Month: January 2002

…how the others must see the faker…

Spaceface highlighted a piece in the last BOWIEPHILES from the Sunday Times, regarding their list of “Six of the Best Hoaxes”, in which they mentioned the Nat Tate episode. You may also remember a brief piece I did about the very same thing last August. (07/18/01 NEWS: NATE TATE EXPOSED TONIGHT)

‘Nat Tate – An American Artist: 1928 – 1960‘ is a book written by William Boyd and published by 21 Publishing. A clue that the ‘biography’ may not have been all it seemed was in the date of the launch. The launch party was held in the studio of Jeff Koons in NY on April 1st 1998. And just for the event, David Bowie read excerpts from the book, which he had also written the foreword for. But you all knew that.

I have received a few e-mails asking me if the book is still available, and as it happens, it is quite easy to track down online…but before you scamper off, why not try and win one of ten copies generously donated by 21 Publishing. For your chance to win simply send Nat Tate’s ‘date of birth’, as fictional as it is, (Day, Month and Year) to TotalBlamBlam@DavidBowie.com with a subject line of “Nat Tate”. The randomly selected winners will be announced this time next week, or thereabouts.

The results are in, and points are out – well, at least for the time being…

The last BowieNet Poll asked “What should we do with the Points System?”

The response showed that an overwhelming majority of Bnetters would not be opposed to removing points completely from the site.This brings up a few new questions.

Q
1. What do points mean now?
2. What’s to be done with all the prizes?
3. Are they ever coming back?
4. What about the points you used to get for sending invitation emails?

A
1. NOTHING. EVERYTHING. ANYTHING. They’re just on pause for now. Think of them as magic beans if you like…
2. We’ll be having more trivia chats and events where we’ll be giving out these prizes among other things.
3. We dunno. Depending on the reactions we get in the interim, we’ll decide whether or not to bring them back.
4. The points you used to get for sending invitation emails are no longer in effect, however you’ll still be awarded backstage points and free months for the people you successfully refer.

NOTE: If you were a points winner in the last quarter, your prizes are being fulfilled as you read this.

If you have questions and/or comments, please send them here.

My sweetest friend, Everyone I know goes away in the end…

David recalls Freddie Burretti, the man who helped shape the look of Ziggy, and who with the help of Daniella, changed the look of women in Britain (and quite a few men). Read David’s latest journal for a touching account of their influence, with a very sad Postscript.

Put you all inside my show…

We now have the full track-listing for the 15-track CD ‘Pop Art – Underground Sounds from the Warhol Era’ that we mentioned last week, (01/22/02 NEWS: BOWIE TRACK ON WARHOL RETROSPECTIVE) and jolly good it is too. As I said in aforementioned piece, the UK is currently in the grip of Warhol fever, with a major retrospective at TATE modern from 7th February to April 1st 2002.

Part two of the fascinating three-part Channel 4 documentary, ‘Andy Warhol – The Complete Picture – Shooting Stars’ is due this coming Sunday, from which this CD is a spin off. Here’s a bit from Channel 4’s blurb on this episode:

“Meanwhile, to fund his experimental agenda Warhol also became a commercial portrait artist, charging wealthy patrons for flattering portraits that, through their sheer number, became another vast work of social documentation. Warhol further capitalised on this shrewd business approach by taking on the management of seminal rock group The Velvet Underground, and playing host at the Factory to an outrageous coterie of people that his patronage alchemically transformed into superstars. Although this culminated in an assassination attempt that almost killed him, it also set the seal on Warhol’s status as both a star and a brand.”

‘Pop Art – Underground Sounds from the Warhol Era’ is released on February 11th, and here’s that full exciting track-listing:

01. Velvet Underground ? ?I?m Waiting For The Man?
02. Iggy Pop & The Stooges ? ?Search & Destroy?
03. Nico ? ?These Days?
04. 13th Floor Elevators ? ?You?re Gonna Miss Me?
05. MC5 ? ?Kick Out The Jams?
06. David Bowie ? ?Andy Warhol?
07. New York Dolls ? ?Jet Boy?
08. The Tubes ? ?White Punks On Dope?
09. Patti Smith ? ?Redondo Beach?
10. The Ramones ? ?I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend?
11. Blondie ? ?X Offender?
12. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers ? ?Roadrunner?
13. Television ? ?Marquee Moon?
14. The Stooges ? ?I Wanna Be Your Dog?
15. John Cale/Lou Reed ? ?Hello It?s Me?

Under the moonlight, this serious moonlight…

While there are still almost two days to go on last week’s delayed auction, we are back on course with another three items today. Check out the BowieNet Auctions Page to view all six of the current live items. The bidding has been far better than we could have hoped, with the total of last week’s items currently at $366.00, that figure will no doubt exceed $400.00 if we can expect the usual pattern of last-minute bids.

The previous week’s total ended at $259.50, with an incredible $132.50 paid for the signed ‘Survive’ 7″ picture disc by BowieNetter Glennoddity. The Serious Moonlight Tour Scarf was also won by Glennoddity for $46.00, and a world-famous zany UK DJ won the Sound & Vision/Man City football strip for a bargain $81.00.

This week’s items have a Serious Moonlight theme, and are all very rare indeed, including two unique tour jackets and a very cool glow-in-the-dark shirt. Below is an artist’s impression of how the shirt may actually look as it glows in the dark. Of course, the beauty of an “artist’s impression” is that they are very rarely accurate, so if one of you lot wins this item we would have great pleasure in posting a picture of you wearing it in the dark. A little photographic tip though, don’t use a flash while trying to capture the glow.

Gail Ann Dorsey’s bass guitars that we mentioned on Saturday sold for a fair bit more than their reserve prices too. The MusicMan Stingray fetched a very respectable $740.00, while the Peavey Cyberbass was pushed up to $650.00 with some frantic, last-minute bidding. It’s times like this that I wish I hadn’t bought a house and that I had kept all my money for eBay instead!

One boy breaks a rule

Only 25 days to go until David’s next live appearance! How could we forget with Patsdragon’s daily reminder on the message boards? The Concert, which promises to be just as spiritual and unique as last year, takes place at Carnegie Hall in New York City on 22nd February 2002.

You can check out the webpage for the Tibet House organisation for full details, which now include the latest line-up of David Bowie, Bebel Gilberto, Philip Glass, Nawang Khechog, Kronos Quartet, Patti Smith, and Monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery.

See you there!

:))

Gail’s guitar sound jealousies scream…

There’s a little under two days to go in a very special eBay auction of two of Gail Ann’s very own bass guitars. Both instruments have been used during performances with David Bowie, as Gail explains below. Click on each of the images to take you to the relevant eBay page.

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1996-97 MusicMan STINGRAY 4-String Bass

“I acquired this bass as a spare during an extensive touring period with David Bowie from 1997 through 2000. It was my detuned bass that I always kept tuned a whole step down (D-G-C-F) for special versions of songs like Drive-In Saturday and Rebel Rebel. For those die hard Bowie fans, you would have seen me playing Rebel Rebel on this bass on Saturday Night Live during the ‘hours…’ promotion in 2000!”

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PEAVEY CYBERBASS MIDI Bass Guitar

“I purchased this bass in 1997 for the David Bowie Earthling World Tour and used it specifically for the TAO JONES INDUSTRIAL (or was it Index?) concerts, which you die-hard Bowie fans will remember—the special few who got to see those shows around Europe! I used the bass on stage with an Akai sampler to trigger earth-rattling sub bass and synth bass grooves…I realize I may be giving up my eBay anonymity, but if you would like it autographed (by me, not David!), I am happy to do so. I will even throw in an Earthling Flag from the tour, and maybe that could be autographed by David as well! You will have to win to see!”

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Well she’s a tongue twisting storm, she will come to the show tonight…

Gail Ann Dorsey has been in touch to tell us that she is playing a solo show tonight at the Rosendale Café in Rosendale, NY. Gail’s spot commences at 9:00pm, and this time she’ll be performing without the other Hudson Valley Girls Kate Pierson and Sara Lee. (See story from last November 11/27/01 NEWS: THREE MORE GAIL ANN SHOWS THIS WEEK) Gail’s usual set-list will be supplemented by a batch of recently-written tunes that she’ll be trying out in public for the first time tonight. The Rosendale Café is situated at 434 Main St. Rosendale, NY (845) 658 9048).

Another local gig for Gail takes place on February the 15th and 16th at the Hudson River Theater in Hudson, NY (521 Warren St Hudson, NY 12534, (518) 822-8189). These post-Valentines Day dates are billed as ‘A Love Seranade’, (see ad above) and sound like they’re going to be a fairly romantic sort of thing to take your partner along to. This of course is my presumption, but don’t blame me if Gail decides to slip ‘Anarchy In The UK’ and ‘Ace Of Spades’ into the set!

See story below for your chance to own a bit of real Bowie history from Gail’s own collection…

Thanks to Kiarrith for the continued plugging of all things GAD

Did you ever have a dream or two?

“Dreamdances” : The Peacock Theatre : 1/29/02 – 9/02/02 Lindsay Kemp returns to London with “Dreamdances”, “a selection of his most magical and best loved moments”. For more information, check out the website of The Peacock Theatre. There is also a great article about Lindsay, from The Times, online here.

Rebel Rebel : Mojo : Feb 2002 This month’s ‘Gimme Ten : A packed handbag of transgender pop classics’, includes Rebel Rebel at number five. They say :- “Two years after producing Reed’s Transformer, David Bowie’s relentless riffage touts an epicene tacky thing. Wanna piss off mum and pop? Mess with your gender.

The Langley Schools Music Project*, featuring Space Oddity, with an arrangement described by David as “astounding”, also has a double page spread this month. *(11/09/01 SNIPPET: BOWIEPHILES)

Various : Sunday Times : 1/20/02 In the first of several mentions for David in this week’s issue, he is chosen to represent those who know how to keep their appearance fresh and young-looking. They say, “….they (David Bowie, Raquel Welch and Madonna) have mastered the art of image reinvention, which means that new generations still perceive them as looking fresh, even after they have spent several decades in the public eye.” The story was accompanied by five images of David from his youth to the present day.

Elsewhere in the paper, David’s part in 1998’s great Nat Tate hoax reached number five in a list of “Six of the Best Hoaxes“, described thus :- “The glitterati flocked to Jeff Koon?s Manhattan loft in 1998 to hear William Boyd introduce his monograph of the American abstract expressionist Nat Tate. The book boasted a blurb from David Bowie. Tate, of course, never existed.” For more about Nat Tate, see Bowienet News : 07/18/01 NEWS: NAT TATE EXPOSED TONIGHT.

Also, in a review of Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club‘s debut album which made Record Of The Week :- “Right now, nobody else is doing this better. Certainly, nobody else could smash together Bowie’s Jean Genie and Norman Greenbaum’s Spirit In The Sky and end up with a song as addictive as Spread Your Love.”

:))

As an added bonus to our regular Friday news, here is a fun little gem we’ve unearthed for you. It’s an oldie but it’s a goodie. Enjoy!