Month: March 2003

Well, the joint was rocking, Going round ‘n’ round…

More wrong answers than right on this one. For a chance to win the ultra rare copy #10 of the limited red vinyl double album Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars – The Motion Picture, we asked you:

What were the tracks, (featuring guitarist Jeff Beck) that didn’t make the final cut of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars – The Motion Picture?

The majority of you correctly stated The Jean Genie, and many of you even pointed out that this particular version also included a diversion into The Beatles’ Love Me Do. But, many of you neglected to mention the Chuck Berry song, Round And Round. Still, there were enough of you that did name the song, making the odds of winning so small that BowieNetter stockfleth probably can’t believe his luck!

That’s right stockfleth, you are the winner of copy #10. We’ve also managed to rustle up another five copies that have some slight damage to the seams of the inner sleeves (damaged in transit), but if the following five people want one of these copies, (numbered somewhere in the 600s) you are most welcome. If you don’t, let me know and we’ll offer it to the next person selected. The numbers in parenthesis below are the corresponding numbers chosen by the random number generator:

(08) kate7
(29) Tchild1
(37) bab
(56) paulhenderson
(69) julesb

If all six of you would please send your real name and address to me at TotalBlamBlam@davidbowie.com and we’ll have your prize out to you immediately.

Should’ve took a picture, Something I could keep…

Time for another auction kidz…This time we are making available several of the beautiful items that adorned the walls of the quite brilliant MTR Bowie exhibition last year. (04/26/02 NEWS: BOWIE CAREER RETROSPECTIVE AT MTR, 05/27/02 NEWS: SEE 1969 PERFORMANCE OF SPACE ODDITY, HERE, NOW!, 06/04/02 NEWS: MTR MEMBERS-ONLY PREMIER REMINDER, 06/05/02 NEWS: MICK ROCK AT NY MTR EVENT TOMORROW, 06/10/02 NEWS: WHAT TO DO IN NEW YORK TODAY)

We’re starting with two stunning Mick Rock framed photographs, pictured below. Spend a moment gasping at their beauty, then read the descriptions below.

This first shot is an outtake from a session at David’s home, Haddon Hall in Beckenham. Famous for being used on the reverse of the RCA reissue of the Space Oddity album, this classic image was apparently taken in young Zowie’s bedroom. The session was described by Mick Rock thus:

It turned out to be a magical session for both of us, the results cementing our friendship and guaranteeing my role in the great scheme of things.

This second rather moody shot was taken on October 16th 1972 within the grounds of the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles. Mick Rock again:

We did the shoot just before going to see the premier of Andy Warhol’s Heat. David’s clothes were a tryout for the Jean Genie promo (we didn’t call them videos then) that I shot and directed in San Francisco.

These pictures are classic Mick Rock Ziggy shots, both perfect examples of how far ahead of the game David was. The hair in the first shot, and the clothes in the second, greatly influenced the look of Punk Rock in the UK four years later.

Both pictures come professionally mounted and framed, and are approximately 16″x22″. Click on each of the images to be taken to the relevant auction. Good luck if you do decide to go for them.

Living in lies by the railway line…

To celebrate the tenth anniversary of the 1993 mini-series The Buddha Of Suburbia, BBC 4 (UK) will be showing the whole series over two nights next week. Here’s an extract from the BBC’s webpage:

On The Buddha of Suburbia’s tenth anniversary it’s difficult to appreciate the controversy and moral furore which this adaptation of Hanif Kureishi’s debut novel provoked. It’s drenched in drugs and sex, which everybody seemed to enjoy, but Kureishi’s insistence on creating characters who were not simply social ciphers proved more contentious.

The show airs at 10.10PM on Thursday 3rd April and continues on Friday 4th April at 10.00PM.

Thanks to BowieNetter LizSK2

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I’ll spin you Valentine evenings…

VH1 UK have a Bowie Evening this coming Monday. Starting at 7.30PM, you can see 90 minutes of db videos, take one of two chances to see repeats of the Gary Crowley interview which was first broadcast last year, and watch Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars – The Motion Picture.

To accompany the evening, VH1 are running a competition to win one signed copy of Moonage Daydream, or a limited edition print, or DVDs and CDs.

Click on the image to check it out!

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Go tell the man that collects…

The March 2003 edition of ‘Oldie-Markt’ a German magazine for record collectors, has a feature about David Bowie. The article is about David’s music and art in the 80’s. It seems that there will be further articles about David in forthcoming editions, so German members will want to keep their eyes open for those.

Thanks to BowieNetter Bianca

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Dance magic, dance…

Details have just been released for the sixth annual Labyrinth Of Jareth Fantasy Masquerade Ball, which will take place on July 11th in Santa Monica, California. The email from the organisers tells us:

The LOJ is a fantasy masquerade of unique character and inspiration. Costumes or formal wear and mask are required to enter the event, (that includes all of the event staff). Costumes range from faeries and goblins to beautiful Victorian garb, elaborate armors, and period attire along with a host of fantasy creatures and characters. We encourage imagination and diverse interaction. Each year, Sypher Art Studios hosts the Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade to pay homage to our inspirations and submerge our patrons in a special night of art, music, dance and fantasy.

Click on the image to be taken to the website for this ever popular event, where you can also check out many photos from the previous five years.

:))

You gotta act tall, think big, if you wanna make a mark in her book…

Those of you that attended the New York Marathon run of five Bowie shows last year, may have noticed BowieNetter Mask darting around at the front, snapping away with her Brownie. Her privilege was extended offstage to rehearsals before the tour, rehearsals at the venues, backstage preshow and backstage post show, and now she has collected together a record of her incredible experience in a new photo book.

Apart from Mask’s pictures, (whom I shall refer to from here on in as Myriam Santos-Kayda, her little bit posh and professional name, which also happens to be real) there will be a foreword written by David Bowie himself, and Rex Ray will be using his massive talent to design the thing.

This hard cover book (I’ll get to why I’m not using its title in a moment) will contain approximately one hundred and fifty 7.25″ x 9.25″ pages, it will be published by powerHouse this fall and Amy Scholder will edit… So far so good. But one problem remains, in that nobody can agree on a title for the book. This is where you lot come in, and it’s also where five of you also have a chance to win a copy of the book signed by Myriam, Rex and hopefully DB too.

The title of the book has been narrowed to the three listed below. All you have to do is e-mail us by clicking on your preferred choice and include your real name and address. We’ll count up the votes and send out copies to five randomly selected winners as soon as the things are ready. If you need some inspiration while trying to decide on the title, go here to take you to a few more of Myriam’s brilliant shots.

David Bowie: Live in New York

David Bowie: The New York Bowiethon

David Bowie: The New York Gigs

Angels like them thin on the ground…

Some of today’s press here in the UK have picked up on a story we first told you about last August. (08/18/02 SNIPPET: DREW BARRYMORE GETS THE ALADDIN SANE TREATMENT) Timed perfectly for next month’s 30th anniversary of the release of Aladdin Sane, promotional shots from the new Charlie’s Angels film, Full Throttle, have begun to circulate, and the picture of Drew Barrymore in an approximation of Mr Sane’s clobber seems to have caught the imagination of picture editors the world over.

In this particular shot, Drew, who plays Dylan Sanders in the film, takes on the guise of a female wrestler. I think it’s fair to say though, that most of the female wrestlers on our own message boards would prefer a tussle with the original Aladdin Sane, with an immediate submission being granted to the God of Glam! };-)

The soundtrack CD for Full Throttle, (scheduled for a late June release) will contain a re-recorded version of Rebel Rebel, similar to the version that David performed live last year.

Click on the image above to take you to the official Full Throttle site.

Don’t stay in a sad place, Where they don’t care how you are…

David Bowie has donated an exclusive track to the War Child charity album, Hope. Due next month, the full line up for the release has not yet been confirmed, but we can exclusively reveal that the Bowie track will be the Metro remix radio edit of Everyone Says ‘Hi’.

This version has only ever been released on the impossibly rare 12″ promo that we told you about last month (02/01/03 NEWS: BOWIE ENTERS TOP 50 IN BILLBOARD DANCE/CLUB CHART) a copy of which recently sold on ebaY for $177! This is the first time on CD for the recording.

Executive producer of the project is Brian Eno and Tracey Emin will be providing artwork for the album. Reports circulating that an acoustic version of Loving The Alien is the Bowie contribution are obviously untrue. Remember, it ain’t the truth ’till you read it here! };-)

These are the tracks that have been confirmed for Hope so far:

David Bowie – Everyone Says Hi (Metro Mix) (Exclusive track)
Miss Dynamite – Faith (George Michael cover)
Travis – Beautiful Occupation (New song)
Paul McCartney – Calico Skies (Live version exclusive)
Moby – Nearer (Exclusive track)
George Michael – The Grave (Don McLean cover)
New Order – Vietnam (Jimmy Cliff cover)
Spiritualized – Hold On (Exclusive track)
Yusuf Islam – Peace Train (Exclusive track)
Beverley Knight – Love Is In Need Of Love (Stevie Wonder Cover)
Basement Jaxx featuring Yellowman (New song)
Blue and Mis-Teeq – Stand Up As People (New song)
Ronan Keating – In The Ghetto (Elvis cover)

News of the album was first broken by the UK’s Daily Mirror, from where I have borrowed this quote from War Child’s Norman Sheehan:

Speaking from the Iraqi border, War Child chief executive Norman Sheehan said he feared the worst.

“I hope I am very wrong but the more time I spend here, the more I fear we are going to witness an appalling level of suffering. After the 12 years of stress and trauma that the Iraqi children have gone through, you could put 1,000 War Childs into Iraq and still not meet all the needs.

Once we are allowed into the country we need to start work as soon as possible. This album will help us work quickly to do what we can to help the children of Iraq.”

This quote is made all the more poignant with today’s report form Reuters regarding civilian deaths in Baghdad, after an air raid which devastated a busy residential and commercial street.

You’re always first on the line…

Top of the list yesterday at Dot Music News was the launch of their exclusive and very first, multimedia ‘on demand’ classic artist feature. They say:

You don’t need an excuse to celebrate David Bowie but to coincide with the Ziggy Stardust releases, we’re launching a Bowie special – our first classic artist feature.

They offer downloads, their ‘Ultimate Top 10’, an ‘Alternative Top 10’ and five recommended albums. You can watch three tracks from The Ziggy Motion Picture DVD, and listen to continuous streaming Bowie hits. There is also a biography and Dot Music’s analysis of several of the key phases of David’s career. Here’s just one quote:

Visionary, innovator, artistic genius, rock chameleon, showman, impresario, international superstar and the author of some of the most memorable songs ever written. It’s difficult to truly do justice to the impact David Bowie has had on music from his debut in 1969 right up until the present day.

The sheer scale of this legacy is difficult to comprehend and the back catalogue so rich in depth, styles and imagination that it’ll keep you entertained for days on end.

Check it out, and see if you agree with their choices!

:))

We can be Heroes, for ever and ever…

Released in the US today (yesterday elsewhere) is the double CD Aphex Twin: 26 Mixes for Cash. This finally makes available, at a reasonable price, the Aphex Twin Remix of “Heroes”. The track originally had a limited release in 1997 as a free 3″ CD with Japanese pressings of the “Heroes” Symphony by Philip Glass. (See above)

Personally I love this version, I honestly think it’s a beautiful re-working which marries together the original Bowie vocal with the Glass orchestral version, and then gets shoved in to the Aphex Twin blender by Richard D James. But then again, I also love the unreleased second Beck mix of Seven, which isn’t exactly chart fodder… and, I have to admit, when I listen to either of these mixes at home, my wife looks at me as if I finally lost the last marble. I digress…

Judging by the couple of reviews I have seen, It seems that “Heroes” is one of the more popular tracks on this CD for people other than myself. Amazon have a 30-second snatch of the track if you want to get a flavour, though it really doesn’t do it justice. This is from their review of the album:

Improbable yet inspired highlights come in the form of his haunting interpretation of David Bowie’s “Heroes” symphony conducted by Philip Glass…

… and this from The Times:

Does James have the talent to carry off his attitude? On this evidence, the answer is a resounding ?yes and no?. Yes, when he gets his programming teeth into a track he really likes (as with his remix of Bowie?s Heroes); no, when he?s dirtying his hands on Jesus Jones or Curve.

Well, I guess we can’t blame James for everything, as my mother used to say: “You can’t polish a turd, son!” Having said that, there are some great things on this album apart from the Bowie remix, and it is worth a trawl through. I feel duty-bound to point out that a track on the CD called Ziggy (by Nav Katze) has no bearing on the David Bowie song of similar name, but then again, that’s before Richard D James got his hands on it, so who knows? };-)