JUNE 1998 - DAVID BOWIE NEWS
EXCLUSIVE UPDATE
30th June 1998
"So what's happened to the original David Bowie Site then?..."
There will be a NEW public access DAVID BOWIE web site on-line once BowieNet is officially launched.
The all new official public access site will have the same "look and feel" as the BowieNet server.
The new db web site may be situated at the original address.
Watch this space! See update
BOWIENET PRE-LAUNCH ON-LINE NOW!
27th June 1998
Visit the davidbowie.com web site for pre-launch info of BowieNet
Welcome music fans - as you can see, you have arrived at the pre-launch site for a new and exciting internet project we are planning.DAVID BOWIE
It has been my wish to somehow integrate the power of the internet and bring it down to a very personal level. With the creation of BowieNet, you can join me in an online, community-based environment for all music fans where together we can experience the internet as never before.
I look forward to seeing you at the grand launch in August. Until then, explore the rest of our pre-launch site and keep checking back for the latest updates and news. See you soon -
BOWIENET PRE-LAUNCH
27th June 1998
The pre-launch of BowieNet has been placed on davidbowie.com NOT on bowienet.net as reported elsewhere.
To put everyone in the picture...
The pre-launch of BowieNet is now on David's official site at davidbowie.com It will explain full details of the BowieNet worldwide server which is scheduled to begin in the USA/Canada (August), United Kingdom, Europe and Japan by the end of the year.
Access to BowieNet will be provided on two different levels.
Full ISP (Internet Service Provider) Access replacing your current ISP for $19.95 per month - which includes all the special features and bonuses.
BowieNet community of $5.95 - for users who don't want to leave their current ISP, but want to gain access to the other specials such as unreleased tracks, special live chats, studio cameras, plus much more.
ZIGGY RISES AGAIN
27th June 1998
ZIGGY STARDUST, the most famous of DAVID BOWIE'S procession of alter egos, is being reactivated for two shows in London this month.
The event, billed as A ROCK 'N' ROLL SUICIDE, recreates the events of July 3rd 1973 when Ziggy bowed out at the end of a concert at the Hammersmith Odeon with the words, "Not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show we'll ever do".
There is one significant difference, though. The man behind the mask will not be David Bowie but STEVE HARVEY, a Ziggy Stardust look, act and soundalike who will be delivering Ziggy's final 18-song set with a band (and that 'Jeff Beck' guest appearance) on two consecutive nights at the ICA.
The project is the brainchild of artists IAIN FORSYTH and JANE POLLARD, two Goldsmiths graduates with a passion for popular culture. It is the pair's third work involving rock 'tribute' bands, following last year's The Smiths Is Dead and The Kids Are Alright, which used the Who lookalike band Who's Who.
But aside from putting on the event at a prestigious London arts venue, how will the shows differ from the nostalgia-fests that fill theatres and student union bars on a weekly basis?
"That's easy," says Forsyth, who once enraged an audience of the Jesus And Mary Chain fans by fronting a terrible schoolboy band billed as 'the Jesus And Mary Chain'. "Because we do thing on a non-commercial basis, we can concentrate on getting the details of the event exactly right.
"We're debating whether to leave the mistakes in," adds Pollard, "that's how close we're getting."
"But why are artists descried as "rising stars of the post-Sensation era" leaving their lofts to embrace the idea of live performance?
"Music is such a great way to communicate," says Pollard. "People can feel it in a way they can't with photographs or paintings. It's got huge potential in expressing ideas, in this case, about the relationship between the fan and the band, and between the tribute and and the real thing."
UNDER THE HAMMER
27th June 1998
The Good Rockin' Tonight organisation's latest auction, which took place in California in April, netted an all-time high figure of $276,194.
Unsurprisingly, they're expecting great things from their forthcoming sale later this month.
Bidding for a genital-displaying copy of DAVID BOWIE'S Diamond Dogs album stopped at a mighty $3,740.
GRT's next auction takes place on 15th-16th July and is filled with over 2,700 lots of important, rare and sometimes unique rock 'n' roll records and memorabilia.
For details, call GRT on 001 714 833 1899.
INTERNET WATCH: DAVID BOWIE
27th June 1998
Record Collector's Cliff McLenehan surfs the Spider's web
If you're connected to the net, this new column is for you. If not, think again: it's information, a huge potential audience and the ability to change and update at a moment's notice have prompted an army of enthusiasts and fact-hounds to create their own web sites.
David Bowie and his followers have been quick to recognise this. Bowie was the first artist to 'release' a single over the Internet. He has two official web sites. And as for fan sites - there are at least fifty.
But let's start with the two official sites. The Official David Bowie Site (http://www.davidbowie.com) is typical of most 'official' sites. It's beautifully designed, but short on information and biased towards the U.S. market. Still, it did post the official lyrics to "Outside" and "Earthling" before the fan sites got hold of them.
On the other hand, Bowie Art.Com (http://www.bowieart.com), Bowie's art site, is everything the original music site isn't. It features substantial input from Bowie himself and shows where his real creative energy is being invested. Again, it's beautifully presented, and now features close to forty of Bowie's works, alongside extracts from his articles for Modern Painters magazine, info on his publishing house and other interesting stuff.
One piece of advice: don't just follow the links from the gallery homepage. A more detailed delve will reveal several paintings which you can't reach from that page. One question. There are no paintings from the 1980s (so far). Does this mean that the art was as bad as the records?
The really interesting stuff, as net surfers already know, can usually be found on the fan pages. There are two sites that are encyclopaedic in size and scope: from Sweden, Stefan Bassman's David Bowie Page (http://www.algonet.se/~bassman/BOWIE.html), and Evan Torrie's U.S.-based Teenage Wildlife (http://www.teenagewildlife.com). Both are excellent sites and feature comprehensive discographies, pictures libraries, numerous articles, up-to-date news, tour schedules and lyrics. I personally prefer Bassman's site: it's easier to move around in than Teenage Wildlife and his lyrictranscriptions are more accurate. The latter, however, has an excellent discussion page and more detail on Bowie's tours including set lists and relevant photos. It also has a good link page to Bowie's site. Both sites come highly recommended and will increase the size of your phone bill.
Little Wonderworld is also good. Paul (wisely) skips the lyrics pages, but has an excellent library of articles, which are easy to download and don't take up huge amounts of memory. He also features Bowie's 'diary' which was published in Mirabelle magazine in 1974-75. Silly, enjoyable and no references to cocaine!
Also worth a look is Subterraneans (http://web site.lineone.net/~musicmaster/Bowie.html), put together by Dave Priest. It's much simpler than the others, but is particularly strong on the BBC sessions and Bowie's early career.
So you think "Ziggy Stardust" is the ultimate Bowie album? Then check out The Ziggy Stardust Companion (http://www.5years.com) where the period 1971-1973 is covered in huge detail. Among the goodies included on this site are photo out-takes from the album cover session, a Ziggy timeline, and information about studio out-takes.
Now we're into the realms of those naughty but nice items that Bowie's record companies would prefer you not to know about. The Unofficial David Bowie Discography (http://www.campus.ne.jp/~eitti/) is a pretty comprehensive site, well designed, and with cover art and track-listings. Eiiti, the guy who puts it together, is Japanese and sometimes he makes some unintentionally hilarious spelling mistakes, but never mind. Also, he hasn't updated his page since early December, which means that some of the more recent boots aren't included.
Help was at hand via a new site, the amusingly named Falls Wanking To The Floor At the moment, the site is pretty sparse and Brett needs to tighten up his English, but he provides more detailed info. about the quality of bootlegs than Eiiti does and I think he's more reliable in his judgements. There's also another site, which I haven't checked out yet, called Bowie Bootlegs
While we're on the subject of bootlegs, there are one or two sites which feature Bowie audio tracks which you can download for free. Quality is OK and shows how fast technology has developed since his "Telling Lies" single was released on the net. I presume Bowie knows about these and is tolerating them for the time being.
One site that deserves honourable mention, and proves that not all net surfers are anally retentive humourless nerds, is David Bowie's Area (http://www1.iastate.edu/~pyre/area.html), the only site devoted to David's... naughty parts. You won't find any heated discussions about that blurred word in the second line of "Sex And The Church" here. David Bowie's Area is scurrilous, sarcastic and a load of fun. My girlfriend is disappointed she can't find any naked pictures of the said member. I'm just happy she hasn't got round to comparing sizes yet.
Musicians and guitar players - want to know the chords to "Little Wonder", but don't want to fork for a transcription arranged for piano by some deaf old git who hates rock music? Then tune into the On Line Guitar Archives This contains thousands of songs by hundreds of artists transcribed by guitarists from across the globe. The Bowie section can be found at http://www.harmony-central//david_bowie.html. If you want to check a different artist, just replace david_bowie with the name of who you're interested in. (Don't forget to mark any spaces between words with an underline dash).
These are the sites I've found most useful, though try the Hotbot search engine if you want to stray off the beaten track. One more thing: Mick Ronson is gone, but not forgotten. So if you're interested in finding more about the man who helped Bowie focus his music more than anyone else, check out the Mick Ronson web site (http://home5.swipnet.se/~w-54404/). Bowie's current guitarist and all round noise merchant Reeves Gabrels is also promising a new and updated site in the near future.
RECORD COLLECTOR MAGAZINE
27th June 1998
The JULY edition of RECORD COLLECTOR features a two page article by CLIFF McLENEHAN on DAVID BOWIE web sites. It features write ups and screenshots on: davidbowie.com, BowieArt.Com, Bassman, Teenage Wildlife, Little Wonderworld, Subterraneans, The Ziggy Stardust Companion, The Unofficial Discography, Falls Wanking To The Fall, Bowie Bootlegs, David Bowie's Area, On Line Guitar Archive and the Mick Ronson web site. Also features ZIGGY RIDES AGAIN a write up about the Ziggy Stardust ICA show on 2/3 July.
"BEST OF..." ENHANCED CD INFO
26th June 1998
The Canadian enhanced CD of THE BEST OF DAVID BOWIE 1974/79 announces in the liner notes:
Join David Bowie online and become part of the world's first artist supported music community on the Internet!
davidbowie.com gives you exclusive access to David and full, uncensored access to the internet.
Rare and unreleased tracks, alternative videos, concert, footage, photos, customized email account - your.name@davidbowie.com chat rooms where you can talk to David, his guests, and other music fans and so much more.
As an added bonus, with this CD, your first month of access is FREE courtesy of David Bowie. When you sign up, you will receive an exclusive gift - and that's just the beginning...
EXCLUSIVE!!! CALLING CANADIAN BOWIE FANS
25th June 1998
An official statement to inform Canadian fans who have purchased the THE BEST OF DAVID BOWIE 1974/79 with the enhanced CD.
The release date of the CD was meant to be June 30th, as was the pre-launch of BowieNet.The official press release concerning the BowieNet will be published TUESDAY 30th JUNE.
The toll-free 800 number will be available next week on TUESDAY 30th JUNE, when you can obtain all the information you need concerning the BowieNet.
from BILL ZYSBLAT - (RZO)
ARE YOU ON THE BOWIE FAN DATABASE?
24th June 1998
If you have not received any official information via your mailing box concerning BowieNet from Little Wonderworld then you aren't on the database list. To get yourself listed please click button.
If you would like to subscribe to Bonnie Powell's David Bowie newsletter for the Lazy And Web-IMpaired send her an email request.
DAVID BOWIE VISUAL TRIBUTE
18th June 1998
Mercury release three of THE WALKER BROTHERS albums on CD for the very first time. TAKE IT EASY, PORTRAIT and IMAGES. Including all their hits, EP tracks and B-sides, all albums carry extensive sleeves notes, memorabilia and rare photos. All digitally remastered from original stereo studio master tapes. The final album IMAGES includes a DAVID BOWIE visual tribute.
ZIGGY STARDUST SHOW AT THE ICA
10th June 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 programme is being produced to accompany the event and be given free to the audience on both nights. This will explore the artistic, historical and cultural significance of Ziggy Stardust with short written contributions from contemporary musicians, writers and fans.
The Friday performance will be broadcast by the ICA/Sun New Media Centre LIVE on their web site.
A Rock 'N' Roll Suicide has been devised by artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard rising stars of the post sensation era.
Thursday 2nd 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
Check out Ziggy Stardust page at the ICA web site.
Institute Of Contemporary Arts, The Mall, London SW1 5AH.
GRAN TURISMO SOUNDTRACK
10th June 1998
THE SOUND OF GRAN TURISMO soundtrack out now on EMI features tracks by DAVID BOWIE, Garbage, Ash, Blur, Supergrass, Placebo, Mansun, Feeder, The Dandy Warhols, Terrorvision, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Cubanate and many more.
Gran Turismo has been hailed as 'the greatest driving video game ever' and it has a soundtrack to match. An album of racing tunes to complete the ultimate driving experience! - Out now.
BOWIE NEWSLETTERS
9th June 1998
BONNIE POWELL is the publisher the original DAVID BOWIE free newsletter for the LAZY AND WEB-IMPAIRED now on issue #87. To get added to Bonster's mailing list sending her an e-mail to Dbfan@aol.com
ANDREW STEWART is also 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.
'INSPIRATIONS' DOCUMENTARY
3rd June 1998
DAVID BOWIE'S latest film role isn't much of a stretch - he plays himself, in Michael Apted's new documentary, 'INSPIRATIONS' which played twice at the Seattle International Film Festival this past weekend. Bowie is one of seven artists who discuss their influences and what motivates them to create.
Bowie gets off to a fine start in the film, citing the father in the Dennis the Menace cartoons as an early fashion role model, with his checked jacket, horn- rimmed glasses, and crew cut: "That was a very hip image in Britain!" he says. He also quickly debunks the idea of the artist as a superior creature. "Artists think they have the key to understanding things," he says. "We don't. We just dwell on them a bit more."
Each artist is also shown in the process of creating a new work, and Bowie demonstrates a machine he co-designed, the Verbasiser, a computer which takes apart sentences fed into it, then creates new sentences with the words. After feeding in a number of sentences, Bowie writes a new song out of the "lyrics" the computer provides. But imagination is still allowed, Bowie hastens to assure us, because frequently the computer-generated lines provide ideas for other lines. Bowie is the only musician featured in Inspirations (the film's other artists are sculptor Nora Maranjo-Morse, architect Tadao Ando, choreographer Edouard Lock, the late painter Roy Lichtenstein, dancer Louise Lecavalier, and glass artist Dale Chihuly), and sharing screen time with six other people means each artist gets just under 15 minutes to tell their stories. Though the interviews are broken up by showing the artists at work, there's still a static, talking- heads feel to much of Inspirations. But the interviewees are engaging, and the different disciplines add a welcome element of variety. Expect Inspirations to go into wider release later this year.
Allstarmag
THE BIRTH OF ZIGGY
1st June 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.