Help Geoff MacCormack find mystery fans

“Where are we now, where are we now?”

You’re probably familiar with Geoff MacCormack’s picture of David Bowie signing autographs for three fans in 1973.

We're not certain of the gender of the lucky threesome (it was confusing in those days), and neither are we 100% certain of the whereabouts of the signing, though it’s most likely in Bournemouth on Friday May 25th, 1973, before the Bowie and The Spiders show at the Winter Gardens.

Do you recognise yourself in the picture, or do you perhaps know who these young folk are? If so, please let us know here in the comments section on Facebook. No fibbers please.

For those of you who have read this far, check out an extra bit of fun courtesy of Geoff in the aforementioned comments section.

#GeoffMacBowie  

A Happy New Year and a brand new moon

“I'll place the moon within your heart”

Inspired by Iman’s New Year supermoon Instagram post, here’s a previously unpublished picture of David Bowie by Total Blam Blam.

Obviously the moon was added after the fact, the original picture was taken at the Extras shoot in 2006.

Stay tuned for an exciting first week of 2018 leading up to January 8th and what would have been David’s 71st birthday.

#HappyNewYear2018

Duncan launches Bowie Book Club via Twitter

“Screaming above Central London”

Back in October 2013 we exclusively posted the complete list of “DAVID BOWIE'S TOP 100 BOOKS”.

In case you’ve not already seen it on Twitter, Duncan Jones has now kicked off what we’re calling the Bowie Book Club. Here’s what he said about the idea and his first selection.

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Duncan Jones @ManMadeMoon Dec 27

My dad was a beast of a reader. One of his true loves was Peter Ackroyd’s sojourns into the history of Britain & its cities. I’ve been feeling a building sense of duty to go on the same literary marathon in tribute to dad. Time allowing...

#Read-ItBig’nsTheBrain

Duncan Jones @ManMadeMoon Dec 27

Alright gang! Anyone who wants to join along, we are reading Peter Ackroyd’s “Hawksmoor,” as an amuse cerveau before we get into the heavy stuff. You have until Feb 1.

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Hawksmoor is in DAVID BOWIE'S TOP 100 BOOKS list, indeed it’s one of the books we illustrated in our montage back in 2013. It’s also a work we’ve loved for a long time here at DBHQ, since David first recommended it many years ago. We’ll leave you with the synopsis for this gripping and terrible tale of two Londons separated by two and a half centuries.

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'There is no Light without Darknesse and no Substance without Shaddowe'

So proclaims Nicholas Dyer, assistant to Sir Christopher Wren and the man with a commission to build seven London churches to stand as beacons of the enlightenment. But Dyer plans to conceal a dark secret at the heart of each church - to create a forbidding architecture that will survive for eternity. Two hundred and fifty years later, London detective Nicholas Hawksmoor is investigating a series of gruesome murders on the sites of certain eighteenth-century churches - crimes that make no sense to the modern mind . . .

'Chillingly brilliant . . . sinister and stunningly well executed'  - Independent on Sunday

Peter Ackroyd was born in London in 1949. A novelist, biographer and historian, he has been the literary editor of The Spectator and chief book reviewer for The Times, as well as writing several highly acclaimed books including a biography of Dickens and London: The Biography. He lives in London.

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#BowieBookClub  #ReadingIsBrainFood

“Listen to me”

Here

#BowieTeaser

Bowie at The Rainbow 45 years ago tonight

“Well the bitter comes out better on a Stollen guitar” *

David Bowie and The Spiders kicked off a short UK tour at the end of 1972 with a triumphant homecoming show at the Rainbow Theatre, on December 24th.

They were enjoying much greater chart recognition since previously being in the country and The Jean Genie had just entered the Top 20 on its way to #2 in the UK single chart.

David recalled this batch of shows and the Rainbow gig fondly in Mick Rock’s book, Moonage Daydream: “We put in a short tour of the UK between December and January 1972-73. It was always a great buzz to come back home and this was probably one of the best, highest energy jaunts of our short eighteen-month life. That's all it was, 18 months.

We had another Rainbow show on Christmas Eve, so I asked the audience beforehand to bring a toy to be donated to Dr Barnardo’s childrens’ home (http://smarturl.it/Barnardos), the organisation for which my dad had worked all of his life. I think we filled an entire truck with them.“

Indeed they did, as Andy Barding of Cygnet Committee (http://smarturl.it/CygnetCommittee) points out in this excellent celebration of the night, with contributions from Woody Woodmansey.

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’Twas the night before Christmas, 1972

… and in a North London concert hall David Bowie was making it a night to remember. And not just for his fans.

When tickets for his Christmas Eve show at the Rainbow Theatre were put on sale, David made a public appeal for concertgoers to bring toys with them as a charity donation. The response was fantastic, as David’s drummer Woody Woodmansey remembers:

“David’s toy appeal created more response than we could have imagined. There was a huge truckload of stuff. We hadn't done anything like that since the Save the Whale benefit concert much earlier on.” (Royal Festival Hall, London, July 8 1972)

The very next day, Christmas morning, the goodwill mountain of toys and games that had stacked up in the venue’s foyer was distributed to appreciative youngsters in children’s homes across London.

David was delighted. His father, who had passed away three years earlier, had been a public relations officer for Dr Barnardo Homes. So this was a cause close to his heart.

This sold-out Rainbow concert marked a triumphant homecoming for 25-year-old David and his band, the Spiders from Mars. They had just returned from nearly three months on the road in America and their absence from Britain had made homegrown hearts grow a lot, lot fonder.

NME writer and seasoned David Bowie concertgoer Charles Shaar Murray was taken aback by the frenzied audience reception.

“Just for the record, they've started screaming at David Bowie,” he wrote.

“At the Rainbow on Christmas Eve young girls were reaching out for our hero’s supple limbs and squealing in the customary manner. Whether it’s Bowiemania or Ziggymania or a combination of the two is not yet apparent.”

Rival music paper Melody Maker hit the newsstands with a David Bowie-dominated Christmas issue that same week. David was crowned their ‘main man of 1972’, and voted Top Vocalist in the end of year poll. The ‘Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars’ album, which sold close to 200,000 copies in the UK and US during 1972, was declared the MM critics’ choice.

Those who attended the Rainbow were treated to a spectacular new live set kicked off by ‘Let’s Spend the Night Together’ (featuring David playing his new VCS3 Moog synthesizer). And as a bonus attraction they were the first in Britain to hear new boy Mike Garson on piano.

This was quickly followed by a “razor-edged” ‘Hang On To Yourself', which Charles Shaar Murray enthusiastically reported was “played better than I've ever heard it.” And this in spite of David having only just got over a bout of Asian flu.

In a radical break from the regular Ziggy show format, this festive concert did away with the half-time acoustic section in favour of an all-out electric experience.

“We had worked hard in the US,” said Woody, “and I think it had evolved into a rockier show. It was nice to get back to the UK, and a perfect way to end the year with a new set.”

Charles Shaar Murray agreed: “That American tour has really honed the Spiders to perfection. The show is tougher, flashier and more manic than it’s ever been before.”

Let’s hope it was all worth the £2.50 ticket price (£1.50 for a cheap seat in the Circle). The concert ended late and, this being Christmas Eve AND the early seventies, night buses and trains were few and far between. By the time the gig ended with ‘Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide’, all underground train services had stopped. Most Bowie freaks had to either walk home or shell out for taxis. At least one silver lame-clad fan spent the night curled up in a Finsbury Park shop doorway. It’s worth clarifying that this was the only London concert by David and the Spiders in December 1972. When Christmas Eve tickets sold out pretty much instantly, efforts were made to book the venue for an extra show on the previous day, December 23. But ultimately it could not be done.

There were dramatic scenes at the stage door, as the band made their way out that night.

Woody: “I do remember the fans outside the stage door when we exited. We had to actually push one over-enthusiastic fan who was brandishing a pair of scissors.

“As we came out she lunged forward and attempted to secure a lock of Mick Ronson’s hair and narrowly missed his left eye by a fraction of an inch.”

Afterwards, David headed for his South London home (where six Royal Mail sacks full of Christmas cards were waiting for him) and the Spiders were driven home to Yorkshire in a limo - though not by MainMan bodyguard Stuey George, as has been previously documented, says Woody.

“It snowed all the way and we arrived at my mum’s in the early hours and surprised them,” he said.

And on Christmas Day, as hundreds of London kids unwrapped surprise presents from those generous David Bowie fans, the rest of the country settled down in front of their tellies to watch the traditional Christmas Top of the Pops – and a repeat showing of that now-legendary ‘Starman’ performance.

1972 had been a super-stellar year for David and the Spiders. And that Christmas, for a lot of reasons, can be considered the icing on the cake.

David Bowie at the Rainbow Theatre, December 24, 1972, Setlist

Let's Spend The Night Together
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Changes
The Supermen
Life On Mars?
Five Years
The Width Of A Circle
John, I’m Only Dancing
Moonage Daydream
The Jean Genie
Suffragette City
Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide

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Thanks Andy and Woody, much appreciated.

*Of course, the original lyric is stolen, but it seemed somehow appropriate to tweak it to Stollen, a traditional German bread usually eaten during the Christmas season.

#BowieRainbow  #ZiggyStardustLive

15-Page Bowie cover feature in Electronic Sound

“A New Career In A New Town”

The current issue of the superb Electronic Sound magazine @electronicmagazine  has 15 pages (including the front cover), devoted to David Bowie’s superhuman 1977 output.

If you purchase directly online you also get a free 7" vinyl single from that bloke off of Devo, Mark Mothersbaugh, who is also a part of Bowie’s 1977 story.

Here’s an edited version of the blurb:

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ISSUE 36 MAG & VINYL BUNDLE

For one that started with him in a somewhat perilous state thanks to a rampant cocaine addiction, 1977 turned out to be quite the year for David Bowie. One that saw the release of two albums that would go on to influence an abundance of musicians and artists alike. To round off 2017, we turn the clock back 40 years in our cover feature and speak to some of the people that worked the ex-Thin White Duke over the course of 1977, and chronicle the encounters (both significant and trivial) that helped shaped Bowie and what would come next.

One of the people that Bowie crossed paths with that year is Mark Mothersbaugh, who incidentally features as this month’s seven-inch single. We were ecstatic when Mark agreed to Electronic Sound releasing a pair of his warped and mutated Christmas songs and here you can get them for the first time on limited edition vinyl. He also revealed to us what Devo’s first few days with Bowie were like back in 1977.

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More information and order link here.

#ElectronicSound  #Bowie1977  #ANCIANTbox  

Seeds of Let’s Dance sown 35 years ago today

“And Mountain magic heavy hung”

Here’s a celebratory graphic utilising a hazy 35-year-old snapshot of, from left to right, David Bowie, Erdal Kızılçay, David Richards and Nile Rodgers at Montreux’s famed Mountain Studios in Switzerland during the recording of demos for Let’s Dance, on this very day in 1982.

We all know what happened next.

#BowieLetsDance

David Bowie: Glamour Issue 3

“You better not mess with Major Tom”

Here’s an exclusive first look at Helen Green’s delicious fold-out cover for issue 3  of Andy Jones and Nick Smart’s David Bowie: Glamour fanzine. (Animation here)

The fanzine is beautifully designed by Milky Cereal and Issue 3 is available for pre-order now.

The publication boasts exclusive and original content contributed by Bowie fans and collaborators...

Issue 3 includes these alphabetically listed contributors:

Jimmy C
Robin Clark
Ian Hunter
Paul Cuddeford
Terry O’Neill
Nicholas Pegg
Mark Plati
Catherine Russell
Tony Sales
Morgan Visconti

Visit the David Bowie: Glamour fanzine site to submit contributions for Issue 4 and to pre-order Issue 3.

*We are duty-bound to point out that David Bowie: Glamour is not an official publication.

#DavidBowieGlamourFanzine

Bowie’s Lennon tribute 34 years ago tonight

"Imagine all the people”

David Bowie’s Serious Moonlight World Tour climaxed with a performance of John Lennon’s Imagine 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 upcoming Ricochet : David Bowie 1983.

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

If you’ve not already stumbled upon it, here’s a great little film of Mr O’Regan talking about working with DB: 

#BowieLennon  #DavidBowieRicochet

U2’s tribute to David Bowie

"When I Live My Dream...”

Bono and the boys have nodded in Bowie’s direction a few times over the years, the latest being a dedication on their new album, Songs Of Experience:

“This album is dedicated to the lives and times of Dennis Sheehan, Jack Heaslip and the teenage dreams of David Bowie.”

A sweet thing to do and the perfect excuse to post a previously unpublished picture of Bowie and Bono backstage at Bowie’s Meltdown in June 2002.

Our reporter on the spot on the night reckons that Bono was probably whispering a 'Knock Knock' joke to Bowie that included the line: “Europe who?”. It’s possible.

#BowieBono

Terry O’Neill four day December Deal

“I like the T-shirts”

For a limited time only, buy any T-shirt from the David Bowie Collection AND a copy of When Ziggy Played The Marquee SIGNED by Terry O’Neill for only £100.00.

That’s a very generous saving of nearly £50.00 with the shipping guaranteed before Christmas.

There are only 200 bundles available, offer ends Monday 4th December or whilst stocks last.

Bundle

• Only 200 bundles available
• Whilst stocks last
• Includes Limited edition T-Shirt from new collection & When Ziggy Played The Marquee, signed by Terry O’Neill for just £100.00
• Offer runs from Friday 1st December to Monday 4th December
• Save nearly £50.00 on purchase

T-Shirts

• Presented by Terry O’Neill & The David Bowie Archive
• Only 100 of each design created
• Sizes from X-Small to XX-Large
• Packaged in a beautiful gift box
• Celebrating some of Bowie’s most iconic moments as captured by Terry O’Neill

Go here for more.

#BOWIEbyONEILL  #BowieAtTheMarquee

SONOS Song Stories : Bowie in NY free event

“New York’s a go-go”

Sonos, the leader in whole home audio, has teamed up with Mick Rock, Nikki Sixx, Mark Mothersbaugh and Meredith Graves to present Sonos Song Stories: Bowie – an intimate event at the Sonos Store in Soho honouring the work and legacy of David Bowie as told through powerful stories of artists and fans alike with the help of the new Sonos One with Amazon Alexa. The event will take place Tuesday, December 5, offering fans a one-of-a-kind experience to listen to never-before-heard stories about Bowie, paired with the songs forever linked to those memories on Sonos One – the smart speaker for music lovers.

The immersive, free event will debut exclusive content, unveiling an original photo display curated by cultural commentator, Paul Gorman, which features rarely seen images of Bowie's New York City life taken by photographers including Mick Rock, Bob Gruen, and more. Sonos will then welcome artists and creators influenced by Bowie, including legendary rock photographer, Mick Rock; bassist and co-founder of Mötley Crüe, Nikki Sixx; composer and founding member of DEVO, Mark Mothersbaugh; and music journalist (currently host of “MTV News”) and front-person of Perfect Pussy, Meredith Graves to share powerful, personal memories of Bowie and the accompanying songs that perfectly soundtrack the memory.

The New York edition of Sonos Song Stories: Bowie is a continuation of a series of chats that kicked off at the recently opened Sonos Store in the Seven Dials neighbourhood of London, England. The inaugural event, hosted by Miranda Sawyer on November 15 and 17, featured rarely-seen images of Bowie's London life captured by Mick Rock, Brian Duffy, Rolf Adlercreutz (Alamy) and Mike Maloney; the evening also included powerful, Bowie-inspired memories and stories as told by Nick Rhodes, Goldie, Graham Coxon, Carl Barat, Peaches and Rostam.

Sonos Song Stories: Bowie is a free event and fans can register for a chance to hear these never-before shared stories in New York City at sonos.com/bowie.

FOOTNOTE: The Mick Rock photo accompanying this piece is of David Bowie on board the SS Canberra about to sail to New York, Southampton, January 1973.

#SongStories  #SongStoriesBowie  #SONOSBowie

Beauty And The Beast 40th anniversary picture disc

"You can't say no to the Beauty And The Beast”

The fact that Beauty And The Beast will be the next limited edition 40th-anniversary 7" picture disc (due January 5th, 2018), will come as no surprise to those of you who have been following this series of releases.

As you know, there were just two singles taken from the "Heroes" album in the UK. Following the September 1977 release of "Heroes"/V-2 Schneider (Peak UK chart position: #24), Beauty And The Beast/Sense of Doubt was issued on January 6th 1978. (Peak UK chart position: #39)

As with many Bowie single releases, the track sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time. As with its predecessor ("Heroes"), perhaps the public en masse wasn’t quite ready for the latest Bowie sound, with Fripp’s incredible guitar lines again taking centre stage and that Bowie/Visconti production ensuring Bowie was ahead of the curve yet again.

The advertising slogan: “TOMORROW BELONGS TO THOSE WHO CAN HEAR IT COMING”, never seemed so apt.

The song was certainly strong enough to be the "Heroes" album opener, and though it may have been considered an unusual choice for a single, it was just as viable as any of the other tracks on the album. Tony Visconti confirms that the line: “Someone fetch a priest”, was originally recorded with a different F-word to fetch. A wise decision to change it perhaps, or it may not have received quite the airplay that it did.

Though there had only been four previous Bowie picture sleeve singles released commercially in the UK (Starman 1972, Life On Mars? 1973, Space Oddity 1975, Suffragette City 1976), Beauty And The Beast was graced with one (basically the album cover), but the single still only just scraped into the Top 40 on the official UK singles chart. Nevertheless, Bowie picture sleeves would become de rigueur from Beauty And The Beast onwards.

An extended version was released as a promo only 12” single in the US and commercially as a 12” single in Spain. Listen to it now on Spotify.

The AA of the 7” picture disc is a previously unreleased live version of the "Heroes" album track Blackout, which was recorded on May 16th, 1978 at the Deutschlandhalle, Berlin during the ISOLAR II tour.

The images used on the A and AA sides of the picture disc are by Masayoshi Sukita and were taken in Japan in April 1977 (A-Side) and Madison Square Garden, New York in May 1978 (AA-Side).

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DAVID BOWIE BEAUTY AND THE BEAST LIMITED EDITION 40th ANNIVERSARY 7" PICTURE DISC

A-Side BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017 remaster)
(David Bowie)
Produced David Bowie & Tony Visconti
Mixed by Tony Visconti at Hansa by the Wall

AA-Side BLACKOUT (Live In Berlin 1978)
(David Bowie)
Produced David Bowie
Previously unreleased
Recorded live at the Deutschlandhalle, Berlin on 16th May, 1978

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Beauty And The Beast is released via Parlophone on January 5th, 2018.

#DBBATB40  #BowieVinyl  

Ricochet medium format version due autumn 2018

“Feels like something’s going to happen next year”

As you know, Moonlight Books are due to publish Ricochet : David Bowie 1983 by Denis O’Regan in May 2018.

Aside from the limited edition fine art book, Denis O’Regan and Penguin Random House are also producing a medium format version (without extras) for retail distribution.

Denis had this to say about this more affordable version:

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“The collaboration with Penguin Random House (who are publishing a medium format version of the main book in Autumn 2018 at a price point of around £30) is hugely significant for me, as it makes this long standing project accessible to David’s millions of fans across the world.”

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Every image in ‘Ricochet : David Bowie 1983’ is personally approved by David Bowie. (A small sample here)

Go here for the full press release.

#DavidBowieRicochet

SONOS Song Stories : Bowie in London free event

“So deep in your room...”

Sonos, the leader in smart home sound systems, today announced its first European concept store; a retail, exhibition, screening and listening space that will open its doors to the public on Thursday, 16th November 2017.

Inspired by Sonos’ flagship store in New York, it features state-of-the-art Listening Rooms – two acoustically-tuned, house-shaped structures designed to emulate a real multi-room home listening space. Guests will be able to stream their personal music to one or both rooms and create their own, unique sonic adventures.

Celebrating music culture, past and present, the space will play host to an ongoing line-up of listening events, screenings, cultural talks and installations. The first of these events will celebrate David Bowie, modern music’s most unrelenting innovator, whose singular sound and vision impacted generations and continues to play a vital role in shaping the musical landscape of London and the world. To mark the release of their first-ever voice activated speaker, the Sonos One, the brand wanted to honour his unique voice by collaborating with cultural commentator, Paul Gorman to curate a display of rarely seen images of David Bowie's London life taken by photographers including Mick Rock, Brian Duffy, Rolf Adlercreutz (Alamy) and Mike Maloney.

Alongside this, on the 15 & 17 November Sonos presents Song Stories: Bowie – a series of intimate events hosted by Miranda Sawyer, honouring David Bowie’s work and legacy, as told through the powerful stories of artists and fans alike, including Nick Rhodes, Goldie, Graham Coxon, Carl Barat, Peaches and Rostam. The events will lend a voice to creators inspired and influenced by Bowie, and give fans the opportunity to hear their original stories paired with the songs that best accompany them. The event is free to attend via RSVP here: Sonos.com/Bowie (http://sonos.com/Bowie)

Opening weekend, NTS Radio will be broadcasting live from the Sonos London store on Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 November, with a full 16hr programme co-curated by DJ’s Ross Allen, Charlie Bones, Nabihah Iqbal and Bullion with friends and special guests consisting of mixes, interviews and interesting conversations inspired by and celebrating the life of David Bowie.

Keep reading for the full press release.

#SongStories  #SongStoriesBowie  #SONOSBowie

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SONOS’ FIRST EUROPEAN CONCEPT STORE
BRINGS MUSIC HOME IN SEVEN DIALS, LONDON

November 8, 2017: Sonos, the leader in smart home sound systems, today announced its first European concept store; a retail, exhibition, screening and listening space that will open its doors to the public on Thursday, 16th November 2017.

An experience designed for all, unique for every listener

Located in London’s Seven Dials, the store has been designed to replicate the home environment, and showcase how Sonos fits seamlessly into any home environment.

Inspired by Sonos’ flagship store in New York, it features state-of-the-art Listening Rooms – two acoustically-tuned, house-shaped structures designed to emulate a real multi-room home listening space. Guests will be able to stream their personal music to one or both rooms and create their own, unique sonic adventures.

The ultimate home listening experience

In keeping with Sonos’ meticulous attention to detail, the sonic and visual elements of the London concept store are tied to the city’s own artistic culture, and have been inter-related from the outset, designed to complement the listening experience. Vibrant textures that improve the overall acoustics, custom bevelled glass walls to reduce bounce, hand-woven rugs and bespoke bookshelves, have all been carefully installed to help improve the sound.

Every space within the store had been sonically tuned by Sonos sound engineers, overseen by Sonos Sound Experience Leader, Giles Martin. This includes the store’s custom built Listening Rooms, the smallest, audiophile spaces in London.

Designed for Listening

With Sonos’ commitment to providing the ultimate home listening experience, it is only fitting that the Listening Rooms have been designed to look and feel like the ultimate home. For launch, Sonos worked with renowned, London-based artists Camille Walala and Neil Raitt. Inspired by their experiences of using Sonos in their own homes, each artist has taken a Listening Room and added their own unique perspective, with bespoke signature prints that cover the walls and ceilings.

And from next year, Sonos will open up the Listening Rooms to further artists, providing them with a canvas to express their creativity, creating an evolving environment to discover and experience Sonos.

An optimal in-store experience

Through a personalised experience and superior service, the Sonos store will become the perfect destination for music fans to come together and celebrate listening to music out loud.

Guests can discover the home sound system that best fits their life, choosing from Spotify, Apple Music and dozens of additional major streaming music services, as well as any combination of Sonos speakers and components including the new Sonos One, the first Sonos product with built in voice control from Amazon’s Alexa.

Celebrating music culture, past and present

Much more than just a store, the space will play host to an ongoing line-up of listening events, screenings, cultural talks and installations. The first of these events will celebrate David Bowie, modern music’s most unrelenting innovator, whose singular sound and vision impacted generations and continues to play a vital role in shaping the musical landscape of London and the world. To mark the release of our first-ever voice activated speaker, the Sonos One, the brand wanted to honour his unique voice by collaborating with cultural commentator, Paul Gorman to curate a display of rarely seen images of David Bowie's London life taken by photographers including Mick Rock, Brian Duffy, Rolf Adlercreutz (Alamy) and Mike Maloney. Alongside this, on the 15 & 17 November Sonos presents Song Stories: Bowie – a series of intimate events hosted by Miranda Sawyer, honouring David Bowie’s work and legacy, as told through the powerful stories of artists and fans alike, including Nick Rhodes, Goldie, Graham Coxon, Carl Barat, Peaches and Rostam. The events will lend a voice to creators inspired and influenced by Bowie, and give fans the opportunity to hear their original stories paired with the songs that best accompany them. The event is free to attend via RSVP here: Sonos.com/Bowie

Opening weekend, NTS Radio will be broadcasting live from the Sonos London store on Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 November, with a full 16hr programme co-curated by DJ’s Ross Allen, Charlie Bones, Nabihah Iqbal and Bullion with friends and special guests consisting of mixes, interviews and interesting conversations inspired by and celebrating the life of David Bowie.

Whitney Walker, General Store Manager at Sonos said “The entire store experience is based on the idea of being in a really comfortable and inspiring environment. We’re proud to be opening our first European concept store in London, providing a dedicated space for music fans to create, connect and ultimately discover the best ways to listen to music out loud.

Whitney continues: “We have carefully considered how people bring music into their home environment through curation, and used it within the concept store to pay homage to the great city of London and the culture that was born here and continues to inspire the world. Our passionate staff look forward to opening the doors to the public and can’t wait to provide the capital with world class Sonos service.”

Commenting on the UK debut at Seven Dials, Sam Bain-Mollison, Head of Group Retail Strategy & Leasing at Shaftesbury, said: “Sonos is one of the most exciting brands in the world and we are thrilled they selected Earlham Street for their UK debut.  It is a significant launch for Seven Dials that adds to the authentic, cultural appeal of the destination.  More than that, however, it is a clear affirmation of the importance of bricks and mortar retail in allowing brands to deliver an engaging experience with their customers, that simply cannot be achieved online alone.

She adds: "Sonos will provide a truly new immersive experience within an area where leading international brands rub shoulders with a mix of independent shops, restaurants and boutiques.  This is in firm alignment with our strategy for Seven Dials of creating an influential and unique mix of retail and dining in the heart of London’s West End.”

With further European concepts planned soon, including a Berlin store in 2018, as well as our exciting new range of voice activated products, Sonos is committed to continually developing new and exciting ways to help music lovers get the ultimate home listening experience.

For more information about Sonos, please visit: www.sonos.com

Ricochet : David Bowie 1983 by Denis O’Regan due May 2018

"And who can bear to be forgotten”

Moonlight Books are due to publish Ricochet : David Bowie 1983 by Denis O’Regan in May 2018.

Ricochet is a limited edition fine art book with hundreds of personal and intimate images of David Bowie from Denis & David’s archives, many shared for the first time ever.

In Autumn 2018, Denis O’Regan and Penguin Random House are also producing a medium format version (without extras) for retail distribution.

Every image in ‘Ricochet : David Bowie 1983’ is personally approved by David Bowie. (A small sample here)

Stay tuned to the pages below for updates of exclusive content and continue reading for the full press release.

www.bowie1983book.com

Facebook: Bowie1983book

Instagram & Twitter: @Bowie1983book

#DavidBowieRicochet

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Moonlight Books
PRESS RELEASE
1st November 2017
Ricochet : David Bowie 1983
Denis O’Regan

David Bowie official tour photographer and long-time collaborator Denis O’Regan launches limited edition book ‘Ricochet : David Bowie 1983’. A limited edition fine art book of rare intimate photographs.

Hundreds of personal and intimate images from Denis & David’s archives, many shared for the first time ever.

A very special, museum quality, collector’s edition, which has taken years of painstaking work to produce with David’s approval, ‘Ricochet : David Bowie 1983’ is a mainly unseen collection of exceptional, intimate images of David Bowie taken by iconic British photographer Denis O’Regan and published by Moonlight Books in May 2018, in a limited edition of just 2000 copies.

‘Ricochet : David Bowie 1983’ is the definitive collectible, presented in a multi-layered, luxurious white cloth presentation box, inside a clear acrylic slip case.

Layer 1
Contains 4 beautifully bound books featuring tickets, anecdotes, newsletters, set lists, blueprints, lyrics, including those handwritten by David. Each hardback cloth cover features a graphic representation of one of David’s Serious Moonlight stage costumes.

Layer 2
Holds three 20x16 inch fine art signed limited edition prints and matching hologrammed certificates; a 12 inch red vinyl disc of Ricochet and Let’s Dance re-mastered by Nile Rodgers; a certificate signed by the photographer, featuring the individual book number, and the official David Bowie Estate Stamp.

Layer 3
Contains an extra-large format 320 page thread sewn, case bound, coffee table book, featuring hundreds of exceptional personal and intimate images of David.

In Autumn 2018, Denis O’Regan and Penguin Random House are also producing a medium format version of the coffee table book (without extras enclosed) for retail distribution.

Every image in ‘Ricochet : David Bowie 1983’ is personally approved by David Bowie.

Denis O’Regan says of his Ricochet project with the late David Bowie:

“I published a book with David through Doubleday in 1984, for which he wrote the introduction. We then discussed projects on and off over the next thirty years, culminating in discussions about a pair of substantial books looking back at the two world tours that I covered with him.

I feel that this book documenting 1983 will fulfil my dream of sharing these intimate photographs with collectors and fans, whilst revealing an insight into the real David – as much as anyone can. I’m proud and honoured that this book was made with David’s support, and hope that it will do him justice.”

How to buy
The limited edition is available for purchase at £3,000 per numbered copy, exclusively on www.bowie1983book.com. Moonlight Books are releasing 250 books out of the edition of 2000 for advance purchase in early November 2017. Purchasers of these first 250 books will receive exclusive extras including an additional 20x16 inch limited edition print and an invitation to the launch party in May 2018, with an opportunity to meet and greet the photographer.

Denis’s photographs of Bowie span nearly two decades, but those taken in 1983, when he accompanied David for nine months on his most successful ever tour, are from the period when Denis and David became firm friends. Denis was given unprecedented access, and his photographs capture not only David’s unique stage performances but candid, unguarded offstage moments, or as Denis puts it: “Catching another side of the enigma”.

It’s a never seen before glimpse into 9 months of life on the road with David.

In one shot, taken in their Hong Kong hotel close to the final date of the Serious Moonlight tour, Bowie is sitting on a sofa giggling. Denis says: “I think it’s sweet and very David – partly because there’s a full ashtray next to him! He’s boyish and unguarded and it’s the sort of picture that you would never capture unless you were close to David for a period of time”.

1983 was a remarkably happy year for David and this shines through in so many of Denis’s photographs. The tour began in May 1983 with indoor crowds of 10,000 but within weeks he was playing to stadium audiences of 60,000, and by the penultimate month, November in Auckland, he played to the biggest crowd ever assembled in New Zealand.

“I think he was very happy; he really enjoyed himself,” recalls Denis.

Remarkably, every single image featured in ‘Ricochet : Bowie 1983’, was personally approved by David.

“I delivered the rolls of film for processing in one city, and they were delivered back to me a few cities later. I selected my favourites and loaded the chosen edit into a projector carousel. David then came to my room and we’d have an informal slideshow. David would say ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘I hate it’, ‘love it’, ‘keep it for a book’ or simply ‘nah’ ...”

It wasn’t until 1990, prior to the Sound & Vision tour, that Denis finally confided to David that it was the Ziggy Stardust concert at the Hammersmith Odeon on 3rd July 1973 that inspired him to take up rock photography. “Being David, he wasn’t very good at taking compliments. I said, ‘it’s because of you that I became a rock photographer.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’ll probably tell Bono the same thing tomorrow night.’”

Notes For Editors

Denis O’Regan first witnessed Bowie in 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon. By 1983 he was tour photographer for the Serious Moonlight world tour and in 1987 for the Glass Spider world tour. In 2011 Denis published Duran Duran’s limited edition ‘Careless Memories’.

Denis O’Regan has toured the world as official photographer to David Bowie, Queen, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Duran Duran. He was the official photographer at Live Aid, and continued that tradition as official photographer at the Concert For Diana, MTV European Music Awards, and more recently Download, Coachella and Glastonbury festivals. In an eventful career – and purely in the line of duty – Denis has enjoyed dinner for two in Japan with Joni Mitchell, picnicked with David Bowie in Australia, partied with Prince at Paisley Park, and argued with Bob Marley in his native Jamaica. They made up. He was known as ‘Doris’ by Freddie Mercury, ‘Reg’ by Duran Duran, ‘Scoop’ by Bob Geldof and, on one occasion, ‘Yob’ by Keith Richards.

Technical Information

Denis highlights below some technical insight and details of the camera which he used to capture these images of David in 1983.

“For the entire tour I used my favourite ever film camera, the Olympus OM-3, two or three camera bodies and 135mm & 24mm f2.8 lenses. All live photography was taken without flash, and most offstage images were shot using natural light or occasionally bounced flash. Film was Ilford HP5 or Kodak Tri-X for black & white, push processed to 800 or 1600 ASA. For colour it was predominantly Kodak Ektachrome 200 transparency film pushed to 800 ASA. Of course I had to use numerous labs around the world to process huge batches of film, which were then delivered to me a few cities later. After processing and editing, I loaded the colour transparencies into a projector, and regularly put on a slide show in my room for David where he approved images for use.”

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Author’s Website: www.denis.uk

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TASCHEN’s TMWFTE book out next week

“It will tumble from the sky”

TASCHEN’s The Man Who Fell To Earth book presents a wealth of stills and behind-the-scenes images by unit photographer David James, including numerous shots of Bowie at work, rest and play, peppered with quotations from all involved, including Bowie himself.

Published next week, this weighty 480 page tome (albeit a compact 14 x 19.5 cm), includes a superb new essay by Paul Duncan which explores the shooting of the film and its lasting impact, drawing upon an exclusive interview with David James, who brings first-hand insights into the making of this sci-fi masterwork.

Here’s a particularly funny excerpt from it in which Bowie remembers the alien 'train'...

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There are visual and textual references to trains throughout the film, since, for Newton, it represents the last time he saw his family, when he departed on the alien train. To visualize this scene in the film, Brian Eatwell laid a monorail track on the desert floor, and built the alien train around an old tractor.

The train had an organic surface and was fitted with solar sails. Bowie: “When the train turned up, it was nothing like what Nic had envisaged. He went blue in the face, then he went red, then white and he said, ‘What is that?’ ‘It’s your train, sir.’ ‘That’s not a train, it’s a fucking dog kennel!’ But we lived with it.”

The shoot was further complicated when the tractor broke down. Unable to replace the parts, they attached ropes to the train and had horses pull it out of shot. James: “Such problems are normal on a film.”

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Well, whatever the on-set problems, we here at DBFBHQ thought the train was quite convincing, possibly because it was so different to any Earth train, or dog kennel for that matter.

Stay tuned for your chance to win copies of the book along with other TMWFTE goodies.

See the dedicated TASCHEN page here.

#TheManWhoFellToEarth  #TMWFTE  #TJNewton  #BowieTASCHEN

Nine-page Bowie cover feature in Rock&Folk

“When you Rock&Folk with me”

Le Petit Prince, Jérôme Soligny, has very kindly been in touch with details of the November edition of Rock&Folk magazine. (R&F603)

Over to Jérôme...

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I had a telephone conversation with Vincent Tannières, new editor at Rock&Folk, and we discussed what we could do about ANCIANT and the possibility of having David Bowie on the cover of the magazine. Again.

First, having already written at length about these crucial years in articles and books, I thought it would be great to have other writers’ points of view rather than only mine. Also, from 1977 to 1982, except for a few gigs with Iggy Pop, the Isolar II tour and some (great) acting work, David was more low key than ever, hoping his « new music » was what really mattered and what people would focus on.

So we decided to create an introduction and four long, new reviews of the four studio albums inside the box, written by four different writers. Vincent came up with the great title « Au pied du mur » and Rock&Folk went for a Duffy cover shot that really expresses, I think, these years when David, artistically and even physically, continued to re-invent himself.

Also, in the same issue on top of the Bowie feature, Mick Rock gave us a great interview - his Transformer book on Lou Reed is re(edited) by Genesis - and he only has cool things to say about the man who fell in front of his camera 45 odd years ago: “Actually, David Bowie talked to people of my generation. It’s his music we considered exciting. Hunky Dory was and still is a major album. David looked like a glam musician but he belonged to the singer-songwriters’ league, the ones we listened to without doing anything else.”

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Thanks for the heads up, Jérôme.

Rock&Folk is available from Wednesday, October 18th.

#RocknFolkBowie  #ANCIANTbox  #ANewCareerInANewTownBox

"Heroes" released on this day in 1977

“In the world of today, for tomorrow’s man”

The advertising strapline ran with the legend: “Tomorrow Belongs To Those Who Can Hear It Coming”, appropriate considering how much more appreciated "Heroes" seems to be by a wider audience now than it was forty years ago.

Having said that, the Bowie/Visconti-produced LP peaked at #3 in the UK album chart in November 1977, a year in which it was also named Album Of The Year in both NME and Melody Maker. No mean feat considering the other great music that was released that year, not least of all, both of Iggy Pop’s first solo releases, The Idiot and Lust For Life, two records which Bowie also had a very big hand in.

The main image in our montage shows Robert Fripp, David Bowie and Brian Eno during the recording of "Heroes" at Hansa studios in Berlin, taken from the superb book accompanying the David Bowie: A New Career In A New Town (1977–1982) box set.

Bottom right are two initial designs for "Heroes", also to be found in the book along with other unpublished artwork and related memorabilia.

#BowieHeroes #ANCIANTbox  #ANewCareerInANewTownBox  

My Bowie Story - fans remember their Bowie

“FANtastic Voyage

My Bowie Story - Memories of David Bowie By Dale K. Perry (ISBN: 9781532030116), is a remarkable selection of stories told by sixty Bowie fans and collected together by Dale K. Perry.

The 316-page book is available now via the publisher, iUniverse and other online book emporiums. Here’s the blurb from the back cover...

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Dale K. Perry can still picture herself at a shopping center at age twelve, pooling her money with her best friend so they could buy the album with that “Space Oddity” song.

A few years later, she went to her first Bowie concert, and even though she arrived to discover her seat was behind the stage, it didn’t matter: She was in the same building as David Bowie.

In My Bowie Story, she teams up with sixty other storytellers to look back on more than four decades of memories featuring Bowie. Filled with heartfelt stories and photographs, the fans describe how Bowie’s music, personas, and creativity changed their lives.

The eighty-five stories also offer a glimpse of Bowie’s kindness as he interacted with his admirers while relating the impact his message had on the sexuality, education, and the lifelong achievements of multiple generations.

From Space Oddity to Blackstar, the tales include personal encounters with Bowie and offer deep insights that long-time fans and those just discovering his brilliance will cherish.

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The snaps along the bottom of our montage are of Jasmine and Bowie (J. Storm), David and Zane, 1997 (M. Kanevsky) and David and Sandra (Spidey), 2002 (S. Atkins). Just a small sample taken from the many in the book.

Dale has said that any royalties she receives from the book will be donated in David's memory to charity, most likely to Save the Children.

Stay tuned for more pictures and some excerpts from My Bowie Story - Memories of David Bowie.

#MyBowieStory  #BowieKooks  #BowieFreaks