Month: September 2001

Original UK press ad for ‘Rebel Rebel’courtesy of Blammo’s archives.

Rebel Rebel : NME : 09/05/01 Andy Rourke (ex Smiths) was DJ of the week in last week’s NME. Number One in his chosen Top Five was Rebel Rebel. He was “in town to join resident turntablist Clint ‘Inspiral Carpets’ Boon and relive the glory days of indie…”

Starman : Suzuki TV Commercial : Current In Japan, a commercial is being aired for the ‘Suzuki Wagon R – Solio 1.3’ with Starman as background music. The storyline is a surfer who goes to work after surfing early in the morning. Not unlike a sailor we know, who surfs early in the mornings….

The Actor : New York Times : 09/09/01 From an article discussing Mark Wahlberg’s transition from musician to actor. And, from David Bowie to Whitney Houston, there are many musicians who have not only done strong work on screen but who could develop more active film careers if they wanted to.

Aladdin Sane : The Cocktail : Anytime In connection with the current advertising for Absolut Vodka, click the link and check out the ingredients for the well-known Aladdin Sane cocktail, described by Cosmopolitan as :- Like the David Bowie alter-ego for whom the drink is named, the Aladdin Sane is a superior variation on a timeless classic.

(held over from Friday – contributors : susans, eri wilde, blammo, spaceface)

:))

All the young dudes, Carry the news…

Despite the fact that we haven’t posted for almost a week, there really hasn’t been much to report on the Bowie front. ‘American Dream’ by P. Diddy and the Bad Boy Family featuring David Bowie as featured on the ‘Training Day’ soundtrack (already out in the US) is released in the UK today, and the promised competition to win copies of the CD will go ahead sometime this week.

Also Travis release their rousing live rendition of ‘All The Young Dudes’ today, as a bonus track on CD1 of new single ‘Side’. Recorded at their Glasgow Barrowlands gig back in June, ‘All The Young Dudes’ features lead vocals by Travis’s biggest Bowie fan Douglas Payne. Dougie first began to appreciate the music of David Bowie at the tender age of six, so Susans doesn’t have the only claim to the youngest Bowie fan crown. Here’s an excerpt from Dougie’s recollection of that very first Bowie moment:

“My first musical memory is, being made to sing ‘Bye Bye Baby’ (the Bay City Rollers), by 2 of my older sisters. A slightly more pleasant memory is my sister Gill playing me Hunky Dory by David Bowie when I was about 6. It was the first album I ever listened to, and I was immediately smitten. I was lucky to grow up with a sister in the next room who had very good taste in music. Years later I would buy albums by the Beatles and Bowie, and wonder how I knew all the words.”

You can hear a 30 second snippet of ‘All The Young Dudes’ by going here.

Well we promised we would try and get back to some sort of normality regarding news posting today…and as different a world as it is compared to this time last week, and as many of you have already said, we have to try and move forward. Spaceface pretty well summed up this feeling with the following sentence:

“I hope that somehow our community spirit at Bowienet can be reflected around the world as we join together to try to make it a safer place.”

David’s own message regarding the tragedy in New York (09/12/01 NEWS: A MESSAGE FROM DAVID) was picked up by the word-wide media, in newspapers and on websites, and is still being reprinted today in fact. (Thanks Magnus)

Tune in to BBC2 in the UK tonight at 11.20pm, and catch some footage of David. His 1972 appearance on the famous show The Old Grey Whistle Test features in this first programme of a series commissioned to celebrate its 30th anniversary. (09/03/01 SNIPPET: DB ON 30TH ANNIVERSARY ‘OLD GREY WHISTLE TEST’) Further details can be found in our Bowienet Calendar.

:))

The staff of BowieNet joins the world in offering condolences to those directly touched by the events of the last few days.Rather than us posting news and such, we hope the BowieNet community will continue to express your thoughts, opinions, and works in the Gallery and on the Message Boards. David has also posted up a new question that asks for your thoughts. In times like these, community and communication are so important to us all. One of our members put it best:I wanted to say something about the site! Another dimension has been added for me. The NOW section became an essential form of communication for us…all posting live as the disaster unfolded, checking on our friends and getting updates and reports as they happened. It really helped me (and I’m sure others) cope with the horror of what was going on.We will be back posting on Monday.

Bowie posts up a new DavidAsks question, asking for your thoughts on the
rays of positive possibility that illuminatethis bleakness.

Like all of you, nothing has prepared me for the horrors of the last twenty-four hours. Like you, I never thought I would see anything like this in my lifetime. Our world will never be the same. The streets are empty downtown except for the few who live there, trancelike, going about their day to day lives, walking their dogs, going to work, or just walking. At some ghostly unseen signal everyone turns his or her heads, crane their necks, looking to the patch of sky where, twenty-four hours ago, the mountainous peaks of those two towers stood. The sunrise was seen earlier today. No obstruction.

The likelihood of survivors is paltry. Two friends of mine offered to give blood yesterday only to be told that it was not necessary, as there weren’t going to be enough survivors to warrant it. A doctor, on his way to one of the makeshift morgues, suggested the victims would number many thousands. The emergency services are listening for the ring of cell phones or cries from the acres of rubble. When buildings of this size collapse, the cinder blocks sometimes form small pockets of space in the crush. It is possible some may survive this way.

The area of New York below fourteenth street has been declared a no-go section this morning. Lonely old sidewalk crazies, a permanent fixture of this city, who yesterday were crying aloud “where are all these people running to?'” are today asking, “where are all the people?”

Small mercies for me. My family and friends are safe. At this moment in time I have no personal knowledge that acquaintances or friends may have been killed. My heart goes out to those of you who do have family or friends missing. I hope beyond hope they are found.

Life here will continue. New Yorkers are a resilient and fast thinking people. In this way they really do resemble my own Londoners. They came together quickly in massive community support and silent determination. There has been no over-panicking. Over the next few days that calm may surely turn to anger. But today, there is just numbness, a horrible silence.

David B

From UltraStar and BowieNet, our thoughts and prayers are with you all on this tragic day.

When you see a famous smile…

Already available back in March in the US, Cameron Crowe’s superb ‘Almost Famous’ is now available to buy in Europe. Complete with a new cover, the film is released on Video and Region 2 DVD today. Most of you are familiar with the film and its soundtrack, which includes the 1972 Santa Monica recording of ‘Waiting For The Man’ by Ziggy and the Spiders, and numerous references to David Bowie, including a flash of a Bowie look-a-like being bundled into a lift.

The film tells the story, (based on Crowe’s own experiences) of William Miller (Patrick Fugit), a naive 15-year-old boy who wants to write about rock music, and who ends up on the road with fictional band Stillwater, as a reporter for Rolling Stone magazine in the 1970s. Despite his mother’s best efforts, Miller’s innocence is gradually eroded by firstly, legendary Creem editor, Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman), and then groupie extraordinaire Penny Lane (Kate Hudson)…that’s her on the cover.

A most moving account and a subject clearly close to Crowe’s heart, ‘Almost Famous’ is a must-see. The video retails at around £75, but as my mate Rus says, you may be better off saving your cash toward a DVD player if you don’t already have one. The DVD retails at £19.99 but you should be able to pick it up online for as little as £15.99

On a final note we also have Mr Crowe to thank for the infamous Playboy interview with David back in 1976, not much of which is printable on a family site such as this. But here is a little insight into a 29-year-old Bowie through the eyes of a teenage Cameron Crowe:

“My talks with Bowie began as far back as early 1975. Few of our sessions were marathon affairs. No matter how stimulating the conversation, after any longer than an hour of sitting still, Bowie could barely contain himself. ‘Can we just take a short break?’ he’d blurt. Not waiting for a reply, he would then shoot to his feet and dart in another direction: sometimes to write a song or two, other times to dash off a painting. In one instance, he ended a session by asking for a random list of 20 items. I gave it to him. He studied the list for ten seconds, handed it back and recited it from memory. Backward and forward.”

Thanx again to Rus for the pointer.

All Saints is number three in a list of the Top 10 instrumental albums, published yesterday in The Sunday Times, Culture Section. David’s taste and influence pervade the list which includes Eno’s Music for Airports at number one; Aphex Twin, Selected Ambient Works at five; Air, Moon Safari at seven and Neu, Neu 2 at nine.

The list in full :-

1 Brian Eno – Music For Airports
2 Aerial M – As Performed by Aerial M
3 David Bowie – All Saints
4 Mowgai – Young Team
5 Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works
6 Plastikman – Comsumed
7 Air – Moon Safari
8 Biosphere – Substrata
9 Neu – Neu 2
10 Harold Budd – Luxa

You can read the article online, here.

:))