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Strangers When We Meet…
The October issue of
The seven contributors are: Charles Shaar Murray, Andy Gill, Paul Du Noyer, Stuart Maconie, Adrian Deevoy, Chris Heath and Clark Collis…and just for good measure, Jarvis Cocker relates a telephone conversation between himself and DB in 1997.
I’ll post some of the more memorable quotations from each writer in the next few days.
So where were the spiders?
Today’s Obsever newspaper has a few Bowie-related bits. First up there’s a review of the Michael Clark Company‘s latest, Come, Been and Gone at Edinburgh Playhouse by Luke Jennings.
It’s a great review, here’s a snippet: “And this is more fun than Clark’s allowed himself for years. “Aladdin Sane”, in particular, is an outrageously gorgeous piece of modern dance, with the company costumed in bright vermilion, slippery as goldfish, against a radiant tangerine cyclorama. The number segues into “The Jean Genie”, where the dancers reappear in sharp, stripy, matelot jackets, answering Bowie’s pumping R&B riff with fast, disciplined port de bras.”
You can read the full thing
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Next up is a story that first surfaced in the German press a few months ago, but it’s now caught the imagination of the media in the UK. Here’s a bit of background…
German spider specialist Peter Jäger has discovered a new Malaysian spider and he has named it Heteropoda davidbowie in an attempt to raise public awareness of endangered arachnids.
Peter has found 200 new species in the past 10 years and the above close-up makes it easier to see why he decided to name this particular one Heteropoda davidbowie.
If you can’t read the clipping at the top of this item you can read the full Observer piece
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I had intended to run a piece about Lady Gaga back in January when she seemed to be name-checking David Bowie as an influence in almost every interview…and in fact, she often still does.
But for some reason I felt a little uncomfortable posting a piece on here in much the same way as I’ve not mentioned American Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert, on these pages until now. Somehow it just seemed wrong.
Anyway, the Lady has forced my hand now as she has listed Aladdin Sane as one of her favourite albums in the regular Observer Monthly Music magazine column: Soundtrack Of My Life.
Read the Bowie bit above and the whole thing online
MOONdust will cover you…
The film is up in the following categories…
You can join in the voting by clicking on each of the above shortcuts. I’m sure Duncan would appreciate any kind of nudge that BowieNetters could give the voting as I know these particular awards mean a lot to him.
So far, MOON has won…
…so let’s try and help it on it’s way to four more! Good luck Duncan.
Let the children boogie…
We recently asked
The album, Somewhere Else, was released last month and here’s what she said…
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Hi Blam – Yes, I did play and sing on this wonderful record at the invitation of an old and dear “Woodstock” friend and fellow musician/producer, the super talented Ralph Legnini. Ralph called me to ask if I would sing the lead vocal on a Johnny Average song called Heaven Bound for an album he was producing for a student and friend of his named Killian Mansfield. My best friend Sara Lee had also mentioned Killian to me, because she was acquainted with his mother Barbara; they live in the same area of town. Ralph explained the project to me, told me about Killian’s situation, and of course, I was happy to help in anyway that I could. I have a deep love and respect for the wonderful and talented people who live in my community here in Upstate New York.
As I mentioned, my first session on the record was singing a lead vocal on Heaven Bound, and laying down the backing vocals with my best friend and fellow bassist, Sara Lee. Maybe a month or so after I had done my initial session, Ralph emailed me about doing the bass on Starman. “Piece of cake!”, I said. Ideally, I am pretty certain that they were hoping to do a version of Starman, of course, with “The Man” himself donating a lead vocal. Well, alas, this was not to be, but instead, Ralph’s 10-year old daughter, Lucia, delivered a stunning lead vocal, and Ralph and Killian had to settle for me on bass and my hero, Todd Rundgren guesting on guitar. Not too bad, eh?
On the day I went in to sing my lead vocal on the Johnny Average song, I met Killian for the first time, and got to hear some of the other tracks that were already complete or in progress. I was knocked out by the beautiful and inspired performances from Doctor John, John Sebastian, Zachary Alford, and Kate Pierson, to name a few, but I was most blown away by the maturity and artistry of Killian himself! He is an incredible musical talent on Ukulele, and his vocals ain’t too shabby either! Killian is, and will always be, a huge inspiration for me, and from the first day we met, I knew he was one of the most important musicians I would ever meet. He not only had such riveting and intelligent conversation about music, but also about life and love. Insightful and instinctive. Killian impressed and enlightened me on many levels.
Being a part of this project at this time in my life and career has taught me and reminded me of some very important truths about music, and love, and life. Giving is a powerful medicine, and the opportunity to share and express one’s self through music, is a most healing and loving gift. The joy that music creates can never die or be taken away. It carries us on through the darkest of times, our saddest moments, and the throws of pain and despair, into an ever present, ever-lasting beauty that we all know deep in our hearts. I am more than grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of Killian Mansfield and Ralph Legnini’s lovely adventure, I am honoured. It is one of the most precious recordings I have ever done. I hope that it will fulfil all of Killian’s hopes and dreams.
I am also including a photo of me and Killian, taken on my first session for the record. It was taken by Ralph’s wife and collaborator, Katie Taylor Legnini. (Katie sings a cool version of Girl From Ipanema, with Zachary Alford on percussion!)
Much love to all… Gail xxo
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For those of you not familiar with this project, I’ll leave you with some background info and the tracklisting of Somewhere Else with the musicians associated with each recording…
Somewhere Else is the dream project of Killian Mansfield, a 15-year-old ukulele wizard from Woodstock, NY who is battling a rare form of cancer. Eclectic, uplifting, fun and funky, Somewhere Else is a mix of songs performed by Killian with critically acclaimed singers and musicians including Dr. John, Kate Pierson, John Sebastian, Todd Rundgren and Levon Helm. Proceeds benefit the
Produced and engineered by Ralph Legnini (former studio sidekick for Todd Rundgren and Nile Rodgers), Somewhere Else includes world class rock, jazz, blues, country and folk musicians doing a lot of genre hopping, (picture B-52’s Kate Pierson with renowned country fiddler Jay Ungar!) There is truly something for everyone on this remarkable CD.
Somewhere Else Track Listing
01. Express Yourself – Amy Helm; Jay Collins; Randy Ciarlante; KT Legnini; Killian Mansfield; Jay Collins; Ralph Legnini
02. Scratch My Back – Dr. John; Ralph Legnini; Randy Ciarlante; Frank Campbell; Scott Healy
03. Somewhere Else – Bar Scott, Amy Helm, Dorraine Scofield, Amy Fradon; Ralph Legnini; Killian Mansfield; Sara Lee; Bruce Katz
04. Fishin’ Blues – John Sebastian; Ralph Legnini; Killian Mansfield; Molly Mason; Jay Ungar; Bruce Katz
05. Girl from Ipanema – KT Legnini; Killian Mansfield; Chris Wood; Zachary Alford; Ralph Carney; Ralph Legnini
06. Kiss – Killian Mansfield; Scott Healy; Ralph Legnini
07. Heaven Bound – Gail Ann Dorsey; Sara Lee; Killian Mansfield; Ralph Legnini
08. Blue Skies – Laurel Masse; Killian Mansfield; Chris Wood; Ralph Carney; Dennis Mackrel
09. There’s Love in My Food – Ralph Legnini; Kate Pierson; Killian Mansfield; Scott Healy; Jay Ungar
10. Jack & Jill – Barbara Mansfield; Sara Lee; Killian Mansfield; Molly Mason; Jay Ungar; Ralph Carney; Ralph Legnini
11. Fire in My Pocket – Jim Treutlein; Ralph Legnini; Levon Helm; Amy Helm; Levon’s Dog; Lee Henry Collins; Barbara Mansfield; Killian Mansfield
12. Starman – Lucia Legnini; Cally Mansfield; Eric Parker; Killian Mansfield; Gail Ann Dorsey; Rob Sabino; Ralph Legnini;Todd Rundgren
13. If I Can Dream – Killian Mansfield; Randy Ciarlante; Scott Healy; Ralph Legnini
Rumours and lies and stories they made up…part 597
A recent Google alert about a new exhibition by
A little further digging revealed the above acrylic entitled
I was surprised I hadn’t heard of it before, but it transpires that if the painting was a collaboration with David Bowie, it certainly wasn’t the David Bowie you want to read about.
That David Bowie has never heard of Peter Harris, neither is he performing at Glastonbury in 2010 or even with NIN on the final show of their tour as rumours would have it.
Cannot be found today…
You may have had a recent Google alert that mentioned a Bowie Rebel Rebel T-shirt available via
Well, frankly it’s all a little bit weird. The shirt above was apparently available via Lyric Culture last year and though you can find it on some European sites now, I can’t find a trace of it on Lyric Culture.
Confusingly, they also have another Rebel Rebel T-shirt, as illustrated above, but there are no links to purchase this one either.
Finally, they do have the above solid bronze buckle with black leather strap Rebel Rebel belt in stock for a mere $325.00.
Time may change me, But I can’t trace time…
Regular readers of these pages will know that I am a collector of all things related to The Man Who Fell To Earth…The novel of which is among those things. (03.17.2009 NEWS: PENGUIN MODERN CLASSICS VERSION OF TMWFTE DUE & 03.25.2009 NEWS: TWO MORE TMWFTE PAPERBACKS WITH BOWIE COVERS)
Above are the first and most recent published versions of the Walter Tevis story. On the left is the original US Gold Medal paperback from 1963 (it wasn’t released in hardback form till much later) and on the right is the Penguin Modern Classic version published last week.
Understandably, since the film’s release in 1976 the majority of the published books have David Bowie on the cover. The Pan edition (above) is the best known version to Bowie fans in the UK with it’s beautiful George Underwood painting adorning the cover.
If memory serves, I read the book before I saw the film because I can remember being struck by the differences…apart from the obvious physical differences between Bowie’s TJ Newton and the Tevis version, there was lots of sex in the film…but none in the book.
I have to admit that I saw the sex in the film as an unnecessary diversion at the time, as I felt that the lack of sex in the novel just added to Newton’s other-worldliness. I’ve since realised that as much as I love Roeg‘s work he does seem to find it difficult to make a film without gratuitous sex scenes. I’m not complaining though, Amanda Donohoe in Castaway made me realise that this process was completely necessary…not to mention Oliver Reed!
Like many other UK Bowie fans, I read the Pan paperback, which was set in the near future with the first part entitled: Icarus Descending 1985. I can remember being left slightly confused by the timeline in that Pan edition and it wasn’t until much later that I found out that it was in fact a revised-by-Tevis version.
By 1976, the original Tevis setting of 1972 had passed, so 1985 was chosen to reset the story into the future. That may have worked if the revision had been consistent with the same thirteen year jump throughout the book…but it wasn’t.
If it takes your fancy, you can read much more on these inconsistencies in a review headed:
Finally, American Bowie fans have never had to endure this confusion as the first version available at the time of the film’s release was the above paperback. This Avon Books edition was published in August 1976 and it retained the original manuscript.
Sadly, the Penguin Modern Classic edition published last week is also the revised version, which, having now passed 1985 too, seems pretty pointless.