Occasional Dreaming - The second Deram album?

“I was still just a kid, When my innocence was lost”*

Announcing the April edition of SHiNDiG! a couple of days ago, we listed the tracks which Martin Ruddock imagined may have become Bowie’s aborted second album for Deram, and we promised an alternative listing proposed by an expert on early David Bowie recordings.

Though he probably wouldn’t claim it himself, Tris Penna is that more than qualified expert, as confirmed by the BBC last month when they awarded him Best Music Production for Exploring Life on Mars, last year’s superb BBC Radio 2 documentary for which he was credited Presenter/Writer & Co-producer.

Among many other qualifying contributions, Tris also oversaw UMC’s comprehensive 2010 Deluxe Edition release of the first David Bowie Deram album. He knows his stuff.

Anyway, he kindly agreed to have a stab at the same task that Mr Ruddock bravely tackled. And so, without further ado, over to you, Tris...

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Occasional Dreaming

1968 was the year of revolution, where the unbridled happy partying of 1967 morphed into a sour and angry hangover. For Bowie, 1968 was when his interest in theatrical stage performance solidified, with Lindsay Kemp's 'Pierrot in Turquoise', solo mime performances, a minor role in a TV drama, an attempt at cabaret and a multi-media trio - Turquoise/Feathers - featuring an early muse Hermione Farthingale.

Any second album with Deram would surely have reflected all this - and not for the first time, and with the lack of a hit single under his belt, DB would’ve turned to songs by others, songs that fitted snuggly into his cannon, songs that he could make his own. In 1968 Deram issued a concept album in a whacky gatefold sleeve by Lionel Bart 'Isn’t This Where We Came In?' - which is full of angularity, humour and English whimsy. At the same time Tony Visconti was working with The Move in 1968 adding orchestral wit to their narrative pop nuggets. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility to imagine a second DB Deram album to be Bart meets The Move - all with the wry, dystopian, yearning Bowie singing about unattainable love with Brechtian detachment….

Occasional Dreaming - album scheduled for November 1968 release (briefly listed in the September 1968 'Forthcoming Releases from Decca' dealer sheets) Produced by Tony Visconti. Deram SML 1027 (stereo). DML 1027 (mono).

Side One:

01 ~ Let Me Sleep Beside You - (a 'test mix' by Visconti from late 1967 is totally acoustic/orchestral - and not at all 'rock' and a great seductive album opener)

02 ~ A Social Kind of Girl (68 rewrite of 1967’s Summer Kind Of Girl - demos exist for both versions)

03 ~ The Gospel According To Tony Day Blues (the song was originally registered with this title) The 1967 studio session for this track contains several variants of the 'character role call' and it has a sardonic Brel/theatrical feel to it. Given that DB returned to songs frequently at this time, honing and improving them (Silly Boy Blue/Love You Till Tuesday/In The Heat of the Morning et al) - it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that this song would be revisited...

04 ~ Life’s a Circus (Bunn/Mackie) performed by DB in his cabaret act and by Feathers in 1968

05 ~ When I’m Five - written in 1968, performed by DB as late as 1969

06 ~ C’est La Vie - DB original that he demoed many times - the last demo probably from 1968

07 ~ Next (Brel). performed by Feathers in 1968

Side Two:

08 ~ London Bye Ta Ta - Decca 1968 version

09 ~ Angel Angel Grubby Face - 1968 demo

10 ~ Pussy Cat (Marnay, Popp, Stellman) - VERY European theatre/Lindsay Kemp type number - English lyrics to 'Manchester et Liverpool'

11 ~ Going Down (1967 demo - "Goin' down, I’m high up above you so pull me down…."

12 ~ Occasional Dreaming - (the hand written title on the tape box for 'An Occasional Dream' demo)

13 ~ In The Heat Of The Morning - Decca 1968 version

14 ~ Lover To The Dawn - written and probably performed by DB/Feathers in late 1968

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Thanks so much Tris.

A few of these tracks are already out there and you can get a hint of some of the covers by tracking down Jess Conrad’s cover of 'Pussy Cat' (or even Andre Popp’s version of 'Manchester et Liverpool') and Scott Walker’s rendition of 'Next'...not to mention Roger Bunn’s original and somewhat trippy recording of 'Life Is A Circus'.

*For those that aren’t familiar with it, today’s lyric quotation is from 'Next'.

#Bowie1968 #OccasionalDreaming #BowieCollector

Final few days of MacCormack exhibition

“Catch the last bus with me”

Only four more days to catch David Bowie, The Geoff MacCormack Collection at the Francesca Maffeo Gallery in Leigh-on-Sea in Essex in the UK.

Wednesday 11 April - 10:00 - 14:30

Thursday 12 April - 10:00 - 17:00

Friday 13 April - 10:00 - 17:00

Saturday 14 April - 10:00 - 17:00

This incredible exhibition is the first solo show of these intimate photographs of two friends, travelling side by side between 1973-1976.

Everything you need to know, here.

#GeoffMacBowie

The Bowie Years Volume 2

“Never no turning back”

Editor at Large (Andy Price) has been in touch with details of the second instalment of four, of the superb The Bowie Years (TBY).

This volume covers 1975 - 1980 and includes track-by-track analysis of the Bowie songs from the period, along with in-depth biographical features, a piece on the influence this period Bowie has had, an Alternative Top 20 and a brand new interview with both Carlos Alomar and Robin Clark.

The Bowie Years Volume 2 is available on Thursday 19th April, pre-order here.

There’s also a 25% saving in the offing if you’re interested in the complete Bowie Years collection, which, to our reckoning (having done the math), is one instalment for free!

We’ll leave you with the top ten of TBY Alternative Top 20 - 1975-1980. Perhaps you could suggest your own alternative Top 20 from the latter half of the 70s in the comments section. The only criteria is no singles...not such an easy task!

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10: Repetition (1979)

09: Word On A Wing (1976)

08: Right (1975)

07: Breaking Glass (1977)

06: Win (1975)

05: Sense Of Doubt/Moss Garden/Neuköln (1977)

Though three distinct tracks with quite different feels and textures, these expressive instrumentals (when listened to as they’re supposed to be listened to - in consecutive order) represent the aural equivalent of a train ride through the shell of a multi-cultural city, with the doomy, oppressive Sense of Doubt leading serenely into the relative tranquillity of the oriental Moss Garden, before culminating with one of Bowie’s most expressive musical performances on the isolated and mournful Neuköln - Bowie’s sax takes over the lead vocal role and becomes a wailing, anguished banshee in perhaps the finest sequence of instrumentals that Eno and Bowie conceived. Though Low’s second side was more colourful, Heroes’ instrumental half works arguably more effectively as one shifting suite of moods. Aside from the nuanced, rich mix it’s also profoundly moving emotionally. Genius.

04: It’s No Game (No 1) (1980)

Scary Monsters’ punchy, uncompromising opener is notable for a number of reasons - the alarmed delivery of the Japanese lyrical elements by Michi Hirota, Bowie’s screamed, howling vocals and the baffling hysteria of Robert Fripp’s sequence of guitar riffs demand attention from the listener. If Scary Monsters was Bowie reclaiming the contemporary pop landscape of 1980, then It’s No Game (No 1) is the opening salvo - a challenge to both the theatrical snarling of the punk movement and the right-on sanctimoniousness of the protest song. The song also frets about mortality, and in particular that fame might lead to assassination, with Bowie’s lyric ‘put a bullet in my brain, and it makes all the papers’ The song’s twin (It’s No Game No 2) closes the record and is a gentler, more restrained version of the same song. One of the album’s key tracks. It’s No Game (No 1) launches Scary Monsters with gripping, effective power.

03: Always Crashing In The Same Car (1977)

Allegedly inspired by Bowie’s unfortunate incident in an underground parking-lot in Berlin where he, in a state of inebriation, wrote off his 1950’s Mercedes, Always Crashing In The Same Car is one of Low’s standout tracks. The song also works as not just a real-life memory put to music, but as a work of self-reflection, where Bowie ‘going round and round the hotel garage’ serves as an apt metaphor for his then uncertain and highly depressed state of mind. It features some outstanding guitar work from Ricky Gardiner with a solo that takes centre stage in the mix (though the melody of the solo was originally whistled to Gardiner by Bowie). The rest of the mix is full of sumptuous elements, including Eno’s shimmering synth under-bed. Bowie would perform the track live for the first time twenty years later on the Earthling tour

02: Teenage Wildlife (1980)

By 1979, Bowie’s heir apparents were on the rise, emerging from the Bowie nights being held in clubs such as Billy’s and the Blitz, the next generation of the pop aristocracy were consciously cribbing from Bowie’s visual and musical lexicon and re-shaping it in their own image. Teenage Wildlife is Bowie’s own response to those taking their cues from his body of work, the nature of the cyclic industry and an embittered warning to those in pursuit of fame for its own sake. Though the lyrics contain harrowing, distressing imagery the wonderfully exaggerated vocal delivery, triumphant melody and Fripp’s searing guitar riff make the track one of Scary Monsters highlights.

01: Station To Station (1976)

The longest studio track in the Bowie canon is also one of his most outstanding. Unveiling the shadowy Thin White Duke character - a slick, monochromatically dressed European aristocrat who Bowie described as a ‘would be romantic with absolutely no emotion at all’. Opening with a synthetic train sound before a portentous two-note, repetitive piano motif heralds the Duke’s arrival. The eerie squall of Earl Slick’s guitars counterpoints the imposing, ominous march of Bowie’s tight-knit rhythm section, before the track slows down for a beautifully serene chorus. Melodically and sonically the song is intensely rich, however it’s in both Bowie’s towering vocal performance and the lyrical content of the song where we find, yet again, the track’s real meat - a poetic, and somewhat introspective song that longs for resolution. Once again Bowie evokes the occult, with references to Aleistair Crowley, as well as the Kabbalah, not to mention the overt lyrical references to cocaine - a drug that Bowie was growing ever-dependent on during this period and a key ingredient in the cauldron that yielded the Duke. Station To Station is a true Bowie epic and a harbinger of his upcoming European based, experimental works. One of his finest, and most unique, songs.

#TheBowieYears

Bowie cover and 8-page 1968 feature in SHiNDiG!

“And tomorrow calls my name”*

The April edition of SHiNDiG! magazine in the UK (Issue 78), has a feature focusing on that seemingly unproductive year for Bowie of 1968. Unproductive in that he didn’t release any records, but he was a busy bee indeed.

Titled THE LONG ROAD TO GROUND CONTROL, the article by Martin Ruddock ends with a full page imagining of what Martin thinks may have populated Bowie’s aborted second album for Deram. Here’s that tracklisting as it appears in the magazine...

01 ~ LET ME SLEEP BESIDE YOU (studio recording, September 1967)

02 ~ SILVER TREETOP SCHOOL FOR BOYS (demo, April 1967)

03 ~ APRIL’S TOOTH OF GOLD (demo, Early 1968)

04 ~ ANGEL ANGEL, GRUBBY FACE (demo, early 1968)

05 ~ MOTHER GREY (demo, 1968)

06 ~ KARMA MAN (studio recording, September 1967)

07 ~ LONDON BYE TA TA (studio recording, March 1968)

08 ~ THE REVEREND RAYMOND BROWN (demo, early 1968)

09 ~ TINY TIM (demo, 1968)

10 ~ C'EST LA VIE (demo, October 1967)

11 ~ IN THE HEAT OF THE MORNING (studio recording, April 1968)

12 ~ WHEN I’M FIVE (BBC session, May 1968)

You’ll need to purchase the mag to see the comments on each track, but either way, we’re sure these suggestions will start a heated debate.

Stay tuned for an alternative listing proposed by an expert on early David Bowie recordings.

*Today’s lyric quotation is from the unreleased (officially, at least), C'est La Vie.

#Bowie1968 #BowieSHiNDiG #BowieCollector

Drive-In Saturday single is 45 today

“It’s a crash-course for the ravers”

As hard as it may be to comprehend, David Bowie’s Drive-In Saturday single was released forty five years ago on this day in 1973.

The track was backed by the non-album Ziggy Stardust outtake, Round And Round, a Chuck Berry song originally titled Around And Around.

Drive-In Saturday was the second single taken from the forthcoming Aladdin Sane album (it was the follow up to The Jean Genie), and it made #3 on the UK’s official single chart.

The song name-checks Twiggy (Twig the Wonder Kid) along with Mick Jagger, whose band The Rolling Stones also covered Around And Around and whose Let’s Spend The Night Together also appeared on Aladdin Sane.

The success of the 45 was certainly not hampered by the sublime appearance of Bowie and The Spiders on the Russell Harty Show in the UK in February 1973. If you’ve never seen it, it’s an absolute treat to look back at the 26-year-old Bowie, nervous in interview but peacock proud in performance for his first ever TV chat show appearance.

Check out various pieces of surviving footage and audio on YouTube.

#DriveInSaturday #BowieRussellHarty #BowieRHP73

Bowie fan art #6 at Brooklyn Museum

“The paintings are all your own”

You're most likely getting the hang of this by now, but to recap for those that haven't been following...

David Bowie collected all of the fan art he was sent over the years and now the Brooklyn Museum has fulfilled his desire that one day they should be exhibited.

We’re posting a piece online every Friday with the hashtag #DavidBowieArt. The aim is to eventually create an online gallery dedicated to Bowie inspired art.

Unfortunately, the creators of the majority of the works collected are unknown, but it would be a great help if anybody reading this has more information, be it the artists themselves or somebody who knows them.

You can enjoy all of the pieces on display at the exhibition until July 15th. Tickets and details of other Bowie-related events at the Brooklyn Museum here.

#DavidBowieIs #DavidBowieIsBKM #DavidBowieArt #BowieFanFriday

Black Tie White Noise album is 25 today

“Putting on the black tie, cranking out the white noise”

David Bowie’s 22nd studio album, Black Tie White Noise (BTWN), was released this day in 1993 in the UK. (April 6th in the US)

The LP not only reunited Bowie with producer Nile Rodgers but also with the #1 album spot in the UK, which had evaded him for the release of a studio album since 1984’s Tonight. It was a feat not repeated till The Next Day (TND) in 2013, though the five studio albums in the intervening 20 years between BTWN and TND were all top 10, mostly top 5.

If you’ve not listened for a while, it really is worth revisiting the album. Aside from a clutch of great singles: Black Tie White Noise (Featuring Al B. Sure!), Jump They Say and Miracle Goodnight, the album also featured the Scott Walkeresque You’ve Been Around, Nite Flights (a Scott Walker original) and the charming Don’t Let Me Down & Down.

BTWN also reunited Bowie with Mick Ronson for a track they hadn’t played together for over 20 years, Cream’s I Feel Free. Sadly, Mick passed soon after the album’s release.

Bowie wrote The Wedding for his and Iman's 1992 wedding ceremony. He later added lyrics to this instrumental for The Wedding Song. These pieces were the trigger for making the album and they opened and closed it.

The version we’re pointing to on Spotify doesn’t include Lucy Can’t Dance, which some might consider a bonus. ;-)

#BowieBTWN

Duncan recommends Bowie Book Club book #4

“And I ain’t got no money”

Following last month’s recommendation (Spike Milligan’s Puckoon), Duncan Jones has posted his fourth selection for the Bowie Book Club on Twitter. It’s George Orwell’s 1933 memoir, Down and Out in Paris and London. After yesterday’s curve ball (it was April 1st), here’s what Duncan really tweeted a couple of days ago:

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Duncan Jones @ManMadeMoon March 31st

Its going to be a busy month in the Jones household what with the new baby incoming! Will be a shorter read, & NOT one from dads 100 list.

It will instead be one he had me read & Ive wanted to go back to for a while... George Orwell's - Down & Out in Paris & London.

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Here’s the synopsis:

'You have talked so often of going to the dogs - and well, here are the dogs, and you have reached them.' George Orwell's vivid memoir of his time among the desperately poor and destitute in London and Paris is a moving tour of the underworld of society. Here he painstakingly documents a world of unrelenting drudgery and squalor - sleeping in bug-infested hostels and doss houses, working as a dishwasher in the vile 'Hotel X', living alongside tramps, surviving on scraps and cigarette butts - in an unforgettable account of what being down and out is really like.

As Duncan mentioned, Down and Out in Paris and London is NOT from DAVID BOWIE'S TOP 100 BOOKS list, though 1984 plus Inside The Whale And Other Essays, both by George Orwell, are in the list.

If you don’t do Twitter (where you can respond to Duncan directly), feel free to leave your thoughts about this book in the comments section.

#BowieBookClub #ReadingIsBrainFood

Bowie fan art #5 at Brooklyn Museum

“The paintings are all your own”

David Bowie collected all of the fan art he was sent over the years and now the Brooklyn Museum has fulfilled his desire that one day they would be exhibited.

We’re posting a piece online every Friday with the hashtag #DavidBowieArt. The aim is to eventually create an online gallery dedicated to Bowie inspired art.

Unfortunately, the creators of the majority of the works collected are unknown, but it would be a great help if anybody reading this has more information, be it the artists themselves or somebody who knows them. This approach seems to be working as we’ve now connected with two of the first four artists.

Apologies for the low quality reproduction. Much of the work was photographed through glass and sometimes intrusive reflections were unavoidable.

We’ve a hunch that this week’s selection may ruffle a few feathers, as did last week’s, but isn’t that what art’s all about?

You can enjoy all of the pieces on display at the exhibition until July 15th. Tickets and more here.

#DavidBowieIs #DavidBowieIsBKM #DavidBowieArt #BowieFanFriday

ISOLAR 2 Tour kicks off 40 years ago tonight

“You can’t say no to the Beauty and the Beast”

On Wednesday, March 29, 1978, the Sports Arena in San Diego, California, was the date and location David Bowie chose to commence The 1978 World Tour in front of 15,000 peoploids.

Following the ISOLAR Tour of 1976, the two years between tours seemed an age, though unbearably longer absences from the road were to follow.

The tour visited 15 countries with a total of 78 performances by an ensemble consisting of:

David Bowie (vocals, keyboards)

Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar)

Adrian Belew (lead guitar)

Dennis Davis (drums, percussion)

Simon House (electric violin)

Sean Mayes (piano, string ensemble)

George Murray (bass)

Roger Powell (keyboards, synthesisers)

The setlist comprised primarily of songs from the two most recent albums, Low and "Heroes", with half of Station To Station, a peppering of hits (The Jean Genie and Fame among them), and a large dose of the Ziggy Stardust album.

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March 29, 1978, Sports Arena, San Diego, CA setlist:

Warszawa

"Heroes"

What in the World

Be My Wife

The Jean Genie

Blackout

Sense Of Doubt

Speed Of Life

Breaking Glass

Beauty And The Beast

Fame

20 minute interval

Band intro

Five Years

Soul Love

Star

Hang On To Yourself

Ziggy Stardust

Suffragette City

Rock ’N’ Roll Suicide

Art Decade

Station to Station

Encore #1:

Stay

TVC15

Encore #2:

Rebel Rebel

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The two Sue Halstenberg pictures we’ve used see David in a couple of outfits that didn’t last the tour. The more familiar Natasha Korniloff costumes were also worn on the night.

If you’ve not already read it, Life On Tour With David Bowie by pianist Sean Mayes is a great insider account of the tour.

Finally, read Pimm Jal de la Parra’s review of the gig from a cassette over on the excellent French site, Man Of Music, from where we borrowed the ticket for our montage and where you can view more shots from the gig, by Ralph Hulett.

#Bowie1978 #BowieThrowbackThursday

Bowie Superfan Rates DB is Brooklyn

“She's so swishy in her satin and tat”

Nothing quite like a David Bowie fan who knows their stuff to give an honest opinion of the David Bowie is at the Brooklyn Museum exhibition.

Fourth-grade Bowie superfan, Trixie Madell, recently rated the show after the nine-year-old Ziggy Stardust expert donned sequinned pants and silver Doc Martens to tour the exhibition with her mum.

Here’s an excerpt from a great piece in The New Yorker, by Sarah Larson.

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Trixie made her way through the exhibition, admiring a photo of Earth that had helped inspire “Space Oddity” (“From the lunar orbit, not the moon landing”); the video for “Life on Mars” (“I’ve seen this a bajillion times”); a rigid, doll-like costume that Bowie wore on “Saturday Night Live” (“They had to carry him, because he couldn’t move”); a patterned zip-up number (“That’s ‘Oh, You Pretty Things’ ”); the crystal ball and sceptre from Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth” (“Mommy!”); the keys to Bowie’s Berlin apartment (“They look old”); playfully altered stills from “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (“They changed the bathtub water to tiles”); a suit that she correctly identified as being from Mick Rock’s “Pin Ups” photos; Bowie’s diary entry about writing “Fame” with John Lennon; a Pierrot mannequin (“Isn’t that the ‘Ashes to Ashes’ costume?”). She was uninterested in the “Blue Jean” display—Bowie’s post-seventies œuvre is still of less appeal—and avoided the 1969 short “The Mask,” involving tights and white face paint. “She’s not fond of the mime phase,” Dawn said. At the display for “Blackstar,” Bowie’s final album, lauded by critics but not by Trixie, she politely pointed out an attractive pattern in the black stars.

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Read the full thing here.

If Trixie, Dawn or Josh Madell are reading this, please get in touch.

#DavidBowieIs #DavidBowieIsBKM #NewYorkerBowie

Bowie fan art #4 at Brooklyn Museum

“The paintings are all your own”

David Bowie collected all of the fan art he was sent over the years and now the Brooklyn Museum has fulfilled his desire that one day they would be exhibited.

We’re posting a piece online every Friday with the hashtag #DavidBowieArt. The aim is to eventually create an online gallery dedicated to Bowie inspired art.

Unfortunately, the creators of the majority of the works collected are unknown, but it would be a great help if anybody reading this has more information, be it the artists themselves or somebody who knows them.

Apologies to each artist for the low quality reproduction. Much of the work was photographed through glass and sometimes intrusive reflections were unavoidable.

Anybody out there know anything about this week’s picture? Whoever painted this has based it on a photograph of Bowie performing his bird in flight mime from Earl’s Court in 1973.

You can enjoy all of the pieces on display at the exhibition until July 15th. Tickets and more here.

#DavidBowieIs #DavidBowieIsBKM #DavidBowieArt #BowieFanFriday

'Life On Mars?' wins BBC’s Best Music Production

“Oh man! Wonder if he'll ever know”

We’re sure you remember Tris Penna’s fascinating Exploring 'Life On Mars?' documentary, presented by Martin Kemp and originally broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on January 9th, 2017.

Well now the programme has received the accolade it truly deserves at the BBC’s Radio & Music Awards on Tuesday evening (March 20).

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BEST MUSIC PRODUCTION

This award recognises creativity and originality in production process as well as new and innovative ways of engaging our audiences.

The programme featured never before broadcast archive recordings, mixes and demos as well as new and archive interviews with band members, sound engineers, friends, fans and music publishers to create an extraordinary music production and a brilliantly narrated story.

The winner is Exploring Life on Mars – Sue Clark Productions.

Presenter: Martin Kemp

Presenter/Writer & Co-producer: Tris Penna

This is a Sue Clark Production for BBC Radio 2

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The very lovely Tris Penna had this to say regarding the broadcast: “What was so satisfying about making 'Exploring Life on Mars?' was that I was able to devote a whole hour to what makes DB’s music so special. Wipe away the make-up, discard the costumes, forget the record sleeves - and still the music astonishes and is uniquely timeless…”.

Mr Penna is pictured here holding the gong with producer Sue Clark. The bloke on the right is the chap who wrote the subject of the documentary, photographed around the time that he did.

Sonos Song Stories : Bowie in Berlin free event

“Sons of sound and SONOS of sound”

Following similar successful events in both London and New York... On April 12 at Sonos Berlin hear Tony Visconti, Alison Goldfrapp, Michael Rother, Gudrun Gut and Thomas Venker share personal stories inspired by David Bowie. Sign up for free tickets here http://sonos.com/bowie

Keep reading for the full press release.

#SongStories #SonosStoreBerlin

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Great Sound in Mitte:

Sonos Concept Store Berlin opens on April 12

Song Stories: Bowie Opening Night Event hosted by Thomas Venker to feature Tony Visconti, Goldfrapp, Ellen Allien; Gudrun Gut and Michael Rother

RSVP Open to the Public at www.sonos.com/events

Berlin is Germany’s urban capital of music – even more so soon, as the new Sonos Concept Store at Oranienburger Straße 83 in the Mitte district is opening its doors on April 12. After opening branches in New York and London 2017, the Berlin Sonos store is the second in Europe and third worldwide.

Experience Sound & Sonic Culture

The concept is more than a store: Sonos lets you experience music culture in its new Berlin space. Events from music, film, technology as well as art & design will be happening on an ongoing basis. Visitors can deep-dive into sound, experience Sonos products in an interactive ‘home’ environment and listen to music as intended by the artist. Naturally, sound & acoustics are a crucial part of the concept of the space.

Two listening rooms offer a unique listening experience and are the ideal set-up for product demonstrations: Designed to reflect the feeling of a modern home, the listening rooms let visitors experience the power of sound. Visitors can choose their own favorite songs and stream their own music via one of the many streaming services available on Sonos.

„The Berlin Concept Store is a place for music lovers to come together and find inspiration,“ says Marco Schultz, Country Director DACH at Sonos. „We want to let people feel how sound can bring every home to life.”

Those who want to find the best speaker or the ideal set-up of sound for their home can get qualified advice in the store and, at the same time, experience the products themselves. It’s also the ideal place for those curious to learn more about voice control and intuitive technology: The first Sonos smart speaker – Sonos One with Amazon Alexa built in – can be controlled with your own voice.

Store Design: Urban Berlin

Carefully selected elements distinguish the Berlin space from those in London and New York: For the design of the listening rooms, Sonos collaborated with Berlin artists 44flavors and Lena Petersen. Inspired by music and urban culture, they created the individual look & feel of the two rooms.

Even parts of the store interior are from Berlin – with furniture pieces from 45Kilo, Loehr, Deadgood and Selleck & Sohn.

Another highlight of the space is the eye-catching Art Wall: a space for music-inspired art by international and local artists. For the store’s opening, an exhibition on David Bowie, who had a close musical connection to the German capital, is being showcased, featuring photographs by Denis O'Regan, Masayoshi Sukita and Christian Simonpietri documenting Bowie during his Berlin era.

Song Stories Store Opening

The store’s opening event is inspired by an icon who created some of his most innovative and enduring work in Berlin: On Thursday, April 12, Sonos presents the Song Stories: Bowie. Thomas Venker will be the host for the evening and invites selected artists to share their personal David Bowie-inspired music experiences: Co-producer of Bowie’s famed Berlin Trilogy of Low, “Heroes” and Lodger Tony Visconti, Alison Goldfrapp, Michael Rother and Gudrun Gut will tell their very own song stories and add individual soundtracks. This evening is open to the public and meant to bring together Bowie fans, music lovers and Berliners – RSVP is open on www.sonos.com/events.

During Opening Weekend, on April 13&14, British radio station NTS will create a music experience with a focus on David Bowie’s Berlin era with a live broadcast, inspiring guests, interviews & talks.

Bowie by Mick Rock exhibition in Mexico City

“Well, how come you only want tomorrow”

If you’re wanting a fix of Mick Rock’s Bowie photographs and you’re in Mexico City between March 22 and April 29, then you’ve struck lucky.

More than a mere exhibition, this Bowie happening promises: Music - Art - Special Events - Cinema.

And Mick Rock himself will even be at the opening party.

Get the full lowdown and tickets here.

#BowieExperience

BV presale ends Monday night - General on sale Tuesday

“Where the f*ck did Monday go?”

Less than three hours remaining till the Brooklyn Vegan Lazarus presale ends (10:00pm EDT). However, if you missed that, tickets for this one-off event go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 10:00am EDT. Links below.

LAZARUS

By David Bowie and Enda Walsh

THE MOTION PICTURE/LIVE SOUNDTRACK EXPERIENCE

Starring Michael C. Hall

Michael Esper, Sophia Anne Caruso, Amy Lennox

Directed by Ivo van Hove

Featuring 18 David Bowie Songs

Exclusively performed live by the original band from the off-Broadway show

Inspired by the novel

THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH by Walter Tevis

Courtesy of StudioCanal

IN ASSOCIATION WITH RZO PRODUCTIONS INC. UNDER LICENSE FROM DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE

Wednesday, May 2

Kings Theatre

EXCLUSIVE BROOKLYN VEGAN PRESALE

Ends Monday, 3/19 at 10pm

Code: SoundAndVegan

Tickets go on sale to the general public tomorrow at 10am.

#LazarusMusical #LazarusMoPiLive

Lazarus pre-sale now on at Brooklyn Vegan

“It’s happening now”

Go here now for Brooklyn Vegan presale.

See previous post for more information.

#LazarusMusical #LazarusMoPiLive

One-off Lazarus experience tickets on sale tomorrow

“By the time I got to New York”

LAZARUS

THE MOTION PICTURE/LIVE SOUNDTRACK EXPERIENCE

FEATURING EXCLUSIVE PERFORMANCE BY THE ORIGINAL BAND FROM THE

OFF-BROADWAY SHOW BY DAVID BOWIE & ENDA WALSH

ONE NIGHT ONLY MAY 2 AT THE KINGS THEATRE IN BROOKLYN

Tickets On Sale Tuesday, March 20 HERE

LAZARUS By David Bowie and Enda Walsh

THE MOTION PICTURE/LIVE SOUNDTRACK EXPERIENCE

Starring Michael C. Hall

Michael Esper, Sophia Anne Caruso, Amy Lennox

Directed by Ivo van Hove

Featuring 18 David Bowie Songs

Exclusively performed live by the original band from the off-Broadway show

Inspired by the novel

THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH by Walter Tevis

Courtesy of StudioCanal

IN ASSOCIATION WITH RZO PRODUCTIONS INC. UNDER LICENSE FROM DAVID BOWIE ARCHIVE

#LazarusMusical #LazarusMoPiLive

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Lazarus, the stage musical written by David Bowie and Enda Walsh, will be given a new life in a new light on May 2 at 8pm at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn.

For the first time and for one night only, the theatrical premiere of a film of Lazarus’s London production will be soundtracked in the flesh by the actual band who brought the show to life in New York. Not only will fans who were unable to score tickets to Lazarus’s sold out New York run finally be able to see the show on the silver screen—they will have the unique and unprecedented experience of seeing the film with the music played in its entirety by the seven-piece band that backed Michael C. Hall and the Lazarus cast beginning with the show's December 7, 2015 opening in New York City.

Lazarus features of nearly 20 songs spanning the Bowie catalogue personally rearranged by David Bowie and Henry Hey, from singles (“Heroes,” “Changes,” “Life On Mars?”) to deep cuts (“Always Crashing in the Same Car,” “It’s No Game (Part 1),” “Dirty Boys”) to the four songs written specifically for the show (“Lazarus,” “No Plan,” “Killing a Little Time,” “When I Met You”). The Lazarus film/live soundtrack experience will mark the first time that these musicians have played these songs live since the January 20, 2016 finale of the show’s New York run.

The original Lazarus band is comprised of musical director/arranger/keyboardist (and producer of the Lazarus Cast Album) Henry Hey, keyboardist/guitarist JJ Appleton, drummer Brian Delaney, saxophonist Lucas Dodd, bassist Fima Ephron, trombonist Karl Lyden and guitarist Chris McQueen. Together, they will provide live accompaniment to on screen performances by Lazarus London cast members including Michael C. Hall as Thomas Jerome Newton, Amy Lennox as Elly, Sophia Anne Caruso as Girl, Michael Esper as Valentine, Jamie Muscato as Ben, and more.

Written by Bowie and Enda Walsh, Lazarus was inspired by Walter Tevis’s novel The Man Who Fell to Earth, and starred Michael C. Hall as Thomas Jerome Newton, the character Bowie portrayed in the 1976 film adaptation of that book. Directed by Ivo Van Hove and produced by Robert Fox, Lazarus opened December 7, 2015 at the New York Theatre Workshop to great critical acclaim. The New York Times raved “Ice-cold bolts of ecstasy shoot like novas through the glamorous muddle and murk of Lazarus, the great-sounding, great-looking and mind-numbing new musical built around songs by David Bowie,” while Rolling Stone hailed it as a “Surrealistic Tour de Force… milk-swimming, lingerie-sniffing, gin-chugging theater at its finest.” Tickets to the entire New York run of Lazarus sold out within hours of going on sale. The sold out London production of Lazarus, which was filmed for the May 2 event, had an exclusive limited run at the specially built Kings Cross Theatre from November 8, 2016 to January 22, 2017.

Lazarus The Motion Picture/Live Soundtrack Experience is presented by Live Nation in association with RZO Productions, Inc., under license from David Bowie Archive. All net proceeds from this show will be donated to Public Programs at the Brooklyn Museum including monthly, talks, performances, and screenings.

Hallo Spaceboy Spotify playlist

“Bye bye spaceboy”

Seemingly to mark the sad passing of English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author (among other things), Stephen Hawking last week, Spotify created a various artists, space-themed playlist, commencing with Starman.

So we thought we’d pay tribute to the great man ourselves, who, in case you didn’t know, shared the same January 8 birthday as Elvis Presley and David Bowie. We’ve created our own Spotify playlist containing Bowie tracks exclusively, what with him being the master of the otherworldly and everything.

We’ve chosen 10 tracks that run for the traditional vinyl album total length of 43 minutes.

Space Oddity

Life On Mars?

Starman

Moonage Daydream

Hallo Spaceboy (original Outside album version)

Looking For Satellites

I Took A Trip On A Gemini Spaceship

Dancing Out In Space

Born In A UFO

Hallo Spaceboy (Pet Shop Boys remix)

However, unlike Hawking, our playlist wasn’t wholly scientific. We tried to choose tracks with a space-themed title, but that also had some kind of relevant content.

But how on Earth could we omit a song like Life On Mars?, which, as you know, isn't actually a song regarding the likelihood of extra-terrestrials on the red planet?

Other tracks that didn't make it onto the playlist, for obvious reasons, include the following:

Star

Loving The Alien

New Killer Star

Fall Dog Bombs The Moon

Blackstar

Did we miss any other contenders?

Anyway, here’s the link.

#BowieSpotify #BowieHalloSpaceboy

Bowie fan art #3 at Brooklyn Museum

“The paintings are all your own”

As previously mentioned, David Bowie had collected all of the fan art he was sent over the years with a desire to one day exhibit them. Knowing this, the @brooklynmuseum has created exactly that with a section dedicated to those contributions within the David Bowie Is Brooklyn exhibition.

We will be posting a piece online every Friday with the hashtag #DavidBowieArt. The aim is to eventually create an online gallery dedicated to Bowie inspired art.

Sadly, the creators of the majority of the works that Bowie collected are unknown, but it would be a great help if anybody reading this has more information, be it the artists themselves or somebody who knows them.

Anybody out there know anything about this week’s picture? The artist has based their work on a Mick Rock photograph which can be found on the back of the Pin Ups album.

Finally, apologies to each artist for the low quality reproduction. Much of the work was photographed through glass and sometimes intrusive reflections were unavoidable.

You can enjoy all of the pieces on display at the exhibition until July 15th. Tickets and more here.

#DavidBowieIs #DavidBowieIsBKM #DavidBowieArt #BowieFanFriday