Help Bowie Beat Beatles In Bbc Best Album Poll


David Bowie in 1968 rising just above his home-made Beatles figures.
Photo courtesy of Kenneth Pitt’s book, David Bowie – The Pitt Report.

Limitless undying love, which shines around me like a million suns…

BowieNetter BreakingGlass has pointed me in the direction of a BBC poll for 2003’s best album. The seven nominees, in alphabetical order, are as follows:

The Beatles – Let It Be…Naked
David Bowie – Reality
Kraftwerk – Tour De France Soundtracks
Paddy McAloon – I Trawl The Megahertz
Robert Palmer – Drive
Steely Dan – Everything Must Go
Neil Young – Greendale

At the moment, David Bowie’s Reality is in the lead with 34 per cent of the vote, and The BeatlesLet It Be…Naked is 10 per cent behind Reality with 24 per cent of the total votes so far. Let’s try and give David a collective Christmas present by widening the gap further… Come on kidz, let’s show the BBC the might of the Bowie online army by voting for Reality here now.

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In a related story, according to Guinness British Hit Singles, David needs to spend just another five weeks on the UK singles chart to overtake The Beatles in the annual official chart listings.

Here’s how the top 10 will appear in the 17th edition of the book of British Hit Singles, published by Guinness, next year. (Numbers in brackets signify number of weeks spent on chart)

01 Elvis Presley (1193)
02 Cliff Richard (1152)
03 The Shadows (771)
04 Elton John (623)
05 Madonna (606)
06 Diana Ross (560)
07 Michael Jackson (509)
08 Rod Stewart (477)
09 Beatles (456)
10 David Bowie (452)

Who knows what 2004 will hold for David Bowie in terms of chart action in the UK singles chart. Though, I have to be honest, as lovely as it is to see that he has had such healthy singles sales here in the UK, it’s still depressing to read some of the names above him.

Bowie In The Bahamas Full Set List

A triumphant DB and Iman shortly after winning a traditional
piggy-back race backstage at MSG just last week. The
couple beat two teams from Interpol, as well as David
Byrne on Meg White and Jude Law on Lenny Kravitz.

He was awful nice, Really quite Paradise…

Finally got some details about Saturday night’s show at the Atlantis Paradise Island hotel in Nassau in The Bahamas. As you know, a few hundred turned up for this one-off radio gig from all over The States.

Apparently the auditorium was a sit down affair with fairly tough security, so the folks were up and down like yo-yos. But, David was as entertaining as ever and lightened any atmosphere that may have been created by security with his amusing between-song banter, to which the lively audience responded gratefully.

Before the transmission actually started, DB and the band performed Afraid and Be My Wife as warm up songs, so that Tony Visconti could get a good balance in the recording truck. Then a one hour, thirteen-song, set was performed, including a three minute break for adverts.

The audience was rewarded for its enthusiasm with a further six songs after the broadcast had ended, and the full 21-song set, (including warm up) went something like this:

Nassau December 20th 2003

01 Afraid
02 Be My Wife
(Start of broadcast)
03 New Killer Star
04 Rebel Rebel
05 Fashion
06 Fall Dog Bombs The Moon
07 Cactus
08 Ashes To Ashes
09 The Man Who Sold The World
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 She’ll Drive The Big Car
12 I’m Afraid Of Americans
13 “Heroes”

(Break for adverts)
14 Sunday
15 China Girl

(End of broadcast)
16 Breaking Glass
17 Reality
18 Pablo Picasso
19 Battle For Britain (The Letter)
20 Suffragette City
21 Ziggy Stardust

Unfortunately I still don’t have any pictures from the show, which is why I have posted the irrelevant, but nevertheless charming, shot of David and Iman above.

Billboard Msg Review And More Pix

New York’s in love, Goo Goo Goo Goo Goo Goo…

While we’re waiting for reports of David Bowie’s Bahamas performance to come through tonight, I though you might enjoy this excellent review of his Madison Square Garden show from Billboard.com.

I think it’s worth posting in it’s entirety, but just in case solid blocks of text frighten off the lazy reader, I’ve punctuated it with a few more of Kevin Mazur’s great shots. Joshua Klein describes David in the review as “the constantly grinning Bowie”, and going by this batch of Kevin’s pix, that’s no exaggeration.

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David Bowie, Macy Gray / Dec. 15, 2003 / New York (Madison Square Garden) by Joshua Klein

Always one of rock’s most restless performers, David Bowie has marked his career with several peaks and valleys, mostly of his own devising. At the height of his popularity he’s changed gears and gone experimental, but he has also eagerly courted the mainstream just when people got used to his weirdest, wildest material.

For Bowie, change is essential. It keeps the music interesting, not just for his fans but also for himself, the parade of “new” Bowies over the decades documenting one artist’s struggle to remain vital and exciting where many of his peers simply grew placid and predictable.

Yet never has Bowie seemed as comfortable in his own skin as he does now. At a sold out Madison Square Garden Monday (Dec. 15) in New York, he confidently held court in his adopted home like he had nothing to prove, as sure of the strength of his latest material as he was of his versatile backing band.

Fit and laid-back, the constantly grinning Bowie looked as giddy as a school kid, belying his nearly sixty years. His voice also sounded as unique and powerful as ever, surprising not only considering his age, but particularly due to his recent bout of the flu which forced the cancellation of five shows, making this the second night of the North American tour.

But what’s really buoyed Bowie over the past few years is that the singer has at last made peace with his back catalog, if only because much of his past works are clearly of a piece with the music of recent releases “Heathen” and “Reality,” albums that also reunited him with longtime producer Tony Visconti. Opening with “Rebel Rebel” certainly got the crowd’s attention, but following it with new songs like “New Killer Star” and “Reality” revealed how vibrant a songwriter and performer Bowie remains.

Indeed, given how many decades of hits and iconic songs from which Bowie had to choose, it’s amazing his New York set managed to offer a balanced selection from each stage of his career without ever coming across as clunky nostalgia. Fans ate up every offering, from the discordant disco of “Fashion” to the throbbing, abusive pulse of “Hallo Spaceboy” to the Pixies cover “Cactus.” Bowie introduced “The Man Who Sold The World” as the first song of his he ever heard on American radio, but later took time to express pride in the relative obscurity “Motel,” from the “Outside” album, which he joked only two hundred people in the audience had ever heard.

Oddly enough, despite the obvious appeal of songs like “China Girl” and a stripped down “Life On Mars?,” it was two songs generally associated with other artists that drew the most energetic and emotional response from the fans. The first was “All the Young Dudes,” the anthem Bowie penned for friend Ian Hunter, which transcended the usual clichéd sing-along conventions and actually elicited a genuine outpouring of passion from Bowie and crowd alike.

Queen’s “Under Pressure,” on the other hand, simply and forcefully transcended everything, and for the duration of song the world outside the arena went away. With powerhouse bassist Gail Ann Dorsey matching Freddie Mercury’s virtuoso singing, even Bowie looked bemused by but no less appreciative of the song’s lasting power.

Beaming ear to ear, he briefly basked in the fans’ roaring approval before redirecting that applause to Dorsey, the tiny lynchpin of his current band, which includes Bowie vets Mike Garson on keyboards and Earl Slick on guitar alongside relatively recent additions Sterling Campbell (drums), Gerry Leonard (guitar) and multi-instrumentalist Catherine Russell.

The crowd-pleasing Bowie favorites gave the singer the cache to play more abstract and unfamiliar material, like the spooky “The Loneliest Guy” or “Afraid,” and he linked the newer “I’m Afraid Of Americans” and the ever-stirring “Heroes” as a sort of point/counterpoint take on current affairs.

Yet it was the redoubtable Ziggy-era pair of “Suffragette City” and “Ziggy Stardust” that ended the show, not simply as a sop to older fans but because, nearly 30 years after “killing” the Ziggy character, Bowie still clearly enjoys performing those songs.

Don’t call it a comeback, since Bowie never went away. But artists new and old could stand to learn from Bowie’s smiling, hip-swiveling, gregarious example, even if few could match his energy and enthusiasm.

Compared to Bowie opener Macy Gray didn’t stand a chance, and her set faded from memory halfway through the headliner’s first song. Gray’s self-consciously eccentric soul has always felt gimmicky, which — given her larger than life persona and even larger Afro wig — Gray doesn’t really need. The nearly empty Garden had mostly filled up by the time she wrapped up her set, but tracks like “Sex-O-Matic Venus Freak” and “Sexual Revolution” never overcame the trappings of novelty.

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David Bowie’s A Reality Tour resumes in Cleveland on January 7th next year.

2004 Update – Austria On Sale Now!


David Bowie posing outside the magnificent Schloss Schönbrunn palace in Vienna just the other day.

The music is outside…

We can now confirm three more dates have been added to David’s 2004 schedule. David will play the Provinssirock Festival on either the 19th or 20th of June, but tickets aren’t on sale for this one for some time yet.

However, as I mentioned on the message boards a little earlier, tickets for two new shows in Austria are now on sale. Neither of these are festival dates, but are in fact purely David Bowie shows with guests. David will play Vienna on June 29th and Salzburg on June 30th.

If you search for Bowie at www.oeticket.com the ticket sale is now live and tickets are also available by phone on +43 1 96096.

Here’s the full listing as it stands today:

June 2004

Arrow Rock Festival – Friday June 11 – Holland – Lichtenvoorde
Isle of Wight Festival – Sunday June 13 – UK – Medina – Isle of Wight
Bergen – Thursday June 17 – Norway – Bergen
Norwegian Wood Festival – Friday June 18 – Norway – Oslo
Provinssirock Festival June 18-20, Seinäjoki, Finland (Performance date tbc – On sale date tbc)
Schloss Schönbrunn – Tuesday June 29 – Vienna – Austria (On sale now)
Resindenzplatz – Wednesday June 30 – Salzburg – Austria (On sale now)

July 2004

Roskilde – Friday July 2 – Denmark – Roskilde
Rock Werchter – Sunday July 4 – Belgium
T in the Park – Saturday July 10 – UK – Scotland

There are more dates to be confirmed, and we’ll let you have them as soon as we are able.

Bahamas Show Simulcast On Saturday Night

An artist’s impression of how DB might look on Saturday… kind of.

It’s a crash course for the ravers, It’s a tune-in Saturday…

It seems many of you already know about Saturday’s Bowie performance at the Bahamas resort Atlantis, Paradise Island. While the event was never a secret, it is pretty much a private promotional event, arranged by Clear Channel for approximately 250 ticket winners and the like. Or as the official blurb went at the time:

“This partnership brings the radio stations, their Web sites, Clear Channel Entertainment, Atlantis, Paradise Island and David Bowie all to the table for the benefit of advertisers, listeners and David Bowie fans.”

As such, this 90 minute show isn’t officially part of David Bowie’s A Reality Tour, and as we had no tickets to this event, and the fact that the whole thing was promoted via radio competitions back in September, we decided not to plug it here. No tickets actually went on public sale for this event.

In fact, it seems by the activity on the MBs back in September that those of you who tried to win tickets at the time, weren’t successful as the competitions were only open to people within the broadcast area of each station’s give-a-way.

Anyway, I digress… The show will be broadcast live at 9:00pm eastern time on Saturday by lots of US radio stations, and at a later date by others. Here are the stations confirmed so far. While we expect over 100 in total, those below have made formal commitments to broadcast live (or delayed) 9:00pm EST.

Detroit WRIF-FM
Detroit WCSX-FM
Atlanta WZGC-FM
Phoenix KSLX-FM
Tampa, FL WTBT-FM
Denver, CO KQMT-FM
Bryan-College Station, TX KNFX-FM
New York WAXQ-FM
Los Angeles KLOS-FM
Chicago, IL WXRT-FM
San Francisco KSAN-FM
Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX KZPS-FM
Philadelphia WMGK-FM
Houston, TX KKRW-FM
Washington, D.C. WARW-FM
Boston WZLX-FM
Miami WBGG-FM
San Diego, CA KGBB-FM
San Diego, CA KGB-FM
Cincinnati, OH WOFX-FM
Sacramento-Stockton, CA KSEG-FM
Salt Lake City KURR-FM
Milwaukee, WI WKLH-FM
Las Vegas KKLZ-FM
Austin, TX KPEZ-FM
New Orleans, LA WRNO-FM
Nashville WRLT-FM
Raleigh-Durham, NC WRDU-FM
West Palm Beach, FL WKGR-FM
Memphis, TN WMPS-FM
Hartford-New Haven, CT WHCN-FM
Jacksonville, FL WWRR-FM
Oklahoma City KRXO-FM
Louisville, KY WQMF-FM
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI WLAV-FM
Wilkes Barre-Scranton, PA WEZX-FM
Colorado Springs, CO KKFM-FM
Richmond (Lexington) WLFX-FM
Ft. Collins KPAW-FM
Burlington, VT WCPV-FM
Burlington, VT WCVR-FM
Davenport, IA KCQQ-FM
Montgomery, AL WXFX-FM
Fayetteville, AR KKEG-FM
Killeen, TX KLTD-FM
Poughkeepsie WDST-FM
Portland-Auburn, ME WBLM-FM
Lubbock, TX KONE FM
Grand Rapids-Kalamazoo, MI WRKR-FM
Manchester, NH WNHI-FM
Yakima, WA KQSN-FM
Medford, OR KBOY-FM
Harrisonburg, VA WACL-FM
Sandusky, OH WMJK-FM
Bellingham, WA KISM-FM
Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM KDAG-FM
Mount Vernon, IL WDML-FM
Poplar Bluff, MO KJEZ-FM
LaGrande, OR KUBQ-FM
Twin Falls, ID KIKX-FM
St. Joseph, MI WIRX-FM
Ft. Bragg, CA KOZT-FM
Jamestown, NY WQFX-FM
Yuma, AZ KYJT-FM
Danville, IL WRHK-FM

Hopefully we’ll have a more precise breakdown nearer show-time, but it may be an idea to listen into your local station to find out their own particular plans.

Bowie Ends Current Leg Of Reality Tour

DB in Uncasville last night, courtesy of BowieNetter nancyh.

This is our last dance… (For the time being)

The last show of the current run of David Bowie’s A Reality Tour was played in Uncasville, Connecticut, last night. I’ve not yet managed to find any reviews online, but apart from supplying the great shot above, BowieNetter, nancyh, sent me a couple of amusing observations from last night. Obviously I can’t vouch for the accuracy of them, but it’s an entertaining read either way:

The show was hysterical. A real mix of characters. Lots of drunken louts having fun, and lots of people there out of curiosity. David picked on a row of six middle-aged men in the fourth row, sitting down all talking on cell-phones during “Fame” by miming a cell phone conversation while singing the song.

After he ended with “What’s your name, what’s your name, what’s your name…” he again pointed them out and said to one of them: “Don’t bother telling me your name, just call me with it”. And he continued: “So you’re on the phone… what are you so busy talking about? Buy… sell…. sell… I love this place!” said with good humor.

We also found out that the road trucks got caught in the same traffic jam that I did, and arrived late with no time for sound check. However, the band was tight, and David commented to Gail about some new sybilance she added to a song, asking her did she dream it up on the bus while stuck in traffic.

Thanx for that, and the pictures Nancy. Here’s the 24-song setlist from last night:

Uncasville December 16th 2003

01 Rebel Rebel
02 New Killer Star
03 Reality
04 Fashion
05 Hang On To Yourself
06 Fame
07 Cactus
08 All The Young Dudes
09 China Girl
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 The Man Who Sold The World
12 Hallo Spaceboy
13 Sunday
14 Under Pressure
15 Life On Mars?
16 Ashes To Ashes
17 Afraid
18 Let’s Dance
19 Changes
20 Five Years
21 I’m Afraid Of Americans
22 “Heroes”

Encore
23 Suffragette City
24 Ziggy Stardust

Rescheduled Bowie Tour Dates


DB spots Interpol at MSG last night, more of which, later.

Ch, ch, ch, ch changes…

We’re very pleased to be able to announce the new dates for the five shows that David had to postpone due to a particularly virulent dose of influenza. The rescheduled show Information is as follows:

Monday, March 29 – Philadelphia – Wachovia Center (formerly Wed. Dec. 10/03)
Tuesday, March 30 – Boston – FleetCenter (formerly Tuesday, Dec. 9/03)
Thursday, April 1 – Toronto – Air Canada Centre (formerly Friday, Dec. 12/03)
Sunday, May 16 – Washington – Patriot Center (formerly Sunday, Dec. 7/03)
Saturday, May 29 – Atlantic City – Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa (formerly Sat. Dec. 6/03)

Tickets for the previously scheduled performances will be honoured at the rescheduled events. Refunds, if required, are available at point of purchase now, until Friday, February 27th 2004.

Last Night In New York City


DB throws another sexy shape at MSG last night.

New York’s a go go…

By all accounts, David Bowie was back in rude health and on top form for the people of NYC last night, as he wowed an ecstatic crowd at Madison Square Garden. He was his normal mischievous self, even making light of his flight back to New York, which must have been terrifying considering the weather conditions.

The audience had its fair share of celebs, including those here on this page who had pictures taken with David backstage by top photographer, and all-round diamond geezer, Kevin Mazur.


Interpol (they’re the youngsters) and the two DBs, Davids Byrne and Bowie respectively.

Among those pictured here are the very groovy and sharply-dressed Interpol; the strange and lovely genius that is David Byrne; the world’s best female drummer, Meg White the impossibly cool Lenny Kravitz; and that complete bastard, the very ugly Jude Law


Lenny, Meg, David and Jude. How much cool can one room hold for God’s sake!?

Actually, I think even BowieNetter, Keith “I don’t like looking at blokes” Stevens, would have to agree that Jude is sickeningly handsome…. But, then again, I suppose it’s to be expected, he is a south Londoner. They produce more than their fair share of cool, good-looking gits down there, don’t they David?

Anyway, I’m rambling. We’ll hopefully have some reviews of last night for you shortly, but in the meantime, here’s the 25-song setlist:

New York December 15th 2003

01 Rebel Rebel
02 New Killer Star
03 Reality
04 Fashion
05 Hang On To Yourself
06 Fame
07 Cactus
08 All The Young Dudes
09 China Girl
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 The Man Who Sold The World
12 Hallo Spaceboy
13 Sunday
14 Under Pressure
15 Life On Mars?
16 Ashes To Ashes
17 Afraid
18 The Motel
19 Changes
20 Five Years
21 I’m Afraid Of Americans
22 “Heroes”

Encore
23 The Jean Genie
24 Suffragette City
25 Ziggy Stardust

David Bowie’s A Reality Tour winds up in Uncasville tonight for the last show before Cleveland next year, the day before David’s 57th birthday.

Bowie Back On Stage In Montreal


David Bowie in rehearsal in Brussels way back in October.

Things seem good again…

David Bowie returned to the stage in Montreal at the Bell Canada Centre last night, after a five-gig influenza-induced hiatus. This was the first show since his November 28th appearance in Glasgow.

According to a report from Reuters, it seems David almost didn’t make the gig. Here’s a bit from their online review:

“I didn’t know if I could do the show tonight; I felt really ill, to be honest with you,” Bowie, 55, (sic) revealed near the end of his 110-minute set at the Bell Canada Centre on Saturday. But, in his words, the show turned out to be “really memorable” as he performed hits from all facets of a diversified career spanning almost 40 years.

The report goes onto explain that despite the sniffles, David went on to pull out the stops and deliver as only David Bowie can:

But his illness did not appear to affect his voice, which he stretched to its fullest on such classics as “Life on Mars” and “All the Young Dudes.” He apologised in French for his poor command of the language, smiled at fans in vintage tour t-shirts, and caught a bouquet of flowers, but he drew the line at a Disney stuffed toy offered to him.

You can read the whole of Dean Goodman‘s report for Reuters by clicking on the image above. Here’s the 23-song setlist from last night:

Montreal December 13th 2003

01 Rebel Rebel
02 New Killer Star
03 Reality
04 Fame
05 Fashion
06 Cactus
07 Afraid
08 All The Young Dudes
09 China Girl
10 The Loneliest Guy
11 The Man Who Sold The World
12 Hallo Spaceboy
13 Sunday
14 Under Pressure
15 Life On Mars?
16 Ashes To Ashes
17 Never Get OId
18 Changes
19 I’m Afraid Of Americans
20 “Heroes”

(Encore)
21 Five Years
22 Suffragette City
23 Ziggy Stardust

Anyway, it’s great to have you back David. A Reality Tour continues at MSG in NY tomorrow.