Month: February 2006

So when you gonna phone me?

The April issues (April for goodness sake? …we’re barely out of February!) of MOJO and UNCUT magazines in the UK are carrying the above advert for the forthcoming Serious Moonlight DVD release on Monday, March 13th.

The modern kidz among you will be pleased to learn that the ad carries a number (for the UK only I guess) for official David Bowie ringtones. To get yours, you apparently need to: text BOWIE SHOP to 84477. What happens next is a mystery to me!

Meanwhile, don’t forget our current competition to win one of ten signed-by-David Bowie copies of the Serious Moonlight promotional print that we told you about last week. (02.24.06 NEWS: SM EP IN I-TUNES TOP 20…WIN SIGNED SM POSTER)

Don’t panic if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s open until midnight UK time on Friday, March 10th, though it does seem to be a pretty popular contest so far.

They came down harder on Sam’s…

David Brighton (above left) has been in touch again with news that the Space Oddity show we plugged last week at Safari Sam’s on March 4th (02.22.2006 NEWS: BOWIE TRIBUTE BANDS BONANZA) has been postponed. Apparently it’s a brand new night club and it will not now be opening it’s doors to the public when originally planned. Here’s the updated info:

Space Oddity – the Ultimate Tribute to David Bowie
Saturday, March 25th
Safari Sam’s
5214 W. Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
(323) 666-7267
Admission $10.00
Doors open at 9:00pm
Opening acts: TBA
(Reservations suggested)

Visit www.DavidBowieTribute.com for info on all upcoming Space Oddity performances.

I asked for an autograph…(And I got ten!)

To celebrate the entry of the Serious Moonlight EP into the top 20 of the iTunes UK album chart we are pleased to announce that we have ten signed-by-David Bowie copies of the A3 (420mm x 297mm) Serious Moonlight promotional print (above left) to give away.

Printed to promote the forthcoming DVD release on March 13th, this replica poster is obviously an instant collectors item anyway, and with David Bowie’s signature even more so.

Both of David Bowie’s most recent official releases, the Serious Moonlight EP and the Live At Fashion Rocks EP have charted on iTunes, and it seems the people buying these recordings are also buying Arctic Monkeys and their ilk. Proving that when new releases are made available to them, the kids want a bit of DB too…or something like that.

I digress. My point is that the last two releases from David Bowie have been live recordings made available as downloads only, as is the modern way. However, for this contest I thought it would be lovely to get all nostalgic and old fashioned.

What I want from you is a list of ten songs that David Bowie has released live versions of over the years, but only ones that have appeared on those 7″ bits of plastic that they used to make before this fangled mp3 malarkey.

So that’s the only criteria: ten live recordings that must have appeared on an official 7″ David Bowie release. Releases from any country count and you can include A and B sides…there are actually more than ten, but ten is all I need to make ten BowieNetters winners.

Send your answer to me here.

Usual rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account. Also, please remember you must enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name. You may get a message to verify your e-mail as I have finally employed one of those anti-spam filters.

The competition ends at midnight UK time on Friday March 10th to give plenty of time to those of you that need to look around the web for your answers. (Though I’m sure the majority of you will know these off the top of your heads!) We’ll announce the winners shortly thereafter. Good luck, kidz!

And so the story goes, they wore the clothes…

Two great new similarly themed compilation CDs, each containing a Bowie track, are scheduled for release shortly. Here follows details in order of release…

First up, due on March 6th via the Independiente label, is the Robert Elms’ compilation, The Way We Wore (ISOM58CD).

Based on Robert’s excellent The Way We Wore: A Life in Threads book from last year, and apparently created to tie in with a forthcoming TV documentary, the CD actually contains two Bowie compositions: Mott The Hooples‘ All The Young Dudes and Bowie’s own Young Americans.

Here’s the full tracklisting:

01 Lord Kichener – London Is The Place For Me
02 Georgie Fame – Yeh Yeh
03 Otis Redding – Respect
04 The Upsetters – The Return Of Django
05 Toots And The Maytals – 5446 Was My Number
06 Rod Stewart – You Wear It Well
07 Mott The Hoople – All The Young Dudes
08 The Fatback Band – Yum Yum
09 Brass Construction – Movin
10 Lonnie Liston Smith – Expansions
11 David Bowie – Young Americans
12 Bryan Ferry – Let’s Stick Together
13 Patti Smith – Piss Factory
14 The Clash – White Man In Hammersmith Palais
15 Spandau Ballet – To Cut A Long Story Short
16 Kid Creole And The Coconuts – Que Pasa/Me No Pop I
17 Working Week – Venceremos – We Will Win
18 Ce Ce Rogers – Someday

A fine compilation I’m sure you’ll agree…but IMHO, not quite as good as this next one from EMI due on May 1st…

Nick Rhodes & John Taylor Present: Only After Dark (EMI 356 0762) is a wonderful collection of songs typical of some of the DJ sets that Duran Duran keyboard man, Nick Rhodes, would present at the Rum Runner club in Birmingham in the UK. The club was the midlands equivalent to London’s Billy’s and Blitz clubs where Bowie Nights slowly evolved into the New Romantics movement, all well documented in aforementioned Robert Elms’ book.

Taking it’s name from the Mick Ronson track of the same name (later re-recorded to brilliant effect by The Human League) Only After Dark comprises the following 18 pieces of pop perfection:

01 Human League ? Being Boiled (Fast version) (3.39)
02 Yellow Magic Orchestra – Computer Games (3.32)
03 David Bowie ? Always Crashing In The Same Car (3.29)
04 Psychedelic Furs ? Sister Europe (5.38)
05 Simple Minds ? Changeling (4.11)
06 Mick Ronson ? Only After Dark (3.30)
07 John Foxx ? Underpass (3.53)
08 The Normal ? Warm Leatherette (3.22)
09 Bryan Ferry ? In Crowd (4.33)
10 Brian Eno ? The True Wheel (5.11)
11 Tubeway Army ? “Are Friends Electric?” (5.17)
12 Kraftwerk ? The Robots (single edit) (3.45)
13 Donna Summer ? I Feel Love (3.48)
14 Wire ? I Am The Fly (3.06)
15 Magazine ? Shot By Both Sides (3.57)
16 Grace Jones – Private Life (5.11)
17 Iggy Pop ? The Passenger (4.41)
18 Ultravox ? Slow Motion (3.29)

Here’s a couple of quotations from the compilers of Only After Dark:

“By putting together this album our intention is to introduce songs by artists who influenced us, as we were developing our own sound, this was the backdrop. John Foxx?s Ultravox in particular were important as they were the first to fuse punk with synthesizers and there was a new kind of groove creeping in there too. Bands were moving ever closer to the dance floor.” – Nick Rhodes

“The gender identity thing was going on around the music: boys looking like girls; girls looking like boys. Everything was in a state of transition. Punk was a drug that everybody had taken and we were all wide awake – eyes dilated and pores open. You?re as high as a kite because your senses are alive and you?re turned on – it?s that moment of possibility which we’ve tried to bring to life again on this album.” – John Taylor

Well, I think you succeeded, John. Despite owning all these tracks anyway, (sadly, several times in most cases!) I’ve had this CD on repeat in the car over the last week. Kids today, eh? Don’t know quite what they missed. Anyway…

This isn’t the first time that Nick and John have revisited the Rum Runner. Back in 2001/02 they streamed a three part online playlist that recreated a typical set from 1980. At least twenty per cent of the music was either Bowie releases or Bowie related…check it out here.

Of course, none of this is a surprise to regular visitors to these pages. Duran Duran have always made it quite clear just how important David Bowie’s influence on them and the burgeoning New Romantic scene was. (12.12.2005 NEWS: HOW DAVID BOWIE HELPED TO FORM DURAN DURAN)

Dear tribute band, You’re playing my tune right in tune…

I know many of you appreciate being told when Bowie tribute acts are performing, and to that end it is a service we intend to continue. Indeed, if you want your tribute band featured on these pages e-mail us with all the relevant details and we’ll do our best to feature you.

These bands clearly spend a lot of time perfecting their acts, and while I can’t comment on how good they may be, (few of them seem to get to the UK) I think their efforts deserve a place here in the BowieNet news.

And so, in order of show dates, here’s the latest batch of performances…

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First up, for those of you in Montréal on Friday night, I’m sure you’ll be delighted to learn that The Diamond Dogs (above) will be out of their kennel for the evening to play the following show:

The Diamond Dogs in Montréal with David Mollet as David Bowie
Friday, February 24th @ 10:00pm at SAPHIR
(3699, Boulevard St-Laurent, Montréal)
Cover charge: $7
Further info: The Diamond Dogs

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Laurence Bolwell‘s The Bowie Experience (above) also play a show on Friday…along with several others in the near future. This is probably the busiest Bowie tribute band around, and you can view details of Friday’s show on their gig page here. You can also purchase tickets for some of their shows here.

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David Brighton (above) has details of another Space Oddity show next month…over to you David:

It’s stalking time for the moon boys again… we’ve got a show in Hollywood, CA coming up:Space Oddity – David Brighton’s Tribute to David Bowie returns to Los Angeles…
March 4th
Safari Sam’s (LA’s Hottest new nightspot)
5214 W. Sunset Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90027
(323) 666-7267
Admission $10.00
All ages
Doors open at 9:00pm
Opening acts: TBA
(Reservations suggested)

Please visit our web site for info on all of our upcoming performances: www.DavidBowieTribute.com

NB: This show has been postponed until March 25th…See updated news piece. (02.27.2006 NEWS: SPACE ODDITY SHOW PUT BACK THREE WEEKS)

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Last but not least is Dutch band EchoBowie. Over to BowieNetter shtratman with details of a show in March:ECHOBOWIE.

Great album cuts and old favourits: ECHOBOWIE. plays the work of David Bowie.
Date: Sunday March 12.
Location: Vagabond Rotterdam at the Nieuwe Binnenweg 99.
Start of the gig: 20.00 (CET).

Breaking Glass, Life On Mars?, Reality, Queen Bitch, Loving The Alien, Moonage Daydream, Stay and lots of more….
Check out the EchoBowie site for more info www.echobowie.com.

EchoBowie is a Dutch band playing David Bowie songs in their own unique style.
No make-up, No dress-up, strictly Bowie music!

The Voyeur says we’re the best Bowie-band in the world, but these are their words 🙂

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OK, that’s about it for this month. Don’t forget to furnish us with your details if you want a plug for your Bowie tribute band here on BowieNet.

In this age of grand illusion…

Touchstone Pictures today announced that they will release The Prestige (The film we told you about back in November of last year: 11.21.05 NEWS: DB CONFIRMS ROLE AS NIKOLA TESLA IN THE PRESTIGE) on October 20th, 2006.

The Christopher Nolan film stars David Bowie, Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis and Ezra Buzzington. (See full credits here)

Bale and Jackman will play rival magicians in turn-of-the-century London who battle each other for trade secrets. Here’s a bit from the synopsis of Christopher Priest‘s book:

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In 1878, two young stage illusionists, the aristocratic Rupert Angier and the working-class Alfred Borden, clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent seance. From that moment on, they engage in a bitter and deadly feud and vie to outwit and destroy one another.

Working in the gaslight-and-velvet world of Victorian music halls, both men prowl edgily in the background of each other’s shadowy life, driven to the extremes by a deadly combination of obsessive secrecy and insatiable curiosity. At the heart of the row is an amazing illusion they both perform during their stage acts. The secret of the magic is simple, but both have something more to hide than the mere workings of a trick.

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Apparently the title refers to the residue left after a magician’s successful trick.

Questioning saint-like and fantastic heroes…

David Brighton of the David Bowie tribute band, Space Oddity, has been in touch with details of an interview he recently conducted with legendary record producer, Ken Scott.

Entitled The Punk Meets The Godfather (a pun on Beat Godfather Meets Glitter Mainman, a two-way Rolling Stone interview between David Bowie and William Burroughs from 1974) it’s a great read which can be reached by clicking on the image of Ken and David above.

Here’s a couple of excerpts to give you a flavour just in case you’re a bit nervous about reading the whole thing in one great big chunk…

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DB: Some artists can be pretty intense during the recording process. Can you share with us how Bowie and the various Spiders carried themselves in the studio – and given their various personalities and temperaments, what kind of challenges you faced in drawing the best performances out of them?

KS: Working with the right team makes any producer/engineer’s life easy. We had fun. We quickly learned each others strengths and weaknesses and from there we could let it all happen. Let’s face it, when you have a vocalist like “one take” Bowie and a guitarist like Ronno how hard can it be? Then add Woody and Trevor to the mix. Fun, fun, fun.

DB: Did you give Bowie much input on how he might best approach a particular vocal in the studio?

KS: Are you f*%@ing kidding? Why would I do that?

DB: Bowie was playing the role of the ‘wild mutation’ during the years you worked with him. Did any of his much publicized personal eccentricities enter in at all during in your experiences working with him? Or was it purely a musical experience?

KS: Personal eccentricities? We’re Brits. Eccentricities are our life blood! Seriously though, the answer to the question is a big fat “No”. Professional through and through. We were all there with one purpose in mind. “Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll”………. came after, and only after, we completed the recording.

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Thanx David. Meanwhile, if you thought that was actually the real DB on the right in the shot above, don’t worry, you won’t have been the first to have been thrown by Mr Brighton’s likeness to Mr Bowie…check this out.

So where were The Spiders?

It seems the above picture from the surface of the red planet confirms what young Ziggy and his band of extra-terrestrial arachnids knew along… the existence of spiders on Mars!

BowieNetter Adam Dean sent in the link to this latest piece of ‘evidence’ which you can read more about here.

Of course, we wouldn’t make such bold claims on the strength of just one photograph, the picture of a spider’s web formation on Mars above is surely even stronger proof of the existence of these particular arthropods.

Not convinced? Then check out martianspiders.com for more pictures of this bizarre phenomenon than you can shake a stick at!

I, I will be king…

An hour long Glam Rock documentary entitled Kings of Glam is to be screened by BBC One at 10:35pm UK time on Friday March 3rd.

Though I doubt you’ll see any new footage of DB himself, Mick Rock and Tony Visconti have both contributed new interviews.

I’ll leave you with this from the Beeb site:

Kings of Glam
Fri 3 Mar, 10:35 pm – 11:35 pm 60mins

Profiling the leading men of the Glam Rock era, Liza Tarbuck guides us through the glittering careers of Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Noddy Holder, Bryan Ferry, Elton John and honorary Glam King Suzi Quatro, with contributions from the ‘Kings’ Noddy Holder and Suzi Quatro, fans Vic Reeves, Marc Almond, Kiki Dee and Alice Cooper. They also talk about their memories of the stars and their music, whilst industry insiders including producer Tony Visconti, songwriter Mike Chapman and photographer Mick Rock give us the inside angle on the work of these great artists.

Commencing countdown…

Though the sale of the digital audio only Serious Moonlight Live EP (ICPN: 00946-349734-5-8) went ahead successfully via iTunes on Monday as expected, (02.13.2006 NEWS: GET SERIOUS MOONLIGHT DOWNLOAD EP NOW) the live clip of Space Oddity from the forthcoming DVD which was to have been made available as a digital download (ICPN: 00946-349736-5-6) via iTunes on the same day as the EP has been put back.

Apparently the unprecedented success of digital video downloads via iTunes has created a backlog of product yet to be uploaded and it is hoped that Space Oddity will now be in the iTunes store this coming Monday the 20th.

Meanwhile, stay tuned for a new competition to win copies of the above EMI promotional poster for next month’s official EMI David Bowie – Serious Moonlight DVD…a few of which we’ll hopefully get signed by David.

If for some reason this whole thing is news to you, see this news story from last year: 11.05.2005 NEWS: SERIOUS MOONLIGHT DVD DETAILS AND DOWNLOADS