Month: February 2010

I asked for an autograph… (And he kindly agreed to do yet another lot)

It just hit me that we only have one ongoing contest to win a little signed something or other at the moment (01.31.2010 NEWS: ROYAL MAIL ZIGGY FDC FINAL DAY) …and that simply won’t do.

We have a wad of signed Reality live promotional postcards so that those of us that don’t win an actual signed guitar can at least have a signed photo of one…that’s the front and back of the card at the top of the above montage.

As if that wasn’t enough, we’ll also throw in a copy of the David Bowie – A Reality Tour 2-CD set to each winner and we’ll include an ultra-rare postcard-sized Reality live promotional fridge magnet to boot!

That’s the magnet above, (looking identical to the postcard) and the US version of the CD below the signed postcard.

Actually, you don’t even have to put the magnet on your fridge…as with all magnets, it will attach to any ferromagnetic metals, such as iron, steel, nickel and cobalt. The possibilities are endless, but always remember to put safety first kids…for example, it would be daft to attach one to a moving vehicle.

Below is an example of a safe place to use one of the magnets..it’s inside a Ziggy style red phonebox at an undisclosed countryside location, yesterday.

I digress…

Seeing as the current contest hasn’t been the easiest, we’ll give your brains a rest with this one. (Don’t worry, the one after this will be as nasty as the last one)

You guessed it, all you have to do is choose between the US and UK versions of the David Bowie – A Reality Tour 2-CD set…AND complete the tiebreaker.

There’s very little to choose between the two editions…aside from subtle wording differences between the cover stickers and the fact that the US copies have a “LEGACY Premiere Edition” gold sticker on them too.

I should mention that the US copies have a scratch through the barcode (that’s how they create promos there) and the UK ones have a ‘FOR PROMOTIONAL USE ONLY NOT FOR SALE’ sticker over the barcode.

So, to be in with a chance of winning, you have to make the near impossible decision of which format to go for. The only catch is, we’re not telling you how many of each we have!

Click on ONLY ONE of the following links to let me know your preferred choice.

UK CD

US CD

AND don’t forget to complete this tiebreaker in no more than 200 words: “If I had an ultra-rare postcard-sized Reality live promotional magnet, I’d stick it…”

There’s no closing date as such, though The Random Generator will be selecting winners and posting them randomly in the news from Tuesday February 16th, until we have exhausted our supply.

Usual BowieNet rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account and please remember you must enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name. If you do neither of these things you won’t be eligible to enter.

Happy pickin’ and tiebreakin’, kidz!

With their pride in their BowieBob FlaredPants…

The NSPCC auction for the Johnny Vegas BowieBob FlaredPants sculpture that we told you about last month (01.22.10 NEWS: NSPCC REVEALS JOHNNY VEGAS BOWIEBOB FLAREDPANTS) ended on February 4th.

I know there are a couple of you reading this that were pipped at the post by the winning bidder who picked up the charming little fellow for the bargain price of £675.

Click on the tip of BowieBob’s nose in the image above to view the final bid prices of all the sculptures in the auction.

With your silicone hump and your ten inch stump…Or: We’ll build a glass asylum…

Those of you still offended by the private parts of the half-dog half-Bowie creature on the Diamond Dogs album cover should try and time it right before you look at the image above, which has five seconds of censorship mode alternating with an equal amount of full-tackle-on-view mode. Watch for the red text in the corner of your eye before looking.

A friend of mine had the above model made after his favourite album cover. He paid a professional model maker to create the thing as a diorama in an eighteen inch long vivarium and I think you’ll agree he’s done a pretty good job.

I’ll leave you with another picture I took from a different angle using a flash…if you’ll excuse the pun…wherein you can see the hand-painted background too.

Speaking of manmade Bowie models…

You put your left leg in, your right arm in…*

I’m sure many of you noticed the hoo hah surrounding the singer Rihanna as she performed onstage at the Pepsi Super Bowl Fan Jam on February 4th in Miami Beach, Florida.

The fuss was triggered by “a peculiar one-shoulder, one-leg catsuit” that she bravely decided to wear for the event. The black asymmetrical concoction was finished with white trim, with two white hoops on one wrist giving the effect of bangles.

The ensemble contrasted nicely with Rihanna’s spiky, died red hair…I say ‘bravely’, but then it hit me that I had seen something very similar before.

I was then that I remembered the stunning outfit above, that model Candice Swanepoel wore on the runway during the 2009 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at The Armory in New York City on November 19th.

It all seemed to be jogging my memory, the asymmetrical outfit with sparkly bits woven into the fabric, covered in bold geometric designs, with not only the two wrist bangles, but a great pair of platform shoes too. Still wasn’t quite it though…no red hair for a start.

While searching I did stumble upon the House Of Field designed creation above that hit the runway at the Barbie 50th Anniversary Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week on Feb 14th last year.

It was close, but no sleeves at all and no bangles…though the diagonal design was triggering something. One thing’s for sure, if Barbie had looked like that when I was a lad, I would have spent less time with Ken!

I was about to give up, when it hit me like an Aladdin Sane lightning bolt from the blue…

It was Kate Moss I had remembered wearing the exact outfit I had been thinking about all along…even if there was no sign of red spiky hair.

I didn’t think I could get any closer. The picture was from a feature in Vogue from May 2003 (04.10.2003 NEWS: BOWIE INTERVIEW AND CLOBBER SPECIAL IN VOGUE) in which Kate was photographed wearing different stage outfits belonging to David Bowie.

Hang on a minute. David Bowie!?

Of course, David Bowie had pioneered the look thirty seven years ago with the costume above created by Japanese fashion designer, Kansai Yamamoto.

It was all there, all those years ago: the asymmetrical outfit with sparkly bits woven into it, the two wrist bangles, the diagonal stripes and geometrical shapes…and of course, bright red hair.

Bowie was so comfortable with the asymmetrical look that he had Freddi Burretti knock up a couple more for Ziggy‘s last fling during the filming of The 1980 Floor Show in London in October 1973.

Somehow, though they are even more flamboyant, this look seems to work on Bowie a bit better than the other examples on this page.

And there was much more to come…but that’s another story.

*So, you think Bowie has never sung The Hokey Cokey?

We can’t avoid the Clash…

Hot-on-the-heels of the play.com contest, (01.29.2010 NEWS: SONY MUSIC LINK FOR SIGNED REALITY TOUR CD AND GUITAR) Clash magazine in the UK now has another signed guitar contest to join the who knows how many so far.

Here’s a bit of how the mag is tempting you to enter…as if you needed persuading…

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Clash is giving away an Airline Twin Tone guitar in white, daubed in permanent marker by the man himself. To think, it was written with the same hand that penned ?Life On Mars?. If only a fraction of his magic pixie dust has infused this axe, then you?re in for some dazzling days ahead.

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And the impossibly hard question you are asked for your chance to win, is: What is David Bowie’s real name?

They’ve also been a bit more generous than most with their closing date of March 19th 2010.

Fifty Nine New Pence to have a go…

There have been some strange officially licensed Bowie products over the years, the above Scary Monsters Chu-Bops bubble gum and the Ziggy Stardust air freshener being just two of the more bizarre items that spring to mind.

Well, things just got stranger…

Ever been caught out at a Bowie show wanting to hold a lighter aloft only to reach into your pocket to find you forgot your lighter but brought your iPhone with you by mistake?

Well, anyway…that’s not important…and the fact that the iPhone didn’t exist last time DB played live is neither here nor there.

The point is, now you can have that option of forgetting your lighter and using your iPhone instead with the officially licensed Bowie Virtual Concert Lighter.

Released via iTunes by Spark Of Blue Software on February 1st, this genius invention is available for the almost give-away price of 59p!

The Bowie Virtual Concert Lighter consists of sixteen different lighter skins and also includes a handy D A V I D B O W I E scrolling marquee…not to mention the realistic flickering flame that appears when you activate it.

Admittedly, a couple of the skins are a bit weird, like the Ziggy one with the song title FAME superimposed in the animation above.

But mostly the skins are of album covers and Mick Rock shots as illustrated in the captures below…

On a serious note, just think of all the fires this application will prevent too…I’m sure there must have been lots of them caused by careless lighter wavers setting fire to the tall hippie’s hair in front of them.

What will they think of next?

Thanx to BowieNetter 051060 for the pointer.

Insanity laughs…

There have been a few DB cover versions released in recent days…here follows details of them…

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If you’re in the UK you would have been hard pushed to avoid the debut release of the above talent show contestants, twins Tweedledumb and Tweedledumber…known collectively as Irish duo, Jedward.

Under Pressure (Ice Ice Baby), released via iTunes on January 31st and on CD on February 15th, has been issued to satisfy public demand for the boys.

It’s not really aimed at the likes of me, but BowieNetter Chris Gaffney (who told me all about Jedward), reckons they are the real deal: “Seriously Blam, you need to give it a chance…it’s even better than the Vanilla Ice version. There’s a karaoke version that isn’t released until the 15th that I need to get my hands on before Valentine’s Day, as I’m going to surprise my wife with my own version by performing all the parts myself!”.

Just when you think you know somebody. You nearly got me, Chris, but thankfully that iTunes alert made me think again.

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Far more palatable to these ears than Jedward is anything from the debut Hotrats album, released on January 25th.

Hotrats are Supergrass’ Gaz & Dan who have teamed up with producer Nigel Godrich to make their very own Pin-Ups with the album Turn Ons.

Among the twelve tracks on the album is their spirited version of Queen Bitch and the band admit going for a Lust For Life feel for their version of The Cure‘s The Lovecats…which they manage fairly convincingly.

Here’s the full tracklisting with the names of the original artists that recorded the songs…

The Hotrats – Turn Ons

01 – I Can’t Stand It – The Velvet Underground
02 – Big Sky – The Kinks
03 – The Crystal Ship – The Doors
04 – (You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party!) – Beastie Boys
05 – Damaged Goods – Gang Of Four
06 – Love Is The Drug – Roxy Music
07 – Bike – Pink Floyd
08 – Pump It Up – Elvis Costello
09 – The Lovecats – The Cure
10 – Queen Bitch – David Bowie
11 – EMI – Sex Pistols
12 – Up The Junction – Squeeze

Check out the band’s official site for more Hotrats hoo hah.

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Sharleen Spiteri‘s new album, The Movie Songbook, contains a cover of David Bowie’s Cat People (Putting Out Fire).

Not heard this one yet, so I can’t comment on how good it is, but it is produced by legendary producer Phil Ramone and Sharleen has a fine voice, so on paper it’s looking good.

You can make up your own mind on March 1st when The Movie Songbook hits CD stores and digital download emporiums around the globe.

I’ll leave you with the tracklisting…I’m sure you can work out which film each of the songs came from, though Cat People is on at least two film soundtracks…

Sharleen Spiteri – The Movie Songbook

01 – Xanadu
02 – If I Can’t Have You
03 – God Bless The Child
04 – Between The Bars
05 – The Sound Of Silence
06 – What’s New Pussycat?
07 – The Windmills Of Your Mind
08 – Take Me With You
09 – Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
10 – Many Rivers To Cross
11 – O’ Pretty Woman
12 – This One’s From The Heart
13 – Take My Breath Away

Thanx to BowieNetter jungtheforeman for the pointer to The Movie Songbook.

Rolling Stone love…

Rob Sheffield has given David Bowie – A Reality Tour 2-CD a three and a half out of five stars review in Rolling Stone.

It’s short but sweet and you can read the full thing here.

Freddie’s got spots from ripping off stars from his face…

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s first feature film, the upcoming Cemetery Junction, features All The Young Dudes in the trailer, not to mention a flash of the Ziggy Stardust album cover, see above.

The film, written and directed by Gervais and Merchant, is a rite of passage tale, set in an early 1970s Reading in England, that follows the character Freddie Taylor and his friends Bruce and Snork. Gervais plays Freddie’s father and even the brilliant Ralph Fiennes joins in the fun.

The version of Dudes used in the trailer is the Bowie/Mott The Hoople hybrid version available on the most recently remastered version of the Bowie-produced All The Young Dudes album.

I don’t know what music will make the final soundtrack or even if Bowie’s influence is apparent in the film. But, considering the references to Ricky’s own childhood, (he grew up in Reading) it’s hard to imagine Bowie will be very far away from it, in spirit if nothing else.

Check out the trailer at the official Sony Cemetery Junction site and see the poster here.

Cemetery Junction is released in the UK on April 14th.

A couple of other films that use Bowie music in one way or another…

First up, released in Europe with a different title last year is The First Day of the Rest of Your Life, a film that apparently uses the 1973 Bowie classic, Time, to very good effect.

Next is Youth In Revolt which certainly uses Rebel Rebel for the full length of the UK TV trailer and for the second half of this longer trailer, but doesn’t have the song on the CD soundtrack. Whether Rebel Rebel appears in the film itself, I do not know.