Month: October 2010

Come to the show tonight…

OK, if you’re a Bowie fan kicking around Paris today (October 14th) you will want to be at this. I’ll hand you over to one of the organisers, Jerome Soligny, to tell you more about it…

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THE NIIGHT WE SOLD THE WORLD

I was approached in early September by people who were planning to organize a Bowie night in Paris. To cut a long story short, I managed to turn this event at legendary venue Le Bus Palladium (it already existed when young David Jones and his band played le Gold Drouot in the 60?s) into an evening based upon “We Were So Turned On” and the reissue of “Station To Station”.

Naïve and EMI are kindly helping us for that matter and are offering a few copies of the tribute and “S2S” that people will be able to win (I?m writing the quiz!). All details of the event are on its facebook page and people can enter freely as long as they put their name on the website list.

A rare interview of David will be shown, Bowie songs will be heard, I will talk a bit (not too long, I swear?) and a few bands will also play. Good thing, I understand the drinks shouldn?t be too expensive 😉

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Click on the flyer above for more info or visit the facebook page Jerome mentioned….Hmmm Paris? A couple of hours on EuroStar…it’s doable.

It’s an invitation across the nation…

If you’re in Australia, you probably already know about this one…It’s the latest Bowie production by Jeff ‘Duffo’ Duff and friends and it’s a little more ambitious than usual.

Here’s a bit of explanation from the blurb…

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Ziggy, The Songs of David Bowie pays homage to Bowie, the pop phenomenon ? the influential individualist with the uncanny ability to push boundaries and transform himself and the world around him.

Performed by four of Australia?s leading contemporary musicians and performers – iOTA, Jeff Duff, Steve Balbi and Brydon Stace – Ziggy, The Songs of David Bowie is as multi-dimensional as the man himself.

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Ziggy, The Songs of David Bowie will hit three little Australian towns in November, in the shape of Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

The show dips into the Bowie back catalogue from 1969 up to 1983 as far as I can tell and I think there are a couple more dates to be added too.

You can read more, book tickets and watch out for updates on the Ziggy, The Songs of David Bowie official site… check out a video interview with the artists involved while you’re about it.

Also, keep an eye on Adam Dean‘s superb BowieDownUnder.com (The David Bowie Community of Australia and New Zealand) for updates on this and all things Bowie in the land where everything is apparently upside down…not sure I believe that theory myself though. However, I am open-minded enough to be swayed by visual evidence if anybody down there wants to send some in.

Well, I couldn’t find another you…

Caspar Llewellyn Smith gives evidence in today’s Observer newspaper to back up his theory of why there will never be another David Bowie.

Of course, it’s something we’ve all known for a long, long time and who among us was ever convinced by many of today’s clothes horse pretenders.

You can read the article online here while rejoicing in the knowledge that you lived in the Age of Bowie and that whatever the future holds, the past we witnessed will never be equalled again.

That told ’em!

Hallo Spacegirl…

Speaking of other-worldly goings on, (see Saturday’s news item) I stumbled upon this one while searching for something else. It passed me by last year but I think it’s still worth a mention.

Back in March of 2009, Spanish designer Esther Aller Fernández, (who works as TetëAller) had a show at the tenth annual New Designers show at Castilla y León.

Her new range was called Space Oddity and it took it’s inspiration from Ziggy Stardust, Kubrick‘s 2001 and Warhol‘s silver-lined Factory.

The Bowie influence is most apparent on the girl above with the Rock ‘N Roll Suicide top, space helmet, Aladdin Sane flash and fabric bangles on one arm.

Also, the girls above had less obvious references with an embroidered silver Space Oddity logo on the girl on the left’s cape and a fabric reminiscent of something Ziggy would have worn on the other girl, who also sports the Aladdin Sane brooch.

You can watch a short video from the show here and visit the TetëAller MySpace page here.

The Man Who Fell To Earth’s MOON…

As we never tire of reminding you, don’t forget to regularly check out the quite splendid Man Made Movies site if you want to stay informed about the many movements of Duncan Jones. (Calm down Gillian McKeith fans, it’s not about that.)

There have been a fair few interesting new posts since our last reminder, (08.17.2010 NEWS: DUNCAN JONES INTERVIEW AND UPDATES ON MAN MADE MOVIES) and they are all definitely worth a look.

Also, this gives us a chance to use the rather tasty image of the above recently released Japanese MOON/The Man Who Fell To Earth DVD box set. It includes a special booklet and is generally snazzy.

Thanx as ever to Uncle Rupert over at Man Made for the pointer.

Come on, come on, we’ve really got a good thing going…

Usually a night for Scary Monsters and Super Creeps, and Jack…New York Halloweeners can instead celebrate the beauty of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album, (in a one-off performance on October 31st) via the more than capable hands and voice boxes of Space Oddity. (Not David Brighton‘s bunch, who are as busy as ever.)

Here’s the lowdown, as Wire used to say…

WHAT IS IT? Musical event/party
FULL NAME OF PRODUCTION: Space Oddity: Halloween 2010
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SHOW: A space-themed, Halloween event. Sarah Mucho (pictured below) with System Noise perform their acclaimed Ziggy Stardust show, featuring Michael Isaacs, Clare Cooper and Liz Lark Brown. With additional performance from The Lounge-O-Leers and the Brooklyn-based rock band Wounded Buffalo Theory.
WHERE’S IT AT? 45 BLEECKER: The Green Room
WHEN’S IT ON? One show only: Oct. 31, 2010 at 10:30 pm.
RUNNING TIME: 4 1/2 hours
TICKET PRICE: General seating $25.00 (includes $1.50 facility fee) – On sale online here or by phone at the box office now 212.260.8250
RECOMMENDED: All ages (16 and up)

Check out the Facebook page for more details of this event and footage from the band’s performances of Star and Suffragette City in 2005.

The return of the Thin White Duke…

When we announced David Bowie’s return to the Official UK Top 30 Album Chart, (10.03.2010 NEWS: DAVID BOWIE BACK IN THE OFFICIAL UK ALBUM CHART TOP 30) we also asked you to let us know if you hear about any similar chart action in your country.

Well BowieNetter Zig Dust rose to the challenge and sent in the above good news…Cheers Zig.

Hallo MySpaceboy…

Though this story hasn’t really been clearly reported as such, it seems it was something that only applied to MySpace Australia…particularly as Myspace got together with five of Australia’s most respected music writers for the poll.

Those writers were Mathew Coyte (Rolling Stone), Kathy McCabe (The Daily Telegraph), Patrick Donovan (Music Victoria), George Palathingal (Sydney Morning Herald) and Nicole Fossati (The Music Network).

Either way, it’s a good result for David Bowie who ended up in the top ten best male singers of all time…here’s the result…

Top Ten Male Artists
1 Michael Jackson
2 Justin Timberlake
3 Bob Marley
4 Kanye West
5 Jay-Z
6 Elvis Presley
7 2Pac
8 Johnny Cash
9 David Bowie
10 Bob Dylan

Further clues that this was an Australian-centric poll lay in the result of the top ten best band section, which saw AC/DC in the #1 spot. Not saying they wouldn’t have won otherwise…but, you know, just sayin’. 😉

You can view all the results here.

Peace on Earth, can it be?

It’s not hard to track down audio or visual recordings of David Bowie and Bing Crosby‘s wonderful 1977 performance of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy.

However, next month (November 9th) sees the release of the song as a limited edition red vinyl 7″ 45 single, albeit with a slight title change to: The Little Drummer Boy/Peace On Earth. The single will be backed with a 1953 Bing Crosby/Ella Fitzgerald duet of White Christmas.

As if that wasn’t enough, a restored version of the original Bing Crosby?s Merrie Olde Christmas TV broadcast, (which the Bowie/Bing performance first aired on) is also being made available on DVD at the same time: BING CROSBY: THE TELEVISION SPECIALS ? Volume Two: The Christmas Specials.

And, just to complete the set, the duet will also be part of the up-coming CD release: BING CROSBY: THE CROSBY CHRISTMAS SESSIONS.

Read all about it over at bingcrosby.com and pop over to ccmusic.com where you can snaffle the lot up in one fell swoop.

Pressure on people, people on streets…

Had a handful of e-mails regarding this. It was picked up by New York magazine originally and posted here on their site.

The first impression was made by the guy’s yellow sign next to him and I know a few of you found it a poignant and moving creation, with stellar performances from Bowie and Mercury, portrayed by clones of the greenest of The Muppets, with just the right injection of humour.

However, New York magazine followed up the story and it transpires that Sky Soleil (that’s the puppeteer’s real name) is not actually homeless himself, but was using the platform to highlight the ongoing plight of the homeless.

As NY mag quite rightly says: “Don’t feel duped! Or, do, but then move past that feeling.” Check out this interview with Sky where you can also reward his efforts by helping the homeless for free if you are able and willing.