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David Bowie
NUTS AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “What would you rather be doing?” While it’s the 6th of February for the majority as we post this, a bunch of hungry early birds are flying into the morning of the 7th. The latter can now feast on the fat worm that is Nuts, the fifth and penultimate instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks. Again, for those of you who can access BBC Radio 6 Music, you can hear an exclusive first play of Nuts shortly, over on the Mary Anne Hobbs show. (https://smarturl.it/MaryAnneHobbs06Feb20) The photograph in today's graphic, with no small measure of attitude, was taken in NY in 1996 by ALBERT WATSON. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 7th where you are. #BowieIIAW DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? STREAMING EP OF UNRELEASED & RARE MATERIAL - ’NUTS’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE NOW - THE FIFTH OF SIX TRACKS TO BE RELEASED OVER SIX WEEKS ‘NUTS’ (previously unreleased) is to be made available by Parlophone Records for streaming today as the penultimate release of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. The unreleased semi instrumental ’NUTS’ was jointly written by David, Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. It was recorded during the final Earthling sessions in November 1996, the same session during which ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’ was written and recorded. Both songs were being recorded as bonus tracks but then, at the last minute David swapped out ‘I Can’t Read’ (released as track two from this streaming E.P. on 17th January) with ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’. However, ’NUTS' has remained unreleased until today. 'NUTS’ Features Bowie on vocals, Reeves Gabrels on guitars & Mark Plati playing keyboards and programming. It was produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati and was recorded and Mixed by Mark Plati at Looking Glass Studios, NYC. The last track from the EP will be announced next week with a final extra surprise.
David Bowie
VIVE LE ROCK! 12-PAGE BOWIE AND PUNK COVER FEATURE “And I looked and frowned and the monster was me...” The current edition of VIVE LE ROCK! magazine (issue 70), has a 12-page cover feature on how David Bowie paved the way for punk rock. It’s another superb Bowie piece by Kris Needs, who is more than qualified to comment, having rubbed shoulders with the midwife at both the birth of Ziggy Stardust and punk rock. Here’s a short excerpt from a much longer piece… “Those who’d grown up with Bowie considered him just about the only high-profile UK artist in the first half of the ‘70s treading a dangerously unpredictable path, making visionary new music, always different from the pack. It was life-affirming to have a cool superstar who opened so many doors and habitually trampled social taboos, fixated on what he was doing next with a method actor’s zeal, rather than recycling past glories; the past, present and, most importantly, future all rolled into one. Punk came more like a natural progression than sudden impact for those who’d experienced Bowie’s rapid evolution in real time during those grey years between psychedelic ‘60s revolutions and ‘76’s burgeoning tsunami, bringing Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed and lggy Pop with him. By 1973, Bowie had already cleared the runway for glam with short, sharp songs, noisy guitars and outrageous wardrobes, providing the perfect antidote to progressive rock excess and earnest singer-songwriters while sky-sailing over the pub-rock barrelling in through the saloon doors as a rootsy alternative to stadium prog-on-ice. Although presented as glam packages on the surface, ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars’, ‘Aladdin Sane’ and ‘Diamond Dogs’ corralled rock ‘n’ roll’s original primal wildness, French chanson, avant jazz and classic Tin Pan Alley songwriting into vehicles heralding an other-worldly future where encrusted social taboos had been chucked out of the window with the nearest TV set. Pop and rock had been remade and remodelled by Bowie when the next generation started making its own noise.” #ViveLeRockBowie
David Bowie
FIRST BOWIE MIRABELLE COVER IS FIFTY TODAY “Eight new pence to have a go...” Fifty years ago today, David Bowie was featured on the cover of the UK’s Mirabelle magazine. He appeared as an uncredited model with a caption inside which read: “OUR COVER – Super Red Riding Outfit from Kensington Market”, and that wasn’t even a description of his outfit. Of course, Mirabelle had kicked of the new decade with a full-page colour back cover of our man at the start of January. They also thought enough of him to go with a double-page spread at the start of March. This began a relationship that culminated in a few more front covers for the magazine and a two-year weekly column called: Bowie – My World…but that’s a whole other story. The mag still turns up occasionally, but you’re unlikely to pick it up for the original cover price of Eight Pence. FOOTNOTE: The Twiggy and Justin mentioned on the cover nearly helped Bowie onto the cover of Vogue almost four years later. But instead the image was used for the cover of the Bowie Pin Ups LP sleeve instead…But that’s another whole other story. #BowieMirabelle #BowieMagazineCover
David Bowie
MARC RILEY BABY UNIVERSAL ’97 EXCLUSIVE “Now he's running for the love of speed...” For those of you who can access @bbc6music this evening, you can hear an exclusive first play of Baby Universal ’97 on @marcrileydj’s show. He’ll be playing the track in the first hour of his show which kicks off at 19:00 UK time. (https://smarturl.it/BBC6MusicMarcRiley) (Temp link in bio) Mr Riley is pictured backstage with David Bowie at the Manchester Academy on 23rd, July, 1997. See previous post for more information regarding Baby Universal ’97. #BowieIIAW
David Bowie
BABY UNIVERSAL ’97 AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “Hallo humans nothing starts tomorrow...” While it’s the 30th of January for most as we post this, some parts of the planet are dipping a toe into the 31st already. The latter can now listen to Baby Universal ’97, the fourth instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks. The photograph in today's graphic was taken in NY in 1996 by ALBERT WATSON. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 31st where you are. #BowieIIAW + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + ’BABY UNIVERSAL ‘97’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE NOW ’BABY UNIVERSAL ’97’ is now available for streaming as the fourth of six tracks making up DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP (Parlophone) of unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. With lyrics by David and music co-written by David and Reeves Gabrels, ‘Baby Universal’ was initially recorded by Tin Machine for Tin Machine II. Released as the band’s penultimate single in October 1991, it was performed during the final Tin Machine US television appearance on Saturday Night Live. ‘Baby Universal’ was regularly performed on Bowie’s ‘Outside Summer Festivals Tour’ in 1996. The version now being released as ’BABY UNIVERSAL ’97’ was re-recorded for the Earthling album, originally intended to be sequenced between ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans’ and ‘Law (Earthlings On Fire)’. The song was ultimately removed from the final album master, but David was very fond of this version and before the track was dropped was quoted as saying: “I thought ‘Baby Universal’ was a really good song and I don’t think it got heard. I didn’t really want that to happen to it, so I put it on this album… I think this version is very good.”. ’BABY UNIVERSAL ’97’ is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. It was recorded at Looking Glass Studios and mixed by Mark Plati at Right Track Recording, both in New York. The track features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano/keyboards, Mark Plati on programming/keyboards, Zachary Alford on drums and Reeves Gabrels on guitar, synths and vocals.
David Bowie
ALAN YENTOB'S CRACKED ACTOR FILM IS 45 TODAY “I'm just the space cadet...he's the commander…” And another five years passes. Were you watching on that night 45 years ago? https://smarturl.it/CrackedActor40DBFB45 (Temp link in bio) #CrackedActor
David Bowie
STAY ’97 AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “This time tomorrow I’ll know what to do...” As most of the world still has to endure 23rd of January, some lucky people from the future are already enjoying the 24th. They can now listen to Stay ’97, the third instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks. MICHAEL BENABIB took the photograph of David in NY in 1997 used for today's graphic. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 24th where you are. #BowieIIAW + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? STREAMING EP OF UNRELEASED & RARE MATERIAL ’STAY ‘97’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE FRIDAY 24TH JANUARY THE THIRD OF SIX TRACKS TO BE RELEASED OVER SIX WEEKS Parlophone Records is proud to announce ’STAY ’97' the third instalment of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. ’STAY’ originally appeared on the ’Station To Station’ album in 1976 and was released as a single in North America and Japan in August of that year. The previously unreleased 1997 re-recording of ‘STAY' began at The Factory in the Dublin Docklands during the pre-Earthling tour rehearsals while David, Mark Plati and Reeves Gabrels were preparing the backing/sequencer tracks before the rest of the band arrived, and the rehearsals started in earnest. David wanted to ‘update' some of his live show staples so they would sit well sonically with the Outside/Earthling material. The recording was completed later, potentially for use as a ‘B-side’, and mixed at Right Track Recording studios, New York in May/June 1997. ’STAY ‘97’ is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, and mixed by Mark Plati. The track features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano/keyboards, Mark Plati on programming/keyboards, Zachary Alford on drums and Reeves Gabrels on guitar/synths.
David Bowie
LAZARUS NL WINS IN ANNUAL MUSICAL AWARDS GALA “It’s Valentine’s Day…” Dutch fan, Jacqueline Pruijsen, has kindly been in touch with the wonderful news that @lazarus_nl has won Best Big Musical at the prestigious Annual Musical Awards Gala in the Netherlands. Three other awards were also collected: Best Male Leading Role: Pieter Embrechts (Valentine) Best Director: Ivo van Hove Best Design: Jan Versweyveld Congratulations to all involved for making Lazarus a continued success. #LazarusNL #LazarusMusical
David Bowie
ARE YOU ON THE MAP - GOT YOUR TOTE? “Hey man, well she's a tote bag blam blam...” The exclusive Space Oddity tote bags are starting to ship to everyone who was lucky enough to share a picture of their silver or gold vinyl copy of the new 2019 Tony Visconti mix. Keep an eye out for it if you’ve plotted your spot and don't forget you can still add yourself to the map if you have a silver or gold vinyl copy and want a bag too. 📍 https://spaceoddity.davidbowie.com/ (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
David Bowie
I CAN’T READ ’97 AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “Can I reach tomorrow?” As the 16th turns to the 17th around the globe, the second instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks is available now. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 17th where you are. #BowieIIAW + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? STREAMING EP OF UNRELEASED & RARE MATERIAL ’I CAN’T READ ’97'’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE NOW THE SECOND OF SIX TRACKS TO BE RELEASED OVER SIX WEEKS Parlophone Records is proud to unveil ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’, the second instalment of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. ‘I CAN’T READ’ originally appeared on Tin Machine’s eponymous debut album in 1989, and was a staple in the band’s live set. In the autumn of 1996, during the mixing stages for Earthling, David re-recorded the track – which, at one stage, appeared on a mastered version of the album. While the song’s second incarnation, ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’, was David’s preferred solo version (the version available today), it was ultimately cut from Earthling and replaced at the last minute with ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’. An alternative version, featuring minor chords and a darker sound for the chorus, was recorded for Ang Lee’s film The Ice Storm. The full length version appeared on a single in 1998, while an edit featured on the film’s soundtrack album in 1997, both released by VelVel Records. ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’ written by David Bowie & Reeves Gabrels is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, and mixed by Mark Plati. The track was recorded and mixed at Right Track Recording in New York and features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano, and Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals.
David Bowie
R.I.P BOB SOLLY Kevin Cann has been in touch with the sad news that Manish Boy, Bob Solly (bottom right in montage, next to Davie Jones), has passed away at the age of 75. Over to Kevin. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + I’m very sad to have to tell you that following a short illness Robert Solly, better known as ex-Manish Boy founder member Bob Solly, passed away in London in the early hours of Tuesday morning, January 7th. He was 75. Following his years with Maidstone based band The Manish Boys (which famously included around a year with David Bowie fronting the band), Bob continued working as a songwriter with writing partner Paul Rodriguez, mainly working for producer Shel Talmy. After moving away from the music business he became a very successful designer and architect and spent many years criss-crossing the world while overseeing numerous prestigious commercial property developments. After settling back in the UK he focussed firmly on his real passion in life, collecting; mainly many thousands of records, though his spare rooms quickly filled with, among other things, a huge first-editions library, items on crime and other rare British social memorabilia and collections of photographs. After many years of serious International record collecting and record dealing it was thought that Bob’s vinyl collection alone was second only in size to that of the BBC’s. His knowledge of post war British and American popular music was renown and in the late 90’s he became a regular, highly regarded contributor to Record Collector magazine, also writing Record Collector’s incisive 2005 book, ‘100 Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Records’. In 2009 he began regular radio broadcasts with Channel Radio in Kent, his eclectic weekly show relying solely on vinyl singles chosen from his vast collection. Over the many hundreds of hours broadcasting he never played any single track more than once. Bob is survived by his second wife, Susan. Bob Solly (Robert Leslie Solly), musician, designer and writer, born 4 August 1944; died 7 January 2020.
David Bowie
David Bowie: January 8th 1947 - January 10th 2016 #BowieForever
David Bowie
PARLOPHONE TO ISSUE UNRELEASED BOWIE TRACKS “We spoke of was and when...” It’s likely that some of you have been expecting something on what would have been David Bowie’s 73rd birthday, after announcements on 8th January for the past couple of years. Indeed, if the calendar has clicked over to that date where you are, then you have possibly already found something. Now it’s 8th January in the country of his birth, here’s that announcement… + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Parlophone Records is proud to announce DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? a six track EP of unreleased and rare tracks to be released over six weeks. The first of these is a previously unreleased version of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, released today as a streaming-only 1 track digital single in celebration of both David’s birthday and the 50th anniversary of the writing and recording of this classic. Five more songs will be released on a weekly basis from 17th January. ’THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ (CHANGESNOWBOWIE VERSION) is taken from the 9-track session ChangesNowBowie, recorded for radio and broadcast by the BBC on David’s 50th birthday on 8th January, 1997. This mostly acoustic session was a stripped back affair featuring some of David’s favourites of his own compositions and was produced by Bowie himself, Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. CHANGESNOWBOWIE was recorded and mixed at Looking Glass Studios in New York in November 1996 during rehearsals for David’s 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. Gail Ann Dorsey (bass, vocals), Reeves Gabrels (guitars) and Mark Plati (keyboards and programming) accompanied David on the recording. CHANGESNOWBOWIE will be released in limited quantities on LP and CD for Record Store Day on 18th April, 2020. The cover art for the album will features a portrait of David by renowned photographer Albert Watson, taken in New York in 1996. (See montage for cover) More details will be announced shortly. ~ DAVID BOWIE 'THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD' (CHANGESNOWBOWIE) IS AVAILABLE NOW ON PARLOPHONE ~ DAVID BOWIE CHANGESNOWBOWIE RELEASED ON PARLOPHONE ON 18TH APRIL, 2020 FOR RECORD STORE DAY #BowieIIAW #CHANGESNOWBOWIE
David Bowie
HOW TO IDENTIFY A REAL BOWIE SCRIBBLE “I asked for an autograph...” There have been some great Bowie resources online over the years. Evan Torrie’s Teenage Wildlife (sadly, now defunct), Paul Kinder’s bowiewonderworld.com, Ruud Altenberg’s illustrated-db-discography.nl, Chas Pearson’s bowie-singles.com, Roger Griffin's bowiegoldenyears.com and David Fowler’s @bowieonthecoverofamagazine Instagram page to name but a few. The latest very useful site that you may have already stumbled upon, is Andy Peters’ superb davidbowieautograph.com (temp link in bio). It’s a fascinating resource with a great blog and some very useful tips if you’re looking to purchase David Bowie’s autograph. Of course, you can only be certain you have the real thing if you were there witnessing the signing or if you received a Bowie autograph in an official contest, or an equally reliable source. Bowie himself was keen to let fans know about the identification of fakes, here’s a bit from his online journal where he assigned the job to @blamsnap (pictured with DB): + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Journal for Friday February 25th, 2000 Blam, the madman, has taken to the idea of writing up a weakly, sorry, weekly article pertaining to FAKES on the various auction sites around the net. He will pick one item a week and show you how to tell if it's a boy or a..... sorry again, if it's the genuine article or a knock off. We've gotten a little worried recently by the number of fake signatures, posters and albums that have been placed for sale on eBay and hope that "Blams Little Spot" will guide you through the no-no's. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Although we did post some basic info back then (nearly twenty years ago), davidbowieautograph.com goes into forensic detail, but without giving everything away. We’ve tried to catch Andy out with pretty accurate fakes and Bowie autographs that look like fakes that we know to be real. He’s never got it wrong. We’re not saying that he’ll never ever get caught out, but for the novice collector, it’s a great place to start before you cough up your hard-earned. #davidbowieautograph
David Bowie
BOWIE EXITS THE 70s WITH KENNY EVERETT “I think my spaceship knows which way to go...” David Bowie • Space Oddity • Will Kenny Everett Make It To 1980? Show • 31 December 1979 You're no doubt already familiar with this broadcast, but now Nacho Videos has enhanced and extended it and given it a bit of a polish to further enhance your viewing experience. Directed for the show by Bowie’s video director of the time, David Mallet, the action takes place in a high-ceilinged padded cell and an exploding kitchen with an unflappable nurse. Speaking to Angus MacKinnon in the NME in 1980, Bowie said: “That came about because (David) Mallet wanted me to do something for his show and he wanted Space Oddity. I agreed as long as I could do it again without all its trappings and do it strictly with three instruments. Having played it with just an acoustic guitar onstage early on, I was always surprised as how powerful it was just as a song, without all the strings and synthesizers. In fact the video side of it was secondary; I really wanted to do it as a three-piece song.” Both scenes were recreated for the May 1980 filming of Ashes To Ashes, the continuity experts among you will notice the very obvious differences. So, ten years after it was originally a hit, Major Tom also had the last word of the 70s for Bowie. Another 40 years on and the impact of this version is just as powerful. Read Nacho's notes with more detail regarding the recording of both the sound and vision, along with the complete video, here: https://vimeo.com/381506997 (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #NachoBowie #NachosVideos
David Bowie
AND SINGLE OF THE YEAR GOES TO SPACE ODDITY “You’ve really made the grade...” Fifty years ago this week, Disc magazine’s long-time Bowie champion, Penny Valentine, made Space Oddity her record of the year in the Christmas 1969 issue of the weekly music mag. (Cover date December 27, 1969) “Best commercial pop single of the year? Well without a shadow of a doubt that honour goes to David Bowie and “Space Oddity” — no matter what came before or after. It stood head and shoulders above the bunch. And it gritted its teeth and fought for three months to prove it.” Penny had been praising the pre-success Bowie over the years and in fact she was responsible for David’s first ever cover feature/interview which we told you about recently. Her love of Space Oddity only cemented her belief that Bowie would amount to something special. She had also previously praised the record upon its release: “David Bowie – an amazing sound! I have a bet on in the office that this is going to be a huge hit – and knock everyone senseless.” (See DavidBowie.com for full review) So thanks for the support, Penny, and for seeing the value of David Bowie a long time before most. Sadly, Penny died aged 59 on 9th January 2003, but not before she saw her predictions come true. Here’s the concluding paragraph from that first ever cover feature/interview: ““Space Oddity” is the first tenuous link in a long chain that will make David Bowie one of the biggest assets, and one of the most important people British music has produced in a long long time.” #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #PennyValentine
David Bowie
Enjoy these beautiful pictures of Bowie taken during the recording of his appearance on Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special. (See previous two posts) Happy Holidays and thanks for the love throughout 2019. #BeautifulBowie #BowieForever #PeaceOnEarth #BowieBing
David Bowie
BOWIE AND BING WITH STRINGS “It's a pretty thing, isn’t it?” Last month (22nd November), Decca records released Bing At Christmas - Bing Crosby With The London Symphony Orchestra. On the collection is a newly orchestrated version of the David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy. In celebration of the UK broadcast of Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special (Christmas Eve 1977), on which the duet was first shown (along with "Heroes", see yesterday’s post), Nacho’s Videos has married the new version of the audio to the original footage. Watch the full thing and read Nacho’s notes regarding the creation of this one here: https://smarturl.it/DBBingStringsNacho19 (Temp link in bio) FOOTNOTE: Though he has used pretty thing in more than one lyric, today’s Bowie lyric quotation is actually the line Bing says at the end of the duet. #BowieBing #PeaceOnEarth #NachoBowie
David Bowie
"HEROES" ON BING 1977 GETS NACHOED “For ever and ever...” Back in 2016 we posted the then oft overlooked performance of "Heroes" recorded for Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special. Notable for the wonderfully bizarre, but nevertheless beautiful David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy, the broadcast also contained aforementioned video of "Heroes". In the promo film, Bowie sings one of the most heartfelt and emotional performances of "Heroes" he ever delivered. The vocal was sung 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 he also performs several set mime pieces superimposed along with the main performance. Now Nacho, along with a little help from Particledots on the audio, has produced a new version without Bing's spoken introduction encroaching on the performance. Go here to read his notes about how the video was made and watch the full length version: https://smarturl.it/HeroesOnBingNacho19 (Temp link in bio) The show was filmed in Elstree just outside London in the UK on September 11th, 1977. Originally broadcast in the US by CBS on the 30th of November 1977, the UK had to wait another month to see exactly what the fuss was being reported in the music weeklies, when the show was finally aired there on Christmas Eve 1977. FOOTNOTE: The shot of a shirtless Bowie was one of several stills taken during this "Heroes" filming session, though he didn't appear like this in the actual broadcast. #BowieBing #BowieHeroes #NachoBowie
David Bowie
TONY VISCONTI ON REVISITING THE WILD EYED BOY “For the smile stayed on the face, Of the Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud...” After kicking it off, Tony Visconti also closes the current run of Bowie TV: The Space Oddity Series. In episode six of this series he talks about revisiting David Bowie’s favourite track on Space Oddity for the 2019 remix. Bowie TV: The Space Oddity Series - All six episodes available to view: https://smarturl.it/TouTubeBowieTV (Temp link in bio) Bowie TV Episode 18: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 1 - Tony Visconti #1 Bowie TV Episode 19: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 2 - John Hutchinson Bowie TV Episode 20: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 3 - Bob Harris Bowie TV Episode 21: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 4 - Ken Scott Bowie TV Episode 22: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 5 - Vernon Dewhurst Bowie TV Episode 23: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 6 - Tony Visconti #2 See the Conversation Piece book for DB’s second favourite track on Space Oddity. #BowieTV
David Bowie
LAST BOWIE INTERVIEW OF THE SIXTIES “So now you could spend the morning talking with me quite amazed...” If not the last feature, this must be the last actual Bowie interview published in the 1960s. It’s a piece by Kate Simpson in the 20th December 1969 issue of British music magazine, Music Now!, and in the interview, the new star spoke on various subjects including success, money and the failure of the hippy ideal. Kate was clearly a fan and she talked of her conversion after a recent Bowie show in the introduction to the piece: “Several people I know see David Bowie as a one-hit-wonder. Until recently I shared their doubts as to his future beyond the song-that-made-him-famous, 'Space Oddity.' Then there was his recent concert at London’s Purcell Room. I changed my mind. His performance was astounding. He had the audience bewitched with his words, his music, his voice, and his professionalism. With simplicity and sincerity he sang his songs. He has his own style, but also great imagination and versatility.” You can read the full feature in the Conversation Piece book. The picture used in the article was from a session by David Bebbington. Bowie is wearing the jacket gifted to him by Calvin Mark Lee, which he wore for Top Of The Pops and the session that was used for the original The World Of David Bowie album cover a few months later. We’ve taken the opportunity to remove the colour cast from the photograph so you can see the jacket in its full splendour. #BowieBebbington #BowieCalvinMarkLee #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
David Bowie
ALABAMA SONG 40TH ANNIVERSARY PICTURE DISC “It’s time to say auf Wiedersehen...“ 14th February 2020 sees the release of the latest special limited DAVID BOWIE 7" picture disc, the 40th-anniversary edition of ‘ALABAMA SONG’. Originally released in the UK on 15th February, 1980, ‘ALABAMA SONG’ was initially written as a poem by Bertolt Brecht in 1925 and was put to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play The Little Mahogany. David Bowie was a longstanding Brecht fan and included the song in the setlist for his 1978 Isolar II tour. The studio version of ‘ALABAMA SONG’ on the A-side of this release was recorded on July 2nd 1978, the day after the final show of the European leg of the tour, at Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios in Soho, London. The AA-Side features two previously unreleased tracks; A rendition of “Heroes” track ‘JOE THE LION’ recorded at the soundcheck of the tour’s final Earls Court show on the 1st July 1978. Though rehearsed for the Isolar II tour ‘JOE THE LION’ would not make its live debut until the Serious Moonlight tour of 1983. The second track on the AA-side is a live version of ‘ALABAMA SONG’ also recorded July 1st 1978—a different performance than the one featured on the live album Welcome To The Blackout. DAVID BOWIE ’ALABAMA SONG' LIMITED EDITION 40th ANNIVERSARY 7" PICTURE DISC A-Side (45 r.p.m) ALABAMA SONG (Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht) Produced by DAVID BOWIE and TONY VISCONTI Recorded at GOOD EARTH STUDIOS, LONDON on 2nd July, 1978 AA-Side (33 1/3 r.p.m) 1 JOE THE LION (LIVE EARLS COURT ’78 SOUNDCHECK) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) (David Bowie) Recorded live by TONY VISCONTI with the MANOR MOBILE at EARLS COURT, LONDON, 1st July, 1978 Recording engineered by JEREMY ALLOM and KEN CAPPER Mixed by JOHN PRESTAGE at AIR Studios, London, July, 2019 2 ALABAMA SONG (LIVE EARLS COURT ’78) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) (Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht) Produced by DAVID BOWIE Recorded live by TONY VISCONTI with the MANOR MOBILE at EARLS COURT, LONDON, 1st July, 1978 Recording engineered by JEREMY ALLOM and KEN CAPPER Mixed by DAVID BOWIE and DAVID RICHARDS at MOUNTAIN STUDIOS, MONTREUX, 17th - 22nd January, 1979. #DBALAS40 #BowieVinyl
David Bowie
FEATURED ARTIST: SASHA CHESHEIKO We have been following Sasha Chesheiko’s work since she first posted a Bowie portrait a little over a year ago. Sasha is a digital artist who hails from Russia and we think you'll agree that she is producing some beautiful images. Check out her Instagram page @eftristesse where you can find even more Bowie portraits peppered among many other faces from the world of entertainment. #DavidBowieArt #EftristArtBowie
David Bowie
KUSO TAKES ON SPACE ODDITY WITH HELP FROM TV “Can you hear me, Major Tom?” Fifty years ago, following the success of the Space Oddity 45, Bowie helped popularise Dubreq’s @stylophone_official when he appeared in press adverts endorsing it. He was also keen enough on the gadget to resurrect it for Slip Away on 2002’s Heathen album, even playing it live right up until his final tour in 2004. And while we wouldn’t presume to know what he would or wouldn't have liked, we have a hunch that he would have appreciated the @styloorch (KUSO) reimagining of Space Oddity, recorded with the original producer of the album, Tony Visconti. Here’s an excerpt from the press release. + - + - + - + Producer Tony Visconti has lent his talents to KUSO’s unique rendition of Space Oddity, created entirely from recordings of the vintage analogue synth. The session, held at the Visconti Studio at @kingstonuniversity, revealed new layers 50 years after its original release. Visconti said: “This version is a bit like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole and going to the land of Stylophone where the creatures have a pen with a wire attached. It was a complex session – to get it right we had to be meticulous. If one person made even the slightest mistake we had to punch in again and, with nine people playing at the same time, you never quite knew what was going to happen.” Mr Visconti was so impressed by the orchestra and the arrangement, written by @kingstonunimusic academic and Bowie expert Dr Leah Kardos (who created The Stylophone Orchestra), that he has recruited them to be a part of his new album, due for release in 2020. Dr Kardos said: “Working with someone of Tony Visconti’s stature is really special for all of us and a great opportunity for the students. When we received the delivery from Dubreq, I blurted out that we should start a Stylophone Orchestra before I’d even really realised what I’d said. It’s since become a reality and is, I believe, the only one of its kind.” + - + - + - + Watch the video and read more about the project here: https://smarturl.it/KUSOandTVSpaceOddity #BowieDubreqStylophone. #spaceoddity50
David Bowie
HOW BOWIE WAVED BYE BYE TO THE 70S ON SNL “And now he is a puppet dancer...” Forty years ago today a whole new persuasion of young Americans awoke having been converted by David Bowie’s appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous evening. For it was on 15th December 1979 that this live broadcast in New York had a similarly persuasive effect on a receptive group of US youngsters that Starman on TOTPs in 1972 and the BBC’s 1975 Cracked Actor documentary had on UK teenagers. Of course, the youth of America looking for something new had already had their hearts and minds captured by broadcasts of both The 1980 Floor Show and The Ziggy Stardust Motion Picture more than half a decade earlier, but the SNL appearance helped to cast the net further. Bowie performed The Man Who Sold The World, TVC 15 and Boys Keep Swinging, with Klaus Nomi, Joey Arias and a toy pink poodle/TV monitor all making extraordinary guest appearances. The show was hosted by actor Martin Sheen. For The Man Who Sold The World Bowie was lifted and positioned in front of the microphone by Klaus and Joey in a costume designed by Mark Ravitz and Bowie, inspired by Sonia Delaunay’s designs for Tristan Tzara’s 1923 play Le Cœur à gaz (The Gas Heart). The skirt suit that David is wearing on the right of our montage was designed by Brooks Van Horn costume house, New York, and was worn for TVC 15, the song that also showcased aforementioned pink poodle. The other picture shows DB operating a puppet while utilising green-screen technology for Boys Keep Swinging to hilarious effect. In an absurd move the show’s producers blanked the line “Other boys check you out” but seemingly missed the puppet’s obvious excitement at the climax of the song. Words cannot do Bowie’s SNL appearance justice, suffice to say, it remains among the most surreal television performances broadcast anywhere, ever. If you've never seen this piece of TV history, prepare to be captivated by all three songs here on Vimeo: https://smarturl.it/BowieSNL79Vimeo (Temp link in bio) #BowieSNL #BowieBKS
David Bowie
BOWIE OFFICIAL STORE EXCLUSIVE SUPRO DEAL “The bitter comes out better on a Supro guitar...” Save $400 (40%) on Bowie Limited Edition Dual Tone Guitar: https://smarturl.it/DualToneBowieStore (Temp link in bio) Supro Pays Tribute to David Bowie with Limited Edition Recreation of his Dual Tone Guitar - Developed by Supro with assistance from the David Bowie Archive, the David Bowie Limited Edition Dual Tone is based on the main guitar David Bowie played on the Reality album and throughout his final world tour, “A Reality Tour”, in 2003-2004. Although he played a variety of guitars throughout his career, Bowie enjoyed a special relationship with the iconic vintage 60’s Supro Dual Tone he had customized to his specifications. Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick says, “Of all the electric guitars that David played and owned over the many years that we worked together, he loved the Supro best. He was quite proud of it actually. I’ve never seen him get attached to a guitar, except that one.” #SuproBowie #BowieStore
David Bowie
JOHN I'M ONLY DANCING (AGAIN) 45 IS 40 TODAY “Boogie down with Daddy now...” Hard to imagine these days just how big a deal the release of John I’m Only Dancing (Again) (JIODA) was to the Bowie faithful in December 1979. Aside from the fact that the record was Bowie’s very first UK 12" 45, JIODA was legendary among fans aware of the song’s existence, but who hadn’t actually heard it until this release. The track evaded bootleggers and this release provided the full length version, (along with an edited version for the 7") not to mention a new mix of the original Ziggy Stardust sessions version of John I’m Only Dancing (JIOD). This 1979 remix of the original 1972 Ziggy version of JIOD created a third version of the track. The first version was released by RCA as a UK 45 on September 1st 1972, there was no US release at this time. This version was superseded by a second version recorded during the Aladdin Sane sessions which eventually came to be known as the Sax Version. It seems the Sax Version was issued without fanfare soon after the release of Aladdin Sane in 1973. Though Bowie's RCA singles remained on catalogue for many years after their release, for a time JIOD was unavailable. It would appear that once JIOD was made available as a back catalogue single once more, it was the Sax Version, and not the Ziggy version, that unsuspecting buyers got. Either way, both had the same RCA 2263 catalogue number. In fact, it wasn’t until one or two thousand (depends where you read it) ‘mispressed’ copies of the 1976 CHANGESONEBOWIE album were released with the Sax Version included that the different versions became known to fans. Indeed, there’s no mention, anywhere, of the Sax Version before the CHANGESONEBOWIE mispress. Therefore, the 1979 remix created a third version, albeit a very slight variation of the original Ziggy version. To confuse matters further, when RCA pressed black label variations of their 45s in the UK (including the Lifetimes series) they inadvertently created a fourth version by swapping the stereo channels! Coincidentally, both the 1972 and 1979 45s reached #12 on the UK single chart. #JIOD #JIODagain #BowieJohn
David Bowie
ARE YOU ON THE MAP YET? “Look out world you know I've got mine...” Have you been lucky enough to pick up a silver or gold vinyl copy of Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of the Space Oddity album? If so, don’t forget to plot your spot on the Space Oddity coloured vinyl map to receive an exclusive David Bowie tote bag. 📍 https://spaceoddity.davidbowie.com/ (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
David Bowie
BOWIE’S 1999 APPEARANCE ON LATER “Never saw in all my life a more shining Jools...” David Bowie’s 2nd appearance on BBC TWO’s Later... with Jools Holland, was broadcast twenty years ago this evening, 4th December 1999. Recorded a few days earlier on 30th November while DB was in London for his mini tour to promote "hours...", the full performance was never broadcast. Five and a half songs and an interview were taped, with just four songs and part of the interview shown on the night. Ashes To Ashes, Something In The Air, Survive and Cracked Actor were shown, but Changes (partial) and I’m Afraid Of Americans were not. It was a hugely powerful performance by DB and the band, you can view Cracked Actor on the BBC site here: https://smarturl.it/DBonJOOLS1999Cracked (Temp link in bio) #BowieLaterJools #BowieAtTheBBC
David Bowie
NACHO'S 45th ANNIVERSARY RIGHT REDUX “Doing it, doing it right...” As teased by Nacho yesterday, this video is a new edit and sync of 1974 David Bowie rehearsal footage, cut with Right from Bowie’s 1975 album Young Americans. Bowie is featured In the footage with his singers in September '74, rehearsing Right, and other songs at a Los Angeles studio. On 3rd December, 1974, the last recording session for what was to become the Young Americans album commenced. It is thought likely that Bowie's final vocal for Right was recorded at that session. Read Nacho’s superb detective work that he's posted with the complete video, here: https://vimeo.com/372608737 (Temp link on main page) #NachoBowie #NachosVideos
David Bowie
THE LAST LONDON BOWIE SHOW OF THE 20TH CENTURY “We played our songs and felt the London sky...” As mentioned in our earlier post, David Bowie was in London twenty years ago today (2nd December 1999), for his last London concert of the 20th century, with the now demolished Astoria as the venue of choice. The show followed a signing session at the Virgin Megastore earlier the same day and the Astoria gig was part of a mini tour to promote "hours...". A powerful 18-song set kicked off with an emotionally charged version of Life On Mars?, performed by David and Mike Garson. Here’s the full setlist: Life On Mars? Word On A Wing Thursday’s Child Ashes To Ashes Survive Can’t Help Thinking About Me China Girl Always Crashing In The Same Car Something In The Air Drive-In Saturday Stay Seven Changes Rebel Rebel Encore: Repetition The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell Cracked Actor I'm Afraid Of Americans The musicians for the mini tour were alphabetically: David Bowie (vocals, 12-string guitar), Sterling Campbell (drums), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass guitar), Mike Garson (keyboards), Emm Gryner (backing vocals), Page Hamilton (lead guitar), Holly Palmer (backing vocals) and Mark Plati (guitar, bass guitar). Though filmed for Japanese TV, to the best of our knowledge the show was never broadcast. However, it’s not hard to find a 90-minute time-coded version of the film online. Were you there on the night? What do you remember of the evening twenty years later? If you look closely, you can see occasional snapper Mark Adams (Total Blam Blam) stumbling around the pit getting in the way of the professionals, to bring you some pix of Mr Bowie’s colourful shenanigans. View a few of them by swiping left. #RandomBowie #BowieByBlam
David Bowie
For those of you that don't subscribe to the David Bowie Official Store newsletter, CYBER WEEK has started! https://store.davidbowie.com/store/ (Temp link in bio) Offer ends 11:59pm ET on 8th December 2019. Excludes media and items printed on demand. #BowieStore
David Bowie
Twenty years ago today, David Bowie arrived for a signing session at the Virgin Megastore on the corner of Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road, ahead of his gig later that same day at The Astoria. He was there to promote both his latest album, "hours...", and The Nomad Soul, a PC adventure game developed by Quantic Dream and published by Eidos Interactive. Mark Adams (Total Blam Blam) was at both events to take a few snaps and be a fan. The gig venue was a few yards down the road, more of which later. Were you at either? See more pictures from the signing on the official Bowie Instagram page: https://smarturl.it/InstaBowie #RandomBowie #BowieByBlam
David Bowie
BOWIE AT THE PALLADIUM FIFTY YEARS AGO TONIGHT “And the magic in the stare, Of the Wild Eyed Boy” On 30th November, 1969, David Bowie performed solo versions of Space Oddity and Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud at the ‘Save Rave ‘69’ charity concert at the London Palladium. Performing in front of a backdrop featuring a NASA astronaut, David agreed to the appearance which was a benefit concert for the Invalid Children’s Aid Association. The president of the association was lucky enough to meet the young new chart star afterwards (see inset pic), and coincidentally, David had already met the president’s sister, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a young boy...but that’s a whole other story. Others in the line-up with David presented to Princess Margaret included Dusty Springfield (whose rehearsal for the event had apparently impressed DB greatly), and Tiny Tim who seemed to be struggling to present something to Margaret from a carrier bag. Tiny Tim had recorded the Williams/Rose composition, Fill Your Heart, on the B-side of his Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me 45 in 1968. Bowie would later release his own version of the song on Hunky Dory in 1971. FOOTNOTE: Apologies to whoever took the pictures in today's montage. Ray Stevenson did take the superb shots used for the recent Space Oddity double 45 box, but not sure any of these are his. #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
David Bowie
SURVIVE VIDEO SHOT TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY “And I’m floating in a most peculiar way…” Twenty years ago today (26th November 1999), the second and final day of filming for the Survive video at Tower Bridge Studio in London, wrapped. Survive was the follow up single to Thursday's Child and the videos for both were directed by Walter Stern. Both tracks were taken from the 'hours...' album, though the video here features an edit of the Marius de Vries Mix of Survive. For twenty years, the mystery of how David Bowie managed his remarkable feat of levitation in the video has left (some) viewers scratching their heads. SPOILER ALERT: It's all done with wires, as you can see from the montage in the comments section. If you’re a member of the BOWIE KOOKS Facebook page, you can view a few more behind-the-scenes snaps by @BlamSnap here: https://smarturl.it/SurviveVidBlamKooks (Temp link in bio) #BowieHours
David Bowie
We posted about the sad passing of photographer Michael Putland in the BOWIE KOOKS FB group last week and thought it would be a nice tribute to make a handful of his pictures the subject of the latest Random Bowie post. Hope you enjoy these shots as much as we have since Michael’s pictures of David first appeared in 1972. #RandomBowie #BowiePutland #MichaelPutland
David Bowie
JOIN THE SILVER AND GOLD SPACE ODDITY WORLD MAP “Mustn't grumble at silver and gold...” Have you been lucky enough to pick up a silver or gold vinyl copy of Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of the Space Oddity album? If so, you might want to declare your treasure on the specially created Space Oddity 2019 World Map and win yourself a tote bag while you're about it. Take a picture of yourself holding your copy and go here to join in: https://smarturl.it/SO19SilverGoldMap (Temp link in bio) All should be clear once you've watched the short How It Works video. #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
David Bowie
BOWIE ON THE SOUTHBANK FIFTY YEARS AGO TONIGHT “I can work the scene babe...” David Bowie’s concert at the Purcell Room on London’s Southbank on 20th November, 1969, was a real ‘sliding doors’ moment for him. By all accounts his performance was astonishing, but sadly there was no press aside from a solitary reporter from The Observer to spread the word. Here’s a small excerpt from manager Kenneth Pitt’s Bowie – The Pitt Report. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + The concert at the Purcell Room was a personal triumph for David. It started promptly at 7.30 and every seat was occupied by an invited audience and others who had paid either ten, eight or five shillings for their ticket. Juniors Eyes were on the bill, also a band from David's neighbourhood named Comus, in which he was showing an interest. David performed superbly, faultlessly. There were a few people who were disappointed that he should accompany Space Oddity acoustically when he had all the musicians necessary for a sound more akin to the record. Gus Dudgeon thought to himself “Oh no, you can't do this David.” Perhaps this was part of David’s determination to resist the pressure from a hit record: his way of saying that Space Oddity, to him, was not the most important of his songs he was singing that night. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + We’ll leave you with the setlist…consider for one minute just how good it must have been to hear. Buzz The Fuzz Port Of Amsterdam Space Oddity Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud London Bye Ta Ta Karma Man Cygnet Committee Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed Janine Occasional Dream The Width Of The Circle Letter To Hermione Conversation Piece Memory Of A Free Festival God Knows I’m Good FOOTNOTE: Titles listed as presented on the PRS form. #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
David Bowie
BOWIE AT THE KIT KAT KLUB 20 YEARS AGO TONIGHT “And there's something in the air...” On 19th November 1999, David Bowie played to an invited audience of fans and contest winners for a gig promoting 'hours...' at the Kit Kat Klub in New York. The show was recorded and filmed for a webcast the following month via Liveonline.net. If this wasn't the first broadcast of a live show on the web, then it was certainly among the very first. However, it seems the web wasn't quite ready yet as the viewing experience wasn't particularly smooth. A 12-track bootleg of the show was enjoyed by fans in the absence of any official release, though the source was most likely the official 12-track promotional CD pictured in our montage. Compare that against the 17-track setlist to identify the five missing tracks. At the time, cub reporter Andrew Barding wrote a review for Paul Kinder’s brilliant BowieWonderWorld, accompanied by pictures taken by BowieNetters and BowieWonderWorlders at the show. Andy has revisited the evening and has sent us a new review that captures the moment beautifully. Read it here: https://smarturl.it/BowieKitKat1999DBFB (Temp link in bio) #BowieKitKatKlub #BowieHours
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NACHO SYNCS TV’S SPACE ODDITY 2019 TO HITS A GOGO “And the stars look very different today...” In celebration of both Space Oddity’s 50th anniversary and the release of the Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of both the Space Oddity album and single, Nacho's Videos has given us another exclusive. He's synced the new full length mix to the original Hits A GoGo broadcast live from Zurich on 3rd November, 1969. The show had a haunted house theme for the recent Halloween celebrations, which explains the moody lighting and dry ice. Anyway, thanks yet again Nacho. Read Nacho's notes that he's posted with the complete video, here: https://smarturl.it/NachoSO2019Vimeo (Temp link on main page) #SpaceOddity50 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix #DBCP2019 #NachoBowie #NachosVideos
David Bowie
GOODBYE TERRY O’NEILL “To be right in that photograph...” As you will know, this morning, Iconic Images announced the sad passing of Terry O’Neill, who has died at the age of 81. Bowie fans will be familiar with his work, not only through the recent Bowie by O’Neill book and the many times we have focused on his pictures here, but also through the myriad newspaper and music weekly spreads. For UK fans at least, these publications were always a very welcome first glimpse of each new Bowie project, particularly during the years from 1973 to 1976. It's hard to imagine the impact of picture-led Bowie features once Bowie left the UK. Hungry for news and pictures of David's latest activities, fans would be particularly grateful for Terry’s beautiful pictures, and as David himself once said: “The great thing about Terry was that I was always guaranteed a centrespread in the papers after a photo session with him.” One such item was the Melody Maker exclusive published in October 1974, partially pictured here. Sadly, this is among the sessions for which the original negatives have been lost…which is why we featured it. The picture of Terry bottom right in our montage was taken during that very session, captured for posterity by the BBC while filming Alan Yentob’s Cracked Actor. David’s gratitude was reciprocated by Terry, as highlighted when he compiled the images for Bowie by O'Neill: “When I first started to collect all my images and contact sheets of David Bowie, I didn’t realize how many I had! That first phone call I received to work with Bowie resulted in a real partnership between us; I was lucky enough to get that call and smart enough to say yes. He was a one-of-a kind, always changing and a true genius. It gives me great pleasure to be able to share with the world the images I captured and my memories of working with this extraordinary artist. He has the most loyal fans I’ve ever come across and I truly hope this book brings them a lot of joy.” #BOWIEbyONEILL #BowieAtTheMarquee #BowieDiamondDogs
David Bowie
David Bowie pictured in Karesansui Zen Garden in the grounds of a Zen temple in Kyoto (a location he personally selected), shooting TV and press adverts for the Japanese sake Crystal Jun Rock by Takara Shuzo. The session was also utilised for the sleeve of Crystal Japan (originally titled Fujimoto San), Bowie’s haunting instrumental track used in the TV advert and originally intended to be included on the Scary Monsters album. It was instead released as a single in Japan in July 1980. #RandomBowie #BowieJapan #BowieCrystalJapan
David Bowie
Deezer are celebrating this week’s 50th anniversary of Space Oddity with an updated 100% David Bowie playlist 🚀 Listen now: https://Deezer.lnk.to/DavidBowie #DeezerBowie
David Bowie
CONVERSATION PIECE 5CD SET AND BOOK OUT NOW “All seems so long ago...” Hard to imagine that there are many of you reading this that are surprised by that headline. Have you got yours now? If so, we hope you’ll agree it’s a beautiful thing. If you’re still wanting to purchase, follow this link: https://lnk.to/DavidBowieCPBook (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
David Bowie
TONY VISCONTI’S SPACE ODDITY LINER NOTES ON APPLE MUSIC “And I can't see the water, For the tears in my eyes...” You've possibly noticed by now that 14th November marked the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s 1969 album, David Bowie (aka Space Oddity). As you also probably know, Tony Visconti's 2019 mix of the album has been released on streaming services in celebration. His extended liner notes also feature on Apple Music, from where this excerpt regarding his memories of Conversation Piece, which never made the original cut of the album. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Conversation Piece (2019 Mix) “This was really hard to leave off [the original vinyl]. That was a tragedy. We had three very long tracks ‘Cygnet Committee’ ate up the space of three songs and on vinyl, you only had 20 minutes before you hit the out groove. If you went over the 20-minute mark, you would get one dB lower, for every minute over. This is a very, very sad song. Only years later, I realised that the person in the song who tells the story jumped off a bridge and drowned. That made me make a more sad mix. I was in a space like, ‘This has got to come off with a lot of gravity in the mix,’ even though it’s kind of bouncy. There’s a way of mixing a bouncy song a little sadder. Not make it so bright. It’s one of my favourite, favourite songs. I loved playing it live.” + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Listen now on @AppleMusic https://lnk.to/SpaceOddity2019MixStrFA/applemusic (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix #AppleMusicBowie
David Bowie
SPACE ODDITY IS FIRST BOWIE RELEASE IN SONY’S 360 REALITY AUDIO FORMAT “Love all around...” To celebrate today’s 50th anniversary of the release of ‪David Bowie‬’s 1969 album, Space Oddity, long-time Bowie producer/collaborator ‪Tony Visconti‬ has remixed the title track in 360 Reality Audio music format, a new 3D audio from Sony. Go here https://smarturl.it/SpaceOdditySony360PR (Temp link in Bio) for the full press release with links to the full video of ‪Tony Visconti‬ talking about the project here on YouTube. #SpaceOddity50?? #SpaceOddity2019TVmix?? #SpaceOddity360?? #Sony360RealityAudio   #DBCP2019
David Bowie
STREAM SPACE ODDITY 2019 NOW – COLOURED VINYL OUT FRIDAY “I found the secrets I found the gold...” As you know, today is the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s 1969 album which became better known as Space Oddity. To mark the occasion, Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of Space Oddity should be available to stream now, if it’s past midnight of Wednesday into Thursday where you are. Tomorrow (Friday 15th) sees the physical release of Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of Space Oddity. This vinyl version of the album has been randomly distributed worldwide with a mix of hand-numbered labels. Of these, numbers 1 - 1969 will be on silver-coloured vinyl and 1970 - 2019 will be on gold-coloured vinyl. The remainder will be black. The two coloured versions of the vinyl are pictured in the video here. Pre-order here: https://lnk.to/DavidBowieSOMix (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
David Bowie
FEATURED ARTIST: RENA KASUYA Inspired by @the_real_iman’s post of @helengreeen’s most recent work, we’ve decided to join in and share some love through Bowie Art on a regular basis too. As you know, we’ve been a champion of Helen’s for almost five years now, since we featured her beautiful Bowie illustrations in January 2015. So we thought we’d give somebody else a chance who might not have been on your radar yet. We have been following Rena Kasuya’s work since January 2016 and she has been producing some extraordinary work from her home in Japan. Using an iPad Pro but without photo tracing, Rena is hugely prolific and the standard of her work just keeps getting better. Check out her Instagram page @renalabo_art and also her Instagram account dedicated to her sketches @rena_draw1891 #DavidBowieArt #RenaLaboArtBowie #HelenGreenArtBowie
David Bowie
9-PAGE 1969 BOWIE FEATURE IN JANUARY UNCUT “And so the story goes…” The January 2020 issue of @uncut_magazine (Uncut Take 272) comes in a printed presentation bag and celebrates 50 years of Bowie's Space Oddity album and the release next week of the Conversation Piece 5CD set. The bag contains a special Collector's Cover and Uncut’s bespoke Bowie Bulletin - a double-sided fanzine documenting Bowie’s 1969 lift off, bringing together archival pieces from the pages of Melody Maker, NME, Disc And Music Echo and the lesser-spotted Fab 208 on one side, folding out to a beautiful A1 poster on the reverse. The Bowie Bulletin accompanies a 9-page cover feature, wherein Tony Visconti recalls the full story of Bowie’s stellar breakthrough year in close-up – even down to the type of sandwiches he and Bowie enjoyed for lunch during recording sessions at Trident Studios. The presentation bag, Collector's Cover and Bowie Bulletin are only available on UK newsstands, though a limited number of copies are available to buy online here: https://smarturl.it/UNCUTsubscribe (Temp link on main page) The January 2020 issue of Uncut is out on November 14. #BowieUNCUT #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
David Bowie
David Bowie Polaroid by Diego Uchitel taken during a 1991 photo session with Tin Machine in Los Angeles. The picture is among Uchitel's personal favourites and he had this to say regarding the shoot: “I just remember him saying, ‘What if I put red lipstick on?’ At that moment many people were taking pictures of David Bowie, but not like that.”. Apparently Bowie was inspired to recreate the look after he saw an otherwise ordinary looking chap in a dark business suit, strolling casually through Lausanne in Switzerland, wearing bright red lipstick. #RandomBowie #BowieUchitel #BowieTinMachine
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    NUTS AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “What would you rather be doing?” While it’s the 6th of February for the majority as we post this, a bunch of hungry early birds are flying into the morning of the 7th. The latter can now feast on the fat worm that is Nuts, the fifth and penultimate instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks. Again, for those of you who can access BBC Radio 6 Music, you can hear an exclusive first play of Nuts shortly, over on the Mary Anne Hobbs show. (https://smarturl.it/MaryAnneHobbs06Feb20) The photograph in today's graphic, with no small measure of attitude, was taken in NY in 1996 by ALBERT WATSON. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 7th where you are. #BowieIIAW DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? STREAMING EP OF UNRELEASED & RARE MATERIAL - ’NUTS’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE NOW - THE FIFTH OF SIX TRACKS TO BE RELEASED OVER SIX WEEKS ‘NUTS’ (previously unreleased) is to be made available by Parlophone Records for streaming today as the penultimate release of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. The unreleased semi instrumental ’NUTS’ was jointly written by David, Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. It was recorded during the final Earthling sessions in November 1996, the same session during which ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’ was written and recorded. Both songs were being recorded as bonus tracks but then, at the last minute David swapped out ‘I Can’t Read’ (released as track two from this streaming E.P. on 17th January) with ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’. However, ’NUTS' has remained unreleased until today. 'NUTS’ Features Bowie on vocals, Reeves Gabrels on guitars & Mark Plati playing keyboards and programming. It was produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati and was recorded and Mixed by Mark Plati at Looking Glass Studios, NYC. The last track from the EP will be announced next week with a final extra surprise.
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    VIVE LE ROCK! 12-PAGE BOWIE AND PUNK COVER FEATURE “And I looked and frowned and the monster was me...” The current edition of VIVE LE ROCK! magazine (issue 70), has a 12-page cover feature on how David Bowie paved the way for punk rock. It’s another superb Bowie piece by Kris Needs, who is more than qualified to comment, having rubbed shoulders with the midwife at both the birth of Ziggy Stardust and punk rock. Here’s a short excerpt from a much longer piece… “Those who’d grown up with Bowie considered him just about the only high-profile UK artist in the first half of the ‘70s treading a dangerously unpredictable path, making visionary new music, always different from the pack. It was life-affirming to have a cool superstar who opened so many doors and habitually trampled social taboos, fixated on what he was doing next with a method actor’s zeal, rather than recycling past glories; the past, present and, most importantly, future all rolled into one. Punk came more like a natural progression than sudden impact for those who’d experienced Bowie’s rapid evolution in real time during those grey years between psychedelic ‘60s revolutions and ‘76’s burgeoning tsunami, bringing Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed and lggy Pop with him. By 1973, Bowie had already cleared the runway for glam with short, sharp songs, noisy guitars and outrageous wardrobes, providing the perfect antidote to progressive rock excess and earnest singer-songwriters while sky-sailing over the pub-rock barrelling in through the saloon doors as a rootsy alternative to stadium prog-on-ice. Although presented as glam packages on the surface, ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars’, ‘Aladdin Sane’ and ‘Diamond Dogs’ corralled rock ‘n’ roll’s original primal wildness, French chanson, avant jazz and classic Tin Pan Alley songwriting into vehicles heralding an other-worldly future where encrusted social taboos had been chucked out of the window with the nearest TV set. Pop and rock had been remade and remodelled by Bowie when the next generation started making its own noise.” #ViveLeRockBowie
  • David Bowie

    FIRST BOWIE MIRABELLE COVER IS FIFTY TODAY “Eight new pence to have a go...” Fifty years ago today, David Bowie was featured on the cover of the UK’s Mirabelle magazine. He appeared as an uncredited model with a caption inside which read: “OUR COVER – Super Red Riding Outfit from Kensington Market”, and that wasn’t even a description of his outfit. Of course, Mirabelle had kicked of the new decade with a full-page colour back cover of our man at the start of January. They also thought enough of him to go with a double-page spread at the start of March. This began a relationship that culminated in a few more front covers for the magazine and a two-year weekly column called: Bowie – My World…but that’s a whole other story. The mag still turns up occasionally, but you’re unlikely to pick it up for the original cover price of Eight Pence. FOOTNOTE: The Twiggy and Justin mentioned on the cover nearly helped Bowie onto the cover of Vogue almost four years later. But instead the image was used for the cover of the Bowie Pin Ups LP sleeve instead…But that’s another whole other story. #BowieMirabelle #BowieMagazineCover
  • David Bowie

    MARC RILEY BABY UNIVERSAL ’97 EXCLUSIVE “Now he's running for the love of speed...” For those of you who can access @bbc6music this evening, you can hear an exclusive first play of Baby Universal ’97 on @marcrileydj’s show. He’ll be playing the track in the first hour of his show which kicks off at 19:00 UK time. (https://smarturl.it/BBC6MusicMarcRiley) (Temp link in bio) Mr Riley is pictured backstage with David Bowie at the Manchester Academy on 23rd, July, 1997. See previous post for more information regarding Baby Universal ’97. #BowieIIAW
  • David Bowie

    BABY UNIVERSAL ’97 AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “Hallo humans nothing starts tomorrow...” While it’s the 30th of January for most as we post this, some parts of the planet are dipping a toe into the 31st already. The latter can now listen to Baby Universal ’97, the fourth instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks. The photograph in today's graphic was taken in NY in 1996 by ALBERT WATSON. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 31st where you are. #BowieIIAW + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + ’BABY UNIVERSAL ‘97’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE NOW ’BABY UNIVERSAL ’97’ is now available for streaming as the fourth of six tracks making up DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP (Parlophone) of unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. With lyrics by David and music co-written by David and Reeves Gabrels, ‘Baby Universal’ was initially recorded by Tin Machine for Tin Machine II. Released as the band’s penultimate single in October 1991, it was performed during the final Tin Machine US television appearance on Saturday Night Live. ‘Baby Universal’ was regularly performed on Bowie’s ‘Outside Summer Festivals Tour’ in 1996. The version now being released as ’BABY UNIVERSAL ’97’ was re-recorded for the Earthling album, originally intended to be sequenced between ‘I’m Afraid Of Americans’ and ‘Law (Earthlings On Fire)’. The song was ultimately removed from the final album master, but David was very fond of this version and before the track was dropped was quoted as saying: “I thought ‘Baby Universal’ was a really good song and I don’t think it got heard. I didn’t really want that to happen to it, so I put it on this album… I think this version is very good.”. ’BABY UNIVERSAL ’97’ is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. It was recorded at Looking Glass Studios and mixed by Mark Plati at Right Track Recording, both in New York. The track features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano/keyboards, Mark Plati on programming/keyboards, Zachary Alford on drums and Reeves Gabrels on guitar, synths and vocals.
  • David Bowie

    ALAN YENTOB'S CRACKED ACTOR FILM IS 45 TODAY “I'm just the space cadet...he's the commander…” And another five years passes. Were you watching on that night 45 years ago? https://smarturl.it/CrackedActor40DBFB45 (Temp link in bio) #CrackedActor
  • David Bowie

    STAY ’97 AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “This time tomorrow I’ll know what to do...” As most of the world still has to endure 23rd of January, some lucky people from the future are already enjoying the 24th. They can now listen to Stay ’97, the third instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks. MICHAEL BENABIB took the photograph of David in NY in 1997 used for today's graphic. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 24th where you are. #BowieIIAW + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? STREAMING EP OF UNRELEASED & RARE MATERIAL ’STAY ‘97’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE FRIDAY 24TH JANUARY THE THIRD OF SIX TRACKS TO BE RELEASED OVER SIX WEEKS Parlophone Records is proud to announce ’STAY ’97' the third instalment of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. ’STAY’ originally appeared on the ’Station To Station’ album in 1976 and was released as a single in North America and Japan in August of that year. The previously unreleased 1997 re-recording of ‘STAY' began at The Factory in the Dublin Docklands during the pre-Earthling tour rehearsals while David, Mark Plati and Reeves Gabrels were preparing the backing/sequencer tracks before the rest of the band arrived, and the rehearsals started in earnest. David wanted to ‘update' some of his live show staples so they would sit well sonically with the Outside/Earthling material. The recording was completed later, potentially for use as a ‘B-side’, and mixed at Right Track Recording studios, New York in May/June 1997. ’STAY ‘97’ is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, and mixed by Mark Plati. The track features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano/keyboards, Mark Plati on programming/keyboards, Zachary Alford on drums and Reeves Gabrels on guitar/synths.
  • David Bowie

    LAZARUS NL WINS IN ANNUAL MUSICAL AWARDS GALA “It’s Valentine’s Day…” Dutch fan, Jacqueline Pruijsen, has kindly been in touch with the wonderful news that @lazarus_nl has won Best Big Musical at the prestigious Annual Musical Awards Gala in the Netherlands. Three other awards were also collected: Best Male Leading Role: Pieter Embrechts (Valentine) Best Director: Ivo van Hove Best Design: Jan Versweyveld Congratulations to all involved for making Lazarus a continued success. #LazarusNL #LazarusMusical
  • David Bowie

    ARE YOU ON THE MAP - GOT YOUR TOTE? “Hey man, well she's a tote bag blam blam...” The exclusive Space Oddity tote bags are starting to ship to everyone who was lucky enough to share a picture of their silver or gold vinyl copy of the new 2019 Tony Visconti mix. Keep an eye out for it if you’ve plotted your spot and don't forget you can still add yourself to the map if you have a silver or gold vinyl copy and want a bag too. 📍 https://spaceoddity.davidbowie.com/ (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
  • David Bowie

    I CAN’T READ ’97 AVAILABLE FOR STREAMING NOW* “Can I reach tomorrow?” As the 16th turns to the 17th around the globe, the second instalment of the IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks is available now. Keep reading for the full press release. *Available now if it’s the 17th where you are. #BowieIIAW + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? STREAMING EP OF UNRELEASED & RARE MATERIAL ’I CAN’T READ ’97'’ (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) AVAILABLE NOW THE SECOND OF SIX TRACKS TO BE RELEASED OVER SIX WEEKS Parlophone Records is proud to unveil ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’, the second instalment of DAVID BOWIE’s IS IT ANY WONDER? EP of six unreleased and rare tracks being released once a week. ‘I CAN’T READ’ originally appeared on Tin Machine’s eponymous debut album in 1989, and was a staple in the band’s live set. In the autumn of 1996, during the mixing stages for Earthling, David re-recorded the track – which, at one stage, appeared on a mastered version of the album. While the song’s second incarnation, ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’, was David’s preferred solo version (the version available today), it was ultimately cut from Earthling and replaced at the last minute with ‘The Last Thing You Should Do’. An alternative version, featuring minor chords and a darker sound for the chorus, was recorded for Ang Lee’s film The Ice Storm. The full length version appeared on a single in 1998, while an edit featured on the film’s soundtrack album in 1997, both released by VelVel Records. ‘I CAN’T READ ‘97’ written by David Bowie & Reeves Gabrels is produced by David Bowie, co-produced by Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati, and mixed by Mark Plati. The track was recorded and mixed at Right Track Recording in New York and features Gail Ann Dorsey on bass and vocals, Mike Garson on piano, and Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals.
  • David Bowie

    R.I.P BOB SOLLY Kevin Cann has been in touch with the sad news that Manish Boy, Bob Solly (bottom right in montage, next to Davie Jones), has passed away at the age of 75. Over to Kevin. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + I’m very sad to have to tell you that following a short illness Robert Solly, better known as ex-Manish Boy founder member Bob Solly, passed away in London in the early hours of Tuesday morning, January 7th. He was 75. Following his years with Maidstone based band The Manish Boys (which famously included around a year with David Bowie fronting the band), Bob continued working as a songwriter with writing partner Paul Rodriguez, mainly working for producer Shel Talmy. After moving away from the music business he became a very successful designer and architect and spent many years criss-crossing the world while overseeing numerous prestigious commercial property developments. After settling back in the UK he focussed firmly on his real passion in life, collecting; mainly many thousands of records, though his spare rooms quickly filled with, among other things, a huge first-editions library, items on crime and other rare British social memorabilia and collections of photographs. After many years of serious International record collecting and record dealing it was thought that Bob’s vinyl collection alone was second only in size to that of the BBC’s. His knowledge of post war British and American popular music was renown and in the late 90’s he became a regular, highly regarded contributor to Record Collector magazine, also writing Record Collector’s incisive 2005 book, ‘100 Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Records’. In 2009 he began regular radio broadcasts with Channel Radio in Kent, his eclectic weekly show relying solely on vinyl singles chosen from his vast collection. Over the many hundreds of hours broadcasting he never played any single track more than once. Bob is survived by his second wife, Susan. Bob Solly (Robert Leslie Solly), musician, designer and writer, born 4 August 1944; died 7 January 2020.
  • David Bowie

    David Bowie: January 8th 1947 - January 10th 2016 #BowieForever
  • David Bowie

    PARLOPHONE TO ISSUE UNRELEASED BOWIE TRACKS “We spoke of was and when...” It’s likely that some of you have been expecting something on what would have been David Bowie’s 73rd birthday, after announcements on 8th January for the past couple of years. Indeed, if the calendar has clicked over to that date where you are, then you have possibly already found something. Now it’s 8th January in the country of his birth, here’s that announcement… + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Parlophone Records is proud to announce DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? a six track EP of unreleased and rare tracks to be released over six weeks. The first of these is a previously unreleased version of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, released today as a streaming-only 1 track digital single in celebration of both David’s birthday and the 50th anniversary of the writing and recording of this classic. Five more songs will be released on a weekly basis from 17th January. ’THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ (CHANGESNOWBOWIE VERSION) is taken from the 9-track session ChangesNowBowie, recorded for radio and broadcast by the BBC on David’s 50th birthday on 8th January, 1997. This mostly acoustic session was a stripped back affair featuring some of David’s favourites of his own compositions and was produced by Bowie himself, Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. CHANGESNOWBOWIE was recorded and mixed at Looking Glass Studios in New York in November 1996 during rehearsals for David’s 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. Gail Ann Dorsey (bass, vocals), Reeves Gabrels (guitars) and Mark Plati (keyboards and programming) accompanied David on the recording. CHANGESNOWBOWIE will be released in limited quantities on LP and CD for Record Store Day on 18th April, 2020. The cover art for the album will features a portrait of David by renowned photographer Albert Watson, taken in New York in 1996. (See montage for cover) More details will be announced shortly. ~ DAVID BOWIE 'THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD' (CHANGESNOWBOWIE) IS AVAILABLE NOW ON PARLOPHONE ~ DAVID BOWIE CHANGESNOWBOWIE RELEASED ON PARLOPHONE ON 18TH APRIL, 2020 FOR RECORD STORE DAY #BowieIIAW #CHANGESNOWBOWIE
  • David Bowie

    HOW TO IDENTIFY A REAL BOWIE SCRIBBLE “I asked for an autograph...” There have been some great Bowie resources online over the years. Evan Torrie’s Teenage Wildlife (sadly, now defunct), Paul Kinder’s bowiewonderworld.com, Ruud Altenberg’s illustrated-db-discography.nl, Chas Pearson’s bowie-singles.com, Roger Griffin's bowiegoldenyears.com and David Fowler’s @bowieonthecoverofamagazine Instagram page to name but a few. The latest very useful site that you may have already stumbled upon, is Andy Peters’ superb davidbowieautograph.com (temp link in bio). It’s a fascinating resource with a great blog and some very useful tips if you’re looking to purchase David Bowie’s autograph. Of course, you can only be certain you have the real thing if you were there witnessing the signing or if you received a Bowie autograph in an official contest, or an equally reliable source. Bowie himself was keen to let fans know about the identification of fakes, here’s a bit from his online journal where he assigned the job to @blamsnap (pictured with DB): + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Journal for Friday February 25th, 2000 Blam, the madman, has taken to the idea of writing up a weakly, sorry, weekly article pertaining to FAKES on the various auction sites around the net. He will pick one item a week and show you how to tell if it's a boy or a..... sorry again, if it's the genuine article or a knock off. We've gotten a little worried recently by the number of fake signatures, posters and albums that have been placed for sale on eBay and hope that "Blams Little Spot" will guide you through the no-no's. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Although we did post some basic info back then (nearly twenty years ago), davidbowieautograph.com goes into forensic detail, but without giving everything away. We’ve tried to catch Andy out with pretty accurate fakes and Bowie autographs that look like fakes that we know to be real. He’s never got it wrong. We’re not saying that he’ll never ever get caught out, but for the novice collector, it’s a great place to start before you cough up your hard-earned. #davidbowieautograph
  • David Bowie

    BOWIE EXITS THE 70s WITH KENNY EVERETT “I think my spaceship knows which way to go...” David Bowie • Space Oddity • Will Kenny Everett Make It To 1980? Show • 31 December 1979 You're no doubt already familiar with this broadcast, but now Nacho Videos has enhanced and extended it and given it a bit of a polish to further enhance your viewing experience. Directed for the show by Bowie’s video director of the time, David Mallet, the action takes place in a high-ceilinged padded cell and an exploding kitchen with an unflappable nurse. Speaking to Angus MacKinnon in the NME in 1980, Bowie said: “That came about because (David) Mallet wanted me to do something for his show and he wanted Space Oddity. I agreed as long as I could do it again without all its trappings and do it strictly with three instruments. Having played it with just an acoustic guitar onstage early on, I was always surprised as how powerful it was just as a song, without all the strings and synthesizers. In fact the video side of it was secondary; I really wanted to do it as a three-piece song.” Both scenes were recreated for the May 1980 filming of Ashes To Ashes, the continuity experts among you will notice the very obvious differences. So, ten years after it was originally a hit, Major Tom also had the last word of the 70s for Bowie. Another 40 years on and the impact of this version is just as powerful. Read Nacho's notes with more detail regarding the recording of both the sound and vision, along with the complete video, here: https://vimeo.com/381506997 (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #NachoBowie #NachosVideos
  • David Bowie

    AND SINGLE OF THE YEAR GOES TO SPACE ODDITY “You’ve really made the grade...” Fifty years ago this week, Disc magazine’s long-time Bowie champion, Penny Valentine, made Space Oddity her record of the year in the Christmas 1969 issue of the weekly music mag. (Cover date December 27, 1969) “Best commercial pop single of the year? Well without a shadow of a doubt that honour goes to David Bowie and “Space Oddity” — no matter what came before or after. It stood head and shoulders above the bunch. And it gritted its teeth and fought for three months to prove it.” Penny had been praising the pre-success Bowie over the years and in fact she was responsible for David’s first ever cover feature/interview which we told you about recently. Her love of Space Oddity only cemented her belief that Bowie would amount to something special. She had also previously praised the record upon its release: “David Bowie – an amazing sound! I have a bet on in the office that this is going to be a huge hit – and knock everyone senseless.” (See DavidBowie.com for full review) So thanks for the support, Penny, and for seeing the value of David Bowie a long time before most. Sadly, Penny died aged 59 on 9th January 2003, but not before she saw her predictions come true. Here’s the concluding paragraph from that first ever cover feature/interview: ““Space Oddity” is the first tenuous link in a long chain that will make David Bowie one of the biggest assets, and one of the most important people British music has produced in a long long time.” #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #PennyValentine
  • David Bowie

    Enjoy these beautiful pictures of Bowie taken during the recording of his appearance on Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special. (See previous two posts) Happy Holidays and thanks for the love throughout 2019. #BeautifulBowie #BowieForever #PeaceOnEarth #BowieBing
  • David Bowie

    BOWIE AND BING WITH STRINGS “It's a pretty thing, isn’t it?” Last month (22nd November), Decca records released Bing At Christmas - Bing Crosby With The London Symphony Orchestra. On the collection is a newly orchestrated version of the David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy. In celebration of the UK broadcast of Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special (Christmas Eve 1977), on which the duet was first shown (along with "Heroes", see yesterday’s post), Nacho’s Videos has married the new version of the audio to the original footage. Watch the full thing and read Nacho’s notes regarding the creation of this one here: https://smarturl.it/DBBingStringsNacho19 (Temp link in bio) FOOTNOTE: Though he has used pretty thing in more than one lyric, today’s Bowie lyric quotation is actually the line Bing says at the end of the duet. #BowieBing #PeaceOnEarth #NachoBowie
  • David Bowie

    "HEROES" ON BING 1977 GETS NACHOED “For ever and ever...” Back in 2016 we posted the then oft overlooked performance of "Heroes" recorded for Bing Crosby's 1977 Merrie Olde Christmas TV Special. Notable for the wonderfully bizarre, but nevertheless beautiful David Bowie and Bing Crosby duet of Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy, the broadcast also contained aforementioned video of "Heroes". In the promo film, Bowie sings one of the most heartfelt and emotional performances of "Heroes" he ever delivered. The vocal was sung 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 he also performs several set mime pieces superimposed along with the main performance. Now Nacho, along with a little help from Particledots on the audio, has produced a new version without Bing's spoken introduction encroaching on the performance. Go here to read his notes about how the video was made and watch the full length version: https://smarturl.it/HeroesOnBingNacho19 (Temp link in bio) The show was filmed in Elstree just outside London in the UK on September 11th, 1977. Originally broadcast in the US by CBS on the 30th of November 1977, the UK had to wait another month to see exactly what the fuss was being reported in the music weeklies, when the show was finally aired there on Christmas Eve 1977. FOOTNOTE: The shot of a shirtless Bowie was one of several stills taken during this "Heroes" filming session, though he didn't appear like this in the actual broadcast. #BowieBing #BowieHeroes #NachoBowie
  • David Bowie

    TONY VISCONTI ON REVISITING THE WILD EYED BOY “For the smile stayed on the face, Of the Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud...” After kicking it off, Tony Visconti also closes the current run of Bowie TV: The Space Oddity Series. In episode six of this series he talks about revisiting David Bowie’s favourite track on Space Oddity for the 2019 remix. Bowie TV: The Space Oddity Series - All six episodes available to view: https://smarturl.it/TouTubeBowieTV (Temp link in bio) Bowie TV Episode 18: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 1 - Tony Visconti #1 Bowie TV Episode 19: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 2 - John Hutchinson Bowie TV Episode 20: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 3 - Bob Harris Bowie TV Episode 21: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 4 - Ken Scott Bowie TV Episode 22: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 5 - Vernon Dewhurst Bowie TV Episode 23: The Space Oddity: Series Episode 6 - Tony Visconti #2 See the Conversation Piece book for DB’s second favourite track on Space Oddity. #BowieTV
  • David Bowie

    LAST BOWIE INTERVIEW OF THE SIXTIES “So now you could spend the morning talking with me quite amazed...” If not the last feature, this must be the last actual Bowie interview published in the 1960s. It’s a piece by Kate Simpson in the 20th December 1969 issue of British music magazine, Music Now!, and in the interview, the new star spoke on various subjects including success, money and the failure of the hippy ideal. Kate was clearly a fan and she talked of her conversion after a recent Bowie show in the introduction to the piece: “Several people I know see David Bowie as a one-hit-wonder. Until recently I shared their doubts as to his future beyond the song-that-made-him-famous, 'Space Oddity.' Then there was his recent concert at London’s Purcell Room. I changed my mind. His performance was astounding. He had the audience bewitched with his words, his music, his voice, and his professionalism. With simplicity and sincerity he sang his songs. He has his own style, but also great imagination and versatility.” You can read the full feature in the Conversation Piece book. The picture used in the article was from a session by David Bebbington. Bowie is wearing the jacket gifted to him by Calvin Mark Lee, which he wore for Top Of The Pops and the session that was used for the original The World Of David Bowie album cover a few months later. We’ve taken the opportunity to remove the colour cast from the photograph so you can see the jacket in its full splendour. #BowieBebbington #BowieCalvinMarkLee #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
  • David Bowie

    ALABAMA SONG 40TH ANNIVERSARY PICTURE DISC “It’s time to say auf Wiedersehen...“ 14th February 2020 sees the release of the latest special limited DAVID BOWIE 7" picture disc, the 40th-anniversary edition of ‘ALABAMA SONG’. Originally released in the UK on 15th February, 1980, ‘ALABAMA SONG’ was initially written as a poem by Bertolt Brecht in 1925 and was put to music by Kurt Weill for the 1927 play The Little Mahogany. David Bowie was a longstanding Brecht fan and included the song in the setlist for his 1978 Isolar II tour. The studio version of ‘ALABAMA SONG’ on the A-side of this release was recorded on July 2nd 1978, the day after the final show of the European leg of the tour, at Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios in Soho, London. The AA-Side features two previously unreleased tracks; A rendition of “Heroes” track ‘JOE THE LION’ recorded at the soundcheck of the tour’s final Earls Court show on the 1st July 1978. Though rehearsed for the Isolar II tour ‘JOE THE LION’ would not make its live debut until the Serious Moonlight tour of 1983. The second track on the AA-side is a live version of ‘ALABAMA SONG’ also recorded July 1st 1978—a different performance than the one featured on the live album Welcome To The Blackout. DAVID BOWIE ’ALABAMA SONG' LIMITED EDITION 40th ANNIVERSARY 7" PICTURE DISC A-Side (45 r.p.m) ALABAMA SONG (Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht) Produced by DAVID BOWIE and TONY VISCONTI Recorded at GOOD EARTH STUDIOS, LONDON on 2nd July, 1978 AA-Side (33 1/3 r.p.m) 1 JOE THE LION (LIVE EARLS COURT ’78 SOUNDCHECK) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) (David Bowie) Recorded live by TONY VISCONTI with the MANOR MOBILE at EARLS COURT, LONDON, 1st July, 1978 Recording engineered by JEREMY ALLOM and KEN CAPPER Mixed by JOHN PRESTAGE at AIR Studios, London, July, 2019 2 ALABAMA SONG (LIVE EARLS COURT ’78) (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED) (Kurt Weill / Bertolt Brecht) Produced by DAVID BOWIE Recorded live by TONY VISCONTI with the MANOR MOBILE at EARLS COURT, LONDON, 1st July, 1978 Recording engineered by JEREMY ALLOM and KEN CAPPER Mixed by DAVID BOWIE and DAVID RICHARDS at MOUNTAIN STUDIOS, MONTREUX, 17th - 22nd January, 1979. #DBALAS40 #BowieVinyl
  • David Bowie

    FEATURED ARTIST: SASHA CHESHEIKO We have been following Sasha Chesheiko’s work since she first posted a Bowie portrait a little over a year ago. Sasha is a digital artist who hails from Russia and we think you'll agree that she is producing some beautiful images. Check out her Instagram page @eftristesse where you can find even more Bowie portraits peppered among many other faces from the world of entertainment. #DavidBowieArt #EftristArtBowie
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    KUSO TAKES ON SPACE ODDITY WITH HELP FROM TV “Can you hear me, Major Tom?” Fifty years ago, following the success of the Space Oddity 45, Bowie helped popularise Dubreq’s @stylophone_official when he appeared in press adverts endorsing it. He was also keen enough on the gadget to resurrect it for Slip Away on 2002’s Heathen album, even playing it live right up until his final tour in 2004. And while we wouldn’t presume to know what he would or wouldn't have liked, we have a hunch that he would have appreciated the @styloorch (KUSO) reimagining of Space Oddity, recorded with the original producer of the album, Tony Visconti. Here’s an excerpt from the press release. + - + - + - + Producer Tony Visconti has lent his talents to KUSO’s unique rendition of Space Oddity, created entirely from recordings of the vintage analogue synth. The session, held at the Visconti Studio at @kingstonuniversity, revealed new layers 50 years after its original release. Visconti said: “This version is a bit like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole and going to the land of Stylophone where the creatures have a pen with a wire attached. It was a complex session – to get it right we had to be meticulous. If one person made even the slightest mistake we had to punch in again and, with nine people playing at the same time, you never quite knew what was going to happen.” Mr Visconti was so impressed by the orchestra and the arrangement, written by @kingstonunimusic academic and Bowie expert Dr Leah Kardos (who created The Stylophone Orchestra), that he has recruited them to be a part of his new album, due for release in 2020. Dr Kardos said: “Working with someone of Tony Visconti’s stature is really special for all of us and a great opportunity for the students. When we received the delivery from Dubreq, I blurted out that we should start a Stylophone Orchestra before I’d even really realised what I’d said. It’s since become a reality and is, I believe, the only one of its kind.” + - + - + - + Watch the video and read more about the project here: https://smarturl.it/KUSOandTVSpaceOddity #BowieDubreqStylophone. #spaceoddity50
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    HOW BOWIE WAVED BYE BYE TO THE 70S ON SNL “And now he is a puppet dancer...” Forty years ago today a whole new persuasion of young Americans awoke having been converted by David Bowie’s appearance on Saturday Night Live the previous evening. For it was on 15th December 1979 that this live broadcast in New York had a similarly persuasive effect on a receptive group of US youngsters that Starman on TOTPs in 1972 and the BBC’s 1975 Cracked Actor documentary had on UK teenagers. Of course, the youth of America looking for something new had already had their hearts and minds captured by broadcasts of both The 1980 Floor Show and The Ziggy Stardust Motion Picture more than half a decade earlier, but the SNL appearance helped to cast the net further. Bowie performed The Man Who Sold The World, TVC 15 and Boys Keep Swinging, with Klaus Nomi, Joey Arias and a toy pink poodle/TV monitor all making extraordinary guest appearances. The show was hosted by actor Martin Sheen. For The Man Who Sold The World Bowie was lifted and positioned in front of the microphone by Klaus and Joey in a costume designed by Mark Ravitz and Bowie, inspired by Sonia Delaunay’s designs for Tristan Tzara’s 1923 play Le Cœur à gaz (The Gas Heart). The skirt suit that David is wearing on the right of our montage was designed by Brooks Van Horn costume house, New York, and was worn for TVC 15, the song that also showcased aforementioned pink poodle. The other picture shows DB operating a puppet while utilising green-screen technology for Boys Keep Swinging to hilarious effect. In an absurd move the show’s producers blanked the line “Other boys check you out” but seemingly missed the puppet’s obvious excitement at the climax of the song. Words cannot do Bowie’s SNL appearance justice, suffice to say, it remains among the most surreal television performances broadcast anywhere, ever. If you've never seen this piece of TV history, prepare to be captivated by all three songs here on Vimeo: https://smarturl.it/BowieSNL79Vimeo (Temp link in bio) #BowieSNL #BowieBKS
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    BOWIE OFFICIAL STORE EXCLUSIVE SUPRO DEAL “The bitter comes out better on a Supro guitar...” Save $400 (40%) on Bowie Limited Edition Dual Tone Guitar: https://smarturl.it/DualToneBowieStore (Temp link in bio) Supro Pays Tribute to David Bowie with Limited Edition Recreation of his Dual Tone Guitar - Developed by Supro with assistance from the David Bowie Archive, the David Bowie Limited Edition Dual Tone is based on the main guitar David Bowie played on the Reality album and throughout his final world tour, “A Reality Tour”, in 2003-2004. Although he played a variety of guitars throughout his career, Bowie enjoyed a special relationship with the iconic vintage 60’s Supro Dual Tone he had customized to his specifications. Bowie’s guitarist Earl Slick says, “Of all the electric guitars that David played and owned over the many years that we worked together, he loved the Supro best. He was quite proud of it actually. I’ve never seen him get attached to a guitar, except that one.” #SuproBowie #BowieStore
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    JOHN I'M ONLY DANCING (AGAIN) 45 IS 40 TODAY “Boogie down with Daddy now...” Hard to imagine these days just how big a deal the release of John I’m Only Dancing (Again) (JIODA) was to the Bowie faithful in December 1979. Aside from the fact that the record was Bowie’s very first UK 12" 45, JIODA was legendary among fans aware of the song’s existence, but who hadn’t actually heard it until this release. The track evaded bootleggers and this release provided the full length version, (along with an edited version for the 7") not to mention a new mix of the original Ziggy Stardust sessions version of John I’m Only Dancing (JIOD). This 1979 remix of the original 1972 Ziggy version of JIOD created a third version of the track. The first version was released by RCA as a UK 45 on September 1st 1972, there was no US release at this time. This version was superseded by a second version recorded during the Aladdin Sane sessions which eventually came to be known as the Sax Version. It seems the Sax Version was issued without fanfare soon after the release of Aladdin Sane in 1973. Though Bowie's RCA singles remained on catalogue for many years after their release, for a time JIOD was unavailable. It would appear that once JIOD was made available as a back catalogue single once more, it was the Sax Version, and not the Ziggy version, that unsuspecting buyers got. Either way, both had the same RCA 2263 catalogue number. In fact, it wasn’t until one or two thousand (depends where you read it) ‘mispressed’ copies of the 1976 CHANGESONEBOWIE album were released with the Sax Version included that the different versions became known to fans. Indeed, there’s no mention, anywhere, of the Sax Version before the CHANGESONEBOWIE mispress. Therefore, the 1979 remix created a third version, albeit a very slight variation of the original Ziggy version. To confuse matters further, when RCA pressed black label variations of their 45s in the UK (including the Lifetimes series) they inadvertently created a fourth version by swapping the stereo channels! Coincidentally, both the 1972 and 1979 45s reached #12 on the UK single chart. #JIOD #JIODagain #BowieJohn
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    ARE YOU ON THE MAP YET? “Look out world you know I've got mine...” Have you been lucky enough to pick up a silver or gold vinyl copy of Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of the Space Oddity album? If so, don’t forget to plot your spot on the Space Oddity coloured vinyl map to receive an exclusive David Bowie tote bag. 📍 https://spaceoddity.davidbowie.com/ (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
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    BOWIE’S 1999 APPEARANCE ON LATER “Never saw in all my life a more shining Jools...” David Bowie’s 2nd appearance on BBC TWO’s Later... with Jools Holland, was broadcast twenty years ago this evening, 4th December 1999. Recorded a few days earlier on 30th November while DB was in London for his mini tour to promote "hours...", the full performance was never broadcast. Five and a half songs and an interview were taped, with just four songs and part of the interview shown on the night. Ashes To Ashes, Something In The Air, Survive and Cracked Actor were shown, but Changes (partial) and I’m Afraid Of Americans were not. It was a hugely powerful performance by DB and the band, you can view Cracked Actor on the BBC site here: https://smarturl.it/DBonJOOLS1999Cracked (Temp link in bio) #BowieLaterJools #BowieAtTheBBC
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    NACHO'S 45th ANNIVERSARY RIGHT REDUX “Doing it, doing it right...” As teased by Nacho yesterday, this video is a new edit and sync of 1974 David Bowie rehearsal footage, cut with Right from Bowie’s 1975 album Young Americans. Bowie is featured In the footage with his singers in September '74, rehearsing Right, and other songs at a Los Angeles studio. On 3rd December, 1974, the last recording session for what was to become the Young Americans album commenced. It is thought likely that Bowie's final vocal for Right was recorded at that session. Read Nacho’s superb detective work that he's posted with the complete video, here: https://vimeo.com/372608737 (Temp link on main page) #NachoBowie #NachosVideos
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    THE LAST LONDON BOWIE SHOW OF THE 20TH CENTURY “We played our songs and felt the London sky...” As mentioned in our earlier post, David Bowie was in London twenty years ago today (2nd December 1999), for his last London concert of the 20th century, with the now demolished Astoria as the venue of choice. The show followed a signing session at the Virgin Megastore earlier the same day and the Astoria gig was part of a mini tour to promote "hours...". A powerful 18-song set kicked off with an emotionally charged version of Life On Mars?, performed by David and Mike Garson. Here’s the full setlist: Life On Mars? Word On A Wing Thursday’s Child Ashes To Ashes Survive Can’t Help Thinking About Me China Girl Always Crashing In The Same Car Something In The Air Drive-In Saturday Stay Seven Changes Rebel Rebel Encore: Repetition The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell Cracked Actor I'm Afraid Of Americans The musicians for the mini tour were alphabetically: David Bowie (vocals, 12-string guitar), Sterling Campbell (drums), Gail Ann Dorsey (bass guitar), Mike Garson (keyboards), Emm Gryner (backing vocals), Page Hamilton (lead guitar), Holly Palmer (backing vocals) and Mark Plati (guitar, bass guitar). Though filmed for Japanese TV, to the best of our knowledge the show was never broadcast. However, it’s not hard to find a 90-minute time-coded version of the film online. Were you there on the night? What do you remember of the evening twenty years later? If you look closely, you can see occasional snapper Mark Adams (Total Blam Blam) stumbling around the pit getting in the way of the professionals, to bring you some pix of Mr Bowie’s colourful shenanigans. View a few of them by swiping left. #RandomBowie #BowieByBlam
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    For those of you that don't subscribe to the David Bowie Official Store newsletter, CYBER WEEK has started! https://store.davidbowie.com/store/ (Temp link in bio) Offer ends 11:59pm ET on 8th December 2019. Excludes media and items printed on demand. #BowieStore
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    Twenty years ago today, David Bowie arrived for a signing session at the Virgin Megastore on the corner of Oxford Street/Tottenham Court Road, ahead of his gig later that same day at The Astoria. He was there to promote both his latest album, "hours...", and The Nomad Soul, a PC adventure game developed by Quantic Dream and published by Eidos Interactive. Mark Adams (Total Blam Blam) was at both events to take a few snaps and be a fan. The gig venue was a few yards down the road, more of which later. Were you at either? See more pictures from the signing on the official Bowie Instagram page: https://smarturl.it/InstaBowie #RandomBowie #BowieByBlam
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    BOWIE AT THE PALLADIUM FIFTY YEARS AGO TONIGHT “And the magic in the stare, Of the Wild Eyed Boy” On 30th November, 1969, David Bowie performed solo versions of Space Oddity and Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud at the ‘Save Rave ‘69’ charity concert at the London Palladium. Performing in front of a backdrop featuring a NASA astronaut, David agreed to the appearance which was a benefit concert for the Invalid Children’s Aid Association. The president of the association was lucky enough to meet the young new chart star afterwards (see inset pic), and coincidentally, David had already met the president’s sister, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a young boy...but that’s a whole other story. Others in the line-up with David presented to Princess Margaret included Dusty Springfield (whose rehearsal for the event had apparently impressed DB greatly), and Tiny Tim who seemed to be struggling to present something to Margaret from a carrier bag. Tiny Tim had recorded the Williams/Rose composition, Fill Your Heart, on the B-side of his Tip-Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me 45 in 1968. Bowie would later release his own version of the song on Hunky Dory in 1971. FOOTNOTE: Apologies to whoever took the pictures in today's montage. Ray Stevenson did take the superb shots used for the recent Space Oddity double 45 box, but not sure any of these are his. #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
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    SURVIVE VIDEO SHOT TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY “And I’m floating in a most peculiar way…” Twenty years ago today (26th November 1999), the second and final day of filming for the Survive video at Tower Bridge Studio in London, wrapped. Survive was the follow up single to Thursday's Child and the videos for both were directed by Walter Stern. Both tracks were taken from the 'hours...' album, though the video here features an edit of the Marius de Vries Mix of Survive. For twenty years, the mystery of how David Bowie managed his remarkable feat of levitation in the video has left (some) viewers scratching their heads. SPOILER ALERT: It's all done with wires, as you can see from the montage in the comments section. If you’re a member of the BOWIE KOOKS Facebook page, you can view a few more behind-the-scenes snaps by @BlamSnap here: https://smarturl.it/SurviveVidBlamKooks (Temp link in bio) #BowieHours
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    We posted about the sad passing of photographer Michael Putland in the BOWIE KOOKS FB group last week and thought it would be a nice tribute to make a handful of his pictures the subject of the latest Random Bowie post. Hope you enjoy these shots as much as we have since Michael’s pictures of David first appeared in 1972. #RandomBowie #BowiePutland #MichaelPutland
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    JOIN THE SILVER AND GOLD SPACE ODDITY WORLD MAP “Mustn't grumble at silver and gold...” Have you been lucky enough to pick up a silver or gold vinyl copy of Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of the Space Oddity album? If so, you might want to declare your treasure on the specially created Space Oddity 2019 World Map and win yourself a tote bag while you're about it. Take a picture of yourself holding your copy and go here to join in: https://smarturl.it/SO19SilverGoldMap (Temp link in bio) All should be clear once you've watched the short How It Works video. #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
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    BOWIE ON THE SOUTHBANK FIFTY YEARS AGO TONIGHT “I can work the scene babe...” David Bowie’s concert at the Purcell Room on London’s Southbank on 20th November, 1969, was a real ‘sliding doors’ moment for him. By all accounts his performance was astonishing, but sadly there was no press aside from a solitary reporter from The Observer to spread the word. Here’s a small excerpt from manager Kenneth Pitt’s Bowie – The Pitt Report. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + The concert at the Purcell Room was a personal triumph for David. It started promptly at 7.30 and every seat was occupied by an invited audience and others who had paid either ten, eight or five shillings for their ticket. Juniors Eyes were on the bill, also a band from David's neighbourhood named Comus, in which he was showing an interest. David performed superbly, faultlessly. There were a few people who were disappointed that he should accompany Space Oddity acoustically when he had all the musicians necessary for a sound more akin to the record. Gus Dudgeon thought to himself “Oh no, you can't do this David.” Perhaps this was part of David’s determination to resist the pressure from a hit record: his way of saying that Space Oddity, to him, was not the most important of his songs he was singing that night. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + We’ll leave you with the setlist…consider for one minute just how good it must have been to hear. Buzz The Fuzz Port Of Amsterdam Space Oddity Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud London Bye Ta Ta Karma Man Cygnet Committee Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed Janine Occasional Dream The Width Of The Circle Letter To Hermione Conversation Piece Memory Of A Free Festival God Knows I’m Good FOOTNOTE: Titles listed as presented on the PRS form. #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
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    BOWIE AT THE KIT KAT KLUB 20 YEARS AGO TONIGHT “And there's something in the air...” On 19th November 1999, David Bowie played to an invited audience of fans and contest winners for a gig promoting 'hours...' at the Kit Kat Klub in New York. The show was recorded and filmed for a webcast the following month via Liveonline.net. If this wasn't the first broadcast of a live show on the web, then it was certainly among the very first. However, it seems the web wasn't quite ready yet as the viewing experience wasn't particularly smooth. A 12-track bootleg of the show was enjoyed by fans in the absence of any official release, though the source was most likely the official 12-track promotional CD pictured in our montage. Compare that against the 17-track setlist to identify the five missing tracks. At the time, cub reporter Andrew Barding wrote a review for Paul Kinder’s brilliant BowieWonderWorld, accompanied by pictures taken by BowieNetters and BowieWonderWorlders at the show. Andy has revisited the evening and has sent us a new review that captures the moment beautifully. Read it here: https://smarturl.it/BowieKitKat1999DBFB (Temp link in bio) #BowieKitKatKlub #BowieHours
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    NACHO SYNCS TV’S SPACE ODDITY 2019 TO HITS A GOGO “And the stars look very different today...” In celebration of both Space Oddity’s 50th anniversary and the release of the Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of both the Space Oddity album and single, Nacho's Videos has given us another exclusive. He's synced the new full length mix to the original Hits A GoGo broadcast live from Zurich on 3rd November, 1969. The show had a haunted house theme for the recent Halloween celebrations, which explains the moody lighting and dry ice. Anyway, thanks yet again Nacho. Read Nacho's notes that he's posted with the complete video, here: https://smarturl.it/NachoSO2019Vimeo (Temp link on main page) #SpaceOddity50 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix #DBCP2019 #NachoBowie #NachosVideos
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    GOODBYE TERRY O’NEILL “To be right in that photograph...” As you will know, this morning, Iconic Images announced the sad passing of Terry O’Neill, who has died at the age of 81. Bowie fans will be familiar with his work, not only through the recent Bowie by O’Neill book and the many times we have focused on his pictures here, but also through the myriad newspaper and music weekly spreads. For UK fans at least, these publications were always a very welcome first glimpse of each new Bowie project, particularly during the years from 1973 to 1976. It's hard to imagine the impact of picture-led Bowie features once Bowie left the UK. Hungry for news and pictures of David's latest activities, fans would be particularly grateful for Terry’s beautiful pictures, and as David himself once said: “The great thing about Terry was that I was always guaranteed a centrespread in the papers after a photo session with him.” One such item was the Melody Maker exclusive published in October 1974, partially pictured here. Sadly, this is among the sessions for which the original negatives have been lost…which is why we featured it. The picture of Terry bottom right in our montage was taken during that very session, captured for posterity by the BBC while filming Alan Yentob’s Cracked Actor. David’s gratitude was reciprocated by Terry, as highlighted when he compiled the images for Bowie by O'Neill: “When I first started to collect all my images and contact sheets of David Bowie, I didn’t realize how many I had! That first phone call I received to work with Bowie resulted in a real partnership between us; I was lucky enough to get that call and smart enough to say yes. He was a one-of-a kind, always changing and a true genius. It gives me great pleasure to be able to share with the world the images I captured and my memories of working with this extraordinary artist. He has the most loyal fans I’ve ever come across and I truly hope this book brings them a lot of joy.” #BOWIEbyONEILL #BowieAtTheMarquee #BowieDiamondDogs
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    David Bowie pictured in Karesansui Zen Garden in the grounds of a Zen temple in Kyoto (a location he personally selected), shooting TV and press adverts for the Japanese sake Crystal Jun Rock by Takara Shuzo. The session was also utilised for the sleeve of Crystal Japan (originally titled Fujimoto San), Bowie’s haunting instrumental track used in the TV advert and originally intended to be included on the Scary Monsters album. It was instead released as a single in Japan in July 1980. #RandomBowie #BowieJapan #BowieCrystalJapan
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    Deezer are celebrating this week’s 50th anniversary of Space Oddity with an updated 100% David Bowie playlist 🚀 Listen now: https://Deezer.lnk.to/DavidBowie #DeezerBowie
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    CONVERSATION PIECE 5CD SET AND BOOK OUT NOW “All seems so long ago...” Hard to imagine that there are many of you reading this that are surprised by that headline. Have you got yours now? If so, we hope you’ll agree it’s a beautiful thing. If you’re still wanting to purchase, follow this link: https://lnk.to/DavidBowieCPBook (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
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    TONY VISCONTI’S SPACE ODDITY LINER NOTES ON APPLE MUSIC “And I can't see the water, For the tears in my eyes...” You've possibly noticed by now that 14th November marked the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s 1969 album, David Bowie (aka Space Oddity). As you also probably know, Tony Visconti's 2019 mix of the album has been released on streaming services in celebration. His extended liner notes also feature on Apple Music, from where this excerpt regarding his memories of Conversation Piece, which never made the original cut of the album. + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Conversation Piece (2019 Mix) “This was really hard to leave off [the original vinyl]. That was a tragedy. We had three very long tracks ‘Cygnet Committee’ ate up the space of three songs and on vinyl, you only had 20 minutes before you hit the out groove. If you went over the 20-minute mark, you would get one dB lower, for every minute over. This is a very, very sad song. Only years later, I realised that the person in the song who tells the story jumped off a bridge and drowned. That made me make a more sad mix. I was in a space like, ‘This has got to come off with a lot of gravity in the mix,’ even though it’s kind of bouncy. There’s a way of mixing a bouncy song a little sadder. Not make it so bright. It’s one of my favourite, favourite songs. I loved playing it live.” + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + Listen now on @AppleMusic https://lnk.to/SpaceOddity2019MixStrFA/applemusic (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix #AppleMusicBowie
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    SPACE ODDITY IS FIRST BOWIE RELEASE IN SONY’S 360 REALITY AUDIO FORMAT “Love all around...” To celebrate today’s 50th anniversary of the release of ‪David Bowie‬’s 1969 album, Space Oddity, long-time Bowie producer/collaborator ‪Tony Visconti‬ has remixed the title track in 360 Reality Audio music format, a new 3D audio from Sony. Go here https://smarturl.it/SpaceOdditySony360PR (Temp link in Bio) for the full press release with links to the full video of ‪Tony Visconti‬ talking about the project here on YouTube. #SpaceOddity50?? #SpaceOddity2019TVmix?? #SpaceOddity360?? #Sony360RealityAudio   #DBCP2019
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    STREAM SPACE ODDITY 2019 NOW – COLOURED VINYL OUT FRIDAY “I found the secrets I found the gold...” As you know, today is the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s 1969 album which became better known as Space Oddity. To mark the occasion, Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of Space Oddity should be available to stream now, if it’s past midnight of Wednesday into Thursday where you are. Tomorrow (Friday 15th) sees the physical release of Tony Visconti's 2019 Mix of Space Oddity. This vinyl version of the album has been randomly distributed worldwide with a mix of hand-numbered labels. Of these, numbers 1 - 1969 will be on silver-coloured vinyl and 1970 - 2019 will be on gold-coloured vinyl. The remainder will be black. The two coloured versions of the vinyl are pictured in the video here. Pre-order here: https://lnk.to/DavidBowieSOMix (Temp link in bio) #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019 #SpaceOddity2019TVmix
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    FEATURED ARTIST: RENA KASUYA Inspired by @the_real_iman’s post of @helengreeen’s most recent work, we’ve decided to join in and share some love through Bowie Art on a regular basis too. As you know, we’ve been a champion of Helen’s for almost five years now, since we featured her beautiful Bowie illustrations in January 2015. So we thought we’d give somebody else a chance who might not have been on your radar yet. We have been following Rena Kasuya’s work since January 2016 and she has been producing some extraordinary work from her home in Japan. Using an iPad Pro but without photo tracing, Rena is hugely prolific and the standard of her work just keeps getting better. Check out her Instagram page @renalabo_art and also her Instagram account dedicated to her sketches @rena_draw1891 #DavidBowieArt #RenaLaboArtBowie #HelenGreenArtBowie
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    9-PAGE 1969 BOWIE FEATURE IN JANUARY UNCUT “And so the story goes…” The January 2020 issue of @uncut_magazine (Uncut Take 272) comes in a printed presentation bag and celebrates 50 years of Bowie's Space Oddity album and the release next week of the Conversation Piece 5CD set. The bag contains a special Collector's Cover and Uncut’s bespoke Bowie Bulletin - a double-sided fanzine documenting Bowie’s 1969 lift off, bringing together archival pieces from the pages of Melody Maker, NME, Disc And Music Echo and the lesser-spotted Fab 208 on one side, folding out to a beautiful A1 poster on the reverse. The Bowie Bulletin accompanies a 9-page cover feature, wherein Tony Visconti recalls the full story of Bowie’s stellar breakthrough year in close-up – even down to the type of sandwiches he and Bowie enjoyed for lunch during recording sessions at Trident Studios. The presentation bag, Collector's Cover and Bowie Bulletin are only available on UK newsstands, though a limited number of copies are available to buy online here: https://smarturl.it/UNCUTsubscribe (Temp link on main page) The January 2020 issue of Uncut is out on November 14. #BowieUNCUT #SpaceOddity50 #DBCP2019
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    David Bowie Polaroid by Diego Uchitel taken during a 1991 photo session with Tin Machine in Los Angeles. The picture is among Uchitel's personal favourites and he had this to say regarding the shoot: “I just remember him saying, ‘What if I put red lipstick on?’ At that moment many people were taking pictures of David Bowie, but not like that.”. Apparently Bowie was inspired to recreate the look after he saw an otherwise ordinary looking chap in a dark business suit, strolling casually through Lausanne in Switzerland, wearing bright red lipstick. #RandomBowie #BowieUchitel #BowieTinMachine
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