The return of the Thin White Duke...
Congratulations are due to David Bowie and EMI and everybody who worked on creating the reissue Station To Station packages.
Also thanks are due to you people for putting it at #26 in the latest
Please let us know if you hear about any similar chart action in your country.
It was a day in that blue month September... Erm, and March...
There's a great four page photo feature as this month's FLASHBACK in the November edition of
In the piece, photographer
As you all know, David played keyboards on this tour and I was lucky enough to catch the show and 'meet' Bowie before and after the March 7th show at the Rainbow. (03.07.2002 SNIPPET: 25 YEARS AGO TODAY - BLAMMO MEETS BOWIE!)
Gus also talks about The Vibrators being the support act and mentions that Bowie and Iggy came and had a chat with him and the band before the show.
There is a shot of The Vibrators in the photo-spread too, but I've obscured it with a colour picture, which was the first ever snap I took of DB as he exited the stage door at The Rainbow that very night.
So I can confirm that Bowie did have on the shirt that he is pictured wearing in Gus Stewart's shots in the UNCUT piece.
However, all of the pictures of Iggy are not only from a different night but a completely different tour!
Though Bowie wore different tops throughout The Idiot Tour, (the checked shirt was a favourite) as far as I can tell, Iggy pretty much stuck to bare torso, blue jeans and the low-slung leather belt for the duration.
The shots of Iggy in this UNCUT feature are actually from one of two more shows at The Rainbow later in the year during The Lust For Life Tour, by which time Bowie was busy elsewhere and no longer in the band.
I was at the show that the Iggy pictures were taken at too. It was either September 30th or October 1st, 1977...can't remember which...and The Adverts supported. Which was a nice surprise after The Vibrators earlier in the year.
The pictures in UNCUT are from the night I attended as I can remember they were also used in reviews of the show at the time. Iggy had now expanded his wardrobe to include knee pads, a horse's tail and a German helmet. He complimented the look with crudely painted wavy lines down both arms and took to sitting in a child's chair at the front of the stage.
The theatrical effect combined with the music was mesmerising, and these shows along with two Iggy performances the next year at the Music Machine in Camden, (when I met Bowie again and Eno the previous night and where Iggy dressed in black leather jacket, leotard, fishnets and stilettos) remain among my very favourite shows of all time.
Anyway, if you're reading this Gus, I'll bet you can't find any shots among your negatives of Iggy dressed as he is above, while David Bowie plays keyboards on the same stage.
Sorry UNCUT, but you were never going to get that one past us. ;-)
For I've never been a synth man, la di da...
Obviously Mr Buckley recommends other releases alongside David Bowie's Low for this
The other nine acts include: OMD, The Human League (twice), Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Gary Numan, Soft Cell, John Foxx and Kraftwerk.
I have to say I would have lost two or three of these in favour of records by Iggy Pop (The Idiot), Ultravox (Systems Of Romance), Simple Minds (Reel to Real Cacophony) and even the likes of The Associates and Japan...but perhaps they all rely on too many other instruments in among the synths to fit the synth pop genre...a bit like Low.
Don't lean on me man, 'cos you can't afford the ticket...
I've had a few e-mails from people concerned that their S2S Deluxe Edition Box doesn't appear to be numbered. Not an unreasonable conclusion when one considers that the limited edition numbering was actually done on the reverse of the replica concert ticket, found inside the ON STAGE folder.
Above left is a scan of the reverse of the original ticket while on the right is a scan of a ticket from the deluxe package. As you can see, those clever chaps at EMI have replicated the original ticket numbering.
Another question asked by concerned collectors is: what's going to stop people selling these reproductions as originals?
Well, most importantly, all of the components within both packages have a current EMI number, unlike the originals. For example, on the top left of the above deluxe box ticket is the following information...
Aside from the actual folders themselves and the two badges, all of the replica items in the deluxe box have the above code printed on them.
Hopefully that's helped a few of you rest a little easier.
One magical moment... Pushing thru Times Square...
New Yorkers kicked of the new month today with the glorious sight of David Bowie gazing down upon the comings and goings.
The above shot is of the PR Newswire building in Times Square this morning and for those of you that can't quite make out the text, here's what it says...
DAVID BOWIE'S
EXPANDED 'STATION
TO STATION'
RELEASES OUT NOW!
Any of you New York BowieNetters capture a picture of it yourselves? First one to send in a snap of it wins a Station To Station T shirt and a copy of the Special Edition Box.
Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere...
More endorsements for the latest Bowie product in a few recent publications. We're posting three reviews here that don't seem to be online anywhere.
First up, HI-FI CHOICE has not only awarded five stars out of five, but it's also made Station To Station ALBUM OF THE MONTH.
Here's the text from the above scan for the hard of hearing...
Next up, the Mail On Sunday Culture section also awarded the package maximum points with another five star review...
Thanks to BowieNetter (The Thin White) Dukebox for the above scan. Again, for those of you struggling to read the words, here they are a little bit bigger...
Finally, I'll leave you with the thumbs up from another hi-fi magazine. This time it's HI-FI NEWS and you should be able to make the text out on this one...
I am a DJ, I am what I play...
Just ahead of the 35th anniversary of the Golden Years single release, (November 21st) and to celebrate this week's release of the Deluxe and Special Edition boxes of
Not that any one of the four, Jeremy Sole, Anthony Valadez, Eric J Lawrence and Chris Douridas, considered remixing Golden Years a chore...quite the opposite in fact...
"Reinterpreting a timeless classic like Golden Years certainly wasn't taken lightly by our DJs," said KCRW Music Director and DJ Jason Bentley, above. "It's an incredible honor and a massively intimidating challenge at the same time. It's important to note that two of our four featured DJs ? Eric J Lawrence and Chris Douridas -- had no previous experience with remixing, yet they all brought a fresh perspective to the song and had fun doing it."
You can make up your own minds about how well you think they did by listening to each of the mixes via snippets on this dedicated KCRW Golden Years Remixed page.
Go
Without you, What would we do...
I think we pretty well explained the above in yesterday's news. It's the contents of the new issue of
Those of you still waiting for your smudgy, printed hard copy version of the magazine to be rammed through your letterbox, may want to consider purchasing the digital version of the UK's most popular music weekly.
It's a service they've been running for some time and It's more eco-friendly than the printed version. What's more, you can't spill your tea on it...well, technically I guess you could, but you wouldn't.
Click on the Start Reading Now! button below to get to the digital issue purchase page.
I'll leave you with a tribute to Bowie from one of the celebrity contributors to the Why Bowie means more than ever page...
PAUL WELLER - THE MODFATHER
?I think everyone is influenced by him. ?Low?, which is the first of his Berlin albums, has always been my favourite record, and even more so recently the more I?ve listened to it. I think that slightly experimental edge of that record is in the music that I?m making currently.?
Actually, here's another that is quite lovely too...
KEVIN BARNES - OF MONTREAL
?Bowie is a singular genius.I can?t think of any other artist that has stayed so inspired and has taken so many chances as he has. It?s almost unbelievable that the same artist created ?Lodger? and ?Hunky Dory?. His oeuvre is an incredible gift to the human race. He?s the Muhammad Ali of art freaks.?
Who knows how could it be tomorrow?... (Well, there are a few clues below at least)
As mentioned last week, (09.22.2010 NEWS: DAVID BOWIE SPECIAL IN NEXT WEEK'S NME) tomorrow's
The headline on the front sums up the piece with this: Ultimate Hero DAVID BOWIE MORE INFLUENTIAL THAN HE'S EVER BEEN.
The seven pages in the actual magazine are broken down into separate sections, the lead article by Gavin Haynes is entitled: THE MAN WHO OWNS THE WORLD and it kicks off with this standfirst: He?s the most influential artist of all time, and he?s never been more relevant. From The xx to Janelle Monáe, David Bowie?s influence resonates through 2010 like a bolt from outer space.
The second spread is headed: Spidergrams From Mars - SIX ERAS OF BOWIE AND THE ACTS THEY?VE SPAWNED. Which is fairly self-explanatory.
There are a couple of nice lines highlighted as sub-headings in the text, thus: THE CREDIBLE END OF POP IS REDISCOVERING BOWIE?S BIG IDEAS, plus BOWIE PUT REINVENTION INTO POP?S LEXICON, AND IT HAS NEVER LEFT.
In a section entitled: Why Bowie means more than ever, there are some well-observed and quite moving contributions from the following: Brandon Flowers, Mark Ronson, Jeremy Pritchard, Kevin Barnes, Paul Weller, MNDR, Jez Williams, Lady Gaga, Dave Sitek and Janelle Monae.
You can read Jeremy Pritchard of Everything Everything's contribution on the NME website
While you're there, check out
As if all that's not enough, the centre pages are a pull-out poster of Terry O'Neill's Bowie and leaping dog shot from the 1974 Diamond Dogs session in London.
Finally, tune into NME TV (SKY: 382 and FREESAT: 503) for a Time For Heroes David Bowie special, on air this Friday (October 1st) at 8pm and repeated next Tuesday (October 5th) at 10pm.
Come back tomorrow for more.
Take your protein pills and put your cape on...
Well, all the clues are in the above image.
It's released next Monday, October 4th, in aid of the London-based
The thirteen-track CD is available to preorder exclusively via
You can find out more on the
Like some POW from Japan...
Wouldn't normally bother with reminders when we've already announced the release of something like this. But, as we told you about it way back in June, (06.16.2010 NEWS: CRITERION MERRY CHRISTMAS BLU-RAY DUE IN SEPTEMBER) we thought it polite to give you another little nudge.
You can order the DVD and Blu-ray directly from
I'm sure there was something else Bowie-related coming out in the US today...now, what could it be? It was in a big box, loads of vinyl and CDs and memorabilia...I know I put it down somewhere around here......
I saw it in America...
Well that's how they looked thirty four years ago...that's the original withdrawn and the regular US Station To Station sleeves above.
Now you can find out how they look and sound right now as the reissue packages are available in North America from today...as if you really needed to be reminded of that.
Stay tuned for more Station To Station doo dah.
For just one time, tomorrow night...
With the Station To Station release already upon many territories around the globe,
These prices will remain until tomorrow evening but they don't include shipping. However, I did a quick comparison with a couple of online stores and couldn't find it cheaper even with the shipping charge.
This is a global offer in that the store will ship orders anywhere, but obviously you're more likely to get a better local shipping deal elsewhere if you're outside of the UK.
Also, don't forget that the digital version of this release is the only way you can purchase the Unedited Alternative Mix of Panic In Detroit from Nassau '76, which is over thirteen minutes long and contains the complete drum solo.
For those that hadn't noticed, the package is released in the UK today and North America tomorrow. (Tuesday 28th)
I'll leave you with the release date chart again so you can check that it's available to you locally.
Japan will also release a locally manufactured version of the 3CD set on November 10th.
The solid book he wrote can not be found just yet...
Sadly, this is one of those stories that has leaked out way ahead of our intended announcement.
It first surfaced last week on the
We still don't want to give too much away just yet, suffice to say that David Bowie has been working on a book entitled Bowie: Object.
There's no firm publishing date in place, but we can give you a little more detail.
Bowie: Object is a collection of pieces from the Bowie archive, wherein, for the first time, fans and all those interested in popular culture will have the opportunity to understand more about the Bowie creative process and his impact on modern popular music.
Bowie: Object features 100 fascinating items that give an insight into the life of one of the most unique music and fashion icons in history. The book's pictorial content is annotated with insightful, witty and personal text written by Bowie himself.
Designed by Barnbrook, Bowie: Object is simply and boldly designed and each of the objects is photographed in a clean, contemporary style.
The publication will be available in a number of different colours, making the book a striking object in itself.
On November 3rd 1975, David took possession of a Kirlian Photograph Machine, (see image at top of this item) a gift from Dr. Thelma Moss at the Dept. of Parapsychology, UCLA.
Some of the results from the contraption were reproduced for the first time in the 1976 Isolar programme, actually those particular images can be seen in the booklet for the Station To Station Deluxe Box released tomorrow!
The programme was available to buy on Bowie's 1976 Station To Station tour. Above is a 35mm slide with some similar pictures to those that appeared in the programme
What's this all got to do with Bowie: Object you may well ask. Well, the Kirlian Photographic Device could very well be just one of the 100 objects that appear in the book, but then again...
Stay tuned for much more regarding Bowie: Object in the foreseeable future.
Who will love Aladdin Seine? ...(OK, I know...I'm sorry)
There's a visually stunning 8-page piece regarding Station To Station in the October issue of French magazine,
It's written by a chap who is possibly the world's biggest journalist Bowie fan, Jérôme Soligny, and knowing him, and judging by some of the lovely pieces he's written in the past, it's most likely a glowing appreciation.
However, seeing as I don't read a word of French, (aside from "ouvre le chien") I only have Jérôme's word that it is the glowing appreciation I suspect. But Jerome has the kind of face one can trust, so I do.
In fact, he's been kind enough to supply some background to the piece and translate a few excerpts...Over to Jérôme...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2010, having the possibility to write a consequent piece about David Bowie in a major rock magazine is very rare so I felt quite privileged to have been given the opportunity to tell the "Station To Station" story in 8 pages. People often think Rock&Folk is "the Rolling Stones magazine" as my editor is a huge fan of Mick & Co, but it should be remembered that Bowie is the artist who?s been on the cover the most, and in more than 20 years time (my first piece for Rock&Folk was actually a disc to disc ? Ryko reissue campaign ? I never got paid for?), I?ve been given space to write about the (Thin White) Duke whenever it was requested.
Writing this piece, my goal, rather than telling the story all over again to the old readers (who already know most of it or think they do?), was to make it interesting for the young ones. Being the proud father of 16 and 20 (!) years old children, I have a good idea of what teenagers and future adults look for in a rock mag : good stories, with a good start, accurate details and a great ending. And so I tried my best to make it "readable" for them, recollecting facts and describing the music and the circumstances it was recorded in the best I could. I also spelled Walter Tevis properly because that?s how I am.
Of course, a book could be written about "Station To Station" and the period and events that led David Bowie to record and tour such a great album, but I tried my best to be clear and concise avoiding the many historical mistakes that have punctuated recent articles on the same subject. So, again, I would like to thank Rock&Folk and especially Vincent Tanières, our designer, who did a wonderful job to make the piece look great, using fantastic pictures (the last one, by Claude Gassian is stunning). I also thank Harry Maslin for telling me a few words about the recording, and my family who didn?t have a clue that it was possible to spend an entire summer listening exclusively to a five CD reissue in our car. Do they hate me for this ? I?d rather not know?
Introduction to the article:
"Some kind of survival instinct. A taste for ashes, compost for rebirth. A need to unravel art from life before it?s too late. A thirst for experimentation, ariadne?s thread of a career built on acts rather than poses, on the quality of a body of work in permanent motion rather than some alleged lofty Machiavellianism. The thought as a sacred guide. And also a need for seasons wet and cool, a need for rain, for Europe."
One of Harry?s quotes:
"David was definitely a workaholic, which I appreciated. He is a serious artist and not a clock watcher when in the studio. We had many overnight sessions. In fact we had one session that went all night at Cherokee, and because the studio was booked for another client the following morning, I managed to get Record Plant to accommodate us immediately after leaving Cherokee to continue the session. That Record Plant session was when both David and I played sax on TVC15."
End of the article:
"In his luggage, before leaving America, the Thin White Duke didn?t forget to take a travelling companion who?ll follow him to Berlin and will record two of his most relevant post-Stooges records with him. Many spotted him on the side of the stage during this tour which looked a lot like rebirth. Yellow fringe hiding his vivid look, chin hidden in the collar of a kaki raincoat, collecting every drop of the music generated by one of his greatest admirers, and every move of his body. Iggy Pop, saved from the abyss by David Bowie who?ll reinvent himself, again, in his company. Iggy Pop, deeply convinced that ?nothing could touch them in these golden years?. "
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Thanx for continuing to fly the Bowie flag high, Jérôme, it's very much appreciated.
The Sun machine is coming down...
There it is above, a half-page scanned from the paper. However, there doesn't seem to be an online version available, (unless you know differently) so here's the text for your reading pleasure...
Check ignition...
If you're a subscriber to the EMI Bowie newsletter, you should have had your e-mail reminder for this event in the last couple of hours.
We mentioned it a couple of days back, (09.21.2010 NEWS: STATIONTOSTATION LISTENING PARTY STARTS ON FRIDAY) but now the time is almost upon us for the
If you've not already registered your interest, nip over to the
It's too late, to be late again...
I mentioned this one on the MBs last week. However, I'm sorry to say I neglected to post it here in the news, which is why it's a bit late. (I knew I'd be able to crowbar today's lyric quotation from Station To Station in somehow!)
It's an 8 out of 10 S2S review by Paul Trynka and it's in the October edition (iss 150) of
I'll leave you with the concluding paragraphs...
Commencing countdown, engines on...
As posted on the MBs earlier, on Friday September 24th at 4:00pm GMT, the David Bowie Ultimate Fan Page will be streaming an exclusive pre-release listening party of the entire forthcoming Station To Station and Live Nassau Coliseum '76 albums.
Obviously this time isn't convenient for everybody around the globe, however, the stream will play continually for three days, so you can join in any time after the 4:00pm GMT start time...in other words, you'll be able to have a listen wherever and whenever you are on the planet.
Meanwhile, check out the Facebook tab by clicking on the grab above. We'll be posting more detailed instructions on the day.