Month: July 2001

The last days were the meanest…

Today is the last day in our original All Saints competition. (06/29/01 NEWS: WIN ALL SAINTS ULTRA-RARITY) This has been possibly our most popular competition yet, and understandably so. But though there are two copies up for grabs, one signed by David, and an unsigned sealed copy, I am afraid there have been far more than two correct answers so far, in fact I would say there have only been nearer two incorrect entries so far.

Still, to steal a popular catch-phrase from the National Lottery here in the UK, “It could be you”…and while I’m in a corny mood, remember, if you don’t enter, you can’t win. So give it a go, and the very best of luck to you. We will announce the winners in the next few days.

For more information regarding the original private pressing of ‘All Saints’, go here.

A little piece of you…

This is the one you’ve all been waiting for confirmation or denial of. Has David Bowie recently re-recorded ‘This Is Not America’ with Mr Sean Combs? Well, a recording session did take place last Sunday (22nd) at P. Diddy’s Times Square studio, and present at that session was one David Bowie (formerly known as David Jones, Ziggy Stardust, Halloween Jack, The Thin White Duke and various others) and indeed Sean “P. Diddy” Combs (formerly known as Puff Daddy).

The pair have taken elements from the 1985 David Bowie/Pat Metheny song ‘This Is Not America’, originally recorded for the soundtrack of ‘The Falcon And The Snowman’ movie, and have added new lyrics performed by Rappers Black Rob, Marc Curry, Big Azz Ko, and Kain . This new version has also been recorded for a soundtrack, for ‘Training Day’ (starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke) to be precise, and the film opens on September 21st.

The original recording was just as much an unexpected partnership as this latest one would appear to be, but the song is now regarded a classic among Bowie fans, and was in fact played live for the first time, fifteen years after its release, during David’s string of dates last year. This live version was immortalised on the live CD from David’s performance at the BBC Radio Theatre.

Here’s what David had to say about the session with P. Diddy:

“I threw down a lot of lines and melodic pieces from which Sean will make a sort of assemblage piece, with contributing rappers. The beats have a definite techno/hiphop drive.”

When the two met for the session, P. Diddy was moved to comment on David’s firm handshake: “Man, I want to know what exercise machine you use?” the rapper enquired. “It’s called holding onto your money.” was David’s quick-as-a-flash rejoinder.

Of course this isn’t the first time the two have graced the same recording. You will remember the smash hit, (taken from Puff Daddy & The Family’s ‘No Way Out’ album) ‘Been Around The World’, that sampled Let’s Dance as the basis for the backing track. It’s also not the first time David and Sean have met. They were both present for the NetAid press conference in New York back in 1999.

The Training Day soundtrack will be released on Priority Records.

Hey man, oh Helen get off the phone…

Tomorrow (Sunday) is your last chance to see the superb ‘Darkness and Disgrace‘ before its Edinburgh Festival run from 13th-27th August. A group of us went along last night to see this edited-for-Edinburgh version of the piece, and both those that had seen the full version and those that were seeing it for the first time agreed that this version really is worth a look. It was a pleasure to meet several other BowieNetters there and if you are in the area tomorrow, you really should make the effort to go along. Further details can be found in previous posts here on BowieNet. (07/24/01 NEWS: DARKNESS AND DISGRACE TICKET WINNERS)

After last night’s show and after we had all enjoyed some small amount of liquid refreshment, Spaceface managed the impossible task of herding eight of us into waiting vehicles with a view to visiting the Bowie shrine that is the phone box in Heddon Street. Once there, much merriment was had as we attempted to set the record for most BowieNetters in the phone box at one time. Rednik made a feeble attempt to become first BowieNetter on top of the box, but failed miserably.

Bemused tourists and late-night revellers looked on as the drunken raggle-taggle squeezed into the groaning box. I did the decent thing of greatly increasing the chances of success by not taking part and staying behind the camera. We rounded off the evening with a trip to China Town and a bellyful of noodles. Thanx for a lovely evening folks and good luck to Des De Moor and Russell Churney in Edinburgh.

Waiting so long, I’ve been waiting so long…

After spying the problems on the MBs that many of you in the US have had with regard to tracking down ‘All Saints’, I have managed to find out that the CD will now be released in the US sometime in September, at the same time as ‘Christiane F.’.

Apparently this delay only applies to America as ‘All Saints’ was available in the rest of the world from Monday 23rd July, and ‘Christiane F.’ is due outside of the US on 6th August. The American delay is allegedly George Bush’s fault, possibly. But probably not that George Bush, much.

Hedwig : New York Times : 07/20/01 From a review of the film : One way of looking at this clever, funny, wildly innovative film tricked out with surreal pop embellishments and Day-Glo colors is to see it as the kind of movie David Bowie might have made had he pushed his early- 70’s gender-bending persona to its logical limit…….Mr. Mitchell also sings in a voice whose lofty elocution and frosty, slightly inhuman tone echo Mr. Bowie‘s as spiked with a tiny whiff of helium. Fleshing out the story is a meaty rock score by Stephen Trask whose reaching-for-the-heavens anthems brilliantly parody Mr. Bowie‘s songwriting in the Ziggy Stardust era without lapsing into caricature…….More than simply telling Hedwig’s story, the songs, like Mr. Bowie‘s early-70’s output, sketch an overarching pop philosophy whose conceptual grandiosity harks back to the days when stentorian proclamations about rock ‘n’ roll saving the world still had some currency. (Hedwig and The Angry Inch is now on limited release throughout the USA)

All Saints : Dot Music : 07/20/01 From a review of the album. It all adds up to some of the least chilled-out ambient music ever. ‘Sense Of Doubt’ really must be one of the most ominous pieces of music anywhere, all crashing piano chords and swirling synthesised wind effects. Several of the tracks here are oddly moving because they feature tentative, fragile melodies set against grim electronic washes of sound – bits of broken beauty seemingly struggling to survive in a hostile environment. Marvellous mood music for moods you might hope never to experience.

Bowie’s backing vocals : Uncut : Aug 2001 From an interview with Brian Eno : “I like singing. It’s one thing that makes me really happy. I particularly love backing vocals. I’ve got a great voice for stacking. It’s very thin. You can’t stack Bono.. His voice occupies too much space. A good singer can’t do backing vocals. Bowie is the exception. He knows how to thin out his voice.”

Plastic Soul : The Independent : 07/23/01 From an interview with Super Furry Animals, on the release of Rings Around The World. “Juxtapozed With U”, the absurdly catchy current single, is the most radio-friendly thing SFA have ever done, a piece of summery disco with a production straight out of 1975. They mention Marvin Gaye and Caetano Veloso as inspirations for the song, although they nod in agreement at the mention of Philadelphia soul, and David Bowie‘s “plastic soul” approximation of it on Young Americans. “It was important that it should sound as plastic as possible. If we’d tried to make it sound authentic, it would have been awful.”

(contributors : susans, spaceface)

:))

Waiting so long, I’ve been waiting so long…

Possibly taking their lead from fellow New Romantics, Duran Duran, who had their own tribute album, ‘Thank You’, (complete with a cover of ‘Diamond Dogs’) Simple Minds, are to release ‘Neon Lights’ on September 24th. The ten track album includes versions of songs by the likes of The Velvet Underground, Roxy Music, Kraftwerk and David Bowie.

Here’s a bit about the Bowie cover from a track by track synopsis of the album:

“David Bowie’s influences cast a long shadow over many bands. It so happens that even the name Simple Minds comes from a Bowie song (The Jean Genie). Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill first came across Bowie around 1972. His charisma, his songs and the atmosphere of the show were what inspired Simple Minds to write songs of their own, so it goes without saying that the bands version of The Man Who Sold The World stays pretty close to the original.”

Singer, Jim Kerr, had this to say about the project:

“…We tried to hone it down to the key acts involved, and you could say that Simple Minds came out on a basis of listening to David Bowie, Roxy Music, Peter Gabriel and of course, Lou Reed…In this collection we have tried to stay faithful to the sentiment of the original songs…real fans of Simple Minds who want to hear what we were listening to as fans and understand the excitement that propelled us to make our sound and write our own songs, can trace it all on this album.”

This won’t be the first time that Simple Minds can be connected to David Bowie on record. In 1980 Jim Kerr and Derek Forbes of the band joined David at Rockfield studios in Wales to add backing vocals to the Bowie/Pop penned ‘Play It Safe’ for Iggy’s ‘Soldier’ album. Coincidentally, the song included the lyric: “Today I saw a very very thing, But that’s another song, You’re too simple minded, Let’s play it safe.” Spooky eh?

Earlier this week we mentioned an upcoming feature, an “exchange” between David and Moby. Well….it’s here! You will find the link to this cool new feature in the Mutations Box on the home page (remember that you may need to refresh the home page or clear your cache). Don’t miss this interesting and entertaining dialogue between David and Moby!

Angel for life…

I’m sure you’ll all join me in wishing the woman who stole David Bowie’s heart a very happy birthday today. The absurdly beautiful Iman reaches the age of…hold on, one should never reveal the age of a lady. Whatever, hope your day is as special as we imagine it will be Iman…Big love and happy vibes your way from the staff and members of BowieNet.

‘To hear these songs in such a personalised context is a real ear-opener. I listened as though someone else had written them.’ – David Bowie on ‘Darkness and Disgrace’

A little later than we had planned, here is the result of our competition to win tickets for the pre-Edinburgh run of ‘Darkness and Disgrace‘. (07/17/01 NEWS: WIN TICKETS FOR DARKNESS AND DISGRACE) The good news is that we now have two pairs to give away rather than just the one.

Could the two winners below contact me ASAP at MrTotalBlamBlam@AOL.Com to confirm that they will be coming and that they will be bringing somebody with them. I will also give you details of how to claim your tickets when you have contacted me. If either of you can no longer make it, or if you only need one ticket, please let me know NOW. There is still time to make the tickets available to somebody else if you can’t go.

The winners are:

celine@davidbowie.com
warmjet@davidbowie.com

A handful of tickets are still available for this coming Thursday, Friday and Sunday at six pounds each on 0207 704 6665. Tickets for the Edinburgh Festival run between 13th-27th August can also be purchased now on 0131 226 0000. Further details can be found in previous posts here on BowieNet.

As I mentioned before, a bunch of us are going on Friday. Rednik will be one of our number if you need to identify us, for his is a face common on wanted posters all over the UK. Don’t forget to make yourselves known to us if you do spy us, we don’t bite hard. See you there.

Later this week keep your eyes peeled for a tres cool feature we call the “Bowie/Moby X-Change,” a dialogue between the two artists where they ask (and answer) ten questions for each other. As you might imagine, they cover a broad spectrum of topics in a mere ten questions, touching on everything from dead artists to dogs to Dublin and Duchamp. Don’t miss this exclusive exchange, brought to you by BowieNet and Moby Online.com!