David Bowie

Vandalised already:

"Feed the homeless first"

Aylesbury’s David Bowie statue has been vandalised less than 48 hours after it was unveiled on 25 March. The words “Feed the homeless first” have been spray-painted on the ground in front of the statue, while “RIP DB” has been painted on the wall behind the statue.

Hmm... almost a form of acceptance.

The Hazel O'Connor Story
In a busy career of 15 albums, Hazel had some misadventures in her youth, but after earning an Equity contract after an assignment in Tokyo, she secured the career-making role in Breaking Glass, and worked with frequent Bowie producer Tony Visconti on the soundtrack. In fact, Bowie himself offered to do some songs, but Hazel was able to turn him down as she'd written the rest herself. He did promise to see her at a gig, which happened to be on a bad night when she felt like quitting the business. But things turned round, and Bowie gave her good advice about dealing with fans, to make them feel important too. Interviewer Iain McNay remarked that Bowie was always striving to adapt and improve, hence many changes of image. Hazel had contract troubles with a record label, and kept her head above water, though knowing she would never make it big again.

Urban Myths - When Bowie Met Bolan
A meeting of minds in a mid-1960s office for a small-time manager, with David Jones and Marc Feld finding they had more in common than at first appeared. The whimsical attitude to the truth reached its apex when Feld splashed paint across Jones' face - the exact splash of Ziggy Stardust. Amusing, if slight.

Lindsay Kemp, landmark dancer and choreographer, amongst other skills, has died at the age of 80. He is credited with helping David Bowie with his work in creating Ziggy Stardust, and he later worked some magic with Kate Bush too. RIP 

Glastonbury 2000: David Bowie
Such a popular gig it's also out on CD and/or DVD. It seemed pretty ordinary to me, but a good selection of hits , with Little Wonder being his most fresh inclusion. He mentioned in banter about having had laryngitis earlier in the week, though this might have been a device to approve crowd singing along. He also mentioned making a 1st appearance back in 1971.

A few years on from the "miraculous recovery" of a clip of him performing "The Jean Genie", now another such has been made, of an early clip of him doing "Starman" - or it might be, given the quality of the tape and the necessity of its recovery process.

His son, film director Duncan Jones, has made an early jab at an upcoming biopic of his father, which apparently features none of his music, nor does it have his family's approval. Not due to start filming until June, either.

Alias David Bowie, by Peter & Leni Gillman
This 1986 tome purported to be the first major biography of the music legend. Indeed, it's very in depth up to his 1977 album "Heroes" and then a bit superficial to cover the time up to date. Its focus is as much on his family, particularly his brother Terry, as the man himself. His stuttering musical sallies in the 1960s, his slow evolution, his business triumphs and disasters, his personal and professional relationships, all are well gone in to, although you suspect the arguments are swayed in part by who was willing to talk to them. But it's still a worthy read.

David Bowie: Finding Fame
The trilogy conclusion from the people who did Five Years and The Last Five Years, so I don't know why they didn't just call this The First Five Years. However since the years in question were 1965-66, 1967, 1968, 1970-71 and 1973, it does show an overlap with their first prog. Having only just read that biography with his early years, then it was good to meet some of the surviving characters from his early wilderness years, such as top producer Tony Hatch. The lack of comment from his wife Angie seemed a notable omission, since his previous squeezes Dana Gillespie and Hermione Farthingale were both here. Some ironic amusement came when Tony Visconti had to discuss Space Oddity, even though he hated it and gave it to Gus Dudgeon to sort out (Gus having died many years ago).

misery guts wrote:A few years on from the "miraculous recovery" of a clip of him performing "The Jean Genie", now another such has been made, of an early clip of him doing "Starman" - or it might be, given the quality of the tape and the necessity of its recovery process.

Aha, it's been sold at auction:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47552376

A tape that is believed to be the first recording of David Bowie's Starman has fetched more than £50,000 at auction.
The 1971 tape, which had a pre-sale guide price of £10,000, had gathered dust in a loft for almost 50 years.
Bowie can be heard on the demo telling guitarist Mick Ronson he had not finished the song when he tried to end the recording.
Ronson gave the demo to his friend Kevin Hutchinson, an aspiring musician, to help him learn the song in 1971.

Bargain? 

David Bowie - Stardust
I suspect this 2016 effort was American-based, but it was well-stocked with contributors, for all that. Paul Gambaccini handled much of the chatter, along with photographer Kevin Cummins. Other photographers, journalists and folk who crossed his path (eg Alan Yentob, Toni Basil, Tom Conti) all got a line or two. At least Tony Visconti and Brian Eno worked with him in studios, and Trent Reznor toured with him, whilst Carlos Alomar and Iggy Pop owed a lot to him.

And I've been meaning to add this little titbit for a while:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-49360237

A bandstand where David Bowie played soon after the release of his first hit single Space Oddity has been protected with a Grade II listing.
The singer performed from the stand to a small audience in Croydon Road Recreation Ground on 16 August 1969.
The star, who died in 2016, is thought to have penned the lyrics to Life On Mars from its steps in London.

Why not? 

Showreel: David Bowie
A decent use of this series, and again more interesting for the less played gems like Be My Wife or Underground, though they did include Lazarus.

Isle of Wight Festival 2004: David Bowie
A short repeat, but again impressive for doing The Loneliest Guy and I'm Afraid of Americans, though his arm-waving during All The Young Dudes seems the most iconic part.

misery guts wrote:Glastonbury 2000: David Bowie
Such a popular gig it's also out on CD and/or DVD. It seemed pretty ordinary to me, but a good selection of hits , with Little Wonder being his most fresh inclusion. He mentioned in banter about having had laryngitis earlier in the week, though this might have been a device to approve crowd singing along. He also mentioned making a 1st appearance back in 1971.

Repeated again, supposedly in a "complete" version, although what that meant was included is any guess. Station to Station doesn't often seem to crop up in these things, and Stay is another that I doubt many would sing along to. He ended with I'm Afraid of Americans which was an interesting choice.

Another rare demo turned up, and was auctioned off:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-53485984

The track, I Do Believe I Love You, was recorded when Bowie signed as a songwriter to Orbit Music in 1966.

The demo was discovered by a London-based seller who found it in a back catalogue collection and has been called "a musical treasure".

The acetate, which is expected to fetch up to £5,000, will be auctioned in Chippenham on Friday.

Oddly, no follow-up with its price, which suggests one of two things...

Also Kansai Yamamoto, who designed some of Dave's most influential clobber, such as for Ziggy Stardust, died at 76:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-53555137

RIP 

Much commemoration this weekend, as it's 5 years since the guy died, and he did once have a song called Five Years. His music is now available on Tiktok for the first time, for instance.

misery guts wrote:Bowie at the BBC / The Genius of David Bowie
A concert from June 2000; plus a compilation of various DB songs from various shows over the years (in some cases, playing songs was easier to do 25 years after they were released). But a very watchable double bill all the same.

Bowie at the BBC
Possibly an updated reversion of the above, from 2017, but I suspect it was all new, including chat show moments and all sorts of oddities, covering more than two dozen hits, film projects, theatre work and so on. It was fun to see him on less mainstream shows in the 1990s, as his experimentation pushed him away from the norm. Even including his final work, it was a fully fitting picture of a man who lived many lives in one.

misery guts wrote:Yeah, like Prince, it's a pretty certain bet that more Rarities Boxsets will be a-coming, maybe for this Autumn, but surely in 2017 & beyond.

Well, better late than never... a new box-set to be released early in 2022 WILL include a rare "lost" album called "Toy".

Bowie - The Man Who Changed The World
Another somewhat unofficial effort, notable for reliable inclusions like Paul Gambaccini and Bob Harris, but also the likes of Dana Gillespie and Mary Finnegan, who actually knew him well in his early days, and even guys like Paul Nicholas, who got Dave to write a song for him as Oscar only to see it banned. Also much footage of Bowie himself.

misery guts wrote:

misery guts wrote:Yeah, like Prince, it's a pretty certain bet that more Rarities Boxsets will be a-coming, maybe for this Autumn, but surely in 2017 & beyond.

Well, better late than never... a new box-set to be released early in 2022 WILL include a rare "lost" album called "Toy".

The Toy: Box set went in at #5 this week. In other news, his estate have sold the rights to his music off, the latest major act to do so.

The Will Kenny Everett Make It To 1980 Show
Did 1979 really end with DJ and presenter Kenny Everett doing much of his usual stuff? Besides a running gag with Cliff Richard, and Hot Gossip doing a routine to Brown Sugar, there was a skit with Suzi Quatro as a magician's assistant, a repeat of his famous DIY Bee Gees Kit sketch, a performance from the Boomtown Rats of their next single Someone's Looking At You, and the show closed with supergroup the Greedies doing their seasonal stuff. BUT! Also David Bowie performed Space Oddity on what presumably was the set of the Ashes To Ashes video, which hadn't been released yet. Never seen that before.

The V&A have announced a major new exhibition of his archive, to open in 2025 at a new custom-built site in East London:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64729309

Love You Till Tuesday
A curious late 60s show, with David performing several songs in what we would now see as promos or videos. Including his take on Space Oddity, which perhaps puts a more optimistic spin on Major Tom's fate than is usually presented to be the case. Backed on a couple of numbers by Hermione & Hutch. Also with a mime section in the middle.

misery guts wrote:The V&A have announced a major new exhibition of his archive, to open in 2025 at a new custom-built site in East London:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-64729309

In the meantime, a new exhibition has opened which includes new candid photos of Bowie from the 1970's:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-67145826

A recent auction of some of his lyrics brought in £89,000.

Parkinson - David Bowie (w/Clive James & Victoria Beckham)
He performed Ziggy Stardust, and then The Loneliest Guy (from the concurrent Reality album). He talked of approaching 70, although as this was late 2003, he was a bit premature there. He'd been approached about musical theatre, but disliked the "jukebox" format as seen with Queen and Rod Stewart and others. His father had apparently been quite an adventurer in his own way. He liked living privately in downtown NY with his wife. He rejected the risks associated with John Lennon's fate. He wanted to stick with rock n roll, rather than try for movie stardom.

Radio 2 In Concert: David Bowie
From 1990 at the Milton Keynes Bowl, on the Sound & Vision tour, so much familiar material, and a cover of White Light, White Heat.

BAAL
An acting gig from 1981, as Bowie took the title role as a wandering musician who entrances and disgusts the people he meets, in early 20th century Europe. He somewhat sings interludes between scenes, and playing his instrument, in a curious sing-song way which seemed designed to be imitated and lampooned. The drama left me wondering. Zoe Wanamaker and Juliet Hammond-Hill were among the supporting cast.