Db Confirms Authenticity Of Museum Piece

‘Cos you’ve left your coat behind…

It’s possible that the majority of you are already aware of a story on the UK’s Bromley Times website, highlighted via another trusty Google alert.

The story relates to the above striking velvet blazer which has been purchased by Bromley Museum for £400 at a recent Christie’s auction.

Christie’s had previously offered the item in an auction in May of last year with a reserve of £800, but it remained unsold until now.

I asked DB about the blazer at that time and he confirmed that, while he couldn’t be 100 per cent certain, he believed it was something he wore while a member of Riot Squad in 1967, and he most definitely recalls giving the item its distinctive finishing touch of stripes with blue ink.


A 20-year-old moody mod test drives the hairstyle and colour for the
Ziggy album cover in a sixties nightclub setting yesterday, probably.

I spoke with the curator of Bromley Museum, Adrian Green, about his successful purchase and he was most pleased to have the authenticity of the blazer further strengthened by David’s comments.

Adrian is intending to display the item along with various other artefacts in an exhibition dedicated to Bowie and the punk movement in December…more details of which we’ll give you when we have them.

You can read the full Bromley Times article here.

An amusing footnote to this story is the fact that I offered the seller £600 for the blazer when it failed to sell the first time. He refused my offer, obviously hoping he’d be able to hold out for £200 less at a later date!

Still, better on display to the Bowie-loving Bromley locals than hidden away in an old wardrobe getting moth-eaten and appreciated by an audience of one.

J.a.p.w. Releases Sweet Thing On New Cd


New Single, ‘Eternal Flame’/’Sweet Thing’: August 7th

Headline shows/Spitz Residency/Special guests on Beth Orton UK tour Sept 06

Debut full-length album, ‘Real Life’ on Reveal Records out now


METRO– ‘Stunning’ (5/5 stars)


THE TIMES   – ?There might not be a better debut all year? **** (4/5 stars) 


Q (Q recommends) – ?Sublime debut.. flooringly beautiful..    absolutely devastating? **** (4/5 stars)


UNCUT  – ?There is fire in the sophistication, could be Willie Mitchell producing a more melodic Kim Gordon? **** (4/5 stars)


THE GUARDIAN  – ?Joan Wasser is the best champagne in the world. A voice so wonderous and moving that it makes everyone else?s seem ordinary and mundane, the indie generation?s Dusty Springfield. The Ride is the most hypnotic and majestic sad song ever and so good it will make you shiver?

( Record Of The Week)


THE TELEGRAPH  – ?For once a bizarre name flags a genuinely idiosyncratic talent. Real Life contains as much naked emotion as it does artful cleverness. A constant thrill? 


THE SUN  – ?I defy anyone to not to be smitten by Joan As Police Woman?s highly original songs, the product of a woman with an open mind and her ears to the ground?  **** (4/5 stars)


THE GUARDIAN GUIDE  – ?A sedately?paced collection of beautifully sung torch songs, this feels like a quality band that will be playing in theatres pretty soon.. get in early?

Joan?s ?Real Life? album goes a long way to laud honesty, trust and beauty, and in doing so, lauds her own beauty. You might know Joan from her loud serrated bands The Dambuilders, Black Beetle and Those Bastard Souls. Or playing more subtly and quietly in Antony?s Johnsons or Rufus Wainwright?s band. 

Some influences pervade, but this is all together different. It?s music that shimmers, torch-song-like, between categories. It feels adjacent to jazz while being deeply soulful. The voice and delivery has raised comparisons to Dusty Springfield, Annette Peacock and Chrissie Hynde. Like Antony, Joan?s music seems to have come out of nowhere, and yet feels fully-formed, idiosyncratically individual, all on, and of, its own. Simply, Joan As Policewoman feels very Joan .

The debut full-length album from Joan As Police Woman is ?Real Life?. It features the stunning vocals and songwriting talent of New Yorker Joan Wasser already known for her live and recorded work with artists such as Antony and the Johnsons (Antony also duets with Joan on one of her album?s highlights, ?I Defy?), Nick Cave, Scissor Sisters, Sebadoh, Elton John, Rufus Wainwright and more..

UK press reviews for her album have been universally brilliant, it seems Reveal Records have discovered a true star in the making.


The next single from the album is ‘Eternal Flame’ (released August 7th).

Following studio time recording a new Rufus Wainwright record, Joan As Police Woman toured the UK as special guests to The Guillemots  – they joined her on stage for spine-tingling versions of her song ‘The Ride’. 

Joan As Police Woman is currently touring the UK including 3 shows at The Spitz (June, July and August) and festivals: 

July

12 Leeds, New Roscoe

13 Sheffield, Boardwalk

14 Liverpool, Barfly


18 London, Spitz Club

22 Cardiff, Barfly

23 Gateshead, The Sage ? Summer Tyne Festival

August

10 Bristol, Academy


11 London, Spitz Club

12 Summer Sundae Festival, Leicester

September


Special Guests on Beth Orton?s UK tour

8 Edinburgh, Queens Hall

9 Manchester Bridgewater Hall

10 Cardiff St David?s Hall

12 London Hammersmith Apollo

13 Portsmouth Guildhall

J.a.p.w. Talks To Bnet About Db And Sweet Thing

She’s got a police bike…

We first told you about Joan Wasser (aka JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN) and her limited edition 7″ vinyl version of David Bowie’s Sweet Thing back in February. (02.02.2006 NEWS: BOWIE GETS DONE BY POLICE WOMAN)

Well, since then, it seems the whole world has gone mad for her, as evidenced in her latest press release, (see press release section above) and due to much popular demand J.A.P.W.‘s version of Sweet Thing will now be included as an extra track on her Eternal Flame single (above) due on August 7th.

Joan kindly took a moment out from her current UK tour to tell BowieNet about her reasons for covering Sweet Thing and exactly what David Bowie means to her…

————————————————————————————————————-

“I covered “Sweet Thing” because it is so cinematic, with the Orwellian imagery, and because the chorus breaks my heart. It’s one of those songs that you can interpret in the way you need it for yourself.

Bowie is one of my all time favorite artists. He never failed to take chances both musically and visually. Station to Station, Young Americans, Scary Monsters, Low and Heroes – these records are absolute works of genius! And then you’ve got ALL the rest of them! Really it’s insane.

When I was eleven I dressed up as David Bowie for Halloween. Come to think of it, I may still be dressing up as him today! He is the closest thing to a religious figure that I’ve ever got. Praise Bowie!”

————————————————————————————————————-

See aforementioned press release for J.A.P.W.‘s tour dates and, while you’re there, read some of the incredible press for her Real Life album which is out now on Reveal Records and is a record you really should own.

You can buy the Eternal Flame CD single online here. The single not only includes the bonus track Sweet Thing, but also has another bonus, in that Eternal Flame is not The Bangles’ song of the same name!

Emi To Release Glass Spider Dvd

But the Glass Spider would have long gone…

EMI plans to reissue David Bowie’s Glass Spider film on DVD next year. Glass Spider is a record of the tour of the same name, filmed at Sydney, Entertainment Center in November 1987.

DVDs of what I believe to be an unofficial nature (see above) have been around for a while, but this is the first time the film will enjoy an official digital release, and will obviously be improved in the digital transfer, as was the recently released Serious Moonlight DVD. That’s unlike the pirate versions circulating which are often inferior copies from the original video tape releases.

Here’s the full tracklisting for Glass Spider:

01 Glass Spider
02 Day In Day Out
03 Bang Bang
04 Absolute Beginners
05 Loving The Alien
06 China Girl
07 Rebel Rebel
08 Fashion
09 Never Let Me Down
10 “Heroes”
11 Sons Of The Silent Age
12 Young Americans
13 The Jean Genie
14 Let’s Dance
15 Time
16 Fame
17 Blue Jean
18 I Wanna Be Your Dog
19 White Light/White Heat
20 Modern Love
21 Glass Spider
(Bonus track from Vienna)

The bonus track is Glass Spider live from Prater Stadium in Vienna recorded in July of the same year and originally released on the 1987 video EP, Never Let Me Down – The Videos.

The total running time (including the bonus track) will be approximately 110 minutes. There are also plans for a photo gallery on the DVD.

At the moment we’re looking at a release around the second quarter of 2007 to tie in roughly with the 20th anniversary of the start of the original tour.

As the release schedule is sometimes subject to change, I’m reluctant to provide a more definite date, in much the same way that a father is loath to give his children an ETA on a holiday car journey…”How much longer, dad? You said midday!”, etc. };-)

The Complete David Bowie By Nicholas Pegg

Reynolds & Hearn Ltd announces the official publication of

THE COMPLETE DAVID BOWIE by Nicholas Pegg
Expanded and Updated Fourth Edition
5 August 2006

————————————————————————————————————-
‘I can’t imagine how this book could be better … the definitive read for Bowiephiles’
Uncut
‘Absolutely thorough, absolutely definitive and absolutely entertaining’
BBC Radio 5 Live
‘An indispensable guide for all serious collectors of David Bowie’s music’
BowieNet
‘This is not just a trainspotter’s manual – Nicholas Pegg has a keen critical intelligence’
Sunday Telegraph
‘The Complete David Bowie certainly lives up to its title … Pegg’s opinionated and witty prose turns it into that rare thing: a reference book that sparkles’
MOJO
————————————————————————————————————-

Critically acclaimed in its previous editions, Nicholas Pegg’s ground-breaking reference book The Complete David Bowie has been widely recognized as the foremost source of detailed information and perceptive critical analysis of every aspect of David Bowie’s career. Previous editions have won nominations as music book of the year from Uncut magazine (‘I can’t imagine how this book could be any better’) and BBC Radio 5 Live (‘Absolutely thorough, absolutely definitive and absolutely entertaining’) among many other plaudits.
 
Reynolds & Hearn Ltd are now delighted to announce the publication of the fourth edition. Published on 5 August 2006, The Complete David Bowie will once again be fully revised and updated, expanding on previous editions to provide even more detail and discussion than before.
 
All the latest developments will be included in the new edition, ranging from Bowie’s recent collaborations with artists like David Gilmour, Kashmir, TV On The Radio, BT and Arcade Fire, to his latest forays into acting in Extras, The Prestige and Arthur and the Minimoys, soundtrack projects like Shrek 2 and The Life Aquatic, the flood of archive releases that have appeared over the last few years including the Serious Moonlight, Love You Till Tuesday, Live Aid and A Reality Tour DVDs, and the expanded reissues of classic albums David Live and Stage.
 
‘This new edition offers the chance to bring everything right up to date’, says Nicholas Pegg. ‘When the last edition appeared, David Bowie’s mammoth 2003-2004 world tour was still in full swing. The new edition includes the full story of A Reality Tour and its unexpected curtailment – and, on a happier note, Bowie’s spectacular return to live performances with Arcade Fire and David Gilmour.’
 
As well as incorporating all the latest updates, the new edition will revise and expand the detail of the earlier chapters. ‘The encyclopaedic nature of the book means that every chapter needs constant updating’, Pegg explains. ‘Just like last time it’s been a long and thorough overhaul incorporating thousands of words of new material, so there are fresh nuggets of information everywhere you look!’
 
As before, The Complete David Bowie will include:
* The Albums – detailed production history and analysis of every album from 1967 to the present day.
* The Songs – hundreds of individual entries reveal the facts and anecdotes behind not just the famous recordings, but also the most obscure of unreleased rarities – from ‘Absolute Beginners’ to ‘Ziggy Stardust’, from ‘Abdulmajid’ to ‘Zion’.
* The Tours – set-lists and histories of every live show.
* The Actor – a complete guide to Bowie’s work on stage and screen.
* Dateline – the most exhaustive day-by-day calendar of Bowie’s career ever published.
* Plus – the videos, the BBC radio sessions, the paintings, the Internet and much more.
 
From the 11-year-old’s skiffle performance at the 18th Bromley Scouts’ Summer Camp in 1958, to the 59-year-old’s appointment as curator of New York City’s High Line Festival in 2007, The Complete David Bowie discusses and dissects every last move in rock’s most fascinating career.

Revised Complete Db Signing And Launch Party

The Sun machine is coming down, and we’re gonna have a party…

BowieNetter Nick Pegg‘s Bowie Bible, The Complete David Bowie, is being reprinted in a revised and expanded fourth edition. That’s an exclusive first look at the new cover above.

To celebrate the launch, Nick will be signing copies of the book at a launch party in London in the UK on Saturday, August 5th.

Here’s the stuff…

————————————————————————————————————-

REYNOLDS & HEARN LTD are pleased to announce a signing and launch party for THE COMPLETE DAVID BOWIE Revised and Expanded Fourth Edition by Nicholas Pegg.

The event takes place on Saturday 5 August 2006 at 2.00 pm till 6.00 pm In the basement room at:

The Corner Store
33 Wellington Street
Covent Garden
London WC2E 7BN

Directions: The Corner Store is on Wellington Street, on the same side and just a few doors up from the Lyceum Theatre (where ‘The Lion King’ is playing). Nearest tube stations: Covent Garden (Piccadilly Line), Leicester Square (Northern & Piccadilly Lines), Temple (Circle & District Lines).

Admission is free. The book will be available to buy on the day, and the author will be in attendance to sign copies. The bar will be open of course, and there’s even a (very tiny!) dance floor, so feel free to pop in for a drink, a chat and a boogie. You can guess what the music will be!

We hope to see you there! With best wishes, Reynolds & Hearn Ltd

————————————————————————————————————-

Check out the press release by clicking on the Press Releases tab above.

Stay tuned for a contest to win signed copies of Nick’s book shortly.

Extra Extras…read All About It

No one over here reads the papers pal…

This item is nothing much more than an excuse for a gratuitous posting of another of the pictures I took at the EXTRAS shoot. (06.07.2006 NEWS: BOWIE PART FILMED FOR EXTRAS & 06.09.2006 NEWS: NEW BOWIE PORTRAITS FROM EXTRAS SHOOT)

As ever, BowieNet members can click on the image above to reach a bigger version on the MBs.

While we’re on the subject of the filming of EXTRAS, I meant to post this one at the time, but it slipped through the net.

BowieNetter neukolner sent in the scans above from his local paper, The Hertfordshire Mercury, which, as you can see, made an understandably big deal of the fact that the sleepy village of Hertford had been visited by the world’s favourite Rock God.

You can read the feature online, (as I’m sure the majority of you already have) but one bit that tickled me was about local girl, Bridget Gill, who managed to outwit security and Fleet Street paparazzi by getting a few snaps for the Mercury.

However, according to the paper, Bridget admitted she’s not a big Bowie fan, but was impressed when Shaun Williamson, who played Barry Evans in BBC soap EastEnders, arrived on set!

Well, I did manage to get some pix of Shaun too, so if the demand is great enough, I’ll post some of those on the MBs. };-)

The second series of EXTRAS starts on BBC2 in the UK at 10:00pm on September 14th.

First Look At Db As Nikola Tesla In The Prestige Trailer


“Nothing is impossible…” David Bowie as Nikola Tesla in forthcoming motion picture, The Prestige.

Here are we, one magical moment…

The trailer for The Prestige is now available for your viewing pleasure over at apple.com.

We’ve mentioned this film a couple of times on these pages (11.21.05 NEWS: DB CONFIRMS ROLE AS NIKOLA TESLA IN THE PRESTIGE & 02.21.2006 NEWS: THE PRESTIGE DUE FOR AUTUMN RELEASE) but this trailer will give you the best glimpse yet at where the film is coming from…and I have to say, it looks jolly exciting!


“Blue, blue, electric blue, that’s the colour…” A toon Tesla looks menacingly down upon proceedings.

Above is a don’t-blink-or-you’ll-miss-it still of the stage backdrop depicting DB as Nikola Tesla…I wonder where it went after filming was completed? That’d look great on my lounge wall!

Click on the images above or go here to view the trailer now. Thanks to BowieNetter Mooch for the pointer.

Mick Rock On Xfm Free Podcast Subscription

Me, I’m on a radio show…

The Mick Rock show on Xfm radio that we told you about a couple of weeks back, (06.30.06 NEWS: MICK ROCK’S NEW RADIO SHOW ON XFM TOMORROW) is now available as a free podcast subscription via iTunes.

Each podcast only includes the talking bits, but Mick’s a very eloquent man who has a lot of interesting things to say…many of which are about DB.

Here’s the playlist from the first show available as a podcast here now:

01 David Bowie ?It?s Hard To Be A Saint In The City?
02 Arctic Monkeys ?Mardy Bum?
03 Bob Marley ?Trenchtown Rock?
04 Blondie ?One Way Or Another?
05 The Subways ?Rock and Roll Queen?
06 Nirvana ?The Man Who Sold The World?
07 Foo Fighters ?No Way Back?
08 Iggy Pop ?Candy?
09 Keith Richards ?Runnin? Too Deep?
10 Editors ?Blood?
11 Primal Scream ?Country Girl?
12 Queen ?Bohemian Rhapsody?
13 Yeah Yeah Yeahs ?Turn Into?
14 Kaiser Chiefs ?Na Na Na Na Na?
15 Smiths ?How Soon Is Now??
16 Def Leppard ?Drive In Saturday?
17 Kooks ?She Moves In Her Own Way?
18 Paul Weller ?Changing Man?
19 Lou Reed ?Dirty Blvd.?
20 Richard Ashcroft ?Music Is Power?
21 Guns ?N? Roses ?Patience?

While you’re listening to the podcast, check out the Mick Rock photo gallery via iTunes online, or via your photo iPod if you have such a thing.

Baal Ep And Btwn Extras Digital Downloads Due

It was a day in that blue month September…

EMI plans to release a few things through iTunes on September 25th.

First up, pictured above, is the much underrated, (but loved by most fans I know) BAAL EP, which was originally released in February 1982.

The 5-track recording has never been available in its entirety in the digital format, though two of the tracks (Baal’s Hymn and The Drowned Girl) were released on the EMI Sound + Vision 4CD box set in 2003.

Here’s the full tracklisting of the original EP and the downloadable version due in September…

01 Baal’s Hymn (4.02)
02 Remembering Marie A.
(2.04)
03 Ballad Of The Adventurers
(1.54)
04 The Drowned Girl
(2.24)
05 Dirty Song
(0.37)

As I’m sure those of you reading this already know, Baal is a musical by Bertolt Brecht in which David Bowie played the main character of Baal for the March 1982 BBC television adaptation. It was translated to English by John Willett and adapted for television by Alan Clarke and John Willett.

The songs, (which were written by Bertolt Brecht and translated by Dominic Muldowney) were recorded for release to tie in with the screening (they are different to the actual TV versions) and were produced by David Bowie and Tony Visconti.

Remembering Marie A. has always been a personal favourite, so it’s great to see these songs finally released in this format…I truly believe David Bowie gave one of his very finest vocal performances for these recordings.

The David Mallet directed video for The Drowned Girl is also scheduled to be released via iTunes on the same day.

As if this isn’t enough, the second disc from the 2003 Limited Edition 2CD+DVD release of Black Tie White Noise (06.24.2003 NEWS: BTWN LIMITED EDITION 3 DISC SET RELEASE DELAYED IN US) will also be released via iTunes on September 25th.

Here’s the full tracklisting for that:

01 Real Cool World (5.25)
Previously only available on the Warners soundtrack album Songs From The Cool World (9362-45009-2).
02 Lucy Can’t Dance (5.48)
B-side previously available as a bonus track on the CD version of the original album release.
03 Jump They Say (Rock Mix) (4.04)
Previously unreleased commercially. Only previously available on a Savage Records CD promo (SADJ-50044-2) in the US.
04 Black Tie White Noise (3rd Floor US Radio Mix) (3.40)
Previously released commercially on a Savage Records CD single (74785-5045-2) in the US.
05 Miracle Goodnight (Make Believe Mix) (4.28)
Previously only available on the Miracle Goodnight 12″ single (74321 16226 1) on Arista. Previously unavailable on CD.
06 Don’t Let Me Down And Down (Indonesian Vocal Version) (4.53)
Previously only available on the Arista CD & cassette version of the album in Singapore (72431 14071 2).
07 You’ve Been Around (Dangers 12″ Remix) (7.39)
Previously released on the Arista Black Tie White Noise CD single (72431 14868 2) in edited form. This full mix is previously unreleased.
08 Jump They Say (Brothers In Rhythm 12″ Remix) (8.22)
Previously released on the Arista Jump They Say CD single (72431 13943 2).
09 Black Tie White Noise (Here Come Da Jazz) (5.32)
Only previously available on an Arista UK 12″ promo (BLACK 1).
10 Pallas Athena (Don’t Stop Praying Remix No 2) (7.26)
Only previously available on an Arista UK 12″ promo (MEAT 1).
11 Nite Flights (Moodswings Back To Basics Remix) (9.52)
Previously only released on an Arista UK 12″ promo (HOME 1).
12 Jump They Say (Dub Oddity) (6.13)
A Leftfield mix previously only available on the Arista European 12″ single of Jump They Say (72431 13942 1).

Obviously, the previously unavailable comments refer to the 2003 CD issue.