Just another WordPress site
Hard to grasp that we posted this exclusive Lazarus video still a whole year ago today…
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Lazarus video picture exclusive
“Look up here, I’m in heaven”
Happy Holidays!
#LazarusSingle #LazarusVideo #LazarusBowie #Imablackstar #Blackstar
“Just for one day”
Inspired by Iman’s “Happy Holidays!” message yesterday, we needed no other encouragement to celebrate once more, David Bowie’s appearance on Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special.
Broadcast 39 years ago today in the UK (Christmas Eve 1977, November 30th 1977 in the US), the show was recorded in Elstree just outside London in the UK on September 11th, 1977.
Notable for the wonderfully bizarre, but nevertheless beautiful David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy, the TV special also contained an oft-overlooked performance of “Heroes”.
In the promo film, Bowie sings an emotional live vocal over a backing track, with some not so subtle phasing and echo effects on his voice that may well have been added after the event.
Looking amazing, he sings close up straight to camera while several set mime pieces performed by Bowie are superimposed.
If you’ve not seen “Heroes” on Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas TV special, you’re in for a treat: http://smarturl.it/HeroesOnBingCrosby
FOOTNOTE: The shot of a shirtless Bowie was one of several stills taken during this “Heroes” filming session.
#BowieBing #BowieHeroes #BowieandCrosby
“Waiting for the gift of sound and vision”
We told you all about the upcoming Bowie coverage on the BBC back on November 4 (http://smarturl.it/2017BowieBlitzBBC).
Now we have full details of eleven different Bowie-related broadcasts on BBC TV and Radio, and it’s possible that list may increase nearer the time.
Hopefully we’ll have some exclusive content ahead of the dates listed below, along with links to the individual broadcasts.
Here follows the dates for your diary, keep reading for more detail regarding each programme.
1
Thursday 5 January
1.00-4.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Radcliffe and Maconie
2
Saturday 7 January
1.00-3.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Liz Kershaw
3
Saturday 7 January
9.00pm-10.30pm
BBC TWO
Bowie: The Last Five Years
4
Sunday 8 January
7am -10am
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Mary Anne Hobbs
5
Sunday 8 January
1.00-2.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Adam Buxton On Bowie
6
Sunday 8 January
4.00-6.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service
7
Sunday 8 January
6.00-8.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Now Playing @6Music
8
Monday 9 January
10.00-11.00pm
BBC RADIO 2
Exploring Life On Mars?
9
Tuesday 10 January
7.00-9.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Marc Riley
10
Friday 13 January
7.00-9.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Iggy Pop
11
Friday 13 January
10.00-11.00pm
BBC Four
Bowie At The BBC
#BowieLastFiveYears #ExploringLifeOnMars #BowieAtTheBBC #BowieAtTheBEEB #BowieBBC
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
1
Thursday 5 January
1.00-4.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Radcliffe and Maconie
Mark presents solo, joined by producer and director Francis Whatley on his new BBC 2 David Bowie film. David Bowie: The Last Five Years was produced and directed by Francis Whately as a follow-up to his acclaimed David Bowie: Five Years which was broadcast on BBC Two in 2013.
This new film features rare and unseen archive footage and early Bowie audio interviews, including the original vocal which Bowie recorded for Lazarus, his last release before his death, which has never been heard before. Director Francis says ‘I always hoped that I would make another film about Bowie as we were only able to scratch the surface in the first film, but I just didn’t expect it to be this soon’.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
2
Saturday 7 January
1.00-3.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Liz Kershaw
A year on from David Bowie’s death, Liz has an insightful chat with Woody Woodmansey about the four albums he made with the iconic musician.
Drummer Woody, best known for his work with Bowie as part of The Spiders from Mars, will talk listeners through the recording of each album and will play some of his favourite tracks.
The four albums Woody recorded with Bowie are The Man Who Sold the World (1970), Hunky Dory (1971), The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972), and Aladdin Sane (1973).
Presenter: Liz Kershaw
Producer: Adam Hudson for the BBC
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
3
Saturday 7 January
9.00pm-10.30pm
BBC TWO
Bowie: The Last Five Years
There was nothing predictable about David Bowie – everything was designed to intrigue, to challenge, to defy all expectations. But perhaps no period in David Bowie’s extraordinary career raised more fascination, more surprise, and more questions, than the last five years.
This film – to be broadcast on the night before what would have been Bowie’s 70th birthday – is an intimate portrait of one of the defining artists of our time, told by the people who knew him best: his friends and artistic collaborators. It follows the widely acclaimed film David Bowie: Five Years, first broadcast on BBC Two in 2013.
It takes a detailed look at Bowie’s last albums The Next Day and Blackstar, and his play Lazarus. Through the prism of this last work the film shows how, in his final five years, Bowie not only began producing music again but returned to the core and defining themes of his career.
These were artistic rebirth, a shedding of skins, a quest for a different palette to express the same big ideas – dissonance, alienation, otherness – the human condition. The film explores how Bowie was a far more consistent artist than many interpretations of his career would have us believe, by tracing the core themes from his final works through his incredible back catalogue.
Viewers will see Major Tom reflected in Blackstar; Diamond Dogs in the play Lazarus; and Fame in the song The Stars (Are Out Tonight). Bowie’s urge to communicate feelings of spirituality, alienation and fame underpin his greatest works, from the 1960s to 2016. This is what lies at the heart of his success and appeal, music that deals with what it means to be human in a way that goes far beyond the normal palette of a rock star. This film is not a comprehensive overview of his entire career, but an in-depth exploration of its pivotal moments and a look at how the themes, the narrative, the approach are consistent – it is simply the palette that changes.
It features every key member of the Next Day band, the Blackstar band and those who worked with Bowie on the stage play Lazarus, plus old friends and colleagues including Tony Visconti, Gail Ann Dorsey, Toni Basil, Michael C Hall, Donny McCaslin, and old school friend Geoff MacCormac. And, as in David Bowie: Five Years, there is a wealth of unseen and rare archive.
Produced and Directed by Francis Whately, Executive Producer Phil Dolling
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
4
Sunday 8 January
7am -10am
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Mary Anne Hobbs
English poet and novelist, Lavina Greenlaw, re-visits a poem that she wrote on the day of David’s passing.
Also, excerpts from superb interviews with Jonathan Barnbrook and Donny McCaslin.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
5
Sunday 8 January
1.00-2.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Adam Buxton On Bowie
In a special show as part of 6 Music Celebrates David Bowie, self-confessed Bowie nut and former 6 Music presenter Adam Buxton returns to the network to take listeners on a journey through the weird and wonderful world of one of the UK’s most colourful pop stars.
Featuring rare interviews, some unheard for over 30 years, Adam handpicks some classic BBC Bowie moments, capturing the alternative spirit of the legendary musician’s ever-changing persona.
Presenter: Adam Buxon
Producer: Adam Hudson for the BBC
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
6
Sunday 8 January
4.00-6.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service
In a special show as part of 6 Music Celebrates David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker plays highlights of his Bowie special on what would have been his 70th birthday.
The Bowie-themed programme, which originally aired in January 2016, featured archive clips of BBC interviews with the Star Man, classic singles, alternate demos, live versions of his songs and more.
Presenter: Jarvis Cocker
Producer: Adam Dineen for the BBC
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
7
Sunday 8 January
6.00-8.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Now Playing @6Music
In a special show as part of 6 Music Celebrates David Bowie, Tom Robinson and the audience build a playlist built on the iconic musician’s lasting influence.
Presenter: Tom Robinson
Producer: Alex Burnard for Somethin’ Else
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
8
Monday 9 January
10.00-11.00pm
BBC RADIO 2
Exploring Life On Mars?
In this documentary, Martin Kemp – with the help of music expert and former EMI A&R Tris Penna – explore the 1971 David Bowie song, widely regarded as a masterpiece.
With access to exclusive unreleased music archive, the documentary examines how Life on Mars? came into being and the significance of the lyrics. Kemp and Penna explore whether it could be seen as the musician’s legacy song – the one for which he will be most remembered.
The programme will feature never before broadcast archive recordings and Bowie’s original piano and voice demo. It hears from those who worked and played closely with Bowie to create this memorable recording, including original producer Ken Scott, studio engineer Ray Staff, keyboard player Rick Wakeman, Mick Rock (who shot the video), singer Dana Gillespie, singer Marc Almond, friend Wendy Kirby, singer/actress Sophia Anne Caruso from the Lazarus Musical, biographers Kevin Cann and Nicholas Pegg, music publishers Bob Grace and Geoff Heath, and Mike Garson who accompanied Bowie on piano in his live performances, notably at his headlining 2000 Glastonbury appearance.
Martin Kemp says: “In celebration of the genius that is David Bowie, I’m excited and honoured to present this programme for Radio 2 to mark what would have been his 70th birthday. For me, Bowie was a great inspiration and influence on my own music career.”
Presenter: Martin Kemp
Producer: Tris Penna for Sue Clark Productions
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
9
Tuesday 10 January
7.00-9.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Marc Riley
On the anniversary of his death, Marc Riley celebrates the life and times of David Bowie.
This special show will include an interview with Bowie’s childhood friend, backing singer, dancer and travelling companion, Geoff MacCormack, who has so far been largely silent on his friendship and adventures with arguably the greatest rock ‘n’ roll star ever.
There will also be another chance to hear Bowie’s final radio interview, which he gave to Marc in 2004 a few weeks before his last tour came to an end. All the music featured in tonight’s programme will be related to the Star Man.
Marc says: “Of course when we went to meet David in London we had no idea it would prove to be his last radio interview. He was marvellously playful, and his usual witty and charming self. A special man.”
Presenter: Marc Riley
Producer: Michelle Choudhry for the BBC
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
10
Friday 13 January
7.00-9.00pm
BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC
Iggy Pop
As part of 6 Music’s programming celebrating David Bowie this week, here’s another chance to hear Iggy Pop’s tribute to his close friend.
Presenter: Iggy Pop
Producer: Adam Dineen for the BBC
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
11
Friday 13 January
10.00-11.00pm
BBC Four
Bowie At The BBC
Bowie At The BBC is a patchwork portrait of Bowie in performance and interview, as he evolved over five decades in the spotlight. A variety of BBC programmes and presenters kept track of this most ever-changing of artists.
Through a compilation of clips from the BBC archive, the programme gives an overview of Bowie’s extraordinary career from 1964 to 2016 featuring legendary and rarely-seen performances, interviews and insights into his many personas.
The earliest footage is from 1964 with the 17 year-old David Jones who, driven by a desire to escape suburbia, and never be considered ‘normal’ – was interviewed by Cliff Michelmore about being the founder of the Prevention Of Cruelty To Long Haired Men Society.
Within five years he was David Bowie, the artist who created a world and a persona which let his influences and imagination run wild. The programme includes classic Top Of The Pops and The Old Grey Whistle Test performances of Bowie singing Queen Bitch, Oh You Pretty Things and The Jean Genie, plus his seminal 1973 Top Of The Pops performance of Starman.
There is footage from Later with Jools, Top Of The Pops 2, Newsnight and Parkinson, and from his incredible set at Glastonbury in 2000. There’s also a look at Bowie the actor with interviews about his roles in The Elephant Man and Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence.
Bowie at the BBC gives an insight into the one of the most significant performers of the 70s and beyond, with interviews and performances showing just how innovative, funny, surprising and influential Bowie and his many personas were to generations.
Exec Producer: Mark Cooper
Producer: Dione Newton
“Had to cram so many things to store everything in there…”
The Official BowieStore is stocking a limited quantity of the three volume Bowie Collector catalogue set, previously only available at Sotheby’s in London, during the Bowie Collector auctions there, last month.
Currently selling on auction sites for up to £300 GBP (approx. $375 USD), they are priced in the BowieStore at the same rate they were selling for at Sotheby’s.
This three volume set is sold in the original outer wraparound cover, as pictured here. The catalogues are a beautiful and fascinating record of the sale and will not be reprinted.
Find out more about SOTHEBY’S: BOWIE/COLLECTOR PART I, II & III here.
#BowieCollector #BowieArt #BowieSothebys #BowieStore
“So I, I got to tell you…” *
Earlier in the week, musicradar.com awarded David Bowie and Tony Visconti with the best record producers of 2016 for their work on Bowie’s ★ album. This is what the ‘THE NO.1 WEBSITE FOR MUSICIANS’ had to say regarding that final collaboration:
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
The 10 best record producers of 2016 – Winner: David Bowie/Tony Visconti
We lost far too many musicians this year, but few of the losses felt as tough as that of David Bowie, just a few days into 2016.
Typically, though, he managed to orchestrate the most dignified of passings, working with long-time collaborator Tony Visconti to release Blackstar, his final album, just before his death. It was a daring, experimental release, made all the more poignant by what happened next.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
We asked Tony what it was like working with David as co-producer. He kindly supplied the following…
“We were always a very intuitive team, we almost read each other’s minds. A big part of production is pre-production and each album always started with meetings, phone calls and more recently with Facetime, David’s preferred method of remote communication. Many meetings took place at least six months before Blackstar was recorded. There were several demo sessions where my original bass parts were used for the final recordings of Blackstar and the Lazarus musical.
It’s hard to say who did what, except that I play the more traditional role as in hands on recording, arranging, playing, singing backing vocals and mixing. David was, of course, a truly great ideas man. He was a great coach when I was playing or singing. He was a great coach to Donny McCaslin and the band.
But in all things we’d work side by side – no rules, no boundaries. We have rarely argued, we always seemed to be on the same page. We come from a time when we needed to see the endgame before we even started to record. You had to back then, when you were working with a limited amount of analogue tracks. Even in recent years, with modern digital recording, David would often ask if there was an extra track to do another vocal. I mean, these days you can have 200 extra tracks if you wanted, but he would slip in that mindset to maybe add a little pressure to his vocal takes.
The fact that we started recording 48 years ago gave us a lot of mutual experiences to draw from. He was always a bit shy about playing guitar or keyboards around professional session players, but never in front of me. David has worked with some great producers and made fabulous records with them, but with me I think you got more Bowie giving more of himself.” – Tony Visconti – December 2016
Thanks for that Tony, and for your incredible contribution to Bowie’s music over the past 48 years. You know how much it’s appreciated.
* Today’s lyric quotation is from the John Lennon song, Mother. The unreleased (officially) 1998 Bowie version (recorded for a shelved tribute album), was meant to mark what would have been Lennon’s 60th birthday in October 2000.
Here’s an edited excerpt from another exclusive Tony gave us back in 2008, regarding the recording.
“I love that recording and David’s vocal performance. For the record, it was recorded on Nassau (the island). The drummer was Andy Newmark, guitar Reeves, but piano and organ were played by the studio owner. David brought the ADAT tapes back to New York and overdubbed a vocal with me, and Reeves played a solo. I played bass and mixed it on rather primitive equipment (but that’s another story).
I’ve attached some photos from that session. I took the one of David (the guy who loaned us his “Elvis” mic wanted a piccie of David holding it) and May Pang took the other.”
May Pang actually took both of the pictures in our montage that Tony is in.
#BowieBlackstar #Blackstar #BowieVisconti
“Oh, look out you rock ’n rollers”
David Bowie’s Hunky Dory LP (his first for RCA), was released on this day in the UK in 1971. The album had already been released in the USA at this point, as had the attendant single, Changes.
However, despite a decent press campaign and very appreciative reviews, the record didn’t enter the UK Top 50 for another ten months and it took several more weeks before it finally entered the Top 20 right at the height of Ziggymania.
Hunky Dory eventually peaked at #3, incredible when one considers how valuable a recording the majority of Bowie fans (and indeed, rock fans in general), consider the album today.
Some pressings are valuable in other ways too. In March of this year a preview copy sold for a remarkable £7,600 GBP (approx. $9,500 USD even at today’s poor exchange rate).
There can’t be many visiting this page that aren’t already very familiar with Hunky Dory. But, if you’re one of the few, prepare yourself for what will surely become one of your very favourite albums.
The description in that 45-year-old press release still holds good today:
“Disquieting, disturbing, sometimes freaky, sometimes fantastic, sometimes caustically penetrating, often beautiful, always interesting…this is the music of David Bowie.”
#HunkyDory #HunkyDoryBowie
“and Lo! it was midnight, Back o’ the kitchen door…”
Just a few hours to go for your chance to enter this exclusive contest to win #2 of only 100 numbered copies of the extraordinary Collectors’ Edition of Andrew Kent’s beautiful book, David Bowie : Behind The Curtain, courtesy of the book’s publisher, PSG.
The contest closes at midnight tonight (Saturday December 17th), UK time.
The three 1976 images here are taken from the book, from whence we’ve taken the following captions, in a clockwise fashion from top left…
1 – David looks through a French magazine with a cover story on the Soviet Union on a train en route to Moscow.
2 – After calling Andrew to his hotel room, David spontaneously decided to take some photos on the street outside L’Hotel in Paris. The impromptu photo shoot lasted about ten minutes.
3 – A five year old Zowie (Duncan Jones) passes time in an airport lounge by playing with his action figure toy between stops on the Station to Station tour.
“I think Zowie’s a survivor. He’s very definitely an independent person, of his own choosing, it seems.” said David to Rolling Stone in 1976.
#BowieBehindTheCurtain #DBBTCbook #AndrewKentBowie
“I’m a take you home (I’m a blackstar)”
Alongside the Lady Stardust/Crystal Japan 7″ 45 picture disc produced to coincide with the Japanese opening of DAVID BOWIE is in Tokyo on January 8th, 2017, a limited edition, transparent red vinyl 12″ single of ★ will also be made available exclusively through the DAVID BOWIE is exhibition shop at the same time.
The 12” vinyl single (Catalogue number: SCJ7 1), features the following 3 tracks from the ★ album…
A-side
Blackstar (album version)
B-side
Lazarus (radio edit)
I Can’t Give Everything Away (radio edit)
This limited edition red vinyl single (produced in Japan), will be accompanied by an exclusive poster of one of Jimmy King’s beautiful photographs of David (size: 590 mm x 884 mm). It will also include lyrics, translation of lyrics and liner note, and will be the very first physical single to be released from the ★ album.
Long-term Bowie designer, Jonathan Barnbrook, had this to say about the design…
“I try to do something that is worthy of David Bowie, one of the greatest artists of the past century. I am always mindful of what his fans would like. For this, because the design is so simple, it needs to be perfect even with the smallest of details. The infinity symbol (∞) that appears when you take the record out of its sleeve, was very important. It symbolises the desire of him wanting to live forever in I Can’t Give Everything Away and also that we have his music forever even though he is no longer with us.”
Pedants might like to note, that despite the impression given otherwise by our graphic mock-up, this 12″ will only feature the 3 tracks listed above.
Go here for DAVID BOWIE is in Tokyo exhibition information and ticket links.
#ボウイ展 #DBisTokyo #BowieTokyo #DavidBowieIs #BowieVinyl #BowieBarnbrook #BarnbrookBowie
“Take your passport and shoes (I’m not a popstar)”
The new edition of French magazine, Les Inrockuptibles, has a Bowie cover feature and ★ as Album of The Year.
See the top 100 in their special issue BEST OF MUSIQUE 2016.
#Blackstar #BlackstarAlbum #Bowielesinrockuptibles #lesinrockuptibles
“We’ve got five years, stuck on my eyes”
The February 2017 edition of Q magazine has ★ as Album of The Year. Here are a couple of lines from their appreciation of it…
“Blackstar was two things at the same time: a deeply moving rumination on life and death, and a vibrant reinvention on which Donny McCaslin’s jazz-trained band enabled Bowie to explore new shades of terror and wonder. An ending that could have been a new beginning.”
And this is Q’s brief description of the Bowie content in this issue…
“As part of our coverage of the year, there’s a six-page reminder why the world belonged to David Bowie in 2016 and a preview of the forthcoming David Bowie: The Last Five Years BBC documentary.”
They’re pretty cool teasers regarding Francis Whately’s The Last Five Years, which we told you about at the beginning of November. It’s shaping up to be a more than worthy follow-up to 2013‘s extraordinary Five Years documentary.
The magazine also boasts a previously unpublished Jimmy King shot, which is worth the cover price alone.
Q magazine is available digitally and it’s also physically in shops now.
#Blackstar #BlackstarAlbum #QBowie #BowieQ #BowieLastFiveYears #BowieAtTheBEEB #BowieBBC