If it's the 31st May wherever you are, check out a fabulous version of 'I CAN'T EXPLAIN' (Trident Studios version) recorded by DAVID BOWIE and his band on 24th June 1972 at Trident Studios in London.

This take appears on the forthcoming DAVID BOWIE - ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR! 5CD and Blu-ray Book set and 1LP Half-Speed Master alternative takes and mixes, both are released next month on 14th June.

Personnel: Vocals: David Bowie / 12 String Guitar: David Bowie / Guitar: Mick Ronson / Backing Vocals: Mick Ronson / Bass Guitar: Trevor Bolder / Drums: Woody Woodmansey / Producer: David Bowie / Mixer: Ken Scott / Engineer: Ted Sharp / Writer: Pete Townshend.

This version is completely different to the well known Pin Ups album track recorded the following year, as well as the lyrics below.

[Bowie talking]: "Go on. OK are we ready now? Right run 'em. Roll 'em. Yeah"

Got a feeling inside
   (Can't Explain)
A certain kind
   (Can't Explain)
I feel I'm cold
   (Can't Explain)
Down my soul
   (Can't Explain)

I said
   (Can't Explain)
I'm feeling good now yeah
   (Can't Explain)
Well I'm dizzy in the head and feeling blue
Things you say well maybe they're true
Funny feeling again and again
I know what it means, but

I can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I'm feeling blue

Can't explain
Y'hear what I say?
   (Can't Explain)

Dizzy in the head and I'm feeling sad
The things you say are making me mad
Get funny dreams again and again
I know what it means, but

I can't explain
I think it's love
Try to say it to you
When I'm feeling blue

I can't explain
Hear me one more time
   (Can't Explain)

I can't explain, no
Drive me out of my mind
   (Can't Explain)
I'm a worried guy now
   (Can't Explain)
But I can't explain

DAVID BOWIE - ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR! 5CD and Blu-ray Book set is released next month and is available to pre-order now!

(CLICK HERE to read the official press release).

• On this day, 20 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at The Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 2004...

• On this day, 22 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, New York City for The Robin Hood Foundation Auction in 2002. He performs 'America' solo to a backing track before the auction got underway...

• On this day, 37 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performs at Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It is the opening gig of 1987 The Glass Spider World Tour. The crowd sing 'Happy Birthday' for Duncan - [View news footage]...

• On this day, 41 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performs at the US Festival in Glen Helen Park, San Bernardino, California. This interrupts his Serious Moonlight Tour '83 and he reportedly receives a fee of $1.5 million dollars from Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak for his appearance - [View news footage]...

• On this day, 46 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed his Musikladen Extra TV Special in Bremen, Germany in 1978...

• On this day, 48 years ago, DAVID BOWIE hired out a casino in Montreux, Switzerland and narrates 'Jack and The Beanstalk' for his son Duncan and his friends in 1976...

• On this day, 51 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the New Theatre in Oxford, England in 1973...

Guitarist EARL SLICK has written his memoir and it's finally published today.

Titled Guitar and written with Jeff Slate, this 400-page book is available in both hardback and Kindle.

This rollicking rock 'n' roll memoir of the last 50 years of rock history, from DAVID BOWIE's longest serving lead guitarist and legendary sideman, Earl Slick.

He's played with everyone from John Lennon to the New York Dolls - and he's got the stories to prove it.

Earl Slick was barely out of his teens when David Bowie hired him to play guitar on the ground-breaking 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. It marked the beginning of a relationship that would endure through thick and thin for the next forty years. Gracing classic albums like Young Americans, Station To Station and the 2013 comeback, The Next Day, Slick played on the tour that followed Bowie's smash hit Let's Dance album and was at his side for the epic Glastonbury show in 2000.

But it wasn't just Bowie. The young guitarist was in John Lennon's band at the time of the former Beatle's tragic murder. Other collaborations read like a roll call of rock 'n' roll royalty including Mick Jagger, The Cure, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Ian Hunter, David Coverdale and Eric Clapton. And in the '80s he became an MTV star in his own right with the success of Phantom, Rocker and Slick.

Through it all he lived the rock 'n' roll life to the hilt. Until it nearly killed him.

One of rock's great sidemen, Earl Slick was in the room when music history was made. Guitar takes us there, shining a light on superstars like Bowie and Lennon, while recounting the extraordinary story of the boy from New York City who became a real life Johnny B. Goode.

You can purchase GUITAR now!

Over on the MAINMAN website: Podcast episode #66 is now available...

You can listen to the podcast now - in this episode TONY DEFRIES recalls The Year of The Diamond Dog.

"Diamond Dogs was me using everything I had learned since Hunky Dory to create a world where my imagination was allowed to flow completely freely, in search of a way to interpret George Orwell's dystopian vision and William S Burroughs's unique language" - David Bowie, 2001.

The MainMan group of companies was a first of its kind rights management organisation formed by entrepreneur and impresario Tony Defries in 1972, that supported and helped to develop the careers of various artistes including David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, Mick Ronson, Mott The Hoople, Ian Hunter, Mick Ralphs, Dana Gillespie, Amanda Lear, Wayne/Jayne County, John Cougar Mellencamp and many others.

MainMan official social media accounts: Website | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube Channel | Instagram

SISTER RAY RECORDS are very excited to welcome legendary singer/songwriter DANA GILLESPIE to their shop at 5:30pm on Thursday 30th May.

She will be signing copies of her new covers album First Love and the 7" single taken from the album, her fantastic version of Morrissey's 'Spent The Day In Bed'.

You can pre-order your copy from Sister Ray to guarantee entry to the signing. For those attending simply select 'pick up in store' to grab your copy at the shop for Dana to sign for you.

If you would like a personalised signed copy but cannot make it to the shop on the day, Dana will sign all pre-ordered copies - whether you need it shipped out or to collect at a later date.

Venue: Sister Ray - 75 Berwick Street, Soho, London W1F 8TG - [Directions].

Singer-songwriter Dana Gillespie, with over 70 albums to her credit in a career spanning six decades, adds a new chapter with the release of her stunning new album 'First Love' on 31st May through Fretsore Records. While 'First Love' is a deeply personal album, it marks a shift for Dana who teams up with close friends Marc Almond and Tris Penna who together produced the album.

Dana's new album - which includes DAVID BOWIE's 'Can You Hear Me' - which we took as inspiration from the 'Taking It Right' Olympic try-outs.

Born in 1949 and raised in London in an era of unrivalled experimentation and artistic rebellion, Dana began her recording career at 15 with Pye Records. Her journey in entertainment is marked by significant milestones, including collaborations with icons such as David Bowie, Bob Dylan and Elton John.

A project of refined integrity, recordings including the first single 'Spent The Day In Bed' (a Morrissey song) showcase a diversity of influences that only those who have lived the experience could so masterfully convey.

From Tris Penna.

Released today for the 50th Anniversary of DIAMOND DOGS by BOWIE there are two Limited Edition Vinyl releases.

There is the Limited Edition Half-Speed and the Picture Disc LP, pressed from the same master.

This new pressing of Diamond Dogs was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer.

The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.

The writing of the album was influenced by Bowie not being able to secure the rights for a theatrical production of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' novel and the work of William S. Burroughs, whom Bowie had interviewed for Rolling Stone magazine in November 1973.

The songs on the album created an urban apocalyptic scenario with Bowie appearing on the cover as a controversial half-man, half-dog hybrid painted by the Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, utilising photographs by the world-renowned photographer Terry O'Neill.

Since its release, tracks from Diamond Dogs have been covered by artists such as Beck, Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Joan As Police Woman, Dead Or Alive and The Struts.

The tracklisting runs as follows:

SIDE ONE:
       Future Legend
       Diamond Dogs
       Sweet Thing
       Candidate
       Sweet Thing (Reprise)
       Rebel Rebel

SIDE TWO:
       Rock 'n' Roll With Me
       We Are The Dead
       1984
       Big Brother
       Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family

Both the 50th Anniversary Half-Speed Master and the Picture Disc Limited Edition Vinyl LPs are available to purchase NOW!

• On this day, 17 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed a section of 'Pug Nosed Face' and the audience joined in with an impromptu sing-a-long. He then introduced comedian RICKY GERVAIS onto the stage at Madison Square Garden, New York for the finale of the H&M High Line Festival in 2007.

Ricky said to the audience that because he was introduced by David singing that song - that he could already imagine the puns that would follow. His favourites being: 'The Thin White Duke brings out the Fat White Duck,' 'Piggy Stardust' and 'Chunky Dory'.

After the sold-out Gervais show at Madison Square Garden, David then went on to check out THE SECRET MACHINES at the High Line Ballroom.

It was initially reported that David would be curating and performing at the festival, but on 22nd January 2007 it was announced that: "due to ongoing work on a new project that it will not be possible for him to perform. He will however continue to curate the event alongside producers David Binder and Josh Wood."

The festival ran for 11 days from 9th May to 19th May, with artist performances at various venues around New York including Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden and Irving Plaza.

Invited performers included: Air, Arcade Fire, Bang On A Can, Claude Cahun, Daniel Johnston, Deerhoof, Dirty Projectors, Ken Nordine, Laurie Anderson, Laurie McLeod, Legendary Stardust Cowboy, Meow Meow, Mike Garson, Ricky Gervais, Robert Stillman's Horses, Spanish Film Retrospective, The Polyphonic Spree, The Secret Machines and many more.

Other events included: High Line Neighborhood Walking Tours, High Line Design Preview and 'David Bowie's Ten Favourite Latin American and Spanish Films From The Last 100 Years' - [More details].

• On this day, 41 years ago, DAVID BOWIE played warm-up show at Vorst - Forest Nationaal in Brussels, Belgium in 1983 as part of his Serious Moonlight Tour '83 Tour...

• On this day, 46 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at Grugahalle, in Essen, Germany during his 1978 World Tour...

• On this day, 48 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed the closing gig of his 'On Stage' tour at the Pavillion in Paris, France in 1976...

• On this day, 50 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed two shows at the Green's Playhouse in Glasgow, Scotland during his 1973 UK Tour...

• Happy Birthday wishes to RICK WAKEMAN, who as you know played piano on DAVID BOWIE's Hunky Dory album released in 1971...

• On this day, 55 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the newly named Beckenham Arts Lab at The Three Tuns Public House, in Beckenham in 1969...

• On this day, 61 years ago, THE KONRADS performed at the Hillsiders Youth Club, Womens' Institute Hall, in Biggin Hill, Westerham in 1963... at the Hillsiders Youth Club show, DAVID JONES sang Joe Brown's 'A Picture Of You' and Bruce Chanel's 'Hey Baby'. George Underwood took the vocals on 'It's Only Make Believe' and 'A Night At Daddy Gees'. Mrs Orme, set up The Hillsiders Youth Club which met every Friday in the Womens' Institute Hall at 4 Lebanon Gardens, Biggin Hill in Westerham. It got a lot of support from the local youth and also from those of Westerham.

16th May 2024 - London - Parlophone Records is proud to announce the first ever Dolby Atmos spatial audio version of DAVID BOWIE's THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS is making its debut in Dolby Atmos spatial audio. The new mix of the album will be available on Blu-ray Audio and streaming services on 6th September.

The Blu-ray audio disc of THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS features four iterations of this timeless album: 2024 Dolby Atmos mix, 2024 Stereo Mix (96 khz / 24-bit pcm), original 1972 Stereo Mix - 2012 remaster (192 khz / 24-bit pcm), original 1972 Stereo Mix - 2012 remaster (48 khz / 24-bit pcm). The Atmos version of the album was mixed by Emre Ramazanoglu and Ken Scott at RAK Studios, London.

Of this new Dolby Atmos mix the album's co-producer, Ken Scott says "You're in there with the act, with David. He was so theatrical I think being able to put him into an immersive place makes this a really good choice for an Atmos mix. My whole philosophy with this has been to make it more like a live experience. And I've even got him moving about the stage a little towards the end, the way he would have in real life. Hopefully, it just feels as if you're in the theatre with this amazing show going on."

June 14th sees the release of DAVID BOWIE ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR!, a 5CD and 1 Blu-ray Audio set chronicling David Bowie's journey through the creation of the Ziggy Stardust character and the recording of the iconic THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album. ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR!, contains 29 unreleased tracks, covers early songwriting demos, recordings from David's band, The Arnold Corns, rehearsals at Bowie's then-home, Haddon Hall, BBC sessions, singles, live performances, plus outtakes and alternative versions from the original album recording sessions, which have been newly mixed by original album co-producer, Ken Scott.

THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS is the breakthrough album that catapulted David Bowie into the international spotlight. Over the past 50 years it has remained a touchstone record, growing in stature with each passing year. It is now ingrained in popular culture, its undeniable influence spanning musicians from Arcade Fire to Lady Gaga, to Harry Styles's androgynous fashion sense to Noel Fielding's shirts on The Great British Bake-Off to Ziggy make-up challenges on Tik-Tok. David Bowie laid to rest the Ziggy Stardust persona in July 1973 at his infamous last show with the Spiders From Mars at London's Hammersmith Odeon, but Ziggy's impact reverberates to this day.

DAVID BOWIE
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
BLU-RAY AUDIO

       Five Years - 4:42
       Soul Love - 3:34
       Moonage Daydream - 4:40
       Starman - 4:10
       It Ain't Easy - 2:58
       Lady Stardust - 3:22
       Star - 2:47
       Hang On To Yourself - 2:40
       Ziggy Stardust - 3:13
       Suffragette City - 3:25
       Rock 'n' Roll Suicide - 2.58

2024 DOLBY ATMOS MIX
2024 STEREO MIX (96 KHZ / 24-BIT PCM)
ORIGINAL 1972 STEREO MIX - 2012 REMASTER (192 KHZ / 24-BIT PCM)
ORIGINAL 1972 STEREO MIX - 2012 REMASTER (48 KHZ / 24-BIT PCM)

The Dolby Atmos spatial audio version of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars (Blu-ray Audio) is released on 6th September and is available to pre-order NOW!

Incredibly sad news to read about the passing of DAVID SANBORN on 12th May in New York, aged seventy-eight.

As you know, David played alto saxophone and flute on DAVID BOWIE's 'David Live' and 'Young Americans' albums, as well as being a touring member of 'The Year of The Diamond Dogs' tour in 1974.

The announcement posted on his official website stated:

'It is with sad and heavy hearts that we convey to you the loss of internationally renowned, 6 time Grammy Award-winning, saxophonist, David Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn passed Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications.

Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently. Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025.

David Sanborn was a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music. It has been said that he "put the saxophone back into Rock 'n Roll."

David Sanborn (born 30th July 1945 - 12th May 2024) - rest in peace.

Below is the legendary performance of 'Young Americans' on The Dick Cavett Show, filmed at ABC Studios, New York, on 2nd November 1974. Season 9, Episode 7 aired on 5th December 1974.

On this day, 54 years ago, DAVID BOWIE was awarded an Ivor Novello Award for 'Space Oddity' as Best Original Song at the Musical Festival '70 show at The Talk of The Town, London in 1970.

He performed 'Space Oddity' accompanied by the Les Reed Orchestra. The event was transmitted live via satellite to over 60 closed-circuit outlets in America, including New York's Carnegie Hall. It was also seen in France, Spain, Australia, Holland and Venezuela, but not Britain, where it was broadcast live on Radio One and Two at 10pm-11.30pm.

You can watch the performance below...

The limited edition hardcover version of BOWIE ODYSSEY 74 by SIMON GODDARD, is scheduled for publication on 11th June, with the paperback version available today 9th May.

The fifth in this series, contains 192-pages and both are available to purchase now.

Book by book, year by year, the ultimate literary trip through Bowie's greatest decade. This limited edition, published in hardback, features an alternative cover design.

Simon Goddard's electric ride through Bowie's greatest decade reaches the halfway mark with this fifth instalment. Wickedly funny and shockingly tragic, Bowie Odyssey 74 is the story of one man trying to find his soul in a world that's gone to the devil.

Darkness looms in 1974. It could be the winter energy crisis. It could be The Exorcist. Or it could be the shock that Britain's biggest pop star, David Bowie, is about to leave its shores for good.

Bidding the corpse of glam, Ziggy's haircut, and loyal 'Bowietania' farewell, the plan is to storm North America with his highly theatrical Diamond Dogs tour. But by opening night he's already wishing he was Barry White instead. Then there's that nasty sniff he can't get rid of. And that fly in his milk. And the suspicion that, much like every other teen idol named David, fame is driving him completely out of his mind...

Check out the official visualiser video for Lady Stardust (Take 1 Alternative Version) by DAVID BOWIE, taken from the upcoming Rock 'n' Roll Star! set.

The Rock 'n' Roll Star! set is released next month on 14th June and is available to pre-order now!

So far, on its opening week in various official album charts around the world, DAVID BOWIE's RSD 2024 release 'Waiting In The Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth)' has achieved the following positions:

UK Official Albums Chart Top 100 - #39
UK Official Vinyl Albums - #6
UK Official Vinyl Record Store - #6
UK Official Albums Sales - #10
UK Official Albums Physical - #10
UK Official Albums Update - #13

France SNEP Top Albums Physiques - #137
Denmark Hitlisten Vinyl Chart - #9
Hungary Top 40 Chart (Physical) #7 / #25
Netherlands Vinyl 33 Chart - #12
Scotland Official Albums Chart - #16
Spain Top 100 Vinyl - #84
Sweden Veckolista Vinyl - #8

For those of you who use FACEBOOK - check out the DAVID BOWIE WONDERWORLD Group.

Feel free to join in with the other 96,300 plus members, add yourself and invite your Bowie fan friends. You never know what might get posted, or who you might meet...

Guitarist EARL SLICK has written his memoir and it's published at the end of this month on 30th May.

Titled Guitar it has been written with Jeff Slate, this 400-page book will be available in both hardback and Kindle.

Pre-order this rollicking rock 'n' roll memoir of the last 50 years of rock history, from DAVID BOWIE's longest serving lead guitarist and legendary sideman, Earl Slick.

He's played with everyone from John Lennon to the New York Dolls - and he's got the stories to prove it.

Earl Slick was barely out of his teens when David Bowie hired him to play guitar on the ground-breaking 1974 Diamond Dogs tour. It marked the beginning of a relationship that would endure through thick and thin for the next forty years. Gracing classic albums like Young Americans, Station To Station and the 2013 comeback, The Next Day, Slick played on the tour that followed Bowie's smash hit Let's Dance album and was at his side for the epic Glastonbury show in 2000.

But it wasn't just Bowie. The young guitarist was in John Lennon's band at the time of the former Beatle's tragic murder. Other collaborations read like a roll call of rock 'n' roll royalty including Mick Jagger, The Cure, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Buddy Guy, Ian Hunter, David Coverdale and Eric Clapton. And in the '80s he became an MTV star in his own right with the success of Phantom, Rocker and Slick.

Through it all he lived the rock 'n' roll life to the hilt. Until it nearly killed him.

One of rock's great sidemen, Earl Slick was in the room when music history was made. Guitar takes us there, shining a light on superstars like Bowie and Lennon, while recounting the extraordinary story of the boy from New York City who became a real life Johnny B. Goode.

You can pre-order GUITAR now!

• DAVID BOWIE: THE COLLECTOR by NICK SMART, paperback, 244-pages - to be published on 21st November - more details

• DAVID BOWIE: ROCK 'N' ROLL CHAMELEON by MARTIN POPOFF, hardcover and Kindle, 208-pages - to be published on 3rd October - more details

• COLLABORATION: DAVID BOWIE 1991-2007 by FRANK OCKENFELS3, hardcover, 256-pages - to be published on 9th September - more details

• First ever Dolby Atmos spatial audio version of THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS (Blu-ray Audio) to be released on 6th September - more details

• THE DAVID BOWIE WORLD FAN CONVENTION 2024 in Liverpool on 26th-28th July - tickets on sale now via bowieconvention.com

• DAVID BOWIE - ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR! 5CD and Blu-ray Book set - to be released on 14th June - more details

• DAVID BOWIE - ROCK 'N' ROLL STAR! 1LP Half-Speed Master alternative takes and mixes - to be released on 14th June - more details

• BOWIE ODYSSEY 74 by SIMON GODDARD, limited edition hardcover, 192-pages - to be published on 11th June - more details

• Memoir I WAS THERE: Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll by ALAN EDWARDS, hardcover and Kindle, 320-pages - to be published on 6th June - more details

• Guitarist EARL SLICK is appearing at Rough Trade East, London E1 on 4th June at 7.00pm for an in-store conversation and book signing - more details

Memoir GUITAR by EARL SLICK with JEFF SLATE, hardcover and Kindle, 400-pages - published on 30th May - more details

BOWIE - DIAMOND DOGS 50th Anniversary Limited Edition Vinyl Half-Speed Master LP and Picture Disc LP released on 24th May - more details

BOWIE ODYSSEY 74 by SIMON GODDARD, paperback, 192-pages - published on 9th May - more details

BOWIE ACOUSTIC over 30 of David Bowie's greatest songs for acoustic guitar. (Tab and standard notation), softback, 176-pages - published on 17th April - more details

Memoir ME AND MR. JONES: MY LIFE WITH DAVID BOWIE AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS by SUZI RONSON hardcover, 320-pages - published on 4th April - more details

Exclusive DAVID BOWIE lino-cut print available to PURCHASE - don't hang around, these are ALL the remaining original left-over stock from 40 years ago, once they've gone, they've gone!