Month: March 2006

Down in space it’s always 1983…

We set this contest for ten copies of the very splendid Serious Moonlight DVD last week, (03.13.2006 NEWS: SM DVD OUT NOW…POSTER WINNERS AND DVD COMP) and by close of play on Sunday night, the hat was fairly overflowing with entrants to this very popular easy-to-enter competition.

I know The Serious Moonlight Tour holds a special place in the hearts of many of you reading this, and viewing the DVD again recently it’s very easy to see why. What a truly inspired show that was.

Anyway, before I get too dewy-eyed, these are the BowieNetters that The Random Generator shone seriously upon:

angelbabe
bigt
carolineg
junoXL5
looby88
mgf902
mikkojakonen
nightporter
ottie
uchimata

Keep an eye on your letterbox you lucky people, your DVDs are on the way.

They say there´s always music in the air (on Broadway)… (Part 61)

I’ve had a few e-mail enquiries regarding a report on variety.com suggesting David Bowie may be involved with the writing of songs for a musical based on the life story of kung fu legend Bruce Lee.

Here’s an edited excerpt from the Variety piece:

————————————————————————————————————-

Two massive Asian-themed shows are in simultaneous development. But only one dangles the possibility of an international space oddity from the West: David Bowie.

(After a paragraph about a legit version of Ang Lee-helmed pic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the piece continues thus…)

Then there’s the new musical based on the life story of kung fu legend Bruce Lee, under development by Chi-based Elephant Eye Theatricals. That show’s profile took a leap when Bowie was spotted in Toronto, yakking with director Matthew Warchus. Warchus is helming the “Lord of the Rings” musical in Toronto and was previously announced as director of the Lee project (David Henry Hwang has been tapped as book-writer). If the Bowie angle pans out, this will be the chameleon-like rock star’s legit debut.

Producer (and former Disney Theatricals exec) Stuart Oken had no comment on Bowie’s involvement as the writer of music and lyrics. He did say, though, that the Lee show will be a very different project from “Crouching Tiger,” despite Lee’s iconic status in the world of martial arts.”Our show is a legit show,” says Oken. “No flying. No wires. No Cirque-type stuff. I see us doing something far more in the mode of ‘The Lion King.’ Something low-tech.” Oken says he’s aiming for 2008 — and plans at least two tryout cities prior to Gotham.

————————————————————————————————————-

I wouldn’t normally respond to stories such as this until it’s decided that such a thing can be officially confirmed or denied…particularly when the producer says he’s aiming for a date as far away as 2008!

What I can say is that David Bowie has been pitched by several companies to write for Broadway, but has not as yet contracted with any one of them.

If he does sign for this or any other project, we’ll obviously let you know.

We’ve got five more, my brain hurts a lot…

Well, would you credit it? David Bowie has signed even more of the highly desirable Serious Moonlight promotional prints than we were originally led to believe …what a truly lovely man.

As you know, we’ve already announced fifteen winners over the last week, (03.13.2006 NEWS: SM DVD OUT NOW…POSTER WINNERS AND DVD COMP & 03.15.2006 NEWS: FIVE MORE SIGNED SM POSTER WINNERS!) but here are the last five of the twenty BowieNetters who The Random Generator has smiled upon today:

051060
debivee
mpernel
polak
wlre

If you people could please send me your real name and address, we’ll have your prize to you pronto. Commiserations to those of you that didn’t win this time around…I’m sure there’ll be more opportunities in similar contests in the not too distant future.

Somebody plays my song in tune…

For this contest that we set earlier in the week (03.14.2006 NEWS: DANNY MICHEL UK TOUR STARTS TODAY…WIN CD) we asked you tell us what were the eleven songs that Danny Michel covered on Loving The Alien.

The answers were pretty easy to find, and I don’t think anybody got this one wrong. But, for those of you that didn’t enter and are still a little curious, here’s the tracklisting anyway:

01 Young Americans
02 Moonage Daydream
03 Ashes To Ashes
04 Always Crashing In The Same Car
05 Andy Warhol
06 DJ
07 Big Brother
08 Red Sails
09 God Knows I?m Good
10 Sons Of The Silent Age
11 Lady Stardust

Here are the ten BowieNetters who The Random Generator thought needed a bit of Danny Michel in their lives:

bobdunning
crashingoutwithsylvian
dlmurray
gafs44
harolda
kalpis
kansai
Ledge
pgtpgt
thecleaneststar

Well done you lot, your compact discs are well on the way to you as they were posted before lunch on Saturday, as promised.

For those of you in the UK that missed the original news piece, there’s still time to check out Danny’s live show on the Canada’s Coming For Tea Tour at the following venues:

Mar 19 Oxford, Port Mahon
Mar 20 Manchester, Briton’s Protection
Mar 21 London, The Borderline
Mar 22 Swindon, The Beehive
Mar 23 Bath, Porter Cellar
Mar 24 Charlbury, The Bell Inn
Mar 25 Northampton, The Victoria Inn
Mar 27 Hempstead (20min from Saffron Walden), The Bluebell

I’m stuck with a valuable friend…

David Bowie has long sung the praises of Secret Machines, from a journal entry way back in October of 2004 and as recently as November last year (11.17.05 NEWS: THE DAVID BOWIE NYC GIG GUIDE) when he had this to say about them:

“The great news this week is that The Secret Machines have finished their new album and I hope to get a copy shortly. This maybe my band for 2006. You’ve read it here, Sunshine. They will be playing Webster Hall on Dec 1st. Be there or be square.”

Of course, that new album, Ten Silver Drops, has been available via iTunes since February 27th and has a general release date of April 24th/25th. Those of you who have already downloaded the album will know that David’s love of the band is fully justified. It’s another cracker.

Anyway, front man Brandon Curtis has returned the compliments in the current issue of NME (18 MARCH 2006). In the magazine’s regular The Recommender feature, he has this to say about our man:

“I love the candour and sense of humour of David Bowie, and his ability to transmigrate souls within a few years. I love the way he morphs but always stays truthful and never tells you what he’s thinking.”

Couldn’t agree more Brandon, I’ve been complimenting David on his superb transmigrating abilities for years now.

We’ve got five more, what a surprise…

It seems David has signed a few more of the Serious Moonlight promotional prints than we requested…which is very nice of him and pretty cool for five of you.

You may remember that we asked for ten live tracks that were released on either the A or B side of David Bowie’s 7″ releases over the years. We did specifically ask for David Bowie recordings, but being the reasonable sorts that we are, we did accept Tin Machine titles too.

Here’s a list of nineteen songs that I reckon fit the bill, with the date they were originally released. I didn’t include re-issues for obvious reasons.

1974
Knock On Wood
Panic In Detroit
Changes
Rock ‘N Roll With Me
1975
Suffragette City
1978
Breaking Glass
Art Decade
Ziggy Stardust
Blackout
Soul Love
1983
Modern Love
White Light White Heat
Cracked Actor
1989
Baby Can Dance
Tin Machine
Maggie’s Farm
1994
Waiting For The Man (Santa Monica 7″ also included Ziggy Stardust)
1996
The Man Who Sold The World
2000
Seven

Please let me know if you feel I have omitted anything. I know a fair few of you included Star, but as far as I am aware that was only released on a US promotional only white vinyl 12″…not 7″.

We announced the original ten winners a couple of days ago, (03.13.2006 NEWS: SM DVD OUT NOW…POSTER WINNERS AND DVD COMP) but here are the five extra BowieNetters whose day The Random Generator has brightened:

cronos
heelheadover
iamadj
pluto
riskitall

If you people could please send me your real name and address, we’ll have your prize to you pronto. Good eh?

Watching them come and go…

Under the banner: Canada’s coming for tea, Danny Michel is joined by fellow Canadians, Lindy and Bob Kemmis, for a two-week UK tour.

Kicking off at the Joogleberry Playhouse in Brighton tonight, here’s the full list of confirmed shows currently listed:

Mar 14 Brighton, Joogleberry Playhouse
Mar 15 London, 12 Bar
Mar 16 Carlisle, Essen
Mar 17 Glossop, The Moon & Sixpence
Mar 18 Oxford, Jericho Tavern
Mar 19 Oxford, Port Mahon
Mar 20 Manchester, Briton’s Protection
Mar 21 London, The Borderline
Mar 22 Swindon, The Beehive
Mar 23 Bath, Porter Cellar
Mar 24 Charlbury, The Bell Inn
Mar 25 Northampton, The Victoria Inn
Mar 27 Hempstead (20min from Saffron Walden), The Bluebell Inn

I’m sure some of you outside of Canada may be thinking: “Danny who?”. But, for those not already aware of it, Danny released an 11-track CD of his interpretations of his favourite Bowie songs entitled Loving The Alien a little while back.

It’s a great album that makes it clear just how much Danny values the songwriting of David Bowie. The CD isn’t actually that easy to track down now, but we’ve got ten copies to give away here on BowieNet.

The contest closes at 10:00am UK time Saturday and we’ll announce the winners before lunch so we can get the CDs in the post the same morning to hopefully give any UK winners the chance to hear the CD before they see Danny.

For this reason, please include your name and address with your entry so we don’t have to wait for your response.

Now, all you have to do is tell me what were the eleven songs that Danny covered on Loving The Alien, and send your answers 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 utilised the BowieNet anti-spam filter, which works wonders and has actually changed my life…a bit.

You know I had, A great big hat…

To celebrate the release today of the above long-awaited Serious Moonlight DVD, we have ten of the sexy things to give away.

But first, you probably want to know the names of the ten winners of our last competition to win signed-by-David Bowie copies of the Serious Moonlight promotional print, the design of which is based on the cover of the DVD. (02.24.2006 NEWS: SM EP IN I-TUNES TOP 20…WIN SIGNED SM POSTER)

We asked for ten live tracks that were released on either the A or B side of David Bowie’s 7″ releases over the years. We did specifically ask for David Bowie recordings, but being the reasonable sorts that we are, we did accept Tin Machine titles too.

Anyway, the great majority of you seemed to find ten or more songs with ease, but here are the BowieNetters that The Random Generator shined favourably upon:

avogadro
challe
hartgelach
marcbolan
peterjw
pooky
ragazzosolo
rheingold
sinj3
ziggystargirl

If you guys could please send me your real name and address, we’ll have your prize to you pronto.

On to the Serious Moonlight DVD contest. (Please note these are Region 0 PAL format DVDs)

This one’s easy enough. We stumbled upon an absolutely gigantic hat in the BowieNet offices recently, and while we pondered what to do with it, some bright spark hit upon the idea of putting names in it!

Until now we couldn’t think of just what names to put in it, but it soon became apparent that this new contest presented an ideal opportunity to create a hat fairly brimming with names!

So, you simply have to send THREE bits of info to be in with a chance of winning a copy of the DVD: Send your NAME, ADDRESS and BOWIENET USERNAME to me here.

OK, that’s THREE things to guarantee automatic entry. No more, no less. We’ve estimated that the hat will be filled to the brim by midnight UK time on Sunday evening, when further names will be refused hat entry. We’ll post the winners’ DVDs out on Monday morning to the addresses supplied.

FOOTNOTE: In a bizarre coincidence, David Bowie often wore a hat on The Serious Moonlight Tour!

The past it almost shimmers now…

Mick Rock‘s been on the blower again with details of more personal appearances.

He’ll be doing two New York instores, which will include readings from his most recent publication: Glam! An Eyewitness Account, a slideshow and discussion, a Q&A and book signing. Mick will be happy to sign copies of both the above books, and of course, Moonage Daydream: The Life and Times of Ziggy Stardust.

The first appearance is at Barnes & Noble (Chelsea) this coming Tuesday, March 14th. And then Mick will return to Coliseum Books on April 20th after his Berlin trip. (03.10.2006 NEWS: MICK ROCK EXHIBITION IN BERLIN NEXT MONTH)

Here’s the full skinny… (whatever that means)

MEET PHOTOGRAPHER MICK ROCK – The man The London Times coined: ?The Music World?s Top Snapper?
DISCUSSION, SLIDESHOW, AND SIGNING FOR HIS LATEST BOOK: GLAM! AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT, WHICH INCLUDES:
? Dazzling photos of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Syd Barrett, Queen, Debbie Harry, Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed and more
? Introduction & text by Mick Rock
? Foreword by David Bowie
For more information please visit: www.mickrock.com
Glam! An Eyewitness Account published by Omnibus Press, Spring 2006

BARNES AND NOBLE (CHELSEA)
675 6TH AVENUE AT 22ND STREET
TUESDAY, MARCH 14TH, 7:00PM

COLISEUM BOOKS
11 WEST 42ND ST.
BETWEEN 5TH AND 6TH AVENUES
(ACROSS FROM BRYANT PARK)
THURSDAY, APRIL 20TH, 6:30PM

If you’ve not attended one before, these events really are worth checking out. Apart from the great photography, Mick is an extremely good writer and speaker and his recollections of Glam’s heyday are a joy to listen to.

I got seven days…

BowieNetter theunsatisfiedone has been in touch with an event in Chattanooga next Saturday 18th. Everything you need to know is in the press release below, but please remember this is not connected with the UK outfit The Bowie Experience, or Canadian Bowie tribute band, The Diamond Dogs.

———————————————————————————————————————–

The David Bowie Experience with the cast of The Diamond Dogs 2006
Presented by Stage One & D.L.E.S. Entertainment

The Bowie Experience can only be described as entertainment that takes you further ahead than any other rock performance. Few artists have embraced so many changes of style, character and musical direction as David Bowie.

The cast of The Diamond Dogs use Bowie?s essential ingredients that made him legend, mystery, conflicting standards of strength and vulnerability. Ultimate showmanship and uncompromising vision has made this show a continuing success.

This is an avant garde, intelligent look into Bowie?s universe, with an ultimate stage show you will not forget. The Diamond Dogs are a representation of the most talented man England ever produced. Sell out at each performance and show growing and picking up momentum after every event. This is a must-see for Bowie lovers and anyone who wanted to push reality off the edge.

Where? – (The appropriately named) Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Avenue, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37402
When? – Saturday March 18th 2006 at 8:00 PM (EST)
Tickets? – Tickets are general admission at $15 in advance, $20 day of the show. Tickets are on sale now at Memorial Auditorium box office. Charge by phone (423) 642-TIXS. Or online here.

———————————————————————————————————————–

Looks like being a pretty cool night…If you go, do please write in and let us know what kind of an evening you had…regarding the show that is!