Month: June 2015

 

“Hooked to the silver screen”

 

Photographer Brian Rasic has been in touch with details of a Bowie Day and an exhibition of his Bowie photographs in Skopje, Macedonia.

Here’s the official blurb.

 

The first edition of Skopje Cinema City film festival for music documentaries in Skopje, Macedonia, will welcome a wide range of documentaries that will explore the lives of people who make music, express themselves through music and the creativity behind the music. The festival will open with a tribute to one of the greatest heroes of popular music and culture in general, David Bowie.

Onits first day, the festival will host a photo exhibition of David Bowie photographs by renowned photographer Brian Rasic, London, UK, and will screen two documentaries, the legendary “Cracked Actor” by Alan Yentob and “Berlin – A Journey Inspired by David Bowie” by Villi Asgeirsson.

Afterwards, a listening vinyl party will be held in the location of Suli An. All of the screenings and events will take place at the heart of the Old Bazaar in the city, Suli An, an oriental building where the Arts Academy in Skopje is located.

Naturally, it is not an easy task to grasp Bowie’s enormous influence over the decades in a single day as his influence has spread far beyond art, music, film and fashion. The Bowie Tribute Day at the festival, with its various activities, will provide a glimpse at the tremendous talents that Bowie has shown through the years, but most importantly, it will show the importance his music and legacy has had here in this community, in this part of the world.

 

Check out a gallery of Brian’s Bowie pictures on Facebook

Watch a promo video of Brian’s Bowie exhibition photos here

 

“Let me rise through the cloudy above”

 

The New York Theatre Workshop, under artistic director James C. Nicola, has announced that Golden Globe winner and six-time Emmy nominee Michael C. Hall will star as Thomas Newton in the upcoming world premiere of Lazarus by David Bowie and Enda Walsh.

Previews will begin at the New York Theatre Workshop on 18 November 2015, before an official opening on 7 December.

Inspired by the 1963 novel The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis, the drama will feature songs specially composed by Bowie for this production as well as new arrangements of previously recorded songs.

Lazarus, directed by Ivo van Hove, centres on the character of Thomas Newton, famously portrayed by Bowie in the 1976 screen adaptation directed by Nicolas Roeg.

Further creative and casting details will be announced at a later date.

 

“Five Years, stuck on my eyes”

 

Available exclusively from the Official David Bowie Online Store free with your pre-order is The David Bowie Pin Ups Radio Show 10″ or CD. The 10″ vinyl is available with the vinyl box while a CD version is available with the CD box.

Previously only available on Spotify, this program was issued to mark the 40th Anniversary of the album Pin Ups in 2013. 

This extremely limited collectable, one-sided EP or CD, features snippets from the Pin Ups album interspersed with observations from David Bowie regarding the bands he covers on the album.

Below are links to the pre-order page and the David Bowie (Five Years 1969 – 1973) unboxing video.

 

Official David Bowie Online Store pre-order page

 

David Bowie (Five Years 1969 – 1973) unboxing video

 

Read more about the David Bowie Pin Ups Radio Show here.

 

“As I ask you to focus on” 

 

David Bowie’s Life On Mars? single was released forty two years ago today in the UK. (June 22nd, 1973) Though taken from the 1971 classic, Hunky Dory, it wasn’t released in its own right until 1973 in the UK, capitalising on its popularity as a live number during the Aladdin Sane Tour of the same year. It reached #3 on the official UK singles chart.

Pictured here is a still from Mick Rock’s beautiful Life On Mars? promotional video and the original US trade advert for Hunky Dory, wherein David had scribbled a few notes on a piece of headed hotel stationary from The Warwick in New York regarding each of the tracks on Hunky Dory.

Taking into account the insertion and crossing out that David made to his original annotation, the entry for Life On Mars? read: “Life on Mars – This is a sensitive young girl’s reaction to…The Media.”.

However, a bit of close quarter scrutiny reveals what he had originally written: “Life on Mars – This is a sensitive young girl’s reaction to songs like My Way, films like Love Story and newspapers”

This is kind of ironic considering the note Bowie scribbled for Life On Mars? on the back sleeve of Hunky Dory read: “INSPIRED BY FRANKIE”, a reference to My Way being a part of the song’s history. But that’s a whole other story.

See more Life On Mars? memorabilia on the official David Bowie Instagram page.

 

#HunkyDory  #LifeOnMars

 

“Five Years, what a surprise”

 

Press release below, scroll/swipe images for pack shots. Stay tuned for updates, pre-order links and more shortly.

 

 

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Commencing countdown, engines on, check ignition and may God’s love be with you…

 

DAVID BOWIE

FIVE YEARS 1969 – 1973

 

The first in a series of David Bowie Box Sets to be released on September 25th.

 

June 23rd 2015 London

 

On this day in 1971, David Bowie performed for the first time at what was then known as the ‘Glastonbury Fair’. Today in 2015 as the Glastonbury Festival approaches once more, Parlophone Records are proud to announce DAVID BOWIE FIVE YEARS 1969 – 1973, the first in a series of box sets spanning his career.

 

The ten album / twelve CD box, ten album / thirteen-piece vinyl set and digital download featurs all of the material officially released by Bowie during the nascent stage of his career from 1969 to 1973. All of the formats include tracks that have never before appeared on CD/digitally as well as new remasters.

 

Exclusive to the box sets will be Re:Call 1, a new 2-disc compilation of non-album singles, single versions & B-sides. It features a previously unreleased single edit of All The Madmen, which was originally set for a US release but was never actually issued. Also included is the original version of Holy Holy, which was only ever released on the original 1971 Mercury single and hasn’t been available on any official release since.

 

Also exclusive to all versions of Five Years 1969 – 1973 will be a 2003 stereo remix of ‘The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars’ by the album’s original co-producer, Ken Scott, previously only available on DVD with the LP/DVD format of the 40th anniversary edition of the album.

 

The vinyl box set has the same content as the CD set pressed on audiophile quality 180g vinyl.

 

The box set’s accompanying book, 128 pages in the CD box and 84 in the vinyl set, will feature rarely seen photos as well as technical notes about each album from producers Tony Visconti and Ken Scott, an original press review for each album and a short foreword by legendary Kinks front man Ray Davies.

 

The CD box set will include faithfully reproduced mini-vinyl versions of the original albums and the CDs will be gold rather than the usual silver.

 

An alternate cover has been created for the 2003 mix of Ziggy Stardust by Ken Scott, which features an outtake from the original Heddon Street photo session. There is also newly originated artwork for Re:Call 1 featuring a 1973 in-studio image from renowned photographer Mick Rock.

 

DAVID BOWIE FIVE YEARS 1969 – 1973

 

6 Original Studio Albums:

David Bowie AKA Space Oddity*

The Man Who Sold The World*

Hunky Dory*

The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars

Aladdin Sane

PinUps*

 

*New 2015 Remasters.

 

2 Live Albums:

Live Santa Monica ‘72

Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture Soundtrack

 

Exclusive to the Box Sets:

The Rise and Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars (2003 Ken Scott mix)

Re:Call 1 (2CD set)

 

Re:Call 1 tracklisting

 

CD1

Space Oddity (original UK mono single edit)*

Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (original UK mono single version)*

Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola

The Prettiest Star (original mono single version)*

Conversation Piece*

Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 1)

Memory Of A Free Festival (Part 2)

All The Madmen (mono single edit)* previously unreleased

Janine*

Holy Holy (original mono single version)* only ever issued on original ‘71 Mercury single

Moonage Daydream (The Arnold Corns single version)*

Hang On To Yourself (The Arnold Corns single version)*

 

CD 2

Changes (mono single version)*

Andy Warhol (mono single version)*

Starman (original single mix)

John, I’m Only Dancing (original single version)

The Jean Genie (original single mix)

Drive-In Saturday (German single edit)

Round And Round

John, I’m Only Dancing (sax version)

Time (U.S. single edit)

Amsterdam

Holy Holy (Spiders version)

Velvet Goldmine

 

All tracks stereo except *mono.

 

The vinyl box set has the same content as the CD box set pressed on audiophile 180g vinyl.

 

Formats:

CD Box Set 0825646284085 (UK Cat No: DBX 1)

Vinyl Box Set 0825646284092 (UK Cat No: DBXL 1)

Digital download 0825646070602

 

DAVID BOWIE FIVE YEARS 1969 – 1973 is released 25th September on Parlophone Records

 

“Bevan tried to change the nation” 

 

Charlotte Church, the Welsh singer-songwriter, actress and television presenter, gave a rousing speech at yesterday’s protest march through London against the Conservative government’s austerity measures.

Charlotte received loud cheers as she spoke to an assembled crowd of a quarter of a million at a rally at the end of the protest – the biggest in Britain for many years.

Here’s an excerpt from it…

 

“One aspect of this that really gets under my skin is that it’s all wrapped up in a proud-to-be-British package. I’m proud to be British because of our National Health Service, the welfare system, and David Bowie, not cos of the Union Jack! Nationalism has worked wonders for the Scots because it’s galvanised them against the Westminster elite. But rarely does pure nationalism have a positive effect, and more often than not it serves to veil racism. I’m not saying don’t be proud, I’m saying be proud for the right reasons.”

 

Naturally we concur that David Bowie is one of the right reasons to be proud to be British. Read the full speech here.

 

FOOTNOTE: Those of you outside of the UK may not know that Charlotte’s fellow Welshman, Aneurin Bevan (pictured), was best known for his accomplishment in July 1948, (during his time as Minister of Health), when he spearheaded the establishment of the National Health Service, which was to provide medical care free at point-of-need to all Britons.

 

“Nein! It’s mine!”

 

You should have received an email regarding a 40th Anniversary T-shirt/Pic Disc bundle pre-order offer, ahead of its release next month on Friday, July 24th. (Fame was originally released in the UK on July 18th, 1975)

These Tees are produced in very limited quantities and this one is no exception with just 200 pieces available to purchase.

Pre-order yours here now and check out our pictorial celebration of Fame by clicking on the little dots in our picture or scrolling/swiping to reveal more.

Alternatively, leave comments on our newly launched Instagram page.

 

#DavidBowie #Fame40th

 

“He will have his sky down there below” 

 

With just under a month to go, The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (acmi) is really entering into the spirit with a whole load of wonderful Bowie related events and resources on their dedicated page, including the Bowie Channel which contains some great Australian archive Bowie interviews, keeping anticipation for the impending arrival high. 

For regular updates on general Bowie stuff happening down there, also keep an eye on Adam Dean’s superb bowiedownunder – The David Bowie Community of Australia and New Zealand.

David Bowie is visits The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (acmi) as part of Melbourne Winter Masterpieces, from July 16 to November 1, 2015.

 

#bowieACMI

 

“TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”

 

It’s possible that some of you reading that headline may be thinking we’re ten days late with this particular celebration. Well, the shocking news is that we’re actually spot on.

Last year we didn’t even mention the release of David Bowie’s 1972 classic, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars. Instead we opted to mark a date we were certain of, the day the album entered the UK album chart at #15. (July 1st)

Albums were pretty much always released on a Friday at this point and armed with this knowledge and reliable chart records, June 6th always seemed highly unlikely.

Our resident expert has been squawking “it has to be the 16th” for a long time now, and finally firm evidence of that release date has surfaced in the shape of a communication from RCA’s product manager written when the album charted upon release.

The letter was on the subject of the album’s availability in stores and clearly mentions the release date of the 16th and the record’s top 20 chart placing.

July 1st, 1972, was the first time a Bowie album had entered the official UK album charts, and it was at the same time as Starman was enjoying a second week in the Top 50 at #41. (Eventually peaking at #10)

With the success of the Bowie/Ken Scott produced Ziggy Stardust album (it eventually reached #5), Ziggymania had begun in earnest in the UK and after the Top Of The Pops broadcast of Starman the following week, David Bowie’s fate was sealed.

In the unlikely event that you’ve not heard this timeless recording, go listen here on Spotify, but please bear in mind that this LP is “TO BE PLAYED AT MAXIMUM VOLUME”!

 

“I’ve got TFI Friday on my mind”

 

Tonight sees a one-off return of Chris Evans’ TFI Friday at 9pm on Channel 4 in the UK.

Despite the original studio where the popular show was filmed having since been demolished, the programme makers have done their best to recreate the look and feel of the studio as it was back in its heyday.

However, one obvious addition is a large picture of David Bowie (see inset in our montage) in the bar area, from his last appearance on the show in June 2000 when he performed Wild Is The Wind, Starman, Absolute Beginners and Cracked Actor. (Only Wild Is The Wind and Starman were broadcast at the time)

Our man also appeared on the show in October 1999 when he took part in the regular ‘In The Chair’ interview slot and performed Survive, Rebel Rebel and China Girl. (If memory serves, Rebel Rebel was shown at a later date and China Girl has yet to be shown)

That ‘In The Chair’ interview with Chris Evans was a great bit of TV with Bowie at his hilarious best. Check it out on YouTube now.

TFI Friday is on Chanel 4 at 9pm this evening in the UK.