by Bowie, leaving budding songwriters to submit three verses to complete the track. Bowie will soon be selecting the winning entry from a shortlist chosen by the public. The winner will receive a $15,000 publishing contract with Bug Music, co-writing credit and a trip to New York for the “What’s Really Happening” recording.

Cybercasts?Live and archived cybercasts from Bowie and a host of other artists and celebrities are available to all BowieNet members. BowieNet will be the first open Internet site to use the Lucent 360 degree FullView Camera, which enables members to control the direction of the camera lens during a live event, allowing the user to become the “director” of the event.

Virtual CD?BowieNet subscribers will help create the very first online Virtual CD to be titled “liveandwell.com.” BowieNet members will be given three songs recorded live during his 1997 EARTHLING tour and asked for their contributions for the album cover art and a 48-page insert. Two or three additional songs will be posted each month to create two pages per track for the insert. BowieNet members have been asked for photos and ticket stubs from the shows along with anecdotes and their personal reviews of shows they attended during the EARTHLING tour. BowieNet will be making set lists, pictures and other clip-art available to subscribers.

BowieNet Radio?Users will also soon be able to access BowieNet Radio where they will experience Bowie himself acting as program director and DJ.

General news & information?In both the US and the UK, content is supplied by Lycos, offering everything from news, financial information, sports and weather to less serious, but equally vital, subject matter such as lottery numbers, local TV and film listings and horoscopes. Lycos offers BowieNet users unlimited access to content, including the ability to create a personalized home page.

Exclusive content?Member privileges allows access to previously unreleased material, videos and photos. All subscribers receive a CD containing “Fun,” a totally exclusive track for BowieNet members, and two unreleased live videos of “Under Pressure” and “Space Oddity.” Additionally, thousands of album and concert reviews across all musical genres are updated daily.

BowieWorld? BowieWorld is the first artist/music avatar based 3-D chat environment. Through BowieWorld, users become a three-dimensional personality that can interact and chat with BowieNet members everywhere.Upgrades?Each user is given the latest version of Internet Explorer, specifically customized for www.davidbowie.com.Service & support?BowieNet provides a 24 hour, 7 day a week customer support service.

Commenting on BowieNet, Ron Roy, a partner in UltraStar, said, “With the advent of BowieNet we’ve been able to actualize the UltraStar vision by creating a site to satisfy the hardcore fans of the artist as well as the true music and pop culture lover. BowieNet received a tremendously positive response in the US and we believe that it will have the same impact in the UK and beyond.” BowieNet’s technology partner in the UK is Global Internet. Site design is overseen personally by David Bowie in conjunction with New York-based NettMedia, a new media development company specializing in Web site design and production for the entertainment industry.

About Nettmedia Nettmedia is a New York-based new media development company specializing in World Wide Web development and enhanced music CD’s for the music industry and can be found on the Web at www.nettmedia.com.

About Global InternetGlobal Internet Solutions Ltd. offers a wide range of Internet products ranging from a free Web site package to full corporate sites with e-commerce and online databases. The company, who has been named “The Best ISP on the Planet” in the December issue of the UK’s Internet Magazine, can be found on the Web at www.globalinternet.co.uk.

About UltraStarBased in New York, UltraStar is a management, technology partnership that specializes in the arena of Internet services, bringing major entertainment, sports and fashion clients to the world in a community-based forum delivered over the Web. The UltraStar philosophy is simple — allow Internet users the opportunity to get “up close and personal” with their favorite personalities, in a members’ influenced community via the Internet. Never before has there been an ISP gateway where the private and public worlds of famous figures has been opened with the continued support, input and materials of each star. BowieNet is UltraStar’s first in a wide range of planned entertainment-focused ISPs.