There are some weekend tickets still available for THE DAVID BOWIE WORLD FAN CONVENTION 2022.

VIP tickets are SOLD OUT, but don't delay, when the weekend tickets are gone they're gone forever. They WILL NOT be adding more!

Weekend tickets are available via seetickets.com

The convention is to be held in Liverpool over three days, from June 17th - 19th 2022.

For more details on what is planned please visit bowieconvention.com website.

Links:
About | Line-up | Tickets | Travel and Accommodation

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On this day, 13 years ago, DAVID BOWIE released the iSelect free compilation CD from THE MAIL ON SUNDAY newspaper.

In the liner notes, David Bowie comments on each of the twelve tracks he selected for the album. It makes fascinating reading...

David Bowie: 'For this CD compilation I've selected 12 of my songs that I don't seem to tire of. Few of them are well known, but many of them are still sung at my concerts. Usually by me. I'll start off with the hit.'

Life On Mars?

This song was so easy. Being young was easy. A really beautiful day in the park, sitting on the steps of the bandstand. 'Sailors bap-bap-bap-bap-baaa-bap.' An anomic (not a 'gnomic') heroine. Middle-class ecstasy.

I took a walk to Beckenham High Street to catch a bus to Lewisham to buy shoes and shirts but couldn't get the riff out of my head. Jumped off two stops into the ride and more or less loped back to the house up on Southend Road.

Workspace was a big empty room with a chaise longue; a bargain-price art nouveau screen ('William Morris,' so I told anyone who asked); a huge overflowing freestanding ashtray and a grand piano. Little else.

I started working it out on the piano and had the whole lyric and melody finished by late afternoon. Nice.

Rick Wakeman came over a couple of weeks later and embellished the piano part and guitarist Mick Ronson created one of his first and best string parts for this song which now has become something of a fixture in my live shows.

Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing.

I'd failed to obtain the theatrical rights from George Orwell's widow for the book 1984 and having written three or more songs for it already, I did a fast about-face and recobbled the idea into Diamond Dogs: teen punks on rusty skates living on the roofs of the dystopian Hunger City; a post-apocalyptic landscape.

A centrepiece for this would-be stage production was to be Sweet Thing/Candidate/Sweet Thing, which I wrote using William Burroughs's cut-up method.

You write down a paragraph or two describing several different subjects creating a kind of story ingredients-list, I suppose, and then cut the sentences into four or five-word sections; mix 'em up and reconnect them.

You can get some pretty interesting idea combinations like this. You can use them as is or, if you have a craven need to not lose control, bounce off these ideas and write whole new sections.

I was looking to create a profligate world that could have been inhabited by characters from Kurt Weill or John Rechy - that sort of atmosphere. A bridge between Enid Blyton's Beckenham and The Velvet Underground's New York. Without Noddy, though.

I thought it evocative to wander between the melodramatic Sweet Thing croon into the dirty sound of Candidate and back again. For no clear reason (what's new?) I stopped singing this song around the mid-Seventies.

Though I've never had the patience or discipline to get down to finishing a musical theatre idea other than the rock shows I'm known for, I know what I'd try to produce if I did.

I've never been keen on traditional musicals. I find it awfully hard to suspend my disbelief when dialogue is suddenly song. I suppose one of the few people who can make this work is Stephen Sondheim with works such as Assassins.

I much prefer through-sung pieces where there is little if any dialogue at all. Sweeney Todd is a good example, of course. Peter Grimes and The Turn Of The Screw, both operas by Benjamin Britten, and The Rise And Fall Of The City Of Mahagonny by Weill. How fantastic to be able to create something like that.

The Bewlay Brothers.

The only pipe I have ever smoked was a cheap Bewlay. It was a common item in the late Sixties and for this song I used Bewlay as a cognomen - in place of my own. This wasn't just a song about brotherhood so I didn't want to misrepresent it by using my true name.

Having said that, I wouldn't know how to interpret the lyric of this song other than suggesting that there are layers of ghosts within it. It's a palimpsest, then.

The circumstances of the recording barely exist in my memory. It was late, I know that. I was on my own with my producer Ken Scott; the other musicians having gone for the night.

Unlike the rest of the Hunky Dory album, which I had written before the studio had been booked, this song was an unwritten piece that I felt had to be recorded instantaneously.

I had a whole wad of words that I had been writing all day. I had felt distanced and unsteady all evening, something settling in my mind. It's possible that I may have smoked something in my Bewlay pipe. I distinctly remember a sense of emotional invasion.

I do believe that we finished the whole thing on that one night. It's likely that I ended up drinking at the Sombrero in Kensington High Street or possibly Wardour Street's crumbling La Chasse. Cool.

Lady Grinning Soul.

Mike Garson's piano opens with the most ridiculous and spot-on re-creation of a 19th Century music hall 'exotic' number. I can see now the 'poses plastiques' as if through a smoke-filled bar. Fans, castanets and lots of Spanish black lace and little else. Sexy, mmm? And for you, Madam?

This was written for a wonderful young girl whom I've not seen for more than 30 years. When I hear this song she's still in her 20s, of course.

A song will put you tantalisingly close to the past, so close that you can almost reach out and touch it. The sound of ghosts again.

Win.

This is not, you may be speechless to learn, an ode to Winifred Atwell, though I almost wish it were for she was a real winner. In the Fifties in England it was virtually impossible for a ten-year-old to hear boogiewoogies and rags unless our Winifred was playing them on her 'other' piano.

At home in Trinidad she'd been brought up with blues and R&B and had played it for the American GIs who were based at what is now the main airport. Winnie was the first black artist in Britain to sell one million records. She was tops.

No, this song is about, er, winning. David Sanborn is on sax. He was experimenting with sound effects at the time and I'd rather hoped he would push further into that area, but he chose to become rich and famous instead. So he did win really, didn't he?

Some Are.

A quiet little piece Brian Eno and I wrote in the Seventies. The cries of wolves in the background are sounds that you might not pick up on immediately. Unless you're a wolf. They're almost human, both beautiful and creepy.

Images of the failed Napoleonic force stumbling back through Smolensk. Finding the unburied corpses of their comrades left from their original advance on Moscow. Or possibly a snowman with a carrot for a nose; a crumpled Crystal Palace Football Club admission ticket at his feet. A Weltschmerz [world weariness] indeed. Send in your own images, children, and we'll show the best of them next week.

Teenage Wildlife.

So it's late morning and I'm thinking: 'New song and a fresh approach. I know, I'm going to do a Ronnie Spector. Oh yes I am. Ersatz, just for one day.'

And I did and here it is. Bless. I'm still enamoured of this song and would give you two Modern Loves for it any time. It's also one that I find fulfilling to sing onstage. It has some nice interesting sections to it that can trip you up, always a good kind of obstacle to contend with live.

Ironically, the lyric is something about taking a short view of life, not looking too far ahead and not predicting the oncoming hard knocks. The lyric might have been a note to a younger brother or my own adolescent self.

The guitars on this track form a splintery little duel between the great Robert Fripp and my long-time friend Carlos Alomar.

Repetition.

By virtue of the instrument's classical baggage, Simon House's violin touches a vein of pure Goth on this recording. There's a numbness to the whole rhythm section that I try to duplicate with a deadpan vocal, as though I'm reading a report rather than witnessing the event. I used to find this quite easy to accomplish.

I decided to write something on the deeply disturbing subject of wife abuse in the manner of a short-form drama.

I had known more instances of this behaviour than I would have preferred to have been made aware of and could not for the life of me imagine how someone could hit a woman, not only once but many, many times.

Fantastic Voyage.

It's almost quaint, this one. It has a strong feel of the Fifties variety show to it. A cavil in passing - if I'd been in the position of the mid-Sixties Rolling Stones, I definitely would have gone on the Sunday Night At The London Palladium show's revolving stage.

They had refused to stand on the roundabout with the other acts at the end of the show, as it didn't fit in with their rebellious image. I was surprised to read that the American entertainer Judy Garland also refused a whirl, as she was too emotionally upset. Who knew?

I would have been shyly clawing my way past Jimmy Tarbuck to get on. I remember my mother being excited about the first time this show appeared on television in 1955.

My father had bought our set for Princess Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and it had opened up a new world for us. Guy Mitchell was apparently an exciting part of this world as my mother went all schoolgirl when he came on screen and sang She Wears Red Feathers (And A Hula Hula Skirt).

This song's chord structure (Fantastic Voyage, I mean, not She Wears Red Feathers) appeared on the album Lodger in two forms. First, as it appears here and then further in as Boys Keep Swinging (they were men's dresses, I tell you). Both the tempo and top-line melody are rewritten.

I did this again on the album Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). It proved nothing. Thinking about it, Guy Mitchell would have done this song proud.

Loving The Alien.

I'm trying to come up with a little-used word for each song entry. I've not got one for this song. And this song is not, it may surprise you to know, another ode to little green Martians. Oh, recidivism, that'll fit.

Time Will Crawl

There are a host of songs that I've recorded over the years that for one reason or another (clenched teeth) I've often wanted to re-record some time in the future. This track from Never Let Me Down is one of those.

I've replaced the drum machine with true drums and added some crickety strings and remixed. I'm very fond of this new version with its Neil Young of Shortlands accents. Oh, to redo the rest of that album.

One Saturday afternoon in April 1986, along with some other musicians I was taking a break from recording at Montreux studios in Switzerland. It was a beautiful day and we were outside on a small piece of lawn facing the Alps and the lake.

Our engineer, who had been listening to the radio, shot out of the studio and shouted: 'There's a whole lot of s*** going on in Russia.'

The Swiss news had picked up a Norwegian radio station that was screaming - to anyone who would listen - that huge billowing clouds were moving over from the Motherland and they weren't rain clouds. This was the first news in Europe of the satanic Chernobyl.

I phoned a writer friend in London, but he hadn't heard anything about it. It wasn't for many more hours that the story started trickling out as major news.

For those first few moments it felt sort of claustrophobic to know you were one of only a few witnesses to something of this magnitude.

Over the next couple of months a complicated crucible of impressions collected in my head prompted by this insanity, any one of which could have become a song. I stuck them all in Time Will Crawl. That last sentence rhymes.

Hang On To Yourself (live).

Ziggy and the Spiders had played around 50 UK shows total, and this Santa Monica performance, from October 20, 1972, would be our 12th in America.

Although of only bootleg quality and despite the drums and bass being casually miked, I hope you can feel our real thrill here of presenting the band to a radio audience for the first time. I necessarily took the most centre-stage position as easily as an old ham from Bromley Repertory would, though in reality I was deadly nervous.

This was our first live American radio broadcast, so it was a big deal. We fluffed a lot of stuff that night, but the enthusiasm and pride stand 10ft tall.

One astounding thing about Mainman, my management at the time, is that for the 18 months of the Spiders' life-cycle (and after, actually) they never arranged for us to play anywhere in Europe where Ziggy was a proverbial monster. No tours, no shows, not even Paris.

I never understood that and was pretty miserable about it at the time, but now realise how naive and unprepared my management was for the serious job of actually managing.

© David Bowie 2008.

Bidding has concluded on the DAVID BOWIE DHead XLVI painting which realised a massive $108,120.00 Canadian dollars, which is approximately £63,019 GBP).

Available via art auctioneers COWLEY ABBOTT in Canada, Lot #27 is one of Bowie's DHead series of artworks, acrylic and computer collage on canvas, signed and dated 1997 on the reverse; titled on a label on the reverse, size 24 x 19 cm.

The estimate was $9,000-$12,000 Canada Dollars (approx £5,245 - £6,994 GBP).

It is stated that the painting was found in the most unexpected place - at the Machar Township landfill shop, affectionately dubbed the "Machar Mall" - which is a donation centre for household goods in South River, Ontario. The finder paid just under $5 dollars.

The chance discovery of this treasure within a pile of discarded goods is quite remarkable. The consignor of the painting was astonished upon viewing a label which read 'David Bowie' and realising it was the signature of the artist inscribed on the reverse.

(Ed. Ignore the auction lot description that stated 'he created approximately forty-seven DHeads', he actually created over two-hundred in this series and they are not 'non-sequential Roman numerals').

DB quote about the DHead series: "One of the ongoing series of paintings that have no beginning or end for me. They are the features that race through my life and have to be put down on canvas. I am now in my second hundred of these, so you'll see a lot of them in one form or another!"

On this day, 21 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the BBC Radio Theatre, Portland Place, London in 2000 to a specially invited audience.

I wrote in my diary... 'An awesome performance tonight by David and the band, even more so considering David was clearly under the weather with "half a bronchitis on top of the laryngitis" and a ticklish throat. Ever the professional, he kept soldering on, with the aid of a breathing type menthol thingy-inhaler... he even joked around doing Frank Booth impressions from the 'Blue Velvet' movie'.

The full set list ran as follows:

       01. Wild Is The Wind.
       02. Ashes To Ashes.
       03. Seven.
       04. This Is Not America.
       05. Absolute Beginners.
       06. Always Crashing In The Same Car.
       07. Survive.
       08. The London Boys.
       09. I Dig Everything.
       10. Little Wonder.
       11. The Man Who Sold The World.
       12. Fame.
       13. Stay.
       14. Hallo Spaceboy.
       15. Cracked Actor.
       16. I'm Afraid Of Americans.
Encore:
       17. Ziggy Stardust.
       18. The Jean Genie (instrumental fill in).
       19. All The Young Dudes.
       20. Starman.
       21. "Heroes".
       22. Let's Dance.

Over on the MAINMAN website: Podcast episode #37 is now available...

You can listen to the thirty-seventh podcast now - in this episode TONY DEFRIES pays tribute to FREDDIE BURRETTI.

Each week they will release a new episode in their podcast series featuring behind the scenes stories from those who lived and breathed this incredibly evocative period in rock history and the website will be home to a continually expanding collection of fascinating memorabilia from the MainMan vaults - much of it never seen before.

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

• On this day, 7 years ago, DAVID BOWIE released the Diamond Dogs 40th Anniversary Picture Disc Single in 2014...

• On this day, 50 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at Glastonbury Festival for the first time in 1971. David is pictured here leaving the Eavises' farmhouse. For the performance he wore a blue Magician's cloak and a hat purchased from 'The Universal Witness' boutique on the Fulham Road in London. Photographs © Gabi Nasemann...

      

Well worth checking out is a brand new podcast FANTASTIC VOYAGE: A DAVID BOWIE Podcast.

Join brothers Jesse and John on a "fantastic voyage" through the career of David Bowie.

The first two episodes are now available over at: anchor.fm/fantasticvoyage where you can listen in to the brothers talking about Bowie's debut album.

DAVID BOWIE WORLD 7" RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY
VOLUME ONE: 1963 - 1971

FROM LIZA JANE TO CHANGES INCLUDING ALL REISSUES AND RELATED RECORDS.

We received test copies a few days ago and these look great. We did a few final updates and revised the cover with some great help. We hope you love the new design as much as we do. There is also an amazing foreword by Olav Wyper who joined Philips as General Manger in 1969 and had a major impact on David Bowie's career. As a result: The book is now in press, and shipments should already start the week of July 5, 2021.

We also created a dedicated FB page where you can see a video clip of the test copy. All updates will be posted there on a regular basis (like it and share it!): facebook.com/db7discography

In the meantime - based on the great success of the launch - we also took time to refine our future objectives:

First, thank you so much for the many of you who already pre-ordered the book. We think pre-orders deserve an extra and decided to number stamp each copy of those - and only those.

These will be strictly limited to 150 copies and will come with an extra present (a special surprise) and are nearly sold-out. Available on a first-come first-serve basis (paid for).

Second, we had amazing demand for the deluxe hardback mentioned in the launch posts, a project we didn't want to hide, but which is still far too early to launch. So here an update one our 'realistic strategic plan':

- We are both exhausted right now, needing a break, and having other pending commitments.
- It has been challenging to achieve the softback version of this Volume One staying below a 1 kg shipping weight limit (266 pages). Above, prices do more than double. The next window is up to 2 kg and our goal is to go as close as possible to this limit for the same reasons - avoiding indecent shipping costs. This is the major reason why we decided to continue our endeavour on Volume Two first - which reserves many surprises as well - and should be launched before the end of this year.

- For these reasons, the first version of the 'Deluxe Hardback' with the many extras will probably include part of the Volume Two softback and will only be launched in 2022. It is really too early to say, but our goal is to publish a one-off 'strictly limited, numbered and authors-dedicated', not for daily use - we foresee it rather as a "coffee-table book", "touch and die" - whereas the softback versions should serve as a reference guide for daily use.

Kindest regards from a sunny Switzerland
Reto and Christoph.

Scroll down this page to read the original news announcement.

Just published is a fiction/sci-fi adventure entitled: 'ZIGGY'S FANTASTIC VOYAGE' by MARTIN A. KERR.

If you liked Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you'll enjoy Martin Kerr's 'Ziggy's Fantastic Voyage'. In a slightly tongue in cheek style we follow the somewhat naïve Billy Slade and his dog Ziggy as they are transported in time to when Earth has been devastated by COVID and where oversized animals roam. Billy and Ziggy inadvertently become key to preventing further disaster, and along the way meet with many memorable, charming, and not-so-charming characters, including aliens from distant galaxies.

Billy and Ziggy have an advantage in that they can communicate, and when Ziggy befriends other canines, they find they can all "speak" together. Ziggy is quite rude about her bemused "Dad" at times, though faithful and protective all the while.

Set in the Portsmouth area with many references to local landmarks, this story flows well with plenty of action scenes and wry humour.

An added dimension for DAVID BOWIE fans is to spot allusions to the singer's life and career. Ziggy is an obvious one, but there are many, many more to tease you. Once you spot one, it becomes a challenge to find the others.

Synopsis: Portsmouth. England. Sector 567. Earth. 2025.

Civilisation as we know it is about to come to an apocalyptic end.

Can anyone save mankind from its fate? Billy Slade lives alone with his dog, Ziggy. He's fed up with yet another lockdown. She's on her third walk of the day when they stumble upon a mysterious corn circle that leads them on a journey through space and time. They find themselves back in his home city, but it's not how he remembers it. His life changes forever when he asks Ziggy, 'Where are all the humans?'

A pack of dogs offer them shelter and help them find some survivors hiding in a doomsday bunker. Billy soon realises that the answers to so many questions may lie with the alien architects he met on his journey across time. They hatch a plan to try and travel back in time to save his planet. However, feral survivors, packs of wild animals and an alien drone stand in their way.

Will they make it back in time to save mankind? And more importantly, will Billy make it home before his supper is ruined?

You can purchase Ziggy's Fantastic Voyage now.

Announcing the DAVID BOWIE WORLD FAN CONVENTION 2022...

For the last six months DAVID BOWIE GLAMOUR FANZINE have been working hard in partnership with SOUND CITY media events company curating The David Bowie World Fan Convention 2022 to be held in Liverpool over a fabulous David Bowie filled three days, from June 17th - 19th 2022.

Featuring an all-star line-up of Bowie's closest friends and collaborators, including the likes of Carlos Alomar, Robin Clark, Gail Ann Dorsey, Donny McCaslin and Woody Woodmansey, the convention should be the first plan in the 2022 calendar for fans of all ages and interests.

The 3-day event will be compered by David Bowie expert and author of 'The Complete David Bowie', Nicholas Pegg.

The convention will also feature photographic exhibitions by some of those who captured fabulous and important images of David Bowie throughout the decades, Brian Aris, Duffy Archive, Denis O'Regan and Philippe Auliac.

Top designer Jonathan Barnbrook will also be in attendance speaking to attendees about working with David Bowie on his designs for his 2016 album, Blackstar and his designs for 'The Next Day', 'Heathen' and 'Reality' albums.

Kevin Cann, author of 'Any Day Now' the definitive record of David Bowie's rise to stardom and his early years of fame, will be sharing his extensive knowledge of David Bowie with fans and showing some rare pieces from his Bowie memorabilia collection.

Tickets on sale NOW! For tickets and more information visit the bowieconvention.seetickets.com website.

You can read, view and download the DBWFC22 press release HERE which contains more details about this exciting event.

• On this day, 49 years ago, DAVID BOWIE released his immortal The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars album in 1972...

• On this day, 4 years ago, DAVID BOWIE Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) 2CD was released in 2017...

• On this day, 4 years ago, DAVID BOWIE Be My Wife 40th Anniversary 7" Picture Disc Single was released in 2017...

Update: David Bowie. Bidding has concluded on this item. Price Realised: $108,120.00 Canadian dollars (approx. £63,019 GBP).

Currently now available for bidding at art auctioneers COWLEY ABBOTT in Canada is DHEAD XLVI by DAVID BOWIE.

Lot #27 is one of Bowie's DHead series of artworks, acrylic and computer collage on canvas, signed and dated 1997 on the reverse; titled on a label on the reverse, size 24 x 19 cm.

The estimate is $9,000-$12,000 Canada Dollars (approx £5,245 - £6,994 GBP).

Bidding closes on 24th June at 2.15 pm EDT.

Current bidding is at $17,000 Canadian Dollars (approx £9,908 GBP)

It is stated that the painting was found in the most unexpected place - at the Machar Township landfill shop, affectionately dubbed the "Machar Mall" - which is a donation centre for household goods in South River, Ontario. The finder paid just under $5 dollars.

The chance discovery of this treasure within a pile of discarded goods is quite remarkable. The consignor of the painting was astonished upon viewing a label which read 'David Bowie' and realising it was the signature of the artist inscribed on the reverse.

For bidding and more information, please visit the cowleyabbott.ca website.

The find even made the Breakfast News on Canadian TV and interviewed Robert Cowley of Cowley Abbott Auctions...

(Ed. Ignore the auction lot description that states 'he created approximately forty-seven DHeads', he created over two-hundred in this series and they are not 'non-sequential Roman numerals').

DB quote about the DHead series: "One of the ongoing series of paintings that have no beginning or end for me. They are the features that race through my life and have to be put down on canvas. I am now in my second hundred of these, so you'll see a lot of them in one form or another!"

DAVID BOWIE WORLD 7" RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY
VOLUME ONE: 1963 - 1971

FROM LIZA JANE TO CHANGES INCLUDING ALL REISSUES AND RELATED RECORDS.

Available for pre-orders:

CHF 64.- (Swiss francs, approx. £51, €59, US$ 71).

Postage:
Europe CHF 14.- (approx. £11, €13, US$ 16); Rest of the world CHF 19.- (approx. £15, €19, US$ 21).

Ready to ship in a few weeks. Test copies are in press, giving us a few days to fine-tune details.

Please PM Reto on Facebook or email for details.

In 1994, rare record dealer and Bowie 7" collector Marshall Jarman published the first edition of this discography with the help of many collectors worldwide, including his old friends Reto Stöcklin and Christoph Heid. In 2018, Marshall and Reto published a successful update of Marshall's legendary book from 1994, and there have since been many requests for an update. Marshall decided to pass the baton and Christoph and Reto have taken up the challenge of a new and greatly expanded edition, divided into several volumes, of which this is the first.

What's different?
The book still lists records in a chronological order and is divided into chapters, one for each year. However, for the ease of reading and reference, we decided to list records by the date of first release and to keep all releases of a record together - including reissues and later releases of material from the same period. For each title, the records are now listed with UK and USA first, followed by all other countries listed alphabetically, followed by reissues. As a result, all records of a title such as THE LAUGHING GNOME are now grouped together in a few pages instead of being spread throughout the book, facilitating comparisons. Hence this new layout is easier to navigate and find what you're looking for. Acetates, memorabilia, curiosities and unofficial records have not been included in this softback edition to keep it affordable and avoid excessive postage fees.

What's new?
First, all sleeves and record labels are now illustrated front and back, including major label variations - with new explanations in many cases.

Second, with our new vision, we documented all reissues as well as recent releases from the same titles.

Last but not least, we added the new section "RELATED" to the end of each year, documenting other artists' recordings in which Bowie played a major role. This section covers 16 releases and 59 records, from the 1965 RESTLESS / TAKE MY TIP by Kenny Miller to the 1971 OH! YOU PRETTY THINGS by Peter Noone.

What's next?
Volume two, of course, but also a deluxe hardback version of Volume one to include acetates, memorabilia, curiosities and unofficial records.

Here we are, with 33 countries, 53 releases, 320 records and nearly 1,100 illustrations spread over 262 pages. We hope you will find this new book a useful addition to your collecting literature.

Check out some sample pages below...

    

    

From Reto and Christoph.

The ANNUAL LONDON BOWIE EVENT are thrilled to announce that this wonderful Reality postcard is up for raffle! Signed by DAVID BOWIE.

Raffle tickets cost £5 each. Anyone may purchase one or as many as they wish, from anywhere in the world providing they can pay by either... PayPal to: lizcoop17@sky.com - please make sure you click 'FRIENDS AND FAMILY' so they don't pay fees and more money can go to TERRENCE HIGGINS TRUST... or by special arrangement personally by messaging Liz, by bank transfer.

When purchasing a raffle ticket you will be given the colour and number of your ticket. You will need to provide your name and address to Liz. The draw will take place live on a Facebook within a day or two of the Event.

The lucky winner will be published on facebook.com/LondonBowieEvent and notification via by email. Arrangements will then be made to mail the tracked item to the winner.

Signed items are becoming rare and hard to come by now. So, good luck everyone.

Many thanks go to the official website davidbowie.com for donating this lovely signed item especially for this event. 100% of proceeds as always go to the Terrence Higgins Trust.

From Annual London BowieEvent

Over on the MAINMAN website: Podcast episode #36 is now available...

You can listen to the thirty-sixth podcast now - this episode TONY DEFRIES talks about the creative partnership between DAVID BOWIE and designer FREDDIE BURRETTI, including Arnold Corns.

Each week they will release a new episode in their podcast series featuring behind the scenes stories from those who lived and breathed this incredibly evocative period in rock history and the website will be home to a continually expanding collection of fascinating memorabilia from the MainMan vaults - much of it never seen before.

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

In this week's Official UK Charts (4th June) DAVID BOWIE has entered the Vinyl Singles Chart at #1.

In the album charts in the UK, Ireland and Scotland, he achieved the following positions...

UNITED KINGDOM
Official Album Charts Top 100
      The Width Of A Circle (2CD) #15
      Legacy #41
      The Man Who Sold The World (picture disc) #80

Official Vinyl Albums Chart Top 40
      The Man Who Sold The World (picture disc) #4

Official Vinyl Singles Chart Top 40
      The Width Of A Circle (The Prettiest Star - 10") #1
      Boys Keep Swinging #14 (re)
      Cosmic Dancer #27

IRELAND
Official Albums Chart Top 100
      The Width Of A Circle (2CD) #15
      Legacy #41
      The Man Who Sold The World (picture disc) #80

SCOTLAND
Official Albums Chart Top 100
      The Width Of A Circle (2CD) #8
      The Man Who Sold The World (picture disc) #15
      TRAFOZSATSFM #84

From officialcharts.com

Today marks the 29th anniversary of DAVID and IMAN's wedding ceremony at Saint James Episcopal Church, in Florence, Italy in 1992.

The best man was David's son Duncan, with chief usher Alan Edwards.

Iman's maid of honour was her best friend Bethann Hardison.

Besides immediate family, among the sixty-eight invited guests were Yoko Ono, Brian Eno and his wife Anthea, Bono Vox, Eric Idle and his wife Tanya, Geoff MacCormack, George Underwood, Corinne Schwab, Jennifer Ichida (Duncan's then girlfriend), Hervé Léger (who designed Iman's dress), Thierry Mugler (who designed David's suit) and hair arranged by Teddy Antolin. Teddy was a very special guest - in a way responsible for what was happening that day, because it was he who introduced David and Iman at a dinner party two years previously in Los Angeles.

During the ceremony, Geoff MacCormack read Psalm 121 during the service and David's cousin Kristina Amadeus read from Corinthians.

You can click here to read an article from Hello! magazine entitled 'The Wedding of David Bowie and Iman' by Brian Aris from the BW press archive.

Today marks the anniversary of DAVID BOWIE's first ever lead vocal single release 'Liza Jane' credited to Davie Jones with The King Bees, which was released 57 years ago today, 5th June 1964 on the Vocalion Pop label (V 9221).

Featuring seventeen-year-old Davie Jones (vocals and saxophone), George Underwood (guitar), Roger Bluck (guitar), Francis Howard (bass) and Robert Allen (drums).

Although credited to Leslie Conn, David's then manager who negotiated a one-single deal with Decca Records, George Underwood said the song was originally an old Negro spiritual that the band played around with and came up with this R'n'B song.

Leslie Conn's recollection of the events in 1997:

"I can tell you that I have got a pretty retentive memory, but that is something I can't clearly recall. I used to write songs except that I don't write music and I don't play piano. When the boys were jamming to kind of come up with some ideas to make a record, they came up with some six bar blues, which everyone uses. As they were doing that, I came up with my own idea, which came from nowhere, and we improvised and the song came together. I mean, I would never take credit for something that I never did and I know David wouldn't have agreed for me to sign the contract as writer if he had wrote it himself. I would never have stolen someone else's song on principle. I know that I'm quite vague on that and I can't be absolutely sure how it all came about, but I know that I did come up with a lot of ideas. As for the production of the song that was most certainly me, I arranged and organised the whole thing and I always produced the material I was arranging with Decca at that time. George Underwood is definitely wrong on that point.

"There is a funny story while were still on the subject of 'Liza Jane'. When David and I parted company I went off to live and work in Majorca for a few years and one day I was on the phone to my mother and she said, 'what shall I do with those records I have in the garage' which were a few hundred copies of 'Liza Jane'. So I replied, 'Throw them out', and she did. The last time David came up here he said, 'Have you got any of those records we made, you know they're worth over a hundred pounds each!' I told him I got my mother to throw them all out! We had to laugh."

Backed with 'Louie Louie Go Home', written by Paul Revere and Mark Lindsay, which was incidentally pencilled in as the A-side, both songs were recorded in a seven-hour session at Decca Studios in Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead.

The single was re-released by Decca in September 1978 (catalogue number F 13807) and beware there are counterfeit Vocalion copies in circulation. Produced in the USA in 70s, the tell-tale difference between the original and the illegal pressings is the matrix number. On the original 1964 issue the matrix number is machine stamped on the vinyl and on the fake copies it is handwritten.

The official press release for the single from the press room of the Dick James Organisation in May 1964 read...

INTRODUCING DAVIE JONES WITH THE KING-BEES... AND THEIR FIRST DISC 'LIZA JANE'

Pop Music isn't all affluence. Just ask new seventeen year old recording star Davie Jones. Time was (two months ago, in fact) when he and his group were almost on their uppers. No money, bad equipment. Then Davie had a brainwave. "I had been reading a lot in the papers about John Bloom," says Davie. "So I put pen to paper and wrote him a letter." David told Bloom that he had the chance of backing one of the most talented and up-and-coming groups on the pop scene. All he had to do was advance the several hundred pounds it requires to outfit a pop group with the best equipment.

Davie didn't get the money, but he did get a telegram next day from John Bloom giving the phone number of Artist's Manager Leslie Conn. Davie got in touch, he was rewarded with a booking at Bloom's Wedding Anniversary Party. "We were a dismal failure", recalls Davie. "It was a dinner dress affair and we turned up in jeans and sweat shirts and played our usual brand of rhythm and blues. It didn't go down too well. Still we'll know better next time."

However, all's well that ends well. Leslie Conn liked the earthy type of music the group played, arranged an audition with Decca Records which resulted in a contract and the first release by David Jones with the King-Bees. "Liza Jane", released by Decca (Vocalion 9221) on June 5th.

DAVIE JONES WITH THE KING-BEES MET AT BARBERS

Davie Jones met up with his four member backing group the King-Bees when he visited his local barber shop in Bromley. In between clips he got chatting to the four lads, also there to be sheared, about their musical interests, and before you could say "Short back and sides", they decided to join forces.

The group specialise in hard-driving, uncompromising R & B, a brand of music that has won for them a dedicated following in the London area, a following which should soon be spreading throughout the length and breadth of England on the strength of their first disc.

"LIZA JANE", is a beaty, action packed disc which features the direct no-holds-barred Davie Jones vocal delivery. The King-Bees supply a hard core, R & B backing and the whole thing is crowned by a catchy chorus featuring the line "Little Liza Jane".

DAVIE JONES - Seventeen years old, fair haired Davie first got interested in pop music when he was ten. His father's secretary (Davie's father in P.R.O. for Dr. Barnardo's homes) who had previously worked for a disc company, sent Davie a 'Demo' copy of a new Little Richard disc. As the phrase goes, Davie was "knocked out", and when he had scraped together a few pounds of his pocket money, bought a plastic saxophone. Eventually he progressed on to the real thing. Lessons were the next step. "My idol on saxophone has always been Ronnie Ross", says Davie, "So I looked up his name up in the phone book and asked him if he would give me lessons." Ross agreed, but after Davie played him a few bars Ross's comment was: "Right now we can start working on you, that was bloody awful!" Davie gave up his music to take his G.C.E. at 15, then left school and joined an advertising agency as a commercial artist, where he still works.

When he left school Davie was able to concentrated on his music again, this time mainly as a vocalist, playing dance halls and clubs in and around the Bromley area. Then came the hair-cut and the letter to John Bloom...

Davie's favourite vocalists are Little Richard, Bob Dylan and John Lee Hooker. Apart from the saxophone he also plays the guitar. He dislikes Adams apples, and lists as his interests Baseball, American Football and collecting Boots. A handsome six footer with a warm and engaging personality, Davie Jones has all it takes to get to the show business heights, including... talent.

On this day, 9 years ago, DAVID BOWIE released the 40th Anniversary Edition of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars album...

On this day, 17 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre, in Wantagh, New York, USA during his A Reality World Tour...

On this day, 20 years ago, DAVID BOWIE held an official chat in the BowieNet chatrooms - [Read chat log]...

On this day, 25 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan during his Outside World Tour in 1996...

On this day, 31 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the Starplex Amphitheatre in Dallas, USA during his Sound+Vision World Tour in 1990...

On this day, 38 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at Wembley Arena in London, England during his Serious Moonlight World Tour in 1983...

On this day, 43 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the Scandanavium in Gothenburg, Sweden during his 1978 World Tour...

On this day, 48 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the Gaumont Theatre in Worcester, England during his 1973 World Tour...

On this day, 49 years ago, DAVID BOWIE performed at the Public Hall in Preston, England during his 1972 UK Tour #1...

On this day, 56 years ago, DAVIE JONES and THE LOWER THIRD performed at the Pavilion Ballroom in Bournemouth, England in 1965...

On this day, 65 years ago, REEVES GABRELS was born. Happy Birthday Reeves - wishing you a fabulous day...

WONDEROUS STORIES (WSFF) is an international film festival for independent film makers and they have a DAVID BOWIE Special Event taking place in London and Berlin next month.

There is an exclusive screening of NACHO's video, 'David Bowie is The Man Who Fell To Earth' - Documentary redux 2021.

Hosted by MARK WARDEL with a special Q&A (via Zoom) featuring international guest stars...

NACHO the filmmaker
'Young Americans' vocalist, the fabulous AVA CHERRY.
SUSAN COMPO the U.S. author of Earthbound: David Bowie and the Man Who Fell From Earth.
Actor Ker Milan currently filming the new TMWFTE series.

The Q&A takes place on Saturday 24th July at 8.00 pm

London: Friday, 23rd July - Sunday, 25th July
Held at Watermans, West London's most prestigious arts centre, WSFF is an international film festival that offers a unique opportunity to discover new and innovative filmmaking. Watermans, situated overlooking the River Thames with its iconic views onto Kew Gardens, offers the perfect setting for this year's diverse and compelling WSFF programme: 14 plus feature films, a collection of short films, film industry related workshops, lectures and Q&A's. The mission at WSFF is clear and simple: to screen outstanding independent films from around the world, focusing especially on film makers.

Berlin: Friday, 3rd September - Saturday, 4th September
Wonderous Stories is hosted in Stolpe, Angermünde - a national park 75km from Berlin Centre. There are direct train-line connections from the capital, as well as parking and cycling options. Location: Stolper Turm, 16278 Angermünde - [travel info].

Come to WSFF for the ultimate film experience and join us to watch the best that independent cinema has to offer by film makers from around the world in both London and Berlin. Apart from showing a diverse, inspiring and thought-provoking programme, we also run film industry related workshops, lectures and Q&As.

Tickets go on sale Monday 7th June - for more details and the latest information, please visit the wonderousstoriesff.com website and visit their Facebook page.

Update: Please note date changes for Berlin which now takes place on 3rd/4th September.

The fifth BOWIE'S BECKENHAM ODDITY event will take place this year around the iconic Grade II listed bandstand in Croydon Recreational Ground, Beckenham, South London on 14th August.

This year's event begins at 12 noon (gates open from 11.45am) and they are pleased to announce the return of some of the Growth Festival folk, including Keith Christmas and Bill Liesegang. Also joining the line-up are Jessica Lee Morgan and Bowiesque.

The full line up, updates and information will be made available in the next few weeks.

Tickets are available now from wegottickets.com website, as well as on the gate on the day of the event.

For more details visit their Facebook page for the latest updates.

Check out these unboxing reveal videos for the two recent DAVID BOWIE releases, both were released on 28th May...

The 2-CD set of The Width Of A Circle which as you will see is housed inside a DVD-sized hardcover book containing 104-pages.

Also, check out the reveal video of The Man Who Sold The World picture disc LP...

Both releases are available to purchase now.... The Width Of A Circle 2-CD set and The Man Who Sold The World picture disc LP.

Both videos from the Italian David Bowie fan website Velvet Goldmine.

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

A group for David Bowie fans worldwide.

If you're a David Bowie junkie... or a David Bowie geek... or David Bowie is stuck inside your head seven days a week... then this is the place for you.

Just so everyone is aware, I am not personally adding people, but do please feel free to join and add yourself. You never know what might get posted...

• The 5th BOWIE'S BECKENHAM ODDITY event at Croydon Recreational Ground, Beckenham, South London on 14th August. Starts 12 noon (gates open from 11.45am). Tickets available now wegottickets.com, also on the gate on the day of the event - more details

• WONDEROUS STORIES (WSFF) is an international film festival for independent film makers: DAVID BOWIE Special Event taking place in London (23rd July - 25th July) and Berlin (6th August - 7th August). An exclusive screening of NACHO's video, 'David Bowie is The Man Who Fell To Earth' - Documentary redux 2021. Hosted by Mark Wardel with a special Q&A (via Zoom) featuring guests: Nacho, Ava Cherry, Susan Compo and Ker Milan. Q&A Saturday 24th July at 8.00 pm. Tickets on sale 7th June - more details

DAVID BOWIE - THE WIDTH OF A CIRCLE 2-CD set featuring 21 unreleased tracks, released 28th May - more details

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD picture disc LP, released 28th May - more details

DAVID BOWIE - THE WIDTH OF A CIRCLE 4-track 10" vinyl with 2020 mixes, released 28th May - only available via the official David Bowie Store.

Exhibition ROCK 'N' ROLL WITH ME BOWIE / MACCORMACK 1973-76 at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton, England BN1 1EE. Reopened 18th May 2021 runs till 23rd January 2022. Open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm. Closed Mondays except Bank Holidays. Tickets are on sale now for dates until 20th June 2021- more details

2018 softback edition of DAVID BOWIE WORLD 7" RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY 1964 - 1981 book by MARSHALL JARMAN and RETO STÖCKLIN visit marmot-publishing.com for 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 37 years ago, once they've gone, they've gone!