Unfortunately this DAVID BOWIE related competition has now finished, but why not have a go just for fun?

There is a new David Bowie-inspired IRIS WILDTHYME collection entitled 'Lady Stardust', which features artwork by Paul Hanley, along with new short stories from Paul Magrs and George Mann and others.

All you need to do is take a look at the wrap-round cover and find as many Bowie references as you can. There should be an intended 27 - I've found more than that.

More details and information on these books can be found over at obversebooks.co.uk and on paulmagrs.com blog.

Holden's Brewery Ltd located in Dudley in the West Midlands are one of only thirty-three independent family brewers left in Britain.

In January they produced a specially named guest ale in honour of DAVID BOWIE named 'Major Tom'. This was opener of their 2012 Monthly Guest Ales entitled 'Rock Gods'. February's was 'Temple of Love', and this month it is 'Purple Haze'.

'Major Tom' has a 4.2% alcohol content, this blonde beer has a sweet fruity dominance with a moreish full malty body. The climax of fruit, malt and a bitter tang gives a pint that's out of this world.

Feel free to visit holdensbrewery.co.uk

If you search online you can find websites that list various real ale public houses around the UK that are selling this product.

• Film director NICOLAS ROEG is interviewed by Andy Morris for GQ magazine, specifically talking about working with DAVID BOWIE on The Man Who Fell To Earth - [Read here]...

• BOWIE VARIATIONS - the full concert and exclusive interview part 3 of 4 podcast with MIKE GARSON is now online for your listening pleasure over at the goingthruvinyl.com website. The interview was done the Detroit Institute of Arts back in December. Mike talks about performing live and in the studio with David, Outside1 outtakes, and so on - from Jason H....

• GARY KEMP who will be unveiling the ZIGGY STARDUST plaque in Heddon Street on 27th March was the guest on the Wogan BBC Radio 2 show last Sunday. Gary tells about meeting and interviewing George Underwood, Ken Scott and others for a radio show documentary about Ziggy's 40th that he is presenting and is coming up for broadcast on 6th June on Radio 2. Listen in now at bbc.co.uk it's available for another three days. The Bowie mention comes in just after Starman at 1.37.39 mins...

Guitarist EARL SLICK was interviewed by Eric Blair at Namm 2012 for the The Eric Blair Show. Earl talks about The New York Dolls, touring, his new album, recording Station To Station and working with DAVID BOWIE.

Thanks to Gabe for the pointer.

DAVID BOWIE features on the forthcoming compilation 'Every Mother Counts Vol. 2', which is the second album to benefit the organisation of the same name, which is organised by model Christy Turlington Burns.

Every Mother Counts is a campaign to help reduce the maternal mortality rate on a global scale and with the help of Starbucks the album is set for release on 1st May.

Besides David Bowie, other featured artists include: Bono, The Edge, Seal, Sting, Lauryn Hill, Beck, Coldplay, Sade and Patti Smith.

The full tracklisting runs as follows: (Songs with an asterisk indicate previously unreleased tracks).

       Bono and the Edge 'Original of the Species' (acoustic) *
       Eddie Vedder ' Skipping' *
       Paul Simon and Edie Brickell 'Pretty Day' *
       Faith Hill 'Wish for You'
       Sade 'The Sweetest Gift'
       Lauryn Hill 'I Remember'
       Rita Wilson 'Baby I'm Yours' *
       Diana Krall 'Don't Fence Me In' *
       Seal 'Secret'
       Dave Matthews Band 'Sister' (live) *
       Sting 'Fragilidad'
       Alanis Morissette 'Magical Child' *
       Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros 'Mother' *
       David Bowie 'Everyone Says 'Hi''
       Cedella Marley 'Get Up Stand Up' *
       Beck 'Corrina, Corrina' *
       Rufus Wainwright 'Instead of the Dead' *
       Patti Smith 'Somalia' *
       Coldplay 'Yellow' (acoustic) *

In March 2012, The Crown Estate will unveil a commemorative plaque to DAVID BOWIE's iconic creation, Ziggy Stardust, marking the 40th anniversary of his album, 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars'. The plaque will be unveiled on Heddon Street, just off Regent Street, London, W1, where the photograph on the front cover of the album was taken.

Part of The Crown Estate's ongoing vision for the development of Regent Street and surrounding areas, Heddon Street today is completely different from that of 1972, when the album cover was created. Now one of Regent Street's main Food Quarters, it has been transformed into a pedestrianised courtyard ideal for al fresco dining with restaurants including Momo, Aubaine, Below Zero, The Ice Bar, Strada, Piccolino's, Strawberry Moons and The Living Room.

Back in 1972, the Bowie album depicts 'Ziggy' outside on a cold wet January night with his foot resting on a step outside 23 Heddon Street. The late Brian Ward, had rented a space upstairs in the building as a makeshift photographic studio, and had already shot 17 pictures when he persuaded Bowie to step outside onto Heddon Street. The other band members thought it too cold and declined to join him for the picture. Wearing the green jumpsuit that he later wore on the BBC 2 TV show 'The Old Grey Whistle Test', Bowie posed for the photograph. The images were shot using Royal -X- Pan black and white film and then lovingly hand coloured by artist Terry Pastor. In the finished image, Ziggy's jumpsuit is coloured blue.

"It was cold and it rained and I felt like an actor" Bowie recollected, "we did the photographs outside on a rainy night and then upstairs in the studio we did the Clockwork Orange look-a-likes that became the inner album sleeve."

The iconic image cover catapulted David Bowie to international stardom, creating an army of pop stars with spikey hair and edgy alter egos, a trend which later evolved into the glam rock movement for which Ziggy was the poster boy. This plaque pays homage to an enduring iconic creation of British Pop, meaning fans from all over the world can visit the place where the dynamic character of Ziggy was immortalised on camera.

The album was produced by Ken Scott who went on to work with Elton John, George Harrison, Supertramp and many more. The Spiders were Mick Ronson who sadly died of liver cancer in 1993 aged 46, Trevor Bolder on bass, Mick Woodmansey on drums, all accompanying David Bowie on guitar with Dana Gillespie on backing vocals.

Currently being created is the DB512 UK DAVID BOWIE CONVENTION DVD which will feature the live performances of Nick Fielding as Amannin Sane, Mudhoney (David Priest and John Morey with Garry Cutress), Funmilayo, Rob Hallward, and Lipstick Torpedo. Including the sound-checks, the presentation and the reading of David Bowie's message.

Sally Newhouse and Frank Toal filmed all of the performances. The DVD will only be available in PAL format 4:3 full screen, with both LPCM remastered audio and DTS 5.1 audio tracks.

If you were at the event and are able to supply any good quality photos or video footage of the bands, the fans, or anything from the event that I can use in digital slide-shows, please email me at - You will of course receive a credit on the DVD and a copy of the final product.

Lesley Lawson that's TWIGGY to you and I is interviwed by the Edmonton Sun in Canada about her new album. She is asked the inevitable question... what it was like to shoot the Pinups LP cover with DAVID BOWIE?

'It was brilliant. I was a huge fan; still am. Before we did that, he'd done a song called Drive-In Saturday, and there was a line where he said, 'She sighed like Twig the Wonder Kid.' I heard it on the radio and went, 'Oh my God, David Bowie just mentioned me in a song!' I rushed out to buy it because I thought maybe I'd misheard it.

Then about a year later, we shot that picture for the cover of English Vogue. We did it in Paris, and he was gorgeous and lovely and really nice. And then English Vogue decided in their great wisdom not to publish it because they said they couldn't put a man on the cover. And I said, 'You're crazy.' But they wouldn't do it. So David, said, 'It'll be a great cover for the Pin Ups album.' And as a result, it's had a much longer life.'

You can read the whole interview here

Some videos shot during the DB512 DAVID BOWIE UK CONVENTON last weekend in Bedford are now appearing online.

I believe a DVD of the full day is currently being created. In the meantime to whet your appetite check out some of the performances below. (More to follow).

There are also some of the projection screen animations created by Frank Toal especially for the event.

Up for grabs over on eBay is this DAVID BOWIE original UK metal acetate four-track on the RCA label, 12 inch two-sided.

The acetate was issued on 26th September 1972 with an RCA Victor white label. The catalogue number is CLE-106.

Even though it's a four track Special Radio EP, 'Lady Stardust' appears twice with different running times.

       1. Ziggy Stardust (3:04)
       2. Soul Love (3:14)
       3. Lady Stardust (1:03)
       4. Lady Stardust (3:14)
       5. Suffragette City (3:08)

At present the auction has 7 days remaining, with 5 bids so far and the current price is at £80 (GBP).

For more photographs and details see here

Update: The acetate sold for an impressive 1,250.00 GBP with twenty-four bids in total.

'Haddon Hall' by Najib is a French cartoon illustrated book that has just been published in the past few weeks in France.

Published by Gallimard Editions, it contains 144 pages in French (ISBN: 9782070642403).

I've had a bash and roughly translated the synopsis into English...

At dusk the Sixties, David Bowie, multifaceted artist unknown, moved with wife and friends into an old mansion called 'Haddon Hall', located in a London suburb of Beckenham. The whole company tries to live the hippie community ideal. Between ego conflicts, difficulties of everyday life and collective art projects, will be for better or for worse?...

If your French is up to scratch it's well worth buying this cute and funny publication, alternatively if your French is like mine, the illustrations are beautiful to look at. The third and final option is: if you have a beautiful French person to read it out to you it's even better!

You can purchase Haddon Hall: Quand David Inventa Bowie NOW.

Thanks to Eric for the heads up.

To commemorate 40 years since DAVID BOWIE appeared at The Toby Jug in Tolworth, a poster has been put up at the site of the venue on 10th February 2012 , it's still on view.

The banner was put up on the yellow hoarding that surrounds where The Toby Jug Public House once stood on the A3 at 1 Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surrey KT6 7LE, England.

The banner was created by Bowie enthusiast Chris Rosam.

From John Mather.

Back in July 2005 Westminster City Council published a report [download here] from the Director of Planning and City Development about the proposal for a Commemorative plaque to Ziggy Stardust (1972).

It's taken a while, but the spot where DAVID BOWIE stood on Heddon Street, London W1 is finally to see that request granted.

The Ziggy Stardust plaque will be unveiled on Tuesday 27th March and hosted by The Crown Estate at The Hub, 10 Heddon Street, W1 (opposite number 23).

Spandau Ballet's GARY KEMP is the guest who shall be doing the unveiling. Also David Shaw, Head of The Crown Estate Retail Portfolio will speak at the event and also a councillor from Westminster City.

Legendary producer and engineer KEN SCOTT who is about to have his forthcoming book 'Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust' by Ken Scott published by Alfred Music Publishing in May is to visit the Unversity of Alabama at Birmingham in the USA on March 5th-6th.

If you've ever wondered what it was like to work at London's Abbey Road Studios, just ask Ken Scott. He came up through the ranks at Abbey Road, doing sessions with acts such as The Beatles, Procol Harum, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. Later, he moved on to other studios and other artists, teaming with DAVID BOWIE, Elton John, Harry Nilsson, Supertramp and more.

Scott will meet with UAB students and give a 7:30 p.m. lecture on Monday in the university's Hulsey Recital Hall, 950 13th St. South.

The topic, 'From Abbey Road to Ziggy Stardust' is linked to the forthcoming book on Scott's life and career. Scott's partner for the book project, producer and author Bobby Owsinski, will be here, as well.

Admission to the lecture is free. It's part of the Jemison Visiting Professorship in the Humanities, presented by UAB's music department and college of arts and sciences.

More details and information can be found at the UAB website.

The long-awaited memoirs of legendary producer/engineer KEN SCOTT are scheuled to be published on Monday 28th May.

Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust by Ken Scott and Bobby Owsinski will be published by Alfred Music Publishing.

There's no question that producer/engineer Ken Scott holds a unique place in music history. As one of only five engineers on The Beatles records, Ken's work has left an indelible mark on hundreds of millions of fans with his skilled contributions to Magical Mystery Tour and The White Album. As producer of four David Bowie albums (including the seminal Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars) and two of the biggest-selling Supertramp albums (Crime of the Century and Crisis, What Crisis?), the sound Ken crafted has influenced several generations of music makers that continues to this day.

Those credits alone would be enough to set his name in the annals of music, but that's only a brief slice of what Ken has done. He has literally worked with a who's-who of classic rock acts, including Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procul Harum, Jeff Beck, Duran Duran, Harry Nilsson, The Rolling Stones, Lou Reed, America, Devo, Kansas, The Tubes and Missing Persons, among many others. Ken has also played a big part in the world of jazz, being the first to integrate a more powerful rock sound into the genre via albums by Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, Dixie Dregs, Jeff Beck and Stanley Clarke.

'Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust' shares the intimate memories of Ken Scott about his days working with not only the biggest acts in the world, but some of the most overlooked as well. Funny, poignant, and oh, so honest, Ken pulls no punches as he tells it as he saw it, as corroborated by a host of famous and not-so famous guests who were there as well.

With enough techy 'how we did it' to satisfy all but the geekiest engineers, Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust is a book for the fans, as Ken describes his time with the stars of the day as only a insider can. Plus, you'll be privy to several never-known-before stories and facts that will make the years worth the wait.

National press campaign planned around 40th anniversary of Ziggy Stardust release on 6th June 2012 includes never-before-told stories of The Beatles, David Bowie and Elton John. Many never-before-seen photographs.

You can pre-order Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust NOW.

You can also check out the Chapter Summary here

DAVID BOWIE graces the front cover of the March issue of RECORD COLLECTOR magazine (issue #399).

Scary Monsters: Better not mess with Major Tom... It was the record that David Bowie had wanted to be his Sgt Pepper - thought-out, mature, intelligent and rounded.

It propelled him into the 80s as a rock icon at the top of his game, but did it also mark the moment when the great icon began looking backward rather than forward?

Thomas Jerome Seabrook investigates the creation and aftermath of Scary Monsters... And Super Creeps.

Check out the Record Collector website @ recordcollectormag.com for more details.

Tomorrow sees the Off the Shelf Highlighting History Festival taking place in Sheffield, England and UK DAVID BOWIE fans might be interested to know that the 'The Man Who Sold The World - David Bowie and the 1970s ' talk is part of the event.

The festival starts on Thursday 2nd March through to Sunday 4th March.

The Man Who Sold the World - David Bowie and the 1970s talk is by the cultural historian PETER DOGGETT, who follows Bowie's career from 'Space Oddity' to 'Scary Monsters', tracing the way in which his music reflected and influenced the world, mixing brilliant musical critique, biographical insight and cultuiral amalysis to create a uinique study of a major artist and his times.

More details and information can be found over at shef.ac.uk website or on their Facebook Events page.

DAVID BOWIE graces the front cover of the April issue of UNCUT magazine in the UK.

For the new-look magazine, the front cover Ziggy Stardust studio shot was taken by Sukita from his forthcoming publication 'Speed of Life'.

Inside there are thirteen-pages entitled 'Stardust Memories' by Garry Mulholland... four decades on, the main players tell the whole story of Ziggy Stardust which includes eyewitness comments from Ken Scott, Lindsay Kemp, Trevor Bolder, Geoff MacCormack, Mike Garson, Terry Pastor, DA Pennebaker, Suzi Ronson and Lenny Kaye.

There are some wonderful unseen Sukita photographs including some captions from David himself taken from the forthcoming book.

Interestingly, DA Pennebaker states that the whole film crew from the July 3rd Hammersmith Odeon final show got an invite to the Cafe Royal aftershow party. The crew decided to film it. He still has it in his archive somewhere. Would he make it available? He says: "Maybe. I'd have to find it first!"

There is also confirmation of the forthcoming book 'Abbey Road To Ziggy Stardust' by Ken Scott which will be published in the Spring by Alfred Music Publishing.

There are also two full page advertisements for the Speed of Life book by David Bowie and Sukita published by Genesis Publications and the Uncut David Bowie Ultimate Music Guide app for the iPad.

Check out the Uncut magazine website @ uncut.co.uk

DAVID BOWIE along with Twig the Wonderkid graces the front cover of the March issue of Blitz magazine (issue 69) in Portugal.

The cover blurb states: 'The history of the great chameleon' [groan] and the twelve-page feature inside celebrates forty years of Ziggy Stardust and is on sale now priced at 2.90 euros.

Extract: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars came six months after Hunky Dory, giving the idea of a constant presence of Bowie which was becoming before the watchful eyes of their fans.

In 1987, Bowie described this step as difficult, reporting that it was difficult to explain his vision to the rest of the band: "We did not think the same way. It was like: for God's sake, let's go, let's try not to limit ourselves to just another rock band." But they were a great rock band. And embraced the idea so poorly realised that they could serve more girls.

If your Portuguese is as good as mine check out the blitz.aeious.pt website, where you can view more details and information.

Alternatively, view the English translation here

Released this month is 'hours...' The Collectors Edition by DAVID BOWIE - this exclusive limited edition CD is released on the Friday Music label.

Scheduled for release on Monday 26th March the CD contains five bonus tracks, an amazing ten-panel digi-pak graphics, song lyrics, retro Columbia Records Eye label and really great remastering.

The tracklisting runs as follows:

       01. Thursday's Child
       02. Something In The Air
       03. Survive
       04. If I'm Dreaming My Life
       05. Seven
       06. What's Really Happening?
       07. The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell
       08. New Angels Of Promise
       09. Brilliant Adventure
       10. The Dreamers
       11. Something In The Air [American Psycho Remix]
       12. Survive [Maruis Devries Mix]
       13. Seven [Demo]
       14. The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell [Stigmata Film Version]
       15. We All Go Through

You can pre-order 'hours...' / The Collectors Edition NOW.

Strange Fascination? - A Symposium on DAVID BOWIE.

What: It is 40 years since the release of the single 'Changes' by David Bowie. Following on from a number of very successful symposia on Morrissey, the University of Limerick, Ireland is convening a symposium later this year on the iconic performer David Bowie.

Organisers: Dr. Eoin Devereux (Department of Sociology, UL); Dr. Martin J. Power (Department of Sociology, UL) and Dr. Aileen Dillane (Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, UL).

When: October 2012.

Where: University of Limerick, IRELAND.

Theme: This is an open-call for papers. We invite scholars working across a range of disciplines and approaches (such as, cultural studies, ethnomusicology, gender studies, musicology, media studies, popular music studies, queer studies and sociology) to propose papers on David Bowie's lengthy creative career as a singer, songwriter, actor, artist, collaborator and producer. We are interested in papers which deal with the many facets of Bowies career as a singer and the multitude of styles he has embraced (e.g. r'n'b; drum and bass; dance etc). The symposium will assess the lasting legacy of Bowie's career.

Publication Plans: It is intended to publish an edited and refereed book based on a selection of the symposium's papers.

Deadline: Abstracts of 250 words should be emailed to

The closing date for abstracts is 14th April 2012.

DAVID BOWIE WONDERWORLD REMINDERS New book DAVID BOWIE STYLE by Danny Lewis to be published on 30th October by - pre-order NOW and receive a 10% discount. 400-page paperback version of THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD: DAVID BOWIE AND THE 70s by Peter Doggett to be published by Vintage on 4th October - pre-order NOW NOW and save 10%. Vinyl release of THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS 40th Anniversary Edition (includes DVD) to be released on 4th June by EMI - pre-order NOW. CD release of THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS 40th Anniversary Edition to be released on 4th June by EMI - pre-order NOW. ABBEY ROAD TO ZIGGY STARDUST memoirs by Ken Scott and Bobby Owsinski published on 28th May by Alfred Music Publishing - pre-order NOW. RECORD COLLECTOR magazine March 2012 issue features David on the front cover and Scary Monsters article. UNCUT magazine April 2012 issue features David Bowie on the front cover and inside a 13-page article - on sale NOW. DAVID BOWIE 'hours...' The Collectors Edition Exclusive Limited Edition CD released by Friday Music on 26th March - you can purchase NOW. DAVID BOWIE Original Album Classics Box Set featuring Outside, Earthling and 'hours...' released by Columbia/Sony Music on 9th January - you can purchase NOW for an incredible £6.99.             [Close]