FROM: TRESA REDBURN/MITCH SCHNEIDER
DAVID BOWIE has just finished recording hours…, his forthcoming album due out October 5 on Virgin Records. Produced by BOWIE and longtime collaborator/guitarist Reeves Gabrels, the album will contain such songs as “Thursday’s Child,” “Survive” and “The Dreamers,” as well as “What’s Really Happening,” the song co-written by Alex Grant, winner of the BowieNet cybersong contest.
“What’s Really Happening,” regarded as the first true cyber-song, was the result of collaborative efforts between Bowie and co-writer Alex Grant, who was one of 80,000 people who submitted lyrics online to the Bug Music-sponsored BowieNet cyber-song contest. Last month, fans around the world were able to watch a live webcast of the recording session on BowieNet, Tunes.com/RollingStone.com and the Lucent Technologies FullView web site, as Bowie laid down the song tracks with Grant and his friend singing background. This event marked the first-ever public webcast using the 360-degree FullView camera, invented at Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU). According to BOWIE, “The most gratifying part of the evening for me was being able to encourage Alex and his pal Larry to sing on the song that he, Alex, had written. It was a cool way to finish the session off.“
The mysteriously titled hours… features: BOWIE, vocals, keyboard and 12-string acoustic guitar; REEVES GABRELS, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboard and programming; MARK PLATI, bass, acoustic and electric 12-string guitar, keyboard and drum programming; and MIKE LEVESQUE (Dave Navarro Band), drums. The album was mixed by BOWIE, Gabrels and Plati. Other details about the album and its first single/video are TBA.