“Give me your head...”
Following the release of the digital and 2CD versions of the Moonage Daydream album last year, the 3-disc vinyl companion to the critically acclaimed film by Brett Morgan is released today, 31st March, and is available here.
(Image of Bowie during Cracked Actor at the LA Universal Amphitheatre in 1974 by Terry O’Neill)
#BowieMoonageDaydreamAlbum #BowieMoonageDaydreamFilm
“Look at him climb...”
Jump They Say, a 1993 Top Ten single in the UK and a taster for the upcoming Black Tie White Noise, was released thirty years ago today.
Promoted as a comeback single, the track reached #9 in the UK charts, Bowie’s only Top Ten single between 1986’s Absolute Beginners and 2013’s Where Are We Now?.
According to Bowie, the song tackled his feelings about his schizophrenic half-brother Terry, who had taken his own life in January 1985. The lyrics tell of a desperate man driven to a terrible act by the pressures put upon him. Bowie also cited his own feelings about jumping into the unknown metaphysically. Musically, the influence of Nile Rodgers led to a funk-based sound, though the track was also influenced by contemporary jazz, with a solo from Avant-jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie.
As the first single from the album, Jump They Say received a considerable promotional push with widespread press advertising and a slew of promotional 12" singles. The following year Jump: The David Bowie Interactive CD-ROM was released; wherein endless mixes of the song and versions of the video could be created.
The promotion also included the darkly stylish video directed by Mark Romanek, depicting Bowie as a businessman paranoid of his colleagues, who seemingly conduct experiments on him and force him to jump from the roof of the corporate building.
The video was influenced by Jean-Luc Godard's 1965 film Alphaville as well as Chris Marker's film La jetée and Orson Welles' The Trial - both from 1962. The uniformed women shown looking through high powered telescopes are an homage to the stewardesses in the Pan-Am space plane in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The video was praised by Entertainment Weekly after Bowie passed in 2016, saying: “Bowie is an excellent actor, and this video may be his best character performance in a music video.”
Following Warhol’s lead with his 1962 multiple, Suicide (Fallen Body), the final scene of the Jump They Say video ends with an homage to the tragic Evelyn Francis McHale. Evelyn committed suicide in 1947 by jumping from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. An image captured four minutes after her death by photography student Robert Wiles gained iconic status and became known as ‘The Most Beautiful Suicide’.
The image we’ve used here is from that final scene and you can watch the full video here.
#BowieJUMP #BowieJUMP30
“The song they’re playing on the radio...”
As you know, today marks the 40th anniversary of the Let’s Dance single.
Jason Draper has kindly given us the heads up on another superb piece he’s written regarding the release over on thisisdig. Here’s his introduction...
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Having released an album almost every year throughout the 70s, David Bowie fell unusually quiet at the start of the 80s. When a new song, Let’s Dance, emerged in March 1983 as the lead single from the album of the same name, it suggested that things would be business as usual for the creative maverick who could bend a range of musical styles to his will – only this time, in league with co-conspirator Nile Rodgers, Bowie let loose a genre-melding song that was also calibrated for success in the pop realm. More than a call to the dancefloor, Let’s Dance knowingly winked at its title’s meaning in vintage slang: an invitation to fight, with Bowie silhouetted in a boxer’s pose on the single’s artwork, the song saw its creator come out swinging as he took on the mainstream. Here is the story of how Let’s Dance turned David Bowie into a global pop icon.
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Read the full thing here.
#BowieLetsDance40 #Bowie2023Anniversaries
“Under the moonlight…”
Some of you already have on your red shoes and have danced your way into 14th March and the 40th anniversary of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance single.
If so, you may have already happened upon the work of Honey Dijon and the 4-track LET’S DANCE 40th ANNIVERSARY REMIX E.P.
The Let’s Dance (Honey Dijon Moonlight remix) was created as part of a trio of new Bowie remixes for Peloton’s celebration of Bowie’s legacy and his future influence around his 75th birthday last year. Honey Dijon, aka Honey Redmond, the New York based producer and DJ remixed the track and said “My remix was not only influenced by my love of David Bowie, but by being a Peloton Member myself, I thought about what would inspire me to move my body and sweat, similarly to when I motivate a crowd to dance at a club. My interpretation of ‘Let’s Dance’ is a true celebration of music and movement.”
For this special digital-only remix EP, two mixes by Honey Dijon are complemented by two further remixes from the Brazilian Electronic producer RQntz whose mix initially appeared on an especially curated Lady Gaga playlist on Apple Music.
LET’S DANCE 40th ANNIVERSARY REMIX E.P.
1 - Let’s Dance (Honey Dijon Moonlight remix) (4.06)
2 - Let’s Dance (RQntz remix radio edit) (3.29)
3 - Let’s Dance (Honey Dijon Moonlight club mix) (7.14)
4 - Let’s Dance (RQntz remix) (4.23)
Also released tomorrow (14th) are Let’s Dance Club Bolly mixes (2 tracks) and China Girl Riff and Vox mixes (3 tracks).
Stay tuned for more Let’s Dance celebrations.
#BowieLetsDance40 #Bowie2023Anniversaries
“And the next day, and the next, and another day. Listen…”
Following its exclusive announcement on the official Bowie channels on Bowie’s 66th birthday on 8th January 2013, The Next Day, Bowie’s first new studio album In 10 years, was initially released ten years ago today, followed by staggered releases in various formats in different territories.
Preceded by the haunting Tony Oursler directed Where Are We Now video (released as a single on the same day as the album announcement), The Next Day was made available to stream as a worldwide iTunes exclusive the week before its full release, with the vinyl following later.
The album’s 2nd single, The Stars (Are Out Tonight), was also released ahead of the album with an accompanying video on 26th February.
The release of The Next Day (co-produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti) marked a highly anticipated return for Bowie, who had largely remained out of the public eye for several years. Bowie’s first new material in a decade was met with widespread critical acclaim and entered most charts at #1 on the day of release.
The album was recorded in secret over a period of two years, with only a handful of people aware of its existence. Its sudden release was seen as a bold and unexpected move, generating a great deal of excitement and press attention.
Jonathan Barnbrook’s album artwork featuring a white square obscuring the iconic "Heroes" album cover, was also a topic of much discussion and speculation.
Publicity for the album started with overnight pencil pavement stencils bearing the legend The Next Day and an extensive poster and billboard campaign announcing the album and relevant release date, but initially with no mention of Bowie. Possibly the most prolific Bowie poster campaign, Barnbrook created one of the biggest headaches for completist collectors of Bowie memorabilia.
The Next Day was an undoubted triumph for Bowie, and it served as a reminder of his enduring relevance and influence on modern music. Its release marked a significant milestone in his career, and it remains a highly regarded album among fans and critics alike.
We’ll leave you with critical plaudits for The Next Day taken from the fist reviews:
Q *****
"Start arguing for its merits as an equal to Low or a Heroes."
The Guardian ****
"The Next Day makes you hope it's not a one-off, that his return continues apace: no mean feat, given that listening to a new album by most of his peers makes you wish they'd stick to playing the greatest hits."
The Independent *****
"The greatest comeback album ever."
The Telegraph *****
"An absolute wonder: urgent, sharp-edged, bold, beautiful and baffling.”
The Times ****
"A great album and something that is rare in an age when everything is explained and revealed: a sense of mystery."
Rolling Stone ****
“‘The Stars (Are Out Tonight)’ is one of the greatest songs the man has ever written… a triumphant moment on a triumphant album.”
NME 8/10
"Bright and poppy, these songs feel like stories that insisted on being told."
Billboard 91/100
“[Bowie and producer Tony Visconti] have struck gold in creating a work that is modern and well-connected to the artist’s fabled sonic-past.”
The Quietus
"David Bowie, then. History, but still happening. And the next day, and the next. Greatness. It can't go on. It goes on."
#TheNextDayIs10