Month: November 2000

Well, it’s finally here, Election Day in the U.S. At this early juncture, it’s anybody’s guess who will come out on top in what is being hailed as the most close presidential race in at least 40 years.

And as for David Bowie, what does Election Day in the U.S. mean to him? Well. As we learned during the Halloween chat, the elections here are terribly important to David:

I make it a point to always vote in the American elections. As I’m not an American, this has proved difficult, so I’m content to write up my own forms in the living room, and by means of the serving hatch into the kitchen, I post them through to Iman who reads them and tells me if I’m right or wrong. This is democracy in its complete fruition. Long live Joan of Ark, and anybody else who’s good with flames!

If you’re looking for updates on the race watch TV. Hah hah. If you’re looking for updates online, try these links:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/6228

http://www.msnbc.com

Odds & Sods

….at least that’s what Mark calls it, referring to bits of writing about all the recent work on the Toy album. But there’s so much of it there, perhaps he should have named it “Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy?”

Either way, there are some very interesting little tidbits in the NEWS section of Mark Plati’s new website about the making of the Toy record. Among other things, Mark expounds on the process of caging in the muses, quite literally:

‘Afraid’ was a track written on my mini-guitar. David was in the process of writing it, but he was a little behind (studio time ticking away..) so we had to take a page out of the old-school book (courtesy of Andrew Loog Oldham, ex-Rolling Stones manager) and lock him in a room to finish it! (and aren’t we glad we did).

Thanks, Mark!

I put him on a train to Eastbourne…

At least 90% of you got this one right. The other 10% of answers ranged from Station to Station (understandable) to Little Wonder (don’t ask). Of course the song title we were looking for was The Laughing Gnome via the line: “I put him on a train to Eastbourne”. I think the answer was obviously there in the picture, but if further clues were needed a click through from the picture above took you to a larger version that, after about ten seconds, flashed up a “little old man in scarlet and grey”. Easy wasn’t it? The bad news is that The Laughing Gnome is one of the tracks not being re-made for Toy. };-)

Stephen ‘Baby Hair’ Breach who actually hails from Eastbourne, wins a signed Bowie poster for his wonderful effort, and aam@davidbowie.co.uk (Alan Morgan) wins a copy of the boxed Bowie at the Beeb eight-track promotional sampler for being the name that was spewed out of the random selector with the correct answer. Your prizes will be winging their way to you as soon as you have furnished me with your real world addresses.

While we are on the subject of winners, the following people haven’t supplied me with their name and address for the Beeb T-shirt competition yet. Please send your info to: MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.com with “Bowie at the Beeb T-shirt Winner Stragglers” in the subject line.

squeakie@davidbowie.com


debaser@davidbowie.com

queenjanine@davidbowie.com

lunamagic@davidbowie.com

Go here for this month’s even easier competition picture that was sent in by Don ‘Husband of Spidey’ Atkins, from up north somewhere.

Total Blam Blam – (European Correspondent)

Been a lot of talk about this wonderful little crummie. Not only do we get to preview this gem of a tune a good three months before the album comes out, but in rare acoustic form as well!

If you’ve been combing the boards lately, you know that David has posted the complete lyrics (in response to Rednik’s deconstructionalist interpretation), Mark Plati has confirmed what key it’s in (G minor) and lengthy discussion has ensued regarding capos and the intricacies of tiny instruments!

In light of the ongoing buzz, then, I’m afraid we’ll have to post it again!

=8-)

Don’t miss VH1’s Storytellers featuring the Smashing Pumpkins with the master Mike Garson on the keyboards! The show premiers tonight on VH1 (Saturday, November 4th) at 10:00PM EST. As always, Mark’s playing is, er…..brilliant!

Election day is closing in for BowieNutters in the U.S. Hence the new Site of the Month, as submitted by Sailor himself. Check it out and get your suggestions in for next month!

Lightning Frightening, When The Wind Blows…

Well, if there’s one thing the year of little Alex’s birth will be remembered for here in Blighty, it’s that predictably British topic of conversation, the weather. Britain is currently in the grip of terrifying storms and paralysing floods, with over 3,000 homes already under water and the promise of far worse to come this weekend. The Environment Agency today announced that the torrent of water witnessed so far is on the same scale as the ‘Great Floods’ of 1947.

Hmmm…does that mean there was another baby’s birth heralded by floods that year? Spooky…is somebody trying to tell us something? Whatever, it gives a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘my waters have broken’!

Total Blam Blam – (European Correspondent)

Due to a little bit of misinformation given to me by an employee of a prominent London PR firm, I reported that a picture of David and Stella McCartney had been reproduced in the November 3rd issue of HELLO! – In fact the issue dated November 7 is the one that you want (see above) and it contains two pictures of David from the VH-1 Vogue Fashion Awards, both with Stella and Paul McCartney – The November 3rd issue of OK! also carries a picture of David and Stella! Both magazines are current. Phew…

Total Blam Blam – (European Correspondent)

Guitar.com has an interesting interview with former Bowie guitarist Reeves Gabrels. In it he talks about recording technology, guitar gear, and of course David Bowie. Asked what working with David was like, Reeves says:

“It was 12 years of my life, and it was great – a total learning experience. I couldn’t have had a higher profile gig that had more freedom. It was always a joint effort, with Tin Machine having been a real four-way band and having co-written 65 or 70 song with him, and producing the last couple of records with him. I never felt like just the guitar player or the hired guy. It was always fun. We used to laugh pretty much throughout the sessions…”

I looked and frowned and the monster was me…

Q magazine this month (December 2000 Issue) takes a dip into the world of “…online celebrity hosts with the most.” Needless to say, BowieNet gets the thumbs up:

“…davidbowie.com is one of the most famous. The Thin White Duke, naturally, was an early adopter of all things net so it’s no surprise that his site is one of the best designed and content-rich. Moreover, it’s a classic example of a star using a site as a very real two-way conduit between them and their audience. Bowie spells out his viewpoint on page one…”

You know the bit on page one. And then under a list of related sites Q continues: “www.davidbowie.com – Exemplary site. Buy, read, interact, you could probably even mention Tin Machine and get away with it.” Other sites mentioned in this list, not all with the same enthusiasm, are: www.holemusic.com – www.manzanera.com – www.tonyhart.nildram.co.uk – and last but least: www.greglake.com This last entry is included mainly for being “unintentionally hilarious”. Poor Greg, and he still believes in Father Christmas to boot!

Foot Note: The Concise Oxford has exemplary as meaning: “fit to be imitated”…No change there then.

Total Blam Blam – (European Correspondent)