Bowie’s 45-year-old NYE record breaker

“A trumpet you can blow, And a lunch at Rules…”

We close our 45th anniversary celebrations of 1973 today with a look back at New Year’s Eve, 1973. Today’s pictures (by Michael Putland), were taken at an RCA Records luncheon at the prestigious Rules restaurant in London’s Covent Garden, to mark Bowie’s extraordinary performance on the UK album charts.

With the publication of the ‘The Bowie five-star constellation’ advert (bottom right) in September, it was clear that RCA were more than happy with the way things were going. Here’s the wording from that advert:

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The Bowie five-star constellation

Unbelievable but a fact - David Bowie takes five places in the Top Fifty album charts for ten whole weeks - a musical achievement unique in our time.

And now, the man who made Space Oddity, The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars and Aladdin Sane is putting a new album into orbit. It’s called PIN-UPS and will be released in mid-October.

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Things got even crazier with the release of Pin Ups on October 19th. The album entered the chart at #1 on November 3rd. Here are the positions taken from that week’s chart:

#01 Pin Ups

#14 Aladdin Sane

#16 Hunky Dory

#22 Ziggy Stardust

#46 The Man Who Sold The World

#50 Space Oddity

That week, the man who released his debut RCA album just two years previously, had six albums in the Top Fifty. As far as we are aware, that’s a feat that hasn't been equalled by a living artist since.

At one point, Bowie also had five albums in the Top Fifty for nineteen consecutive weeks.

The plaque in the framed album presentation was inscribed thus:

“Awarded to David Bowie for outstanding musical achievements. From your friends at RCA.“

At the New Year's Eve presentation, David apparently rose from the head of a long table in an upstairs room to thank everyone:

“I don’t know what to say, I feel like a rock ‘n’ roll star. At least it keeps the kids on the streets. Thanks to everyone who bought or were given the albums.”

They don’t make 'em like that anymore. Here’s to the brilliance of David Bowie and an exciting 2019.

FOOTNOTE: Rules was also the venue for the festive photoshoot that put David on the cover of the December 1969 edition of Fabulous 208.

#BowieCoolYule  #BowieOCC

Bowie’s 45-year-old cool yule message

“In a corner of the morning in the past…”

As we move to the close of our 45th anniversary celebrations of one of Bowie’s most successful years, 1973, here’s how Christmas in Bowie World was marked back then.

The UK album chart was dominated by Bowie during the last quarter of 1973, as were the end of year music press polls.

The image on the left was a record store flyer marking the success of RCA’s Bowie campaign since the release of Hunky Dory two years previously. It featured Terry O’Neill’s iconic shot of Bowie taken at The Marquee for the 1980 Floor Show in October.

The Bowie billboard picture was actually a real thing proudly looking out across London, with the message: “It looks like Christmas love on ya! Bowie”. A version of it was used in a Record Mirror advert at the time too.

A 1973 Christmas card sent to fan club members is reproduced on the right, with the message inside shown below.

So whether you celebrate it or not during the holiday season, have a cool yule either way.

#BowieCoolYule

To Zowie, from Dad

“’Cause if you stay with us you’re gonna be pretty kookie too…”

Duncan Jones (previously Zowie Bowie), has tweeted a wonderfully poignant message, quickly followed by a typically humorous one.

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Duncan Jones ‏@ManMadeMoon - 6:28 AM - 24 Dec 2018

Got a bit emotional while wrapping tonight. Didn’t occur to me till tonight that when i named my daughter Zowie i would eventually be writing “To Zowie, from Dad,” exactly like my dad did for me when i was little. Ghosts of Christmas past.

Duncan Jones ‏@ManMadeMoon - 6:35 AM - 24 Dec 2018

On the other hand, writing Stenton was EASY!  All i was thinking with him was, “bet the little bastard smacks me around the back of the head with this at some point!” 😁❤

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The 'this' to be used as a weapon during some future attack remains unidentified.

Duncan is pictured here as new-born Zowie, with Dad David in 1971.

#DuncanAndRodeneJones  #BabyJones  #BabyJones2  #GranddadJones 

2018 wrapped on Spotify

“Wham Bam Thank You Fans!”

Thank you for a great year on Spotify folks.

It’s apparent that the streaming app is becoming more and more popular each year for Bowie fans with an increase of 57% of followers in 2018.

If all 37,493,480 Bowie fans on Spotify crammed together for a listening party, they’d need a room big enough to accommodate the population of Poland. Not a lot of people know that.

If you’re not already using Spotify, check it out here.

#2018ArtistWrapped  #BowieSpotify

Bowie’s Hong Kong Lennon tribute on this day

“Imagine all the people”

David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight World Tour climaxed with a performance of John Lennon’s Imagine, 35 years ago tonight in Hong Kong on December 8th, 1983.

It was David’s tribute to his friend who had been shot and killed on the same day in New York in 1980.

You can watch a visibly emotional Bowie singing the song to the sell-out audience at Hong Kong Coliseum here.

As you know, photographer Denis O’Regan was along for the ride for every date of the tour, as recorded in the superb Ricochet : David Bowie 1983. (@Bowie1983Book)

Both of the pictures here were taken by Denis in Hong Kong on that very day.

FOOTNOTE: The winners of the Ricochet contest have been contacted and have accepted their prizes.

#BowieLennon  #DavidBowieRicochet

The man who kept the Glastonbury tape rolling

“We could steal time, Just for one day, We can be heroes, for ever and ever”

Worth a mention in case it passed you by is Bowie TV: Episode 10.

In it, Mark Cooper, the BBC’s head of Music TV, talks about how he had to cut the live broadcast of David Bowie's headline slot at Glastonbury short after just three songs...much to the dismay of the viewing public watching at home.

Thankfully he had the good sense to carry on recording regardless of what the BBC were allowed to broadcast, a decision he should be applauded for as we wouldn’t all be able to watch the full set now if he hadn’t.

Bowie TV is on the Official David Bowie YouTube channel.

#BowieTV  #BowieGlasto2000

Denis O’Regan on The One Show

“They pulled in just behind the fridge”*

Denis O’Regan was on BBC One’s The One Show in the UK this evening. He discussed Ricochet and his time spent with David Bowie on the 1983 Serious Moonlight World Tour.

The Denis O’Regan picture illustrating this piece was taken 35 years ago today while Bowie was in Thailand (during the penultimate stop of the tour), for a show at the Thai Army Sports Stadium

The pale white Singer was a popular make of fridge in Thailand at the time, probably. One thing’s for sure, the lightly tanned singer was very popular in Thailand at the time, as evidenced in the superb Ricochet tour documentary filmed in Southeast Asia.

*For those concerned about the accuracy of today’s lyric quotation, go here.

#DavidBowieRicochet

NME’s review of the ‘perfect Glastonbury Festival evening’

“I gazed a gazely stare at all the thousands here”

Andrew Trendell at NME has written a piece titled: ‘Glastonbury 2000: The night Bowie reclaimed his legend’, with a subdeck of: ‘Imagine the perfect Glastonbury Festival evening. Or just watch this film so you don’t have to.’

Here’s the conclusion to the piece:

“In sitting his newer material alongside the unretired classics with a performance so consummate and a band so accomplished, Bowie reset the dialogue to focus on his vitality, paving the way for his latter work on ‘Heathen’, ‘Reality, ‘The Next Day’ and his perfect curtain call, ‘Blackstar’. He reclaimed his legend, and gave Glastonbury a night for all time.”

Read the full review and watch a great little video of a few Bowie fans being interviewed at the Glastonbury 2000 screening in London last week.

#BowieGlasto2000

ilikeyouroldstuff.com on what made Bowie the best

“Five magical moments”

Dr Ian Chapman over on ilikeyouroldstuff.com has written a piece titled: 5 STELLAR MOMENTS FROM THE GREATEST GLASTONBURY HEADLINER OF ALL TIME.

Here’s the intro to the piece:

“Without doubt David Bowie’s now-iconic Glastonbury 2000 appearance contains stellar moments galore, amounting to a virtual feast-o-rama for fans who have long awaited this very special release. In this essay, I will attempt the difficult feat of zeroing in on just five of these moments. The first of these goes beyond the music, occurring as early as the opening seconds of the performance before David Bowie has so much as uttered a word or sung a note…”

Read the full thing here.

#BowieGlasto2000

Lazarus with Gijs Naber in Amsterdam October 2019

“In the port of Amsterdam, Gijs Naber will sing”

Following our initial announcement of this last year and various franchise versions of Lazarus (including the current Hamburg run and the recently announced Oslo version), Ivo van Hove’s production of David Bowie and Enda Walsh’s Lazarus musical will première on October 13th at DeLaMar Theater in Amsterdam.

Gijs Naber will play the lead part of Thomas Jerome Newton and the 50,000 available tickets go on sale today at 12.00 P.M. (CET) via Eventim.

Keep reading for the full press release.

#LazarusNL  #LazarusMusical 

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Gijs Naber to star in David Bowie's Lazarus

3rd December 2018

Lazarus will première on October 13th at DeLaMar Theater in Amsterdam

Gijs Naber will play the leading part in Lazarus, the David Bowie musical. Naber plays the role of Thomas Newton. Ivo van Hove, who created the show together with Bowie and Enda Walsh in New York, will also direct the Dutch production.

Albert Verlinde, CEO and producer of Stage Entertainment Netherlands: "We are very much looking forward to Lazarus. I have been talking to Ivo van Hove for a couple of years now. Following sold out runs in both New York and London, I’m thrilled that we can now bring the show to Amsterdam. Lazarus is a very special show, one of Bowie's last projects and a musical work of art. It is fantastic news that Ivo van Hove, who created the original show together with Bowie, will also direct the Dutch production. The musical is an unforgettable theatre trip paying tribute to Bowie's genius mind. As the lead part is very demanding, I am extremely proud that Gijs Naber wlll join us in this adventure. He is our dreamed Thomas Newton."

Lazarus will premiere on October 13th 2019 and will play exclusively in DeLaMar Theatre in Amsterdam for a period of three months. The 50,000 available tickets go on sale today at 12.00 P.M. (CET) via Eventim. Other roles will be announced later. More information: www.bowielazarus.nl

Lazarus

Legendary pop star David Bowie died on January 10th 2016. The musical Lazarus was one of his very last projects. Lazarus is a sequel to the book The Man Who Fell to Earth by Walter Tevis. Bowie himself played the role of Thomas Newton in the film adaptation from 1976, directed by Nicolas Roeg. Thomas Newton also plays a central role in the musical Lazarus, which is a journey featuring legendary Bowie hits such as 'Heroes', 'Absolute Beginners', 'Changes', 'All the Young Dudes', 'This is not America' and of course the title song 'Lazarus', especially written for the musical and later released on Bowie's last album Blackstar.

The Dutch production of Lazarus is produced by Stage Entertainment The Netherlands by arrangement with Robert Fox and Jones/Tintoretto Entertainment and The New York Theatre Workshop.

Gijs Naber

Actor Gijs Naber graduated in 2003 from the Toneelacademie in Maastricht. He played various parts in films such as The Heineken Abduction, Loft, Het Verlangen and Redbad. In 2014, he received a Golden Calf Award for Best Actor for his role in the film Aanmodderfakker. In theatre, he played roles in Woef Side Story and Lang en Gelukkig. For this last part, he received in 2014 a Musical Award for Best Supporting Actor in the category small musical. For his role in the play Death of a Salesman, he won an Arlecchino award. Gijs also played leading roles in television series such as Penoza and Zwarte Tulp.