Month: May 2001

There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy…

The Moulin Rouge soundtrack is still receiving an almighty thumbs up around the globe, and it would seem that the Bowie theme that runs through the album hasn’t gone unnoticed. Here follows an excerpt from a review on Sonic Net:

“If you’re gonna fashion a soundtrack to a film revolving around the decadent, arty Moulin Rouge ? the Studio 54 of 1890s Paris ? who better to weave throughout the album than rock renaissance man David Bowie? Bowie spirals in and out of Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film “Moulin Rouge,” bookending the disc with symphonic and trip-hop versions of Eden Ahbez’s mystical 1940s tune “Nature Boy”; appearing vicariously in a Beck version of “Diamond Dogs”; and, via “Heroes,” turning up in a crazy-quilt medley of rock and pop songs voiced by the movie’s stars, Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor.”

Meanwhile, here in the UK, this Thursday’s edition of FILM 2001 (Thu 24 May, BBC1 23:20 – 23:50 GMT) features a complete round up of the 54th Cannes International Film Festival. Jonathan Ross talks to Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor about Moulin Rouge, and there are also interviews with David Lynch and the Coen Brothers.

Because you’re Young, you’ll meet a stranger some night…

Photographer Bob Gruen, (who has an already impressive folio of David Bowie photographs stretching back to 1973) has added to his Bowie collection with the picture above. Taken last Tuesday, Bob snapped our man with singer Kristeen Young who David had gone to see at CBGB Gallery. By all accounts, Kristeen performed an “amazing” solo set of her own songs.

Apart from lending her vocal skills to some of David’s recent studio work, Kristeen has recorded an album with Tony Visconti whose usefulness at the show went beyond normal production duties.

David had this to say about the industrious Mr Visconti:

“TV played the part of an excellent roadie, humping amps and plugging everything in. Now that’s a producer who cares about his artiste!!!”

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Yes gang, you heard correctly! On Monday, June 4th at 6PM EST, right here on BowieNet, David himself will join us for a chat. Wooo Hooo!! As always, follow the BowieChat page for details and updates. See you there….

Snoop Dogg : Salon : 5/15/01 In a profile of Snoop, Stephen Lemons draws an interesting parallel. “Think of the Dionysian revelry of rockers like Mick Jagger or David Bowie – perhaps Bowie more than Jagger, since the Thin White Duke was like an ivory-hewn precursor of Snoop – and you begin to get a sense of what Snoop’s appeal is to the masses…..”

Dylan : New York Times : 5/11/01 Anne Powers writes of the celebrations for Bob Dylan’s 60th birthday, and of those artists who have been described as “New Dylans”. This ability to straddle high and low, based in a refusal to distinguish between casual and serious, is shared by all of the greatest New Dylans. David Bowie, who mixed European art song with gutter glam rock, (has been considered) a new Dylan and even recorded “Song for Bob Dylan,” in 1971.

Rock Artists : The Independent : 5/16/01 David Lister writes on rock stars and their alternative arts. I wrote the catalogue entry for one of David Bowie’s first art exhibitions, and he could show some of the Young (well, younger than him) British Artists a thing or two.

In at No 10 : The Times : 5/4/01 In an article themed around which of our rock stars would make better politicians than the men who actually do the job, Stuart Maconie chooses his Shadow cabinet. A moment?s thought gives us a workable Cabinet. David Bowie: a keen Arts Minister. PJ Harvey, sensitive to Women?s Affairs. Elton John wouldn?t make Chancellor but we might let him loose in Culture, Sport and Heritage. Pete Townshend or Eric Clapton ? men who?ve beaten narcotics ? would make better drug czars than an ex-policeman who probably thinks Crystal Meth is a game show. Even Sean Ryder might bring more coherence to our railways than recent government.

Heath Ledger : Philly Daily News The star of ‘A Knight’s Tale’ on the choice of “Golden Years” for the soundtrack. Ledger played David Bowie’s “Golden Years” for Helgeland, the director, and he agreed to use the song. “I just thought it needed something a little more sexy,” Ledger said. “And a little slyer, a little dirtier, kind of.”

Review : Dallas Observer “It’s very difficult to stifle the groovy pleasure when the opening notes of David Bowie‘s “Golden Years” first honk, almost imperceptibly, through a ballroom sequence. Such anachronisms don’t feel cheesy at all; they feel like a glorious casting off of chronological fixedness.”

Travis : Dublin Castle : Irish Times “Driftwood soared, and Why Does it Always Rain on Me saw umbrellas held aloft beneath a thankfully cloudless sky. Ignoring their Britney Spears party piece, the gig wound up with a dead-on cover version of David Bowie’s All the Young Dudes.”

The Wallflowers : Variety : 5/9/01 At the ‘Fan Fair’ at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, during The Wallflowers late-afternoon performance, Third Eye Blind’s Stephan Jenkins guested on David Bowie’s “Heroes”.

(contributors : pozie, bonster, spaceface)

:))

They say all good things must come to an end; a schooled logician might deduce that a Limited Edition CD is….well, limited! We are referring of course to the infamous liveandwell.com CD. Chances are you’ve received yours a long time ago and have played it 100 times by now. But just in case you haven’t, you only have until May 31st to sign up for your free copy.

If you have not yet received your copy, please fill out the form here (you can also access this form from the INFECTIOUS box on the home page). Please keep in mind that there is only one copy per person, and that your BowieNet membership must be current in order for you to be eligible (free trial memberships do not qualify). Rest assured, we have enough CDs for all of our current members. Still have questions? E-mail naggymaggie@davidbowie.com

By the way, if you have not received the CD but have already filled out the old form, please fill this one out as well. Thank you!

We are happy to announce that as of today, BowieRadio Channel 2 is live! Just click here to access the Radio Launch page, or as you know you can access it from the Mutations box on the home page.

Channel 2 features David’s favorite songs from the past 50 years (ten songs per decade)! Each choice includes a brief narrative from David about the song and why he chose it. Check it out!

Judging by the reviews in today’s papers, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge is living up to all the hype it’s been getting. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times talks about the film’s “visual daring” and writes, “Moulin Rouge will be accused of having no heart. But the truth is just the opposite. The movie has so much heart that the poor overworked organ explodes in every scene.” You can read the rest of his thorough review here.

Judging by the reviews in today’s papers, Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge is living up to all the hype it’s been getting. Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times talks about the film’s “visual daring” and writes:

“Moulin Rouge will be accused of having no heart. But the truth is just the opposite. The movie has so much heart that the poor overworked organ explodes in every scene.” You can read the rest of his thorough review here.

Jack Mathews of The Daily News gives the film three and a half stars and calls it:

“…a kaleidoscopic binge of romance, melodrama, tears, pain, laughter and redemption, with a whiff of Paris and the sound of music, all tricked out as a Technicolor dream.” Go here to read the rest of Mr. Mathews’ review.

I give my complete attention to a very good friend of mine

You may remember a journal entry of David’s regarding some TV recording back in February (Journal for Friday, February 9th 2001), where he mentioned recording a short interview for a biography of Peter Frampton. Here’s a bit of what he said about it at the time:

“The A&E bio thing on Peter Frampton was pleasant and short. Got me thinking about how similar our paths were at one time. Both of us not ready for the big-time fame that came our way and losing the plot for a while, recovering as we got older and now both happy doing exactly what we always should have been doing. Namely, writing and working for ourselves.”

Peter, you will recall, accompanied David as guitarist on the 1987 Glass Spider Tour (a snippet of which was shown) and even sang the “Baby, Baby” bit from ‘Sons Of The Silent Age’ during the shows. By his own admission, “The Face of ’68” made it clear that the tour came along when he really needed it, and his gratitude to David for a place in the band was obvious. By all accounts DB looked his usual elegant self, and while generally playful, he did have this little suggestion for his old art teacher’s son:

“Peter really should do an album of real Peter Frampton guitar music. A bit of wisdom from the sage.”

As stated in our Bowie Calendar, the show aired yesterday at 8:00pm (EST) and then again four hours later at midnight. Despite what you may have read elsewhere, the show is not repeated tonight, but if there’s anybody out there that can get me a tape of the show, I’ll be forever in their shed.

As you may remember, we had a poll a short time ago to choose a cover for ‘All Saints’, the collected instrumentals CD which hits the stores on June 11th. As it happens David didn’t really go for any of the examples and in true Bowie style, designed it himself. So here we now present theexclusive new cover for this important upcoming release!