DAVID BOWIE
SERIOUS MOONLIGHT DVD
Catalogue number: 341 5399
Release date: 13.03.06
For David Bowie, 1983's Serious Moonlight tour provoked a worldwide outbreak of Bowiemania, with fan scenes that harked back to the levels of hysteria that had greeted his Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane personas a decade earlier
.This DVD - recorded at the Pacific National Exhibition Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada - captures David Bowie and his early Eighties touring band at their best, touching on material from the superstar's then recent Let's Dance and Scary Monsters albums but also encompassing songs, such as Rebel Rebel, Cracked Actor and Space Oddity, from much earlier in his illustrious career.
- Introduction
- Look Back in Anger
- ?Heroes?
- What In The World
- Golden Years
- Fashion
- Let?s Dance
- Breaking Glass
- Life On Mars?
- Sorrow
- Cat People (Putting Out Fire)
- China Girl
- Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps)
- Rebel Rebel
- White Light/ White Heat
- Station To Station
- Cracked Actor
- Ashes To Ashes
- Space Oddity
- Young Americans
- Fame/End Credits
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Having been one of the few members of the old musical aristocracy to survive the onslaught of punk and disco - thanks to his ground-breaking Low and ?Heroes? albums - Bowie was edging back towards the pop mainstream by 1983. The Let's Dance album, produced by Chic's Nile Rodgers, had seen him update the blue-eyed soul styles originally explored on 1975's Young Americans and, by the time he took his show on the road once more, the singer had re-immersed himself in modern dance.
The sold out Serious Moonlight tour saw Bowie backed by his funkiest band to date with guitarist Earl Slick and Chic drummer Tony Thompson aided by the soulful Borneo Horns. Wearing a baggy suit, Bowie used the live platform to remind fans of his pedigree, both vocally and visually. On one hand, he was singing as well as ever. On the other, as one of the first performers to grasp the potential of the pop video, he also cut a colourful, striking figure. At one point during this show, he kicked a giant inflatable globe around the stage.
Inspired by a new nightclub scene that was sweeping all before it in London and New York, Bowie aired a number of songs from the Let's Dance album. The title track had been a chart topping single on both sides of the Atlantic while China Girl, also included, only narrowly missed out on the No.1 spot in Britain. Another high point, and another relatively recent UK No. 1, was Ashes To Ashes.
And while Bowie played just one track, a suitably theatrical Cracked Actor from the Ziggy-Aladdin zenith of his glam rock period, fans of his older material were rewarded with Life On Mars?, Sorrow, a cover of The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat and a smattering of tracks - Fame, Young Americans, Golden Years and Station To Station - from his first incarnation as a white soul man in the Seventies.
Directed by David Mallett - and with the added bonus of the Ricochet documentary (filmed during Serious Moonlight dates in Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore) - this DVD frames one of pop's greatest artists in his prime.
Having been, at various points in his career, a folk troubadour, a futuristic alien and a messed up rock star, a soulful and charismatic David Bowie was now back to have some fun.
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Extras: Ricochet ? documentary featuring the Far East segment of the Serious Moonlight tour. Running time 78 minutes.
Technical info: DVD: running time 165 minutes, 4:3 screen, all regions, disc type dvd-9.
Audio: Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound and Dolby Digital stereo.
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To preface the release of the Serious Moonlight DVD EMI will be releasing the following audio E.P. and video clip available for digital download only on February 13th, 2006.
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SERIOUS MOONLIGHT LIVE E.P. (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY AUDIO ONLY)
Cat no.: 00946 3 49734 5 8
Tracklisting:
1/ Space Oddity
2/ China Girl
3/ Breaking Glass
4/ Young Americans
SPACE ODDITY (LIVE FROM SERIOUS MOONLIGHT) (DIGITAL DOWNLOAD 1 TRACK VIDEO)
Cat no.: 00946 3 49736 5 6