We like dancing and we look divine…
The current issue of Vanity Fair (Nov 2002) is a 240-page music special. Among the features is a twelve-page Seventies New York special written by long time champion of all things Bowie, Lisa Robinson. Lisa is more than qualified to have some say on the subject, seeing as how she covered the scene for Creem, Rock Scene, Hit Parader, NME and a syndicated newspaper column.
A few issues of Rock Scene…the first edition of which had a Bowie front cover!
And, even though people often have a different memory of the same event, Lisa’s piece makes for a cool potted history of what was a very exciting decade for the New York music scene. Here’s the blurb from the magazine:
REBEL NIGHTS – The New York 70s rock scene that saw the rise of Lou Reed, The New York Dolls, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Television, The Ramones and Blondie began as an intoxicating mix of drag-queen theatre, British “glam rock” and a hard-core rebellion against uninspiring radio. LISA ROBINSON recaptures the amped-up, sequin-studded, punk-powered explosion she experienced at the Mercer Arts Centre, Max’s Kansas City, and CBGB’s.
The article is littered with references to and quotes from DB, and among pictures of all the main offenders there are three Ziggy era shots.
Dido and DB at the 2002 Nordoff-Robbins Silver Clef
Awards. Pic © Dave Hogan/Mission/WireImage.com
Elsewhere in the mag, Elvis Costello chooses Hunky Dory as one of the albums that helps him through the day. Vanity Fair also comes with a free glossy brochure called Brit Beat, which is produced in support of the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy charity. Inside there is a page about the charity, including a small pic of David and Laurence Alexander of O2, both who sponsered the