Bowie In Nme Rock's 50 Greatest Heroes Top 10

We can be heroes, for ever and ever...

The current issue of NME magazine (13 May, above right) is a special issue celebrating "Rock's 50 Greatest Heroes" as voted by the UK's biggest-selling music weekly's readership. Here's how the publication blurbed it:

NME Heroes
The 50 stars who changed Rock N Roll forever -as voted for by you! But who's number one? Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain? Liam Gallagher? Richey Manic? Or David Bowie? And did Pete Doherty even make it onto the list?

Obviously the results of this were always bound to spark much debate, as these lists always do, but it's great to see that the results aren't quite what one would have expected.

For example, main Arctic Monkey, Alex Turner, didn't make the top 20 and while it's clear Bowie is well-respected at NME (he was voted most influential musician of all time back in December 2000...see above left) none of his contemporaries made the Top 10, Bob Dylan being the closest, eight places below Bowie.

As you can see from the scan above, David was voted number 8 in the poll, and here's a few excerpts from the article in praise of our man...

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DAVID BOWIE ? Man of multiple personas - One of the cleverest pop stars ever, in his shape-shifting 40-year career David Robert Jones has been a mod, hippy starchild, new romantic and an alien sex lizard. This is a man whose motto is, "I don?t know where I?m going from here, but I promise it won?t be boring."

NME was there: "The first time I met Bowie was at the Dorchester in 1977, around the time of "Heroes". I was in a waiting room with all the other journalists, very nervous and very stressed out, because Bowie had been one of my ultimate heroes. My jaw dropped when I saw him. He was a rock god, honest, very bright, and lived up to his reputation immaculately. He was charming, he wore his charm like a crown." Allan Jones, ex-NME editor

What you said: "He changed everything; not just music, but fashion and sexual politics. Bowie was the artist of the 20th century and his influence is felt in all the so-called musical heroes of today." Lee Trewhela, Cornwall

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There's more to the Bowie piece, including a tribute from Paul Smith of Maximo Park, but it wouldn't be fair to reproduce the whole lot while the magazine is still on sale. This is the reason I haven't given away the rest of the top 10 yet, as NME haven't even done so on their own website.

Anyway, congratulations are due to DB for being the only artist of his generation to achieve such a high position, and to the NME readers for having a bit more suss than they're possibly credited with. It's also nice to see that the NME doesn't have an ageist editorial policy, unlike the BBC's Radio 1.

2007 Nyc Show As Bowie Curates First High Line Festival

"I'll see you lot in about three and a half years then!" - New York's a go-go. DB at MSG in 2003.

You're always first on the High Line...

David Bowie today announced plans for a return to the concert stage next year when he curates the first HIGH LINE FESTIVAL, a new annual arts and music event for NYC, established by David Bowie himself, David Binder and Josh Wood.

THE HIGH LINE FESTIVAL will be shaped each year by a different visionary curator, and as first curator David will be the creative voice behind the festival in May 2007, choosing a diverse collection of artists and musicians who inspire him and capture his point of view.

The 10-day marathon event will take place at street level and at neighbouring venues alongside the High Line, New York?s biggest and most prestigious public works project in over 50 years ? a public park is being created from the abandoned elevated train tracks on New York City?s West Side.

THE HIGH LINE FESTIVAL will include music, nightlife, visual art, performance and film ? featuring superstars and emerging talent ? all of which celebrate the spirit of David Bowie?s creative vision, and it will culminate in an enormous outdoor David Bowie concert, his first full show in New York City since the Reality Tour hit Madison Square Garden on December 15, 2003, see picture above.

His live performance will be enjoyed by tens of thousands of spectators at the festival itself, while millions more will experience the concert online and on satellite radio.

As co-founder of THE HIGH LINE FESTIVAL, David Bowie will help choose future iconic curators from the diverse world of music, film and the performing arts. The curators and performances they chose will be as diverse as New York City itself.

DB is clearly very keen to get on with the task ahead of him, and his enthusiasm was obvious when he spoke of the festival earlier today: "As David, Josh and I have been formulating our plans, I?ve been particularly excited about seeking out emerging artists and giving them a place in a Festival that will also feature some very well-known names. That will be an ongoing mission of The High Line Festival ? to offer performances and exhibitions that are unique and original to New York. I am proud and honoured to be The High Line Festival?s first curator and I am eager to start building the line-up for Spring 2007."

David Binder, one of Bowie's two co-founders, had this to say about our man and THE HIGH LINE FESTIVAL: "Throughout his legendary career David Bowie has always been at the forefront of music and art ? so he is the perfect artist to shape the inaugural Festival. His eye for talent and his passion for emerging artists is nothing short of spectacular. One of the most exciting things about the Festival for me is how different curators will actually change the complete flavour of the event each year ? curators can be filmmakers, musicians, painters, someone with passion and vision."

The other co-founder, Josh Wood, was equally excited about the event: "David Bowie has been our inspiration. He knows a lot about a lot of different things. He?s also the consummate New Yorker. We?re interested in producing a Festival that is as wonderfully wild, intelligent and eclectic as David Bowie?s legendary career. It?s so right that he?ll be calling the creative shots for the first Festival, and we?re looking forward to working with him for years to come. All three of us are also excited about placing the Festival along New York City?s High Line ? it will be the coolest stretch on the New York calendar along the coolest stretch of the City."

Stay tuned to BowieNet for a full schedule of programming for THE HIGH LINE FESTIVAL over the coming months.

2003 Aol Bowie Session Available In Archive

Fall dog is cruel and smart...

AOL users will be pleased to learn that David Bowie's excellent five-song session and interview recorded back on September 23rd 2003 is now available for your viewing pleasure once again in the AOL archives.

We first told you about the session in October of that year, on the day that it was first broadcast. (10.10.2003 NEWS: EXCLUSIVE FIVE-SONG BOWIE SESSION ON AOL)

In it, David and the band perform a great acoustic version of Fall Dog Bombs The Moon along with I'm Afraid Of Americans, New Killer Star, Rebel Rebel, and Days.

AOL users should be able to copy this shortcut and paste it into AOL. Enjoy!

Duncan Jones Tv Ad Info

Sit in the garden, Growing tomatoes by the score...

We teased you with a still from the latest Duncan Jones directed TV advert, which aired for the first time last Sunday. (04.30.2006 SNIPPET: SOME SILLY SUNDAY FUN FOR THE UK)

As you can see from the still above, the advert is for Heinz Tomato Ketchup, information which we offered 50 points towards a prize from the BowieNet vaults for, to the first person to post on the MBs said product information.

We also offered a further 50 to the first person to tell us what the piece of music Duncan used in the piece is.

Sadly there were no takers for either piece of information, but for those interested the music used was the intro to a track called The Suits Are Picking Up The Bill by an American band called Squirrel Nut Zippers.

Actually, I'm only teasing...BowieNetter Dez was the first to post with Heinz Tomato Ketchup, so he wins 50 of those all important points.

Part Two Of Brian Eno Interview Tonight

From the brow of the superbrian...

Don't forget to tune in to Tom Robinson for the second part of his Brian Eno interview on the BBC's 6 Music Evening Sequence at 19:00 UK time tonight.

Last week's instalment (04.25.2006 NEWS: NEW BRIAN ENO INTERVIEW ON 6 MUSIC TOMORROW) was a fascinating listen that took the listener up to the recording of "Heroes", including some lovely anecdotes from Brian about the conflicting Oblique Strategies instructions that he and David were working with independently of each other for the recording of Moss Garden.

According to Eno, while David drew the card with the instruction: "Destroy everything" Brian's instruction was: "Change nothing and continue with immaculate consistency". What a fun day that must have been!

(Anal Blammo note: Sorry Brian, but there is no "Destroy everything" card. In fact, the closest is "Destroy - nothing - the most important thing" - Which I guess would produce a similar result.)

Bowie content aside, it's a great listen anyway. The first part includes a play of the first record the young Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno ever bought, Get a Job by The Silhouettes, (a recording also enjoyed by the young David Robert Jones) through to his time with Roxy Music and The Portsmouth Sinfonia.

If you missed that broadcast you still have a few hours to listen again before tonight's second part. The Eno interview starts around 34 mins in and the Bowie stuff commences at about 1 hour and 15 mins in.

Presumably the interview will continue this evening with the recording of Lodger and will hopefully touch on the making of 1. Outside, too.

Db Planning To Take The Rest Of The Year Off

And he's hooked to the silver screen...

The current issue of New York Magazine (May 8th) has reported that David Bowie is planning no recording or touring in 2006. Here's the full piece:

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The Dad Who Fell to Earth
Sneaks into the movies.
By Jada Yuan

David Bowie is taking a break from being David Bowie, at least for a year. ?I?m fed up with the industry,? he said at the Vanity Fair party last week. ?And I?ve been fed up for quite some time.? He greeted strangers with, ?Hi! I?m David. I have seven children. And I?m fucking freezing.? So how does an icon slack? ?Just don?t participate. I?m taking a year off?no touring, no albums. I go for a walk every morning, and I watch a ton of movies. One day, I watched three Woody Allen movies in a row. I like going out to the Angelika: If the first one?s only okay, I?ll sneak into one after the other. It?s so easy.? He says he has no plans to take up hobbies either. ?I?ve been listening to Arcade Fire and Secret Machines and this great opera from the eighties called Nixon in China. It?s just that. He gets off the plane. He has dinner with Mao. Someday, I might do opera. But I don?t have a musical in me, much less a vampire musical.?

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So there you have it, an opera perhaps...but certainly nothing for the rest of this year.

Whatever David does decide to do, I know you'll all want to join me in wishing him well with his next venture, whatever it may be.

Enjoy your time off David...God knows you've earned it.

Much love to you and yours from everybody here at BowieNet.

Monthly Bowienet Give-away Starts Today

Just a few of the gifts awaiting despatch in the BowieNet warehouse yesterday.

Free games for May...

As promised earlier in the month, (04.16.2006 NEWS: BOWIENET VAULT POINTS LIST...HONEST GUV!) today sees the start of a brand new BowieNet give-away open to all current BowieNet subscribers.

Apart from the goodies outlined in aforementioned news story, we will be adding more exciting stuff to the BowieNet vaults over the next month. But in the meantime, all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning something is send us an e-mail here.

Usual rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account, and please remember you must enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name.

We intend to make this a monthly thing, with a fresh chance each month to send in your name.

If this is the first time you have e-mailed me, you may get a message to verify your e-mail as I have utilised the BowieNet anti-spam filter. Once you have responded to a prompt your e-mail will make it through as normal.

Each contest will close at midnight UK time on the last day of each month, with winners being announced the next morning and the new draw starting at noon (UK time) on the first of each month.

So, next month we will announce the winners for May and so on every month until you empty the vaults...if that ever happens!

As I say, we'll be posting details of the new items over the next month, so you don't have to worry about choosing anything just yet. Good luck kidz!

Some Silly Sunday Fun For The Uk

Switch on the TV we may pick him up on ITV...

Above is a still from the newest Duncan Jones directorial commission, which is airing for the first time today in the UK.

I'm not going to give you any clues, suffice to say that this latest commercial is as far as from high-kicking, kissing, kung fu lesbians as one can get. (02.11.2006 NEWS: DUNCAN JONES FRENCH CONNECTION ADVERT ON UK TV SUNDAY)

Just to make things a little more exciting for those of you with nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon, we'll give 50 points towards a prize from the BowieNet vaults to the first person to post on the MBs the name of the product being advertised.

We'll give a further 50 to the first person to tell us what the piece of music Duncan has used in the piece is...that's title and artist.

Seeing as the advert is exclusive to the UK right now, those of you in other countries may feel that this is a trifle unfair. Sorry kidz, life can be hard like that.

1980 Floor Show To Get Official Dvd Release?

Became the Midnight Special man, then we were Ziggy's band...

Direct-sale specialists Guthy-Renker has launched a direct marketing campaign for subscription DVDs of Burt Sugarman's The Midnight Special in the US and Canada. I'm sure you're all aware of David Bowie's brilliant 1980 Floor Show recorded at The Marquee in London in 1973 especially for The Midnight Special.

Well, despite the show's popularity with Bowie fans who have been lucky enough to see it, The 1980 Floor Show has never received an official release on video or DVD.

Now, after more than thirty years of fruitless fan campaigns, it seems there's finally some kind of flickering light at the end of the tunnel.

Here's the blurb from midnightspecial.com:

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Spanning from 1972 to 1981, The Midnight Special® defied boundaries of late night television by presenting break through live performances from artists of all genres. It was a live concert event every week! Priceless performances contained in this collection include those by:

Elton John - Your Song
David Bowie - Space Oddity
Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon
Blondie - Heart of Glass
The Steve Miller Band - The Joker
Aretha Franklin - Respect
The Bee Gees - Jive Talkin'
Al Green - Let's Stay Together
Billy Joel - Travelin' Prayer
Donna Summer - Last Dance
Roy Orbison - Oh, Pretty Woman
Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary
Aerosmith - The Train Kept A Rollin'
ELO - Telephone Line
Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On
Earth, Wind & Fire - Shining Star
Ray Charles - Georgia On My Mind
Heart - Crazy On You

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From what I can make out, it seems there is a compilation DVD of the above performances called the Million Sellers volume which you receive when you start your collection. Apparently "By ordering now you?ll enjoy the convenience of receiving 2 new Midnight Special volumes about every other month, your credit card will be billed $19.95 for each volume plus $3.95 S&H per shipment."

The downside is that it's not clear that the whole Bowie show will ever be one of these bi-monthly 2 DVD sets. But, as soon as we find out a few more details we'll let you know.

Either way, it seems a pretty expensive way to get your hands on an official DVD of this classic Bowie performance, and even then the offer is only open to subscribers in the US and Canada.

Thanx to the ever-resourceful mandn for the pointer to this story.

Campari Advert Borrows From Bowie Videos

Do you like girls or boys? It's confusing these days...

BowieNetter kristen.p posted about this on the MBs, but I think it's worth a mention here. It's a Campari ad made for Italian TV called The Secret, and here's the synopsis:

The Secret.
The latest Campari Italian TV ad campaign brings with it an atmosphere of intrigue and transgression. Shot by top director Tarsem (of the infamous Campari ads ?The Scratch? and ?The Duel?) and with the haunting background music of Jocelyn Pook?s original score ?Masked Ball? from Stanely Kubrick?s film Eyes Wide Shut, The Secret has once again re-affirmed Campari?s position as the transgressive and passionate brand that it is. Shot in Prague?s luxurious Praha Hotel, The Secret is about a sophisticated game, transgressive and refined, the double reality of an encounter, a courtship of meaningful glances that continue until the revealing finish ? a him who is a her and a her who is a him. Campari Red Passion.

It's a very sexy and stylish piece of work. But the closing scene of a man dressed as a woman who removes his disguise and smudges his lipstick across his face, owes more than a little to the punch line of David Bowie's 1979 Boys Keep Swinging promotional video, above, wherein Bowie does the same with two of the three women he is dressed as.

The lipstick smudging is a striking visual device, employed once again for the 1983 China Girl video, below.

Click on the Campari logo in the top picture to view the ad.

Db And Iman Attend 5th Tribeca Vanity Fair Party

And he married Iman with the blue silk dress...

David and Iman were guests at the 5th Annual Tribeca Film Festival Vanity Fair Party at the State Supreme Courthouse in New York City last night.

David was photographed variously with Ed Burns and his wife Christy Turlington, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum and Amy Sacco.

Aside from the obvious appearance of founder Robert De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower, the party was positively crammed with celebrities too many in number to list here.

The picture above is of regular attendees to the festival party, Mr and Mrs Bowie, seen here arriving at the event.

Sound + Vision Documentary Dvd Winners

'Cos I've got a love, And she's afeared, You want to fight...

We set this contest for ten copies of the superb Sound + Vision documentary DVD a couple of weeks back, (04.12.06 NEWS: DB ON BIOGRAPHY CHANNEL IN UK - WIN DVD) when we asked: "According to the documentary, what was the first name of the girl that earned David a jolly good thump in the eye from his pal George Underwood?"

As we said at the time, the important point here is what her name was according to the documentary, not what you think you may know to be the truth.

A handful of you answered Deirdre as that is the name of the person who David has stated he thought he was getting thumped for...but George knows who it was over, and he states categorically that it was Carol.

We won't embarrass anybody with last names, but Carol is the name mentioned in the documentary, so, whatever David may think, the answer is Carol...or Carole!

Here are the ten BowieNetters that The Random Generator plucked from the bulging barrel of correct entries, in a lovely alphabetised list:

beepbeep
cliff
evaaa
geraldcraig
hazel
lesnrob
lorraineg
mich105
pgtpgt
tenimmo

If those of you that haven't already done so could please forward their postal details, everything will be right with the world...kind of.

New Brian Eno Interview On 6 Music Tomorrow

Eno you'll hold your head up high...

Tom Robinson has Brian Eno as his guest on the Evening Sequence on the BBC's 6 Music tomorrow. It's the first part of a very recently conducted two-parter and it airs at 19:00 UK time.

Don't worry if you miss the initial broadcast, as with all BBC radio broadcasts you can listen again for up to a week online. This interview will most likely be made available for longer in the archive section too.

The show promises to look at the life and career of the man from Woodbridge, and radio previews suggest that the interview does get as far as the making of Low and "Heroes" in this first part.

Happy 14th Anniversary David And Iman

A real life adventure worth more than pieces of gold...

Today is the fourteenth anniversary of David and Iman's wedding in Lausanne, Switzerland and I'm sure you'll all want to join us in wishing them both a wonderful day.

Traditionally gifts exchanged on the fourteenth anniversary would be ivory, but thankfully gold jewellery is suggested as an alternative these days.

Anyway, BowieNet members can contribute directly to the well wishing by adding to the message board thread that BowieNetter Simone has already started, here.

The picture above is the most recent we have of the couple, taken as they arrived to celebrate Rolling Stone Magazine's Jann Wenner's birthday in New York on the eve of David's 59th birthday. (01.08.2006 NEWS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID BOWIE)

Jake Arnott On Db And Glam In Observer Music Monthly

Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer...

Continuing the promotion for his latest book, Johnny Come Home, (04.10.2006 NEWS: JAKE ARNOTT TALKS BOWIE ON BBC 6 MUSIC) Jake Arnott has written a lovely piece about his memories of glam rock for today's edition of the UK publication, Observer Music Monthly.

The four-page feature, entitled Blown Away, is illustrated with a double page spread of the classic Ziggy/Ronno shot above. Here are a couple of excerpts from the piece:

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Glam rock was cheap, trashy and kitsch - and for a brief moment, it offered a lifeline to a boy on the brink of adolescence and unsure of his own sexuality. Novelist Jake Arnott revisits the world of David Bowie and the temptations of his youth.

Pete was my best friend and role model back then. He was, at 13, two years older than me, and always ahead of the fashions. His big sister, Sue, had even hung out with Bolan (sitting in the back of a limo he had told her, rather ominously, that he 'hated cars'). With his share of his mum's prize (Pete's mother had just won a competition, allowing her to spend £1,000 in the newly-bulit oversized Woolies) he bought a stereo. The LPs he got to go with it were Rod Stewart's Never a Dull Moment, and Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie.

He also bought a pair of bright blue loons and a pair of girl's platform shoes in blue and yellow from Sasha in Oxford Street. Bowie had launched his Ziggy persona at the Borough Assembly Hall in Aylesbury in January 1972, a week after he declared to Melody Maker that he was bisexual. In June he had languidly draped his arm on Mick Ronson's shoulder as they performed 'Starman' on Top of the Pops. That summer Pete hennaed his hair carrot-red, like Ziggy. I remember being in his back garden, playing at being Bowie and Ronson, and feeling a strange sense of excitement as he put his arm around me.

Pete was straight; he just had a healthy narcissism I could only long for. I was worried about being queer. There's a line in 'Lady Stardust' by Bowie where the voice of a fan muses: 'I smiled sadly for a love I could not obey.'

'I think rock should be tarted up,' Bowie had declared. 'Made into a prostitute, a parody of itself. It should be a clown, the Pierrot medium.' In projecting his Ziggy alter ego, he demonstrated his theatrical understanding of the genre. He had taken the Gay Liberation Front's concept of 'radical drag' and made it even more provocative simply because he looked so good. Much has been said of the American influences on his style - the Velvets, the Factory crowd and, of course, Iggy Pop - but there was something essentially English about his lineage back to one of Shakespeare's famous fools. In his great finale, 'Rock'n'Roll Suicide', Ziggy implores, 'Give me your hands' which, unconscious or not, is a direct reference to Puck's speech at the end of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

(Blammo Note: I presume Jake is referring to this: "So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends." Tenuous.)

David Bowie retired Ziggy in the summer of 1973. 'I felt somewhat like a Dr Frankenstein,' he told Melody Maker. Marc Bolan had his last top 10 hit ('The Groover') that year. That he named his band after a dinosaur proved horribly apt. He just couldn't evolve. 'Sadly, Marc would never develop further than the three-minute single,' said Tony Visconti, who produced both Bolan and Bowie. 'I wish he had. With David the glam rock smoothly segued into a kind of art rock.'

Glam was a brittle confectionery, a fragile artifice that could scarcely bear its own weight. It was an adolescent thing, not meant to last. Bowie went on to transform himself with a bewildering series of images, sounds and personas throughout the Seventies, keeping us all on our toes until punk came along. Ziggy had been an appeal to something higher, a glimmer of hope at a time when everything else seemed so dull. 'If we can sparkle he may land tonight' is the evocation in 'Starman'. It's easy to ridicule but there was a forlorn melancholia to it; perhaps glam's brash pyrotechnics were simply distress flares fired upwards through the gloom of the early Seventies.

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I know there are a few BowieNetters about the same age as Jake, (including me) who must have gone through some very similar experiences to him. Though I have to admit it's hard to imagine BlueBlue ever questioned his sexuality! };-)

You can read the full article by clicking on Ziggy's clip-on.

Call My Bluff Contest Results

Oh no, don't say it's true...

While a few of you may have been put off entering this contest, no doubt fearing that the whole thing was a poor April Fools' Day joke, (that would have been too easy) this still proved to be a hit with members. And so, without further delay, here's the truth...

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Understandably, this was by far and away the most popular choice if not only because it seemed the most likely. After all, we had just run a contest where the prize was indeed signed-by-David Bowie 2006 Serious Moonlight DVD promotional prints. Alas, for all of those that chose this, it was a bluff.

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On to the sheet of George Underwood Ziggy character stickers. We received the fewest amount of entries for this one, despite the fact that the people entering for these seemed the most enthusiastic and were desperately praying it would be true. I don't blame them, it's probably the one I would have gone for too, had I not known it was a bluff!

In fact, online evidence points to the fact that these stickers were actually made. Scroll to the bottom of this page on 5years.com to see what I mean. I'm sure some of you were thrown by that, and while it is true that there were skin transfers (minus three of the above characters) the stickers were never produced.

Having said that, the above artwork is for real, and George did even draw a guideline around each character as a cutting guide for the printers. A poor quality mono version of the artwork did circulate among collectors, complete with cutting guide outline, which is probably how the sticker rumour first began.

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OK, so the Reality Tour promotional jigsaw puzzle is for real! A fair few of you entered for this, but I think most dismissed it as a silly idea. Well, believe me, stranger promotional items have been produced that people never got to hear about.

As I said in the original contest, the picture became the official image of the tour and it was used for different bits of merchandise, tour passes, etc. The 39cm x 28cm 130-piece jigsaw was produced as a gift to promoters in different territories and came in a numbered picture box.

We have numbers 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the original ten sets to give to the five randomly-selected winners listed below.

deanwards
dlmurray
ladyofthelake
starduster
velavega

Well done you lot. You already sent in your postal details with your entry, so your prize will be on its way to you sometime next week.

Bowie Tribute In Philly Tonight

Hey babe, let's stay out tonight...

If Frankford Avenue in Philadelphia, PA, is easy for you to get to tonight, you may want to consider checking out a David Bowie Tribute Evening at The Rocket Cat Cafe

The event will feature performances, in no particular order, by Wes Mattheu and the New Way Down, Olivia Neutron Bomb with David E William, Mikronesia vs. Bilwa, Gemini Wolf, Kilroy, Devin Greenwood, Zelda Pinwheel and DJO.

The evening starts at 6:30pm at The Rocket Cat Cafe 2001 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Tel: 215-739-4526...and it's free to get in!

Mick Rock In Nyc Tonight - Calendar Update

Hey babe, let's go out tonight...

Those of you in New York that can get along to Coliseum Books this evening may want to attend the Mick Rock event that we told you about last month. (03.12.2006 NEWS: TWO MICK ROCK PERSONAL APPEARANCES IN NEW YORK)

Here are the details again in case you missed the original news piece.

MEET PHOTOGRAPHER MICK ROCK - The man The London Times coined: ?The Music World?s Top Snapper?
DISCUSSION, SLIDESHOW, AND SIGNING FOR HIS LATEST BOOK: GLAM! AN EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT, WHICH INCLUDES:
? Dazzling photos of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Syd Barrett, Queen, Debbie Harry, Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger, Lou Reed and more
? Introduction & text by Mick Rock
? Foreword by David Bowie
For more information please visit: www.mickrock.com
Glam! An Eyewitness Account published by Omnibus Press, Spring 2006

COLISEUM BOOKS
11 WEST 42ND ST.
BETWEEN 5TH AND 6TH AVENUES
(ACROSS FROM BRYANT PARK)
THURSDAY, APRIL 20TH, 6:30PM

Meanwhile, I've had a few e-mails from members who have spotted the official 2007 calendar for sale at a popular online UK store.

Well, back in February (02.07.06 NEWS: MICK ROCK UPDATE) we did promise to give you details as soon as we get them, which is why you've heard no more on these pages as of yet.

The above image is not the official calendar front as such, it's just a mock-up that was created for trade fairs and, as nice as it is, the finished calendar will most likely feature a completely different image.

What we can tell you is that a special limited edition of the calendar is planned that will be offered to BowieNet members before it goes on sale to the general public. I should say that while it won't be signed, it will definitely be more desirable than the general on-sale version.

Just to get a very rough idea of numbers, please e-mail me here if you are a BowieNet member and you think the limited edition is an item you would be interested in purchasing.

Don't worry, you won't be obliged to buy, we're just trying to plan ahead.

Bowienet Vault Points List...honest Guv!

I'm worth a million in prizes...

A mere year and a half since we posted the totals, (09.05.2004 NEWS: BOWIENET GIVE-AWAY LATEST TOTALS) I've finally got my arse into gear and listed the contents of the BowieNet vaults.

Those of you interested in this know what it's all about and have been waiting far too long to learn how you may be rewarded for your labours.

For that I apologise, and by way of compensation I have doubled the points of everybody listed below.

BowieNet point totals in alphabetical order:

chas: 200
corrie: 100
kimberly: 245
LizSK2: 30
lruiz: 10
maarten: 30
mandn: 60
nemesis: 10
route66gal: 40
simone: 5
stardusters2003: 5
t3ddy: 5
vivian: 200
zig: 305
ZiggyStarGirl: 5

Also j_lope and ZiggyStarGirl both found a Mystery Prize token. That concept won't really work how I had intended it to for the original contest now. However, I have awarded both of you 100 points each, automatically doubled to 200.

OK, so that's the amount of points you found at the time, but now you can double them. For example, zig actually collected 305 points, (even though he only claimed 205!) so he now has 610 points to spend from the list below.

All you have to do now is claim your booty in an e-mail to me to the value of the points you now have. There should be enough of everything for everybody to get what they choose. But in the unlikely event that there isn't, it will work on a first-come-first-served basis until stocks are exhausted.

You may claim only one of each item up to the value of your points. For example, if you have 600 points you could claim the withdrawn Hunky Dory and the set of six Simply Vinyl LPs with 60 points to spare, but you couldn't claim two Hunky Dorys.

There's no time limit on when you can claim by, indeed, the vault will be updated as we get new items so you're quite welcome to wait for something else if nothing takes your fancy right now.

We'll also be running a competition on the first of each month to win points that can be spent in the BowieNet vaults starting next month. We'll be making a more permanent page for this purpose which will be updated with new arrivals as and when we get them.

Here's the list as it stands with point values for each item...

CDs
Best Of Bowie - 39 track double CD (UK version) = 20 points
Best Of Bowie - 6 track European promo in slimline case - Tracks are: Space Oddity / Life On Mars? / The Jean Genie / "Heroes" / Under Pressure / Let's Dance = 10 points
Bowie At The Beeb Sampler - 8 track promo in replica tape box (BEEBPRO 6872) - Tracks are: In The Heat Of The Morning / Let Me Sleep Beside You / Amsterdam / Kooks / Hang Onto Yourself / Changes / Oh! You Pretty Things / Lady Stardust = 20 points
Everyone Says 'Hi' - European 1 track promo radio edit in slimline case = 10 points
Heathen - CD in 12" LP style gatefold packaging = 10 points
Heathen - 4 track promo CD in card slipcase - Tracks are: Slow Burn (edit) / Everyone Says 'Hi' (Album Version) / I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship (Album Version) / Sunday (Moby remix) = 10 points
'hours...' - 10 track full album promo in card slipcase = 10 points
Never Get Old - 2 track promo CD in slimline case (SAMPCS 13495 1) - Tracks are: Never Get Old / Waterloo Sunset. = 15 points
New Killer Star - European 1 track promo in slimline case = 10 points
Pictures Of Lilly - Substitute The Songs Of The Who - 3 track Daily Telegraph promo in card slipcase - Tracks are: David Bowie - Pictures Of Lilly / Ocean Colour Scene - Anyway Anyhow Anywhere / Fastball - The Real Me = 5 points
Reality - 11 track full album promo in slimline case = 10 points
Rebel Never Gets Old - 4 track promo CD in jewel case (SAMPCM 14071 2) - Tracks are: Rebel Never Gets Old (Radio Mix )/ Rebel Never Gets Old (7th Heaven Edit) / Rebel Never Gets Old (7th Heaven Mix) / Days (Album Version) = 20 points
Seven - 4 track promo CD in card slipcase (SEVENDPRO1) - Tracks are: Seven (Marius de Vries Mix) / Seven (Remix by Beck) / Seven (live) / Seven (Demo) / I'm Afraid Of Americans (video) = 10 points
Slow Burn - European 1 track promo radio edit in slimline case = 10 points
Slow Burn - European 3 track single in card slipcase - Tracks are: Slow Burn / Wood Jackson / Shadow Man = 10 points
Slow Burn - European 5 track EP in slimline case - Tracks are: Slow Burn / Wood Jackson / Shadow Man / When The Boys Come Marching Home / You've Got A Habit Of Leaving = 10 points
Survive - 3 track promo CD in card slipcase (VSCDJ 1767) - Tracks are: Survive (Marius de Vries Mix)/Survive (Album Version) = 10 points
Thursday's Child - 3 track promo CD in card slipcase (VSCDJ 1753) - Tracks are: Thursday's Child (Radio Edit) / Thursday's Child (Rock Mix) / Thursday's Child (Album Version) = 10 points
Ziggy Stardust - 1 track Bowie At The Beeb promo only CD (BEEBREP 2) = 5 points

Vinyl
Hunky Dory - Ultra rare Simply Vinyl withdrawn album with rejected sleeve = 300 points
Set of 6 x 180gm sealed limited edition Simply Vinyl deleted LPs - From Space Oddity to Pin Ups = 240 points
Rebel Never Gets Old - 12" picture disc = 20 points
Slow Burn - 7" orange vinyl = 15 points
Survive - 7" picture disc = 10 points
Ziggy Stardust The Motion Picture - Limited edition numbered red vinyl double LP = 30 points

Miscellaneous
David Bowie's 2002 Meltdown programme signed by David Bowie and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy (2002) = 200 points
David Bowie's 2002 Meltdown aftershow pass for night of Bowie show signed by David Bowie (2002) = 50 points
David Bowie's 2002 Meltdown Access All Areas pass for night of Bowie show = 15 points
Heathen promotional postcard signed by David Bowie (2002) = 40 points
Reality bookmark + Reality DVD bookmark + Rebel Never Gets Old promotional badge = 5 points
Reality canvas - 14" square reproduction of Reality cover = 60 points
Sound + Vision 2003 box set print - Ultra rare withdrawn 30" x 20" Kodak Professional Endura promotional print (Only 5 made...never used) = 200 points
The Month September '03 - Interactive CD ROM with Bowie cover given away with The Sunday Times Culture magazine to promote Reality. Bowie feature includes 30 minutes viewing and reading time = 10 points
Ziggy Stardust 30th anniversary - Black 30" x 20" poster with great Ziggy image and text about CD release = 20 points
Ziggy Stardust 30th anniversary - French promo only, 24-page 6" square glossy booklet = 20 points

Have fun choosing and send your claims to me here. Sorry again for the outrageous delay.

If sandyscandy is reading this, could you please get in touch to claim your signed piece of original David Bowie clothing.

Db's Sm Interview Podcast Picked Up By The Times

The Times tomorrow will know what to do...

Tomorrow's The Times newspaper in the UK has a front-page blurb and a full-page interview with Secret Machines, a large proportion of which is taken up with the subject of David Bowie.

There's also a piece regarding the exclusive BowieNet/Secret Machines interview podcast that we first told you about a few weeks ago. (03.26.2006 NEWS: EXCLUSIVE BOWIENET DB/SECRET MACHINES INTERVIEW)

The 'Newspaper Of The Year' will be taking the DB/SM interview to an even larger audience with its regular weekly online podcast feature, which you can reach by clicking on the image above.

Here's the blurb from The Times Online page...

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David Bowie with Secret Machines

This week's podcast departs from our usual formula to feature David Bowie interviewing Secret Machines, the New York-based band Bowie has tipped for success in 2006.

Secret Machines discuss landing on their feet in New York City, the first generation of synthesizers, filling concert venues with noise and their excitement at being made single of the week in The Sun.

Bowie calls Secret Machines live "a great experience, one of the best live bands I've seen for a long, long time." Listen in to hear the band talk about how their gruelling touring schedule has changed their lives, what it felt like covering The Beatles and also to hear exclusive tracks from their new album, Ten Silver Drops.

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The new Secret Machines interview inside the paper, above, has much Bowie content...here are a few excerpts...

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He loves the young Americans

Secret Machines are being tipped for the top by a new chum ? David Bowie. Martin Aston shares their joy

When Secret Machines were mixing their second album in West London last year, the trio grabbed at their record label Reprise?s suggestion to stay at the K. West hotel. Now, we?re not talking of Holland Park or even Kensington, but behind the monolith that is Shepherds Bush Shopping Centre. Aficionados of David Bowie cover art will, however, understand. For above Bowie?s head on the Ziggy Stardust sleeve, on the wall, is an illuminated sign ? K. West.

Alas, neither geography nor history was on their side. ?The sign?s gone now,? laments Brandon Curtis, the band?s diminutive vocalist and keyboardist, and his bandmates ? his bass-playing brother Ben and drummer Josh Garza ? look similarly crestfallen. ?And so has the phone booth. Anyway, the street wasn?t round here; it was off Regent Street. We went there to check it out.? (Blammo Note: They were looking for the wrong K WEST. See my original news story from 2002: 11.15.2002 SNIPPET: THE QUEST FOR K WEST)

David Bowie, it transpires, has in turn been checking out Secret Machines. One of his missives on www.davidbowie.com made no bones about it: ?The great news this week is that the Secret Machines have finished their new album and I hope to get a copy shortly. This may be my band for 2006. You read it here, Sunshine.?

The chummy relationship was cemented last week when Bowie?s website launched its first podcast ? a Secret Machines interview by the man himself. The band were gobsmacked; after all, they grew up in Dallas in the 1980s with copies of Bowie?s Greatest Hits before trawling backwards to discover albums such as the ?Berlin? trilogy ? Low, Heroes and Lodger.

?You?re in a band,? says Brandon, ?and this artist who?s had such an impact is taking the time to say he likes us enough to interview us; it?s such an honour.? He laughs. ?It also adds to our level of notoriety, like, ?These guys know David Bowie!? ? The band variously describe him as ?very sharp? and ?intimidating? ? as well he might be, given his influence on the group.

Ben: ?Bowie makes records that are about quality. He?s not like Led Zeppelin, caught up in the notion that they?re a blues band, or Floyd, thinking they are intellectual. Bowie isn?t caught up in trying to describe himself. We love how he never tells you what he?s thinking.?

The Bowie association can only help (his 2005 tip was the Arcade Fire, so he can be trusted), especially as they have discussed recording an album together, ?on the spot, no rehearsals even?.

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I think that last line may set the cat among the pigeons, but before you ask...I know nothing! You can read the complete Times Online interview with Secret Machines here.