U-Daily News - 14 April 2004

David Bowie, L.A. bound, is a model rocker

By Beck/Smith


Riding a wave of rhapsodic reviews and sold-out dates, David Bowie's "Reality" tour pounds back into California with Berkeley concerts starting Thursday. On April 22, Bowie reopens L.A.'s refurbished "beloved old Greek Theatre, which I've always enjoyed playing," he says.

Bowie tells us he's definitely focusing his energies on his ongoing world concert trek that ranked, along with Radiohead's, as one of Rolling Stone's top two Critics' Picks of 2003. "It's really been astonishing. I don't know what we did right. It just clicked for some reason," says the iconic pop star.

Still, he has managed to find time for a couple of other activities.

Bowie's having a fine time moonlighting for designer Tommy Hilfiger's H Hilfiger line. "It's very exciting and fun to work with the wifey," says the ever debonair yet dangerous-looking Bowie - who is wed to the exotically exquisite supermodel Iman.

"We just did the autumn stuff, and it's fantastic."

Some commentators have already observed that fans under 35 tend to find it difficult to understand why it used to be so controversial when rock stars took part in commercial activities. After all, many hip-hop stars have their own fashion lines.

Bowie's response to that is a laugh, and the comment: "Did my eyes deceive me, or did I see Bob Dylan on a Victoria's Secret ad the other day? Go on, Bob!"

Adds Bowie, whose "Never Get Old/Rebel, Rebel" mash-up remix is heard on Audi commercials, "For a lot of guys my generation, (ads are) the only time you're going to get played on a mass medium. I want what I've done to get heard. It's all wallet-driven, you know. The whole notion of radio is to sell product. Guys who are 50 years old have mortgages on their houses, kids in college - and not the disposable income they once had."

So who is going to his concerts? "I get a very good mix of ages. I've been fortunate," Bowie says.



CLICK HERE
TO CLOSE WINDOW