MAY 1998 - DAVID BOWIE NEWS
THE BIRTH OF ZIGGY
30th May 1998
The June issue of RECORD COLLECTOR magazine features on the cover BOWIE: THE BIRTH OF ZIGGY.
Inside is a six page article entitled "The Album That Killed The 60s" by Mark Paytress.
NEW ZIGGY STARDUST BOOK
30th May 1998
MARK PAYTRESS'S full length appraisal of ZIGGY STARDUST is published next month as part of Schirmer Books' Classic Albums series, available via Prentice Hall International.
RATS CD RELEASED
30th May 1998
The Rise & Fall Of Bernie Gripplestone & The Rats From Hull.
Cat. No. SJPCD022 on the Angel Air label.
If the name THE RATS is vaguely familiar it is because of the linking of the progress of one DAVID BOWIE, whose liaison with ex-Rats guitarist MICK RONSON in the early 70's proved to be the musical springboard for a career of epic proportions and incalculable influence on pop/rock music as we know it today.
Sadly Ronson's tragic death in 1993 served to emphasise just how little is known about the guitarists formative years both with the Rats and his previous bands. This first time release on CD of tracks in the main recorded from 1964 to 1969 attempts to rectify that and also included the first release of three bonus tracks recorded during 1998 with BENNY MARSHALL on vocals, JOHN CAMBRIDGE on drums and KEITH (CHED) CHEESEMAN on lead guitar.
Check out the web site at www.angelair.force9.co.uk
GEORGE DOES A BOWIE!
28th May 1998
BOY GEORGE appeared on this week's BEN ELTON show on BBC1 and performed a rousing version of 'Suffragette City'!
NEW BOWIE NEWSLETTER
25th May 1998
ANDREW STEWART is producing a new free DAVID BOWIE newsletter. To subscribe, send an email to bowie_news@hotmail.com with the word "Subscribe" as the subject. Andy expects to send out a new edition of the newsletter every 2-4 weeks.
NEW BOWIE FUN TRACK
24th May 1998
Apparently a new DAVID BOWIE song, 'FUN' will be featured on the live album recorded during his 1997 Earthling tour. Remixes of the song by DANNY SABER and DILLINJA will be included as bonus tracks on the album, due in the autumn.
Also featured are alternative versions of 'Battle For Britain' and 'Never Been To Oxford Town'.
STYLOROUGE FEATURE
24th May 1998
COMPUTER ARTS - Issue 19 - June.
Stylorouge: Record covers and more get "appropriate problem-solving" from a teenage thirty-something socialist and his band of creatives...
Over the last 17 years, the output from Stylorouge has been prolific: hundreds of records - vinyl at first, and now mainly CD - sleeves, inners, posters, band logos and identities, and print adverts.
Like many of his peers, frontman, founder and proprietor Rob O'Connor came to adopt the Mac as his major creative tool, and the "appropriate" use of technology has continued, with the latest area of specialisation being video. Directing pop promos, idents and commercials is a new form of expression, and the video showreel now perfectly compliments the heavyweight print portfolio.
BOWIE & COMPUTERS
Like the majority of professional graphic design outfits, Stylorouge is set up with Macs - yet some of Stylorouge's work hardly involves a computer at all. A sleeve for a Japanese artist was simply a great photograph taken by a respected photographer: "It was scanned in from a trannie, and has been positioned on a QuarkXPress grid" says O'Connor, nonchalantly referring to the computer-based processes that are taken for granted in each job. "But the image itself hasn't been created or adapted on a computer - it's merely part of the process of creating a cardboard wallet."
Designing the sleeve for David Bowie's new Best of... 1969-74 compilation was a challenge. "We were so short of images, and this is the first of a series," explains O'Connor. "We had to resort to shooting material from video screens and treating that in Photoshop to make them all look cohesive. They're all from different promos or shoots, and all originally had their own styles or themes. It's mainly about colour, blurring and resolution of images, and presenting them in sympathetic way to make them look part of a cohesive package."
In this case the constraints on images came about because of a corporate deal. The 'problem' was 'solved' because some shots from the same photo session as the compilation's main cover image were unearthed. "These images had a distinct look, with the make-up and so on," says O'Connor, "but it was also a set of image that had never made their way on to a record cover at the time." A fated decision made by another art director in the 70s?
You can visit their web site 'Perestroika' at www.stylorouge.co.uk
ZIGGY STARDUST SHOW AT THE ICA
22nd May 1998
A ROCK 'N' ROLL SUICIDE
Twenty-five years later to the day, the world will have the chance to see once more the legendary ZIGGY STARDUST who was last seen alive on stage at London's Hammersmith Odeon on July 3rd 1973.
Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie's most extreme and most loved creation were destroyed by Bowie on the 60th day of the Aladdin Sane tour. Bowie said, "Not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show we'll ever do."
An exact re-enactment of that final gig will take place on July 2nd and 3rd with an incredible look, act and soundalike, STEVE HARVEY, who's electrifying appearance will send viewers straight into a time warp. The entire 18 song set as delivered in 1973.
The same stage show complete with seven costume changes with designs re-created especially for the event by NATASHA KORNILOF, one of Bowie's original costume designers.
Older people in the audience will feel like they are fifteen again and younger people will never have seen anything like it before.
A Rock 'n' Roll Suicide has been devised by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard rising stars of the post sensation era.
Thursday 2th July and Friday 3rd July
20:00 - 01:00
£12:00 / £10:00 concessions and members.
Tel: 0171-873-0061. Email: lori@ica.org.uk
URL: http://www.newmediacentre.com/ziggy (from 1st June).
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
22nd May 1998
The superb THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH is now available in the widesceen video format as part of the Maverick Directors Series.
"Nic Roeg was represented in the first Maverick series by Performance, the dark tale of gangsters and identity-swapping starring Mick Jagger. To the second batch he contributes The Man Who Fell To Earth (1976), featuring perhaps Jagger's only true rival as a Seventies rock icon, David Bowie. At the time, the film was misunderstood, caught up in the hysteria around Bowie's transformation from Ziggy Stardust to Thin White Duke, and appearing during the punk explosion, when anything remotely artistic or intellectual was regarded as the height of pretension. In retrospect, it was a seminal movie, fabulously photographed - although the ending is the least satisfactory part of the movie."Review: Awarded four stars
STYLOROUGE
22nd May 1998
The design company STYLOROUGE who produced the album artwork for THE BEST OF DAVID BOWIE 1969-1974 feature in COMPUTER ARTS INTERACTIVE MAGAZINE. On sale now, the article explains in detail how they developed the design. See above.
BOWIE UK CONVENTION
22nd May 1998
The full programme of events for BOWICON98 the sold out UK David Bowie Convention on 6th June are now on-line.
See the finalised details at BOWICON98
AFRO PAGAN: NEW PRINTS ON SALE
22nd May 1998
These prints were first shown at DAVID BOWIE'S one man show at Kate Chertavian Fine Art at the Gallery in Cork Street, London in March 1995. The show sold out, and only a limited number of these beautiful prints remain.
View them at BowieArt.com
EXCLUSIVE!! - DILLINJA/BOWIE REMIXES
12th May 1998
Correction to the exclusive about the remixes from DAZ DILLINGER - it isn't Darren Dillinger from Tha Dogg Pound, it's the other one, sorry my mistake! Full information when I receive it.
DILLINJA and DAVID BOWIE have just completed remixes of various DB tracks. A completely different twist on the Earthling vibe, these new remixes are best described as "hardcore, funky and really rocking."
BOWIE'S SWISS PROPERTY FOR SALE
15th May 1998
DAVID has put his 19th century luxury house in Lausanne, Switzerland on the market for 4.5 million Swiss francs ($3 million).
The newspaper Le Matin said the 14-room house was located on a sprawling park of 4,000 sq. metres and that the British singer had stopped living there some time ago. The house was on the market for viewing but "empty of any David Bowie relics".
DAVID BOWIE COMPETITION NO. 2
15th May 1998
Little Wonderworld Competition Number Two is now underway. Very easy this time... find the hidden picture and send me your funniest DAVID BOWIE joke.
Exclusive! Win David Bowie Outside Tour Memorabilia!
EXCLUSIVE!! - BOWIE "LEGENDS"
11th May 1998
VH1 in the US are currently producing a new television show about David entitled LEGENDS.
'MY WEST'... BOWIE v KEITEL
11th May 1998
Shooting began on Monday in Garfagnana, Tuscany, Italy on MY WEST (Il Mio West), a $10 million Western movie directed by GIOVANNI VERONESI and starring DAVID BOWIE, HARVEY KEITEL, Italian star LEONARDO PIERACCIONI and SANDRINE HOLT.
Shot mostly in English, it is set in the fictitious town of Basinfield in America's Old West and is best described as an allegorical spaghetti western with comic overtones.
David is cast as 'Jack Sicora', a ruthless pistolero bent on eliminating Keitel and claiming the title of fastest gun in the West. Pieraccioni plays the town's pacifist medic, who's married to a Native American woman played by Holt (Rapa Nui). Keitel plays the doctor's father, a gunslinger returning for a conflict-ridden reunion after a twenty year absence. Seventy members of the Blackfoot tribe also are being flown in from Canada for the shoot.
Based on Vincenzo Pardini's novel "Jodo Cartamigli" shooting will continue through to July 26. The movie is slated for a Christmas release in Italy.
BOWIE DESIGNS HIS OWN LITTLE WONDER!
5th May 1998
WEN Network News - Deputy News Editor J. Donald.
BOWIE DESIGNS HIS CAR
In London, pop icon DAVID BOWIE has turned his creative talents to designing his dream car - a Mini festooned with mirrors. The Ashes To Ashes hitmaker's sparkling auto is one of three Minis dreamt up by celebrities.
Mini car spokesman Paul Entwistle says; "They are all out and out Mini fans, otherwise they wouldn't have done it. Bowie has owned a number of Mini's in his time."
Despite all three cars being roadworthy, they will never hit the open road. Instead, they have been constructed as part of competition DESIGN FOR LIFE to find new British design talent. The distinctive cars will become permanent exhibits at London's Design Museum.
DB COVER ARTWORK
5th May 1998
The cover artwork for Atlanta 99X's radio release, which includes an acoustic version of DEAD MAN WALKING, has been designed by David himself. The release is only available through Blockbuster stores in Atlanta, USA.
SMASHING GARSON
5th May 1998
Keyboard player extraordinaire MIKE GARSON will join THE SMASHING PUMPKINS touring band for their forthcoming Spring/Summer world tour.
IMAN BOWIE - THE BLACK PEARL
4th May 1998
A new 52 minute film documentary by XL PRODUCTIONS presents IMAN BOWIE - THE BLACK PEARL.
Out of Africa directly into the New York fashion world spotlight. That was the extraordinary step taken by Iman Bowie. Today, she's a rich and successful woman of the world, building a brand new career.
As a child in Somalia, Iman knew the perils of revolution and political exile. Then one day international photographer Peter Beard; out walking in Nairobi, was thunderstruck by the stunning beauty of a tall, aristocratic student.
Iman was to accompany him to New York. Naturally talented, she became the first black woman to appear on the covers of the leading fashion magazines. A new life had begun. She won instant recognition, but the world of high glamour is rarely without risks.
The film presents Iman Bowie's life story so far, taking her from East Africa to the U.S. and Europe, and she discusses her day-to-day life and a variety of chapters from the past. Glory has been marred by dramas and traumas: racism, divorce, a disfiguring accident, civil war in Somalia.
Iman has found peace and happiness since her marriage to David Bowie. What's more, she's launched a successful new cosmetics line for colored women. A fitting next step for the girl they call "The Black Pearl", Iman Bowie.
Format: 52 minutes.
Rights Available: Worldwide.
Versions Available: English and French.
LITTLE WONDERWORLD COMP. WINNER
1st May 1998
The LITTLE WONDERWORLD Competition Number 1 has been won by ZIGDUST. Well done!
A big thank you to everyone who entered. Competition No. 2 is currently being set up now... and it's going to be a lot easier!!!
VOX MAGAZINE
1st May 1998
The JUNE issue of VOX features a full page review on THE BEST OF DAVID BOWIE 1974-1979 along with an excellent Thomas Jerome Newton caricature drawing.
There is also a feature and interview about rock managers including ALAN EDWARDS (DB's consultant).