During yesterday's live online chat, DAVID BOWIE was asked about the release of any material he and PLACEBO had recently done.

Rednik: "Are we gonna see something get released from PlaceboWIE then?"

David: "Yeah very definitely. As you well know, we did some recording a few weeks ago and that should be released within the next few weeks."

David Bowie and Placebo spent the day in a New York studio (28th March) recording a new song together, plus their live version of '20th Century Boy' from The Brit Awards and also the encore at Placebo's NY Irving Plaza, 20th Century Boy and 'Without You I'm Nothing' - so take your pick from those.

This week's NME has MARK E. SMITH naming the tunes that made him a man!

SONG YOU FELL IN LOVE TO:
'STATION TO STATION' - DAVID BOWIE

"With my mother's cooking? I don't know. Oh, with a girl. Probably 'Station To Station' by Dave Bowie. (Dissolves into fits of laughter) I always loved Dave Bowie. I think people underestimate Dave Bowie's influence on the British music scene. What would we have done without Dave Bowie? I remember going from station to station and missing a train at one point and it sums it all up for me. I met a girl at the train station and it brings it all back. I'm lying."

On Tuesday, April 27th at 10:00 p.m. (EST), 7:00 p.m. (PST), 3:00 a.m. (GMT) (28th) BowieNet will proudly bring you a live chat with DAVID BOWIE.

The CDNOW Interview: Film makers D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus have worked with Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, DAVID BOWIE, The Who and many other artists who helped define the rock era. Do they have some stories for you!

EXCERPT:
Q: Why did you film Bowie's last Ziggy Stardust concert?

Pennebaker: "Well, he is incredible to watch. I mean, I could see myself getting a hard-on just looking at him sometimes, which is ridiculous. But I think that the reason we made it was because RCA said, we have this guy and he's going to do a concert, maybe the last one he's going to do, and you've got to go make a film."

"I thought they said Bolan. I thought it was Marc Bolan I was going to do. And I was very excited because I really dug glitter rock. So I kind of set off with the wrong guy in mind. But I've spent time with Bowie, and I've seen him go into his head. He just disappears. He's like Dylan. He has someplace where it's just all music, and he's all alone."

Thomas Dolby's MP3 player allows listeners to remix David Bowie

Wasn't this supposed to be an interactive revolution? Sure, there are plenty of places to hear music online, but few where fans are able to manipulate the sound pouring forth from their computer - at least beyond volume and tone. To date, it's basically been a sort of jukebox phenomenon, albeit without the quarters. Luckily, a few innovators noticed the void, including Thomas Dolby, whose company recently released a free downloadable music player called Beatnik 2.0. Not only does this pump up the volume on anticipating sites, it also plays MP3s and, here's the kicker, it lets artists create interactive online songs. Dolby's first guinea pig: David Bowie's classic "Fame."

If you visit Beatnik.com (formerly Headspace) or DavidBowie.com, you can follow the links to the "Interactive Fame Remix." First, you have to download and install the software. Then you launch the online application, wait about two minutes for the program to load (that was the waiting time on a 56K connection), and you're ready to remix. With just a few clicks, you'll be controlling how and when drums, bass, guitar, wah-wah, vocals and various lyrics fade in and out of the song. Even people with no rhythm whatsoever won't sound bad since the changes take effect at the start of the next measure. There's no way to screw it up. It's far more engaging than it sounds. And Bowie, who's always a step ahead of the pack when it comes to embracing new technology, apparently thinks it's pretty cool, too.

"He's very involved," says Dolby. "And he gets very psyched about stuff that's going on with his Web site. He sometimes lurks around newsgroups under a pseudonym. As an artist, the Web is a fantastic place to get close to your fans and mingle among them. It's unique that way."

Dolby has been Bowie's occasional go-to guy since 1985. "He called me about ten days before Live Aid and said that he didn't have a band," Dolby explains. "He asked me if I could help him get the right musicians together. I didn't have a history with him before this, other than adoring him as a teenager and staying out way too late at his concerts with makeup all over my face. But it was an unbelievable experience."

The relationship ended almost as soon as it started. But when Bowie's techno-savvy son Duncan suggested that dad contact Dolby again, the team spirit picked up right where it left off. "In January, we came up with this idea of going back to one of his older tracks and putting a Web page together that would let users come in and mess around with it," says Dolby. "It was really a collaborative idea. I suggested 'Fame' because it's very suitable for this kind of treatment. It's groove-based so you can mix and match the different riffs and vocals."

Dolby is quick to note that the company is not in the business of developing Web sites for others, but he does hope that artists will adopt the technology and start producing more musical pages. It doesn't require more than about $50 and a little curiosity. "We're already seeing this with early adopters at a grassroots level," says Dolby. "And we provide for them a gallery at our site where we give them free space to put up their own interactive music." How easy is it? Dolby created the "Fame" remix site on his laptop during a plane ride to London. "And I can't write a line of code," he adds.

The buzz around MP3 has undoubtedly helped Beatnik, both conceptually and financially. "MP3 has validated the Internet as a vehicle for the delivery of digital music," Dolby says, "and we're shortly to announce a multi million dollar investment in Beatnik. I think MP3 is partly responsible for that." Meanwhile, MTV.com will soon launch its own Beatnik application.

If Beatnik is a success, not only will we everyday Web surfers be interacting with songs online, we'll be ushering in a whole new way to experience the Web. "I think in a couple of years we'll look back and see that 1999 was still the silent movie era of the Web," Dolby explains. "And now we've moved on to the talkies."

Join the UltraStar crew for an informal chat Monday, April 26th at 9:00 p.m. EST, 6:00 p.m. (PST), 3:00 a.m. (24th) GMT.

They want to hear your thoughts and ideas about any BowieNet issues. Your feedback is taken seriously, so be part of the community and let your voice be heard. They will use the open chat forum (no moderation) for this one.

On Tuesday, April 27th at 10:00 p.m. (EST), 7:00 p.m. (PST), 3:00 a.m. (GMT) (28th) BowieNet will proudly bring you a live chat with DAVID BOWIE.

So is this just a smartly-dressed gangster - or DAVID BOWIE?... Following on from the David Bowie look-a-like character Hawk Manson who features in Fighting Force 64 from EIDOS, well bugger me here comes yet another look-a-like.

GTA London is the latest expansion pack for fans of the original Grand Theft Auto game. The game is set in London at the end of the 60s - a time when London was apparently really swinging. If you thought that decade was a peaceful time, full of long-haired lovers, hippies, space oddities, mind-expanding drugs and music that was recorded backwards, then think again. It was a time of stealing cars, drug deals, hit-and-runs, drive-by-shootings and breaking the speed limit, or at least it is if you're playing Grand Theft Auto London.

Priced at £19.99 - and yes you do need the original game to play it, developed for the PC and PlayStation.... oh by the way... you want yet another coincidence?... it's made by Rockstar Games!

Press News: Gathering of Developers announced today it will publish the Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 mission pack for the PC. The mission pack will include Grand Theft Auto, which has sold more than 1.6 million copies on PC and PlayStation worldwide. The mission pack features all of Grand Theft Auto's great gameplay souped-up with groovy attitude, hip music and tongue-in-cheek action set in London in the late 60's. Developed by Rockstar Games, the PC game will cruise into stores nationwide in Spring 1999 for $29.95.

Overview: For the past year there's been a crimewave in major American cities, now the criminal element has reached our capital. Yeah baby!

The game still follows the same simple idea: Contact local gangs, run errands for them to earn money and respect, then be promoted to bigger crimes. The game is built around the idea of stealing cars; different cars are required for different jobs, and they all drive very differently. Not only are there fast cars to steal, but less desirable old bangers, too. Thirty-two new missions have been squeezed into the game, most of which have to be seen to be believed.

Unlike most driving games, GTA London isn't restricted to certain streets - you can drive anywhere in the entire city. The beauty about the game is that not only does it give you a brand new city to drive around, but nearly everything has been reworked to lend the game a London feel. From the streets themselves - you can now drive on the left - and the sounds, buildings, music, and of course - cars. The music has been taken from Italian movies of the Sixties and some classic dub by The Upsetters, and is much better than the original game provided you like the sort of thing.

So what of these new cars? Well there's 30 new models, and there are plenty of favourites from the original GTA. And as you'd expect, the majority of them are British. The first new car you'll probably spot is a famous black cab, after that the most common are the Mini, Ford Capri (spelt Crapi!), and of course a double decker bus. There's also lots of Land Rovers, Reliant Robins, Morris Minors and E-Type Jags. Keep an eye out for the very fast Aston Martin. There's even a Union Jack-painted Jag in there, the preferred choice of none other than Austin Powers. Sadly, the emergency services of police cars, fire engines and ambulances haven't been updated since the original, which means there's usually lots of American police cars chasing you.

The final icing on the cake to lend the game a London feel are the levels themselves. They'll have you whizzing back-and-forth between Hyde Park, Brixton, Angel and Soho. You'll find yourself stealing cars for bank jobs, being a couriers for a hot painting, taking hot a gang of mods, and jumping between building on a scooter full of drugs. There's also a mission where you steal gold bullion and race off in the back of a bunch of Minis (wonder where that idea came from). Famous landmarks also play a part, from the Tower Of London to Westminster, and Buckingham Palace, you'll be dealing with dodgy MPs, royalty and plenty of tourists, what more could you want?

The EIDOS N64 game FIGHTING FORCE 64 which features Hawk Manson the DAVID BOWIE look-a-like has just been released in the USA.

David himself mentioned in his journal (28th Aug 1998): "Rumour: Because of a visit Iman, Duncan and I made to Eidos a month or so ago I am somehow connected with the Nintendo 64 game Fighting Force 64. No. How would I have a connection to that skinny runt Hawk Manson?"

Look at the pictures and make up your own minds.

DAVID BOWIE will be the Commencement speaker at Berklee College of Music in Boston on May 7th 1999. The event will be webcast on Real Audio.

Details can be found on their web site at: http://www.berklee.edu/html/ab_comm99.html

Watch and listen on the Web as Berklee students pay tribute to David Bowie and Wayne Shorter at this year's Berklee Commencement Concert. Bowie and Shorter will be in the audience to hear the students' tribute, and both will speak during the next day's commencement ceremony. To see and hear the concert, you must have a minimum Internet connection of 28.8 Kbps, a version of RealPlayer®, and a World Wide Web Browser supported by RealPlayer. You can download RealPlayer for free at the RealNetworks Web site. If you have any questions about downloading or using RealPlayer, read the RealPlayer FAQ. For best results, use RealPlayer G2.

NEWS RELEASE:

Berklee Students Will Pay Tribute to David Bowie and Wayne Shorter at 1999 Graduation

Two musicians whose compositions and performances are central to the modern eras of rock and jazz will receive honorary doctor of music degrees at Berklee College of Music. Wayne Shorter and David Bowie will be honored at Berklee's 1999 Commencement, Saturday, May 8, at the Hynes Convention Center, Boston. Bowie will be principal speaker to more than 600 graduates and 3,000 guests. Shorter will also address the graduates.

On commencement eve, at the Berklee Performance Center, students will present a concert tribute to the honorees, performing selections from their award-winning careers. The concert will be broadcast live, on Friday, May 7, at 7:30 p.m. EDT, on the Berklee Web site. Please bookmark the page and return for the live feed on commencement eve.

David Bowie, as a musician, performer and songwriter, has continually reinvented himself and his art at a seemingly breakneck speed. With complete disregard for loyalty to any musical style, he has often combined the most unlikely forms of music with end-of-the-millennium subject matter, as the rock world's first post-modernist star. From his late '60s breakout hit, 'Space Oddity', to Ziggy Stardust, to his collaborations with Brian Eno, to his many film roles, to his most recent 'Earthling' disc and BowieNet Internet portal, Bowie's vision and body of work have been consistently challenging, prescient and affecting.

Wayne Shorter is one of the most revered instrumentalists and composers in all of modern jazz. He has been central to some of the most important groups led by Art Blakey and Miles Davis, transforming hard-bop with the former, and playing a central role as Davis moved his second great quintet through long, post-bop forms into jazz-rock and electronics. Shorter's own co-founding of Weather Report, with Joe Zawinul '59 H'91, took jazz-rock in a new direction, while securing his place in the pantheon with the group's innovation and worldwide commercial success. Shorter's recent projects, with Herbie Hancock and his own groups, alternately explore inner landscapes and funky, electronic sounds.

Shorter and Bowie will join such Berklee honorary doctorate recipients as Duke Ellington, B.B. King, Patti LaBelle, Sting, James Taylor, Pat Metheny, Dizzy Gillespie, Carly Simon, Billy Joel, Bonnie Raitt, and alumnus Quincy Jones.

"My most recent most treasured memory was being onstage at the Brit Awards with DAVID BOWIE, the two of us playing guitar and singing in harmony with each other - that was a real 'pinch me, I'm dreaming' situation. We weren't too bad, we were in key at least - but we could never really get the lyrics right. We were doing '20th Century Boy'. We had a f***ing laugh.