The Heathen Journals - Part 8

"Yea, I'm still so afraid on my own"..."But, David, I'm here."
Mark Plati and David Bowie perform 'Afraid' for BowieNet.

Things really matter to me...

In part eight of The Heathen Journals, David revisits Uncle Floyd and he talks about how 'Afraid' was groomed to slot nicely into the 'Heathen' album. Click on the image above to take you there.

See yesterday's news for the lyrics to 'Afraid', and if you want to remind yourself of that original version recorded for 'Toy', then go visit this news item: 11/01/00 NEWS: 'AFRAID' CRUMMIE FROM TOY!

Have You Been To A Heathen Listening Party?

Hey, that's far out so you heard him too!

A few of you will have now attended a 'Heathen' listening party over the last couple of days. If you have, please don't forget to tell us all about it. You can reach the Submissions Page by clicking on the image above.

Meanwhile, Chicago and Austin will be hosting listening parties this evening, see below for the full timetable. Listings in red have already taken place:

Cleveland - R&R Hall of Fame - 21 May - 7:00pm
Detroit - Magic Bag - 22 May - 6:00pm
Chicago - Gene Siskel Film Center - 22 May & 23 May - 10:00pm
Austin - Mercury Club - 23 May - 8:00pm
San Francisco - SONY Metreon - 24 May - 7:00pm & 8:30pm
Philadelphia - IMAX @ Ben Franklin Institute - 28 May - 8:00pm
Portland, OR - NW Film Center - 29 May - 8:00pm
Denver - Gothic Theater - 29 May - 8:00pm
New York City - The Screening Room - 30 May - 7:30pm & 8:45pm
Seattle - JBL Theatre @ Experience Music Project - 30 May - 7:00pm & 8:30pm
Boston - Berklee Performance Center - 30 May - 7:30pm
Los Angeles - Silent Movie Theatre - 30 May - 7:30pm

New dates for additional 'Heathen' listening parties will be released via the 'Heathen' website as they are confirmed. Click here for your chance to enter the contest, and to view the most up-to-date listings.

The Heathen Journals - Part 7, And More Lyrics

"Brian, can I have your EMS when you've finished with it?" - "Well I do intend to auction it
in about 20 years from now David, so perhaps somebody will get it for you for your fiftieth!"
Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and David Bowie recording "Heroes" at Hansa by The Wall, in 1977.

What made my life so wonderful?

An EMS AKS briefcase synth, a Stylophone and a couple of Theremins all left their distinctive voices on 'Heathen'. In today's journal, David tells us a bit about each of these "loony" instruments and what tracks they ended up on. Click on the image above to take you to the seventh instalment of The Heathen Journals.

While we're about it, here's another set of lyrics from the album for you, this time it's 'Afraid'.

Total Blam Blam - (European Correspondent)

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Afraid

I wish I was smarter
I got so lost on the shore
I wish I was taller
Things really matter to me

But I put my face in tomorrow
I believe we're not alone
I believe in Beatles
I believe my little soul has grown
And I'm still so afraid
Yes, I'm still so afraid
Yea, I'm still so afraid on my own
On my own

What made my life so wonderful?
What made me feel so bad?
I used to wake up the ocean
I used to walk on clouds

If I put faith in medication
If I can smile a crooked smile
If I can talk on television
If I can walk an empty mile
Then I won't feel afraid
No, I won't feel afraid
I won't be
Be afraid
Anymore

Cologne, Live By Request Show And Tribeca Broadcast

David Bowie and Sheryl Crow backstage at MTV's Rock and
Comedy Concert, May 10th, 2002. Photograph by Kevin Mazur.

What's Really Happening?

As David has already confirmed on the message boards, he will be playing live in Cologne, Germany at the 'E-Werk' festival on Friday 12th July. We are still waiting to hear times and ticket prices, and all that malarkey, but as DB says "the date is firm."

David has also said on the MBs that he is working on getting an allocation of tickets for BowieNetters for the Live by Request show at Sony Music studios on June 15th. If he is successful, you'll be the first to know, and we'll obviously post any news on both of these shows as soon as we have it.

Something of David's performance at the Tribeca Film Festival will be featured in the upcoming MTV documentary. 'MTV Presents: Inside The Tribeca Film Festival' due for broadcast this Friday 24th May at 8:30pm EST on the MTV channel in the USA and the next day May 25th at 9:00am. The programme will feature David Bowie, Sheryl Crow, Counting Crows and Wyclef Jean.

More Pre-release Listening Parties Announced

Waiting for the gift of Sound & Vision...

BowieNet is proud to be able to provide our members with the opportunity to attend a series of very special 'Heathen' listening parties. These exclusive parties will take place all across the US during the month of May, and the privileged ticket winners will get to hear 'Heathen' up to two weeks before it hits the stores.

At each listening party, 'Heathen' will be played in its entirety accompanied by never-before-seen Bowie images. Tickets are free, but you can't get in without one.

Click on the image above to see the newest dates and enter the contest.

More Pre-release Listening Parties Announced

Waiting for the gift of Sound & Vision...

BowieNet is proud to be able to provide our members with the opportunity to attend a series of very special 'Heathen' listening parties. These exclusive parties will take place all across the US during the month of May, and the privileged ticket winners will get to hear 'Heathen' up to two weeks before it hits the stores.

At each listening party, 'Heathen' will be played in its entirety accompanied by never-before-seen Bowie images. Tickets are free, but you can't get in without one.Click on the image above for your chance to see the newest dates and enter the contest.

So, What Do You Think Of Heathen?

Anybody's point of view...

You've had nearly a week with the 'Heathen' snippets now, and judging by the message boards it would seem many of you are forming definite opinions of each of the 12 tracks. Well, we'd really love to know what you all think of the snippets, so the BowieNet designers have made another groovy little poll for you to tell us exactly that.

Simply click on the image above to take you to the 'Heathen Snippets Poll', David really does take in interest in your opinions on these matters, so please go and vote now.

Reminder: Bowie Career Retrospective At Mtr

"What the hell is this?" you may well ask. All will be revealed soon.

I'll give you television...

The Museum of Television & Radio (MTR) in Los Angeles and New York will present the first-ever retrospective devoted to the extraordinary career of David Bowie. 'David Bowie: Sound + Vision' runs from June 7th through to September 15th, 2002, and the screenings will include:

* Rarely seen performances, outtakes, documentaries, and interviews
* More than fifty music videos, including "Life on Mars?," "Ashes to Ashes," "Let's Dance," "Jazzin' for Blue Jean," "Thursday's Child," and many more
* Alan Yentob's classic BBC documentary Cracked Actor
* Commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

Hare's a bit from the press release which you can reach by clicking on the image above (if it's not there just yet, please try again a little later):

"Culled from archives around the world, as well as Bowie's own personal library, this screening series will showcase the artist's pioneering work in the music video form along with rarely seen performances, outtakes, documentaries, and interviews. Organized chronologically and comprised of nearly one hundred elements, this five-part screening series traces the evolution of a rock icon who, over five decades, has continually reinvented himself and his art."

With news like this, what I want to know is, how are those of us travelling to Roseland from around the world ever expected to go home again?!

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS

The Heathen Journals - Part 6

"But surely those are pre-sets, David?" DB and Tony 'Cheshire Cat' Visconti.

You Read 'em pal and grin...

In today's instalment, David expounds his theory on pre-sets and how he uses self-tricking devices to hear his work properly. He also talks about his ability to seemingly coax the best performance possible from his musicians in the studio. It's all good stuff!

Additional Roseland Tickets Added

BowieNet is happy to announce that we just placed several hundred tickets up for sale for the Roseland / BowieNet show for June 11th.

Because of these additional tickets, we are now (for a limited time) inviting members to purchase up to 4 tickets per membership. These tickets are expected to sell out quickly, so if you want additional tickets for this BowieNet exclusive show, go ahead to the ticket booth and order another pair.

See you at Roseland!

Hear All Of Heathen At Pre-release Listening Parties

Waiting for the gift of Sound & Vision...

BowieNet is proud to be able to provide our members with the opportunity to attend a series of very special 'Heathen' listening parties. These exclusive parties will take place all across the US during the month of May, and the privileged ticket winners will get to hear 'Heathen' up to two weeks before it hits the stores.

At each listening party, 'Heathen' will be played in its entirety accompanied by never-before-seen Bowie images. Tickets are free, but you can't get in without one.

These are the currently confirmed dates for 'Heathen' listening parties:

San Francisco - SONY Metreon - 24 May - 7:00pm & 8:30
Portland, OR - NW Film Center - 29 May - 8:00pm
Cleveland - R&R Hall of Fame - 21 May - 700pm
Detroit - Magic Bag - 22 May - 6:00pm
Chicago - Gene Siskel Film Center - 22 & 23 May - 10:00pm
Austin - Mercury Club - 23 May - 8:00pm
Denver - Gothic Theater - 29 May - 8:00pm

New dates for additional 'Heathen' listening parties will be released via the 'Heathen' website as they are confirmed. Click on the image above for your chance to enter the contest.

Slip Away...the Words

Oogie (left) with Uncle Floyd (circa - 1978)

How I wonder where you are...

Today's lyric is from the hauntingly beautiful 'Slip Away'. This is the song that started life as 'Uncle Floyd', that David mentioned as far back as his Journal for Tuesday, October 24th 2000!

Come back again tomorrow for Part 6 of The Heathen Journals.

Total Blam Blam - (European Correspondent)

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"Bones Boy talks and flickers gray..."

Slip Away

Oogie waits for just another day
Drags his bones to see the Yankees play
Bones Boy talks and flickers gray
Oh, they slip away
Once a time they nearly might have been
Bones and Oogie on a silver screen
No one knew what they could do
Except for me and you
They slip away
They slip away

(Chorus)
Don't forget to keep your head warm
Twinkle twinkle Uncle Floyd
Watching all the world and war torn
How I wonder where you are

Sailing over Coney Island
Twinkle twinkle Uncle Floyd
We were dumb but you were fun, boy
How I wonder where you are

Oogie knew there's never ever time
Some of us will always stay behind
Down in space it's always 1982
The joke we always knew
Oo-oo
What'sa matter with you

C'mon, let's go
Slip away
Oo-o

(Chorus)

Complete Meltdown Updates

Sailor's playing in the RF Hall...

Revised Meltdown listings have started to appear in the UK press, with full page adverts in the likes of Time Out (above). These listings seem to be more up-to-date than the Meltdown website, and they include recent additions such as:

Marin Alsop conducting the London Sinfonietta for Philip Glass' 'Low' and 'Heroes' symphonies from the music of David Bowie and Brian Eno - An exclusive performance by current holders of Radio 1 Single Of The Week, Fischerspooner - And, a rare performance by The The, about which Matt Johnson has said: "Expect an unorthodox show, as, in the spirit of the festival, The The melt themselves down to their original format as an electronic group."

There are several shows now completely sold out, including: The Waterboys, Coldplay, Suede, Badly Drawn Boy, and of course, David Bowie and The Dandy Warhols. See below, for what is the most up-to-date listing anywhere in the known universe...and beyond!

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PHILIP GLASS' LOW & HEROES / FROM THE MUSIC OF DAVID BOWIE & BRIAN ENO / LONDON SINFONIETTA - JUST ANNOUNCED
THU 13 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 8PM / £15 & £12

DANIEL JOHNSTON / THE LEGENDARY STARDUST COWBOY
SAT 15 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 8PM / £15 & £12.50

THE WATERBOYS (ACOUSTIC) - SOLD OUT
SUN 16 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 7.30PM / £16 & £14

THE DIVINE COMEDY
SPECIAL GUESTS: THE POLYPHONIC SPREE
BALLROOM: KIMMO POHJONEN KLUSTER PLAYS BOWIE
MON 17 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 7.30PM / £18.50 & £15

HARRY HILL
MON 17 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 7.45PM / £17.50

KIMMO POHJONEN KLUSTER / THE LONESOME ORGANIST
TUE 18 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 7.45PM / £15 & £12.50

TELEVISION
SPECIAL GUEST: LUKE HAINES (19 JUNE)
SPECIAL GUEST: STEW (20 JUNE)
WED 19 JUNE & THU 20 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 8PM / £20 & £17.50

FISCHERSPOONER - JUST ANNOUNCED
SPECIAL GUEST: GONZALEZ
BALLROOM: THE LANGLEY SCHOOLS MUSIC PROJECT (REVISITED) / TERRY EDWARDS & THE SCAPEGOATS PLAY BOWIE DUB & SKA
FRI 21 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 8PM / £17.50, £15 & £12

ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION - LIVE SCORE TO LA HAINE
FRI 21 JUNE AND SAT 22 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 7.30PM / £17.50 & £15

COLDPLAY - SOLD OUT
SPECIAL GUEST: PETE YORN
22 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 8PM / £18.50 & £15

SUEDE - SOLD OUT
SPECIAL GUEST: PEACHES
BALLROOM: THE BOLLYWOOD BRASS BAND
SUN 23 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 8PM / £18.50 & £15.00

THE THE - JUST ANNOUNCED
SPECIAL GUEST: BABY ZIZANIE FEAT. JIM THRIWELL (FOETUS) & JIM COLEMAN (EX-COP SHOOT COP)
TUE 25 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 8PM / £20 & £17.50

BADLY DRAWN BOY - SOLD OUT
WED 26 JUNE AND THU 27 JUNE / QUEEN ELIZABETH HALL / 7.30PM / £22.50, £20 & £17.50

MERCURY REV
SPECIAL GUEST: SIX BY SEVEN, DAVID KITT
BALLROOM: (INTERNATIONAL) NOISE CONSPIRACY / SENOR COCONUT Y SU CONJUNTO
THU 27 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 7.30PM / £18 & £15

SUPERGRASS
SPECIAL GUEST: BOBBY CONN
BALLROOM: SENOR COCONUT Y SU CONJUNTO / THE YEAH YEAH YEAHS
FRI 28 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 8PM / £18.50 & £15

DOUBLE BILL: THE NEW HEATHENS NIGHT - SOLD OUT
DAVID BOWIE / THE DANDY WARHOLS
BALLROOM: JONATHAN ROSS
SAT 29 JUNE / ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL / 7.30PM / £25 & £22.50

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Spend A Night Taking Pictures Of David Bowie!

All you've got to do is win...

Are you a Mick Rock in the making? Or the next Frank W. Ockenfels III? Perhaps you're another Myriam Kayda! (God forbid...there's only room for one Mask!) Whatever, now's your chance to become a rock photographer for one very special night at the BowieNet Members only show at the Roseland Ballroom!

You'll have the chance to show off your Access All Areas pass as you hang out back stage taking snap shots with your new, top of the line Nikon Coolpix Digital Camera set-up complete with Lexar Media High-Speed CompactFlash and Card Reader!

Courtesy of Nikon and Tech TV, you will be flown to New York and you'll also be put up for the night in New York City. On the night of the show you'll be right in the pit, taking shots of David with world-renowned rock photographer Kevin Mazur showing you the ropes.

For more details and your chance to enter this incredible competition, click on the image above.

New York Telephone Conversation

One of those lovely canvas effect wedding portraits of
JR & DB, that exists only in the mind of Jonathan Ross!

Heaven is smiling down, 'Heathen' boy in a wedding gown...

I'm sure most of you reading this tuned in to BBC Radio 2's Jonathan Ross Show today...wasn't it fun? Apart from playing four Bowie tunes ('Watch That Man', 'Queen Bitch', 'Slow Burn' and 'A New Career In A New Town'), Jonathan had a transatlantic chat with David, during which our man astonished Mr Ross with a list of records that he thought the Radio 2 DJ (and hugely successful television presenter) should check out.

I won't give too much away, as those of you that missed the broadcast can still go and listen to it here. You can also go here to check out some weblinks that the BBC have kindly put together, regarding most of the artists that David mentioned.

David made a vague promise on today's programme to return and take part in a three-hour show that Jonathan declared would be wholly dedicated to Bowie...David also suggested that he might phone back off air and renege on his promise!

Finally, if you're wondering what the hell the vision above is all about, all is explained in this erm...explanation about last week's show, entitled "David Bowie Rant":

"Jonathan gets a little upset with Andy about the lack of Bowie on the show the previous week but soon cheers up at the news that he'll be playing the new single exclusively on next week's show & that they'll be phoning Bowie live in New York. Then it gets a bit messy and Jonathan ends up imagining their wedding."

Click on the image above to hear Jonathan's "David Bowie Rant".

Heathen Praised In Q Magazine Review

"No more free steps to 'Heathen'..." DB by Markus Klinko & Indrani.

You got your Q line...

The current edition of Q magazine (June 2002) has published the first full review of 'Heathen'. Reviewed by David Quantick, the magazine has given the album the praise it deserves. Here are the concluding paragraphs from the review:

"After 27 albums or so, Bowie is entitled to keep making it up as he goes along. His inventiveness, even on the rare occasions it misfires, is like no-one else's and when he sounds like someone else, that's generally because - duh! - he invented them in the first place.

At 55 years old, most of today's young rock heroes will be managing their own heron farms in Cumbria, crying into the corsages of ladyboys who have never heard of them, or making pretend soundtrack albums that are only available through the internet. David Bowie, always much more than just a Greatest Hits, still makes music that no-one else has heard before, and still does it well. And Heathen? A return to form. Definitely."

Pretty encouraging stuff, let's hope that the rest of the music press feel the same way. Initial signs are promising if the feedback we've received so far from fans and industry folk is anything to go by.

Q have surpassed their normal Bowie picture content (05/01/02 SNIPPET: THIS MONTH'S DB PIC IN Q) by using no less than four pictures (three of those are full page, including the one above) from the Markus Klinko & Indrani session. Admittedly, one of these is a full page advert for 'Heathen', a no frills affair that simply uses the album sleeve shot with the title, the release date and company logos. A very stylish campaign for a very fine album.

Bowiephiles

Did you have a nice Christmas?

That Hat : Mix-Mag : June 2002

The current edition of Mix-Mag, the clubbers magazine, has an interview with Moby in which he recalls meeting and working with David. He also slips in mention of a very enviable Christmas present from David. "'Are you a David Bowie fan?' he asks, conspiratorially. 'You want to see something cool?' Moby leaps up from his slightly austere 70's sofa and darts into another room, returning with a small, slightly dusty, black trilby hat and a big smile. It's the hat Bowie wore in the 1976 film 'The Man Who Fell To Earth', a Christmas present from the man himself." (SusanS)

Best Cameo : MTV 2002 Movie Awards : 06/06/02

The MTV 2002 Movie Awards have David up for Best Cameo for his performance in Zoolander. The on-line audience vote for this category, so click here and vote for David! The show airs on 6th June at 9.00PM ET. (tveye)

Jean Genie : Tribute Band : Gig Dates

The Jean Genie tribute band, fronted by John Mainwairing (03/25/02 NEWS: PULP SINGLE DELAYED), has some UK gigs lined up for the summer. They play The Studio in Hartlepool on August 3rd, The Liquid Rooms in Edinburgh on August 1st, and Middlesbrough on August 15th, venue tba. They also play The Venue in South London, tonight.

:))

Db Interview And Slow Burn First Play On Radio 2

And the doors shall have ears...

As pointed out by a few of you on the MBs since last Saturday, Radio 2 are scheduled to have the first official play of 'Slow Burn' via the The Jonathan Ross Show tomorrow. You can also expect to hear a New York telephone conversation between Jonathan and David during the show.

Regular visitors to BowieNet will know just how big a Bowie fan JR is, this was amply illustrated last Saturday when Jonathan played not only 'Heroes'/'Helden', but 'The Jean Genie' and Iggy Pop's version of 'China Girl'!

Click on the 'Slow Burn' sleeve above to take you to a page where you can listen to the show, which commences at 10:00am London time.

The Heathen Journals - Part 5

David Bowie rehearsing 'I Would Be Your Slave', with Tony Visconti and the
Scorchio Quartet, for the Tibet House Benefit at Carnegie Hall back in February.

You show respect...

In the fifth instalment of The Heathen Journals, David pays his respect to the Scorchio Quartet, Neil Young, Charles Michael Kitridge Thompson IV, aka Black Francis of The Pixies (or indeed, Frank Black as he's better known these days), and Norman Carl Odam, aka The Legendary Stardust Cowboy.

In celebration of David's version of 'Cactus', we have posted the lyrics to this classic Pixies' song below.

Total Blam Blam - (European Correspondent)

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Cactus (Black Francis)

Sitting here wishing on a cement floor
Just wishing that I had just something you wore

I put it on when I go lonely
Will you take off your dress and send it to me?

I miss your kissin' and I miss your head
And a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead

Just run outside in the desert heat
Make your dress all wet and send it to me

I miss your soup and I miss your bread
And a letter in your writing doesn't mean you're not dead

So spill your breakfast and drip your wine
Just wear that dress when you di yi yi yi yine

D -A -V -I -D

Sitting here wishing on a cement floor
Just wishing that I had just something you wore

Bloody your hands on a cactus tree
Wipe 'em on your dress and send it to me

Sitting here wishing on a cement floor
Just wishing that I had just something you wore

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The Heathen Journals - Part 4

"He's the man in the middle..." Carlos Alomar pops in to do his thing to
'Everyone Says Hi', while TV contemplates yet another groovy string part.
...That's David Bowie in the middle. Picture courtesy of Tony Visconti.

All my trials, Lord, Will be remembered...

David Torn, Matt Chamberlain, Dave Grohl, Pete Townshend, Gerry Leonard, Carlos Alomar and Tony Visconti all get a mention in today's instalment of The Heathen Journals.

But, while you're waiting for it to be uploaded, you can check out David's words to the first track on 'Heathen', 'Sunday'. We will be adding all of the lyrics to the 'Heathen' area as David gives them to us.

Total Blam Blam - (European Correspondent)

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Sunday

Nothing remains
We could run when the rain slows
Look for the cars or signs of life
Where the heat goes
Look for the drifters
We should crawl under the bracken
Look for the shafts of light on the road
Where the heat goes

Everything has changed
For in truth, it's the beginning of nothing
And nothing has changed
Everything has changed
For in truth, it's the beginning of an end
And nothing has changed
And everything has changed

(first voice)
In your fear
Of what we have become
Take to the fire
Now we must burn
All that we are
Rise together
Through these clouds
As on wings

(2nd voice)
In your fear, seek only peace
In you fear, seek only love
In your fear, seek only peace
In you fear, seek only love
In your fear, in your fear
As on wings

This is the trip
And this is the business we take
This is our number
All my trials, Lord
Will be remembered
Everything has changed