“Any day now…”
On the day that we celebrate the 50th anniversary of Diamond Dogs and the release today of the Diamond Dogs picture disc and half-speed master, Jason Draper has written another in-depth piece titled: ‘Diamond Dogs’ At 50: A Track-By-Track Guide To Every Song On David Bowie’s Apocalyptic Nightmare.
It’s a superb piece and you can read it here now.
#DiamondDogs50 #1974TheYearOfTheDiamondDogs
“And he was awful nice, Really quite paradise...”
Keep reading for the press release.
#ZiggyStardustDolbyAtmos #ZiggyStardustBluRay
DAVID BOWIE ‘THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS’
THE LEGENDARY ALBUM IN DOLBY ATMOS FOR THE FIRST TIME
TO BE RELEASED ON BLU-RAY AUDIO DISC & STREAMING 6th SEPTEMBER 2024
AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER HERE
16th May 2024 London - Parlophone Records is proud to announce the first ever Dolby Atmos spatial audio version of DAVID BOWIE’s THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS is making its debut in Dolby Atmos spatial audio. The new mix of the album will be available on Blu-Ray Audio and streaming services on 6th September.
The Blu-Ray audio disc of THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS features four iterations of this timeless album: 2024 Dolby Atmos mix, 2024 Stereo Mix (96 khz / 24-bit pcm), original 1972 Stereo Mix – 2012 remaster (192 khz / 24-bit pcm), original 1972 Stereo Mix – 2012 remaster (48 khz / 24-bit pcm). The Atmos version of the album was mixed by Emre Ramazanoglu and Ken Scott at RAK Studios, London.
Of this new Dolby Atmos mix the album’s co-producer, Ken Scott says “You’re in there with the act, with David. He was so theatrical I think being able to put him into an immersive place makes this a really good choice for an Atmos mix. My whole philosophy with this has been to make it more like a live experience. And I’ve even got him moving about the stage a little towards the end, the way he would have in real life. Hopefully, it just feels as if you’re in the theatre with this amazing show going on.”
June 14th sees the release of DAVID BOWIE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!, a 5CD and 1 Blu-Ray Audio set chronicling David Bowie’s journey through the creation of the Ziggy Stardust character and the recording of the iconic THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album. ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!, contains 29 unreleased tracks, covers early songwriting demos, recordings from David’s band, The Arnold Corns, rehearsals at Bowie’s then-home, Haddon Hall, BBC sessions, singles, live performances, plus outtakes and alternative versions from the original album recording sessions, which have been newly mixed by original album co-producer, Ken Scott.
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS is the breakthrough album that catapulted David Bowie into the international spotlight. Over the past 50 years it has remained a touchstone record, growing in stature with each passing year. It is now ingrained in popular culture, its undeniable influence spanning musicians from Arcade Fire to Lady Gaga, to Harry Styles’s androgynous fashion sense to Noel Fielding’s shirts on The Great British Bake-Off to Ziggy make-up challenges on Tik-Tok. David Bowie laid to rest the Ziggy Stardust persona in July 1973 at his infamous last show with the Spiders From Mars at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, but Ziggy’s impact reverberates to this day.
DAVID BOWIE
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
BLU-RAY AUDIO
Five Years – 4:42
Soul Love – 3:34
Moonage Daydream – 4:40
Starman – 4:10
It Ain’t Easy – 2:58
Lady Stardust – 3:22
Star – 2:47
Hang On To Yourself – 2:40
Ziggy Stardust – 3:13
Suffragette City – 3:25
Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide - 2.58
2024 DOLBY ATMOS MIX
2024 STEREO MIX (96 KHZ / 24-BIT PCM)
ORIGINAL 1972 STEREO MIX – 2012 REMASTER (192 KHZ / 24-BIT PCM)
ORIGINAL 1972 STEREO MIX – 2012 REMASTER (48 KHZ / 24-BIT PCM)
DAVID BOWIE
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!
5CD/BLU-RAY, DIGITAL BOX SET & HALF-SPEED MASTERED LP
RELEASED ON 14TH JUNE, 2024
DAVID BOWIE
‘THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS’
BLU-RAY AUDIO DISC & STREAMING
RELEASED ON 6th SEPTEMBER 2024
AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER HERE
Sad to learn of the passing of American alto saxophonist, David Sanborn.
Bowie fans will know him best for his sublime work on Young Americans and David Live, he also played flute on the latter.
The sad news was posted on his social pages in the last hour...
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It is with sad and heavy hearts that we convey to you the loss of internationally renowned, 6 time Grammy Award-winning, saxophonist, David Sanborn. Mr. Sanborn passed Sunday afternoon, May 12th, after an extended battle with prostate cancer with complications.
Mr. Sanborn had been dealing with prostate cancer since 2018, but had been able to maintain his normal schedule of concerts until just recently. Indeed he already had concerts scheduled into 2025.
David Sanborn was a seminal figure in contemporary pop and jazz music. It has been said that he “put the saxophone back into Rock ’n Roll.”
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The image here was posted by David Sanborn back in 2020, along with this caption: “The last time Bowie and I were together...dinner in Montreux, Switzerland, July 2002.”
“Lady stardust sang his songs...”
If it’s 3rd May wherever you are, you can listen to LADY STARDUST (ALTERNATIVE VERSION – TAKE 1) here now.
Keep reading for the press release.
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LADY STARDUST - (ALTERNATIVE VERSION – TAKE 1)
TAKEN FROM THE FORTHCOMING BOXSET ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!
5CD/BLU-RAY, DIGITAL BOX SET & HALF-SPEED MASTERED LP RELEASED ON 14TH JUNE, 2024
3rd May 2024 London - Parlophone Records today releases LADY STARDUST (ALTERNATIVE VERSION – TAKE 1), the second track to be taken from DAVID BOWIE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!, a 5CD and 1 Blu-Ray Audio set. The boxset explores David Bowie’s journey through the creation of Ziggy Stardust, and the recording of the iconic THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album.
The hitherto unknown LADY STARDUST (ALTERNATIVE VERSION – TAKE 1) took its original producer by surprise. Ken Scott recalls, “This was a shock when I first heard it. I pulled up the faders and suddenly, what the hell? I had no recollection of it being like that originally, but I guess it was just a guide vocal. But it sounds great, is really interesting and brings a totally different feeling to the song.”
The band line-up for LADY STARDUST (ALTERNATIVE VERSION – TAKE 1) is David Bowie on vocals, Mick Ronson on piano, Trevor Bolder on bass and Woody Woodmansey on drums. Scott singles out Ronson for praise, “Ronno on piano is very good indeed. The Trident Studio piano was just amazing, a Bechstein grand from around 1850 and I think the hammers had been treated with varnish or something – it was the best rock and roll piano in the whole world.”
LADY STARDUST (ALTERNATIVE VERSION – TAKE 1) was recorded at Trident Studios, St Anne’s Court, London on 12th November 1971, produced by David Bowie and Ken Scott and arranged by David Bowie and Mick Ronson.
Other unreleased highlights on ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!, include an unheard version of the deep-cut classic ‘SHADOW MAN’, and an up-tempo take of The Who’s ‘I CAN’T EXPLAIN’, which Bowie would later slow down and cover for the PIN-UPS album.
#BowieRockNRollStar #Bowie1972 #BowieLadyStardust
On April 24th, 1992, David and Iman married at a registry office civil ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland. Iman marked the 32nd anniversary of that event today with a photograph of the couple in Amsterdam taken by Ellen von Unwerth in 2003. (We’ve used a crop of the same image)
Iman also posted the following message online:
“THE YEARS MAY PASS, BUT STILL, YOU STAY AND STAY AND STAY”
#imandaily #BowieForever #DavidAndImanAnniversary #EternalLove
“Planet Earth is blue, And there’s something you can do...”
We told you about the new version of Brian Eno and David Bowie’s Get Real Sounds Right Mix (Featuring NATURE) on the David Bowie social pages a few days ago.
@soundsright.earth is a global music initiative by @museumfortheun to recognise NATURE as an official artist and to raise funds for her conservation.
Over to Brian to explain...
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Brian Eno: “Throughout my life I’ve wondered - how I can return something to the places I’ve taken ideas from? Music started out as the sounds of the natural world, and Sounds Right creates a system to give back to nature, helping to preserve the planet so that it can continue to inspire us for years to come.
In the nature remix of “Get Real”, a track I co-wrote with David Bowie 30 years ago, the animals are invading the song – it's like it has sprung leaks everywhere and these animals are coming in through every window and crack between the doors. They're sort of threatening - suddenly Nature has crept into the art.”
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Eno also recently told the Midnight Chats podcast about some of NATURE’S contributions to the new version of Get Real:
“It’s a powerful song – very good lyrics – and with this new kind of container that we're putting it in of being a song about our relationship with the Earth, I think it really works. The wild pigs sound really good...So yes, we'll have David, Bri and some wild pigs!”
“I’ve got a number of recordings of different animals here. I wanted big, slightly menacing animals in the song. Not birds and wind and things like that. So, I tried a Siberian tiger. That was a bit too overwhelming. I tried some rooks. I've always loved rooks, but they sounded like ducks in that context, which is not quite the same message.”
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A share of royalties from any song that credits NATURE as an artist will go to @EarthPercent, a charity founded by Eno. The organization will then distribute that money to conservation and restoration projects in the world’s “most precious and precarious ecosystems” under the guidance of the Sounds Right Expert Advisory Panel, a group of world-leading biologists, environmental activists, Indigenous People’s representatives, and experts in conservation funding.
So, listen to Get Real Sounds Right Mix (Featuring NATURE) frequently on major streaming platforms, to help the planet now.
#soundsright #NATUREtheartist #BowieEnoNatureGetReal
“I could make it all worthwhile...”
Read on for the press release.
#BowieRockNRollStar #Bowie1972 #BowieZiggyStardust
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DAVID BOWIE - ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!
5CD/BLU-RAY, DIGITAL BOX SET & HALF-SPEED MASTERED LP TO BE RELEASED ON 14TH JUNE, 2024
INCLUDES 29 EXCLUSIVE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED TRACKS
PRE-ORDER HERE
‘ZIGGY STARDUST (DEMO)’ AVAILABLE NOW TO STREAM AND DOWNLOAD:
Parlophone Records proudly announces DAVID BOWIE ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!, a 5CD and 1 Blu-Ray Audio set that explores David Bowie’s journey from February 1971 through the creation of the Ziggy Stardust character, the recording of the iconic THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album, and captures the international mania that surrounded the Ziggy phenomenon in the form of UK radio sessions and TV performances, as well as live tracks from Ziggy and the Spiders’ 1st October 1972 show at the Boston Music Hall.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!, containing 29 unreleased tracks, covers early songwriting demos, recordings from David’s studio creation, The Arnold Corns, rehearsals at Bowie’s then-home, Haddon Hall, BBC sessions, singles, live performances, plus outtakes and alternative versions from the original album recording sessions, which have been newly mixed by original album producer, Ken Scott.
Unreleased highlights include an alternative version of ‘Lady Stardust’, a version of the deep-cut classic ‘Shadow Man’ and an up-tempo take of The Who’s ‘I Can’t Explain’, which he would later slow down and cover for the PIN UPS album.
The audio-only Blu-Ray disc features the definitive 2012 remaster of the original Ziggy Stardust album in 96kHz/24bit PCM stereo, plus the album and additional mixes from 2003 in DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 as well as the singles, outtakes and alternative versions in 96kHz/24 bit PCM stereo.
The Blu-Ray also includes a version of the ZIGGY STARDUST album called WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) taken from Trident Studio tapes dated 15th December 1971, which features an alternative running order and four songs that didn’t make the final album. This will also be available as a limited vinyl LP on 20th April, 2024 for Record Store Day. In addition, there is a 1-LP version of ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR! compiling the alternative takes and mixes.
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR! also contains two books. The first is an extensive 112-page book with detailed liner notes, memorabilia, contemporary reviews and articles, rare photographs from Barrie Wentzel, Michael Putland, Mick Rock, Sukita and Alec Byrne, as well as brand-new notes and interviews with Ken Scott, Mark Carr Pritchett and David’s plugger from the time, Anya Wilson. Accompanying the main book is a 36-page compiled reproduction of David’s personal Ziggy Stardust era notebooks.
The first track taken from ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR! is ‘ZIGGY STARDUST’ (DEMO)’ recorded by Bowie on vocal and acoustic guitar in 1971 at Haddon Hall in Beckenham.
DAVID BOWIE - ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR!
* PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED
Disc 1
1. So Long 60s (San Francisco Hotel recording) *
2. Hang On To Yourself (early demo) *
3. Lady Stardust (demo)
4. Ziggy Stardust (demo)
5. Star (Aka Stars) (demo) *
6. Soul Love (demo and DB spoken notes) *
7. Starman (demo 1 excerpt) *
8. Starman (demo 2) *
9. Moonage Daydream (The Arnold Corns version)
10. Hang On To Yourself (The Arnold Corns version)
11. Looking For A Friend (The Arnold Corns version – rough mix) *
12. Haddon Hall Rehearsals Segue: Ziggy Stardust / Holy Holy / Soul Love *
13. Star (Aka Stars) (Haddon Hall rehearsal) *
14. Sweet Head (Haddon Hall rehearsal) *
Disc 2
Sounds Of The 70s: John Peel
Session recorded on 11th January, 1972 and broadcast on 28th January, 1972
1. Ziggy Stardust *
2. Queen Bitch *
3. Waiting For The Man *
4. Lady Stardust *
Sounds Of The 70s: Bob Harris
Session recorded on 18th January, 1972 and broadcast on 7th February, 1972
5. Hang On To Yourself
6. Ziggy Stardust
7. Queen Bitch
8. Waiting For The Man
9. Five Years
Old Grey Whistle Test Performance
Filmed on 7th February, 1972 and broadcast on 8th February, 1972
except ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’ which was not broadcast until 1982.
10. Oh! You Pretty Things (take 1)
11. Queen Bitch
12. Five Years
Disc 3
Sounds Of The 70s: John Peel
Session recorded on 16th May, 1972 and broadcast on 23rd May, 1972
1. White Light/White Heat
2. Moonage Daydream
3. Hang On To Yourself
4. Suffragette City
5. Ziggy Stardust
Johnnie Walker Lunchtime Show
Session recorded on 22nd May, 1972 and broadcast from 5th – 9th June, 1972
6. Starman
7. Space Oddity
8. Changes
9. Oh! You Pretty Things
Sounds Of The 70s: Bob Harris
Session recorded on 23rd May, 1972 and broadcast On 19th June, 1972
10. Andy Warhol
11. Lady Stardust
12. White Light/White Heat
13. Rock ‘N’ Roll Suicide
Top Of The Pops Performance
Filmed on 5th July, 1972 and broadcast on 6th July, 1972
14. Starman
Disc 4
1. Round And Round
2. The Supermen (Ziggy session version)
3. Holy Holy (Ziggy session version)
4. Velvet Goldmine (Ziggy session outtake)
5. Starman (original single mix)
6. John, I’m Only Dancing (original single version)
Recorded Live At The Music Hall, Boston.
Recorded on 1st October, 1972
7. The Supermen
8. Changes
9. Life On Mars?
10. My Death *
11. John, I’m Only Dancing
Disc 5
1. Looking For A Friend (The Arnold Corns version 2022 mix) *
2. Hang On To Yourself (early Ziggy session take) *
3. Star (take 5 alternative version) *
4. Lady Stardust (take 1 alternative version) *
5. Shadow Man (Ziggy session version) *
6. The Supermen (Ziggy session version 2023 Mix) *
7. Holy Holy (Ziggy session version alternative mix) *
8. Round And Round (alternative mix)
9. It’s Gonna Rain Again (Ziggy session outtake) *
10. Looking For A Friend (Ziggy session version) *
11. Velvet Goldmine (Ziggy sessions outtake 2022 mix) *
12. Sweet Head (Ziggy sessions outtake 2022 mix) *
13. Starman (Top Of The Pops version 2022 mix)
14. John, I’m Only Dancing (alternative Trident Studios version) *
15. I Can’t Explain (Trident Studios version) *
Bonus Mix
16. Moonage Daydream (2003 instrumental mix)
Blu Ray Audio
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
Original album mix (96khz/24bit Stereo)
THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS AND EXTRAS
2003 5.1 Mixes (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 - 96khz/24bit)
WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH)
Early Ziggy Stardust album tracklisting – December 1971 (96khz/24bit PCM stereo)
THE SINGLES
(96khz/24bit PCM stereo)
OUTTAKES AND ALTERNATIVE VERSIONS
(96khz/24bit PCM stereo)
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL STAR! HALF-SPEED MASTERED LP
Vinyl tracklisting
Side 1
1 Hang On To Yourself (early Ziggy session take)
2 Star (Take 5 alternative version)
3 Lady Stardust (Take 1 alternative version)
4 Shadow Man (Ziggy session version)
5 The Supermen (Ziggy session version 2023 mix)
6 Holy Holy (Ziggy session version alternative mix)
7 Round And Round (alternative mix) +
Side 2
1 Velvet Goldmine (Ziggy sessions outtake 2022 mix)
2 Looking For A Friend (Ziggy session version)
3 It's Gonna Rain Again (Ziggy sessions outtake)
4 Sweet Head (Ziggy sessions outtake 2022 mix)
5 Starman (Top Of The Pops version 2022 mix)
6 John, I'm Only Dancing (alternative Trident Studios version) *
7 I Can't Explain (Trident Studios version) +*
Produced by David Bowie and Ken Scott except + Produced by David Bowie
“Keep cool, Diamond Dogs rule, OK...”
DAVID BOWIE DIAMOND DOGS
50th ANNIVERSARY HALF SPEED MASTERED LP
50th ANNIVERSARY PICTURE DISC LP LIMITED EDITION RELEASES
OUT 24th MAY, 2024
PRE-ORDER HERE
Today (15th February 2024) marks the 50th anniversary of the release of David Bowie’s landmark single ‘REBEL REBEL’, which appeared in a remixed form on Bowie’s eighth and most musically adventurous album of the early 1970s, DIAMOND DOGS.
On 24th May, 2024, the exact day of its Golden Jubilee, DIAMOND DOGS will be issued as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and a picture disc LP pressed from the same master. The first single from the album, the aforementioned ‘REBEL REBEL’, reached number 5 in the UK and the album would also reach similar heights on both sides of the Atlantic reaching number 1 in the UK and number 5 in the USA.
The writing of the album was influenced by Bowie not being able to secure the rights for a theatrical production of George Orwell’s 1984 and by the work of William S. Burroughs, whom Bowie had appeared with in a two-way interview feature for Rolling Stone titled: BEAT GODFATHER MEETS GLITTER MAINMAN.
The songs on the album created an urban apocalyptic scenario with Bowie appearing on the cover as a controversial half-man, half-dog hybrid painted by the Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, who used photographs as reference taken for the project by the world-renowned photographer Terry O’Neill. Since its release, tracks from DIAMOND DOGS have been covered by artists such as Beck, Tina Turner, Duran Duran, Def Leppard, Joan As Police Woman, Dead Or Alive, The Struts and many others.
To promote the album Bowie undertook his most theatrical and elaborate tour to date, which was captured on film for the infamous BBC programme Cracked Actor and the classic DAVID LIVE album. Despite promises to fans that the tour would reach the UK, it never did. For the second leg of the US tour, Bowie stripped back the show and started taking his material in a more soulful direction, which would be fully realised with the release of his next album, YOUNG AMERICANS.
This new pressing of DIAMOND DOGS was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.
DAVID BOWIE - DIAMOND DOGS TRACKLISTING
SIDE ONE
Future Legend
Diamond Dogs
Sweet Thing
Candidate
Sweet Thing (Reprise)
Rebel Rebel
SIDE TWO
Rock ’n’ Roll With Me
We Are The Dead
1984
Big Brother
Chant Of The Ever Circling Skeletal Family
DIAMOND DOGS 50th ANNIVERSARY HALF SPEED MASTERED LP
DIAMOND DOGS 50th ANNIVERSARY PICTURE DISC LP
AVAILABLE 24th MAY, 2024 ON PARLOPHONE
#DiamondDogs50 #1974TheYearOfTheDiamondDogs #BowieRebelRebel50
“Freak out in a Moonage Daydream...”
Brett Morgen’s David Bowie documentary Moonage Daydream has won this year’s Grammy Award for Best Music Film, and Brett Morgen was there to accept it in person.
“When I first started this project, I met with David Bowie’s executors,” Brett said during his speech. “Bill [Zysblat] said to me, 'David is not here to authorize this film, so it cannot be Bowie on Bowie. You have to embrace it. It’s going to be Morgan on Bowie.' And there are not a lot of people in this day and age who would hand over all of these archives and let me make an art project.”
After thanking the executives as well as his wife and kids, Brett closed by thanking “David Bowie, the single greatest artist who’s walked the face of this earth.”
Watch his acceptance speech here.
Moonage Daydream was up against stiff competition in the shape of the other nominees in the Best Music Film category, including How I'm Feeling Now (Lewis Capaldi), Live From Paris, The Big Steppers Tour (Kendrick Lamar), I Am Everything (Little Richard), and Dear Mama (Tupac Shakur).
Congratulations to everyone involved in this remarkable work...particularly David Bowie!
#66thGrammyAwards #Grammys2024 #BowieGrammyAwards #MoonageDaydreamFilm
“Tomorrows of rich surprise...”
As you know, back in November The Recording Academy officially revealed the nominations for the 2024 GRAMMYs, which will take place this Sunday, 4th February at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Brett Morgen’s Moonage Daydream was nominated in the Best Music Film section.
In celebration of the nomination, we will have various pop-up events across Los Angeles.
Join us tomorrow, Sunday 4th February at Supervinyl, Amoeba Music and outside of Crypto.com Arena for music, tote bag giveaways and more. Just find the Bowie truck.
Schedule as follows:
Supervinyl 11am -12:30pm (900 N Sycamore Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90038)
Amoeba 12:45pm - 2:30pm (6200 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028)
Crypto.com Arena 2:30pm - 7pm (1111 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90015)
📸 Mick Rock
#66thGrammyAwards #Grammys2024 #BowieGrammyAwards
David Bowie: January 8th 1947 - January 10th 2016
(Photo by Jimmy King 2015)
#BowieForever
“He’d like to come and meet us...”
To mark what would have been David Bowie’s 77th birthday, Parlophone Records are proud to announce the release of a very special David Bowie limited vinyl LP, WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) which will be released on 20th April, 2024 for Record Store Day.
Keep reading for the full press release.
#BowieRSD #RSD2024 #BowieWaitingInTheSky
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DAVID BOWIE
WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH)
LIMITED 11-TRACK VINYL ALBUM RELEASED EXCLUSIVELY FOR RECORD STORE DAY 20th APRIL, 2024
Parlophone Records are proud to announce the release of a very special David Bowie limited vinyl LP, WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) which will be released on 20th April, 2024 for Record Store Day.
The album is taken from the Trident Studios 1/4” stereo tapes dated 15th December, 1971, which were created for the then provisional tracklisting for what would become THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album.
The tracklisting for WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) runs differently from the ZIGGY STARDUST album and features four songs that didn’t make the final album.
On Side 1, in the place of ‘STARMAN’, one of the last three tracks recorded for the album in February 1972, is ‘ROUND AND ROUND’, a Chuck Berry cover. The track was finally released on a single as the B-side to ‘DRIVE-IN SATURDAY’ on 6th April, 1973. Initially, closing Side 1 of the album was Bowie's version of Jacques Brel’s ‘AMSTERDAM’, which would later appear as the B-side of ‘SORROW’ on 12th October, 1973.
Side 2 of the 15th December, 1971 tracklisting features two long-time non-LP fan favourites, ‘HOLY HOLY’ and ‘VELVET GOLDMINE’. The former is a re-recording with The Spiders of David’s 1971 single. Again, this version of the track had to wait several years before surfacing as the B-side of ‘DIAMOND DOGS’ on 14th June, 1974.
‘VELVET GOLDMINE’ is considered by many to be a lost Ziggy era classic, one Bowie often referred to as ‘He’s A Goldmine’ or ‘She’s A Goldmine’ in his notebooks and interviews. The track was recorded during the Ziggy sessions but was not released until 26th September, 1975, alongside ‘CHANGES’ backing the re-released album version of ‘SPACE ODDITY’, which peaked at no. 1 in the U.K. singles chart in November 1975.
The cover of WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) features a photo of David taken at an early Ziggy Stardust period session by Brian Ward, and the two sides of the inner bags are the fronts of the two Trident Studios tape boxes. The album’s title comes from the lyrics of ‘STARMAN’, which, along with ‘ROCK ’N’ ROLL SUICIDE’ and ‘SUFFRAGETTE CITY’, had not yet been recorded when this variation of the album was compiled.
WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original Trident Studios master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half-speed vinyl cut was by engineer John Webber at AIR Studios, London.
DAVID BOWIE
WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH)
Side 1
Five Years
Soul Love
Moonage Daydream
Round And Round
Amsterdam
Side 2
Hang On To Yourself
Ziggy Stardust
Velvet Goldmine
Holy Holy
Star
Lady Stardust
DAVID BOWIE
WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH)
LIMITED 11-TRACK VINYL ALBUM
RELEASED BY PARLOPHONE EXCLUSIVELY FOR RECORD STORE DAY 20th APRIL, 2024
“Well, how come you only want tomorrow…”
We told you about tomorrow’s event in Paris back at the start of December. (03 December 2023: GEORGE AND GEOFF TO UNVEIL RUE DAVID BOWIE PLAQUE)
Keep your eye on this page for timings.
Good luck to all involved and particular thanks to Jérôme Soligny for keeping us updated.
#RueDavidBowie #BowieParis
“Bow-wow, woof woof, bow-wow, wow...”
Welcome to 2024, the 50th anniversary of THE YEAR OF THE DIAMOND DOGS.
The image here is from Terry O’Neill’s set of preparatory photographs for Guy Peellaert’s stunning cover art painting.
Here’s to a healthy and peaceful 2024, and remember, “Keep cool, Diamond Dogs rule, OK”
Thanks for all your support throughout 2023, it’s always appreciated.
#BowieNewYear2024 #DiamondDogs50 #1974TheYearOfTheDiamondDogs
“Peace on Earth, can it be, Can it be...”
Having already aired in the US, the UK got the chance to see David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s Christmas duet, Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy for the first time on this day in 1977.
Five years later the RCA release of the recording peaked at #3 for Christmas and the last week of 1982.
Thanks to Jason Draper for yet another in-depth piece which you can read over on Dig! via the link below.
David Bowie And Bing Crosby: The Full Story Behind The Unlikely Christmas Duet -
#BowieForever #PeaceOnEarth #BowieBing
“Look for the shafts of light on the road…”
It is a privilege and an honour for the David Bowie Estate to have been asked by the town hall of the 13th district of Paris to support the organisation of the inauguration day of Rue David Bowie in Paris on Monday, 8th January 2024.
Here’s what the spokesperson for the district had to say:
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“Four years after the death of the English rock star, David Bowie, the mayor of the 13th district of Paris, Jérôme Gourmet, decided to submit the idea to his council to give the name of David Bowie to one of the new streets located in the future Austerlitz district. The deliberation was voted at the council of Paris on February 3, 2020.
This “Rue David Bowie”, the first section of which will be inaugurated on January 8, 2024, will be located on a road still under construction in the area Paris Rive Gauche. It already hosts Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat places and will start at 61 avenue Pierre-Mendès-France (where the unveiling will take place) and end at boulevard de l’Hôpital. David Bowie did not have a special link with the 13th district but did have one with Paris. For the mayor of the 13th – a fan of contemporary art also a fan of David Bowie – who is keen to give a strong cultural image to his district, this project makes sense.”
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Jérôme Soligny, who was involved with the organisation of the event, had this to say: “To unveil the plaque, I suggested calling on David’s lifelong friends, George Underwood and Geoff MacCormack, who both accepted enthusiastically. Today George is a painter and Geoff a photographer, but they are well known to fans of Bowie for accompanying him at various stages of his career. An acoustic concert will also take place at the end of the day at the town hall of the 13th district on the walls of which, on this occasion, paintings by George and photos by Geoff will be hung.”
Stay tuned for updates regarding the unveiling and concert.
Image by Total Blam Blam: David Bowie with Francoise Hardy on Trafic.musique, France 2.
A Bowie Special recorded on 4th September 2003. Broadcast 18th September 2003.
#RueDavidBowie #BowieParis
“While tens of millions found me in demand…”
Wow! We’ve just reached 10 million followers of the David Bowie Official Spotify page.
Many thanks to every single one of you.
#BowieSpotify
“And me I’m on a radio show...”
To mark the 40th anniversary of David Bowie’s Pin Ups, the Pin Ups Radio Show was launched on Spotify ten years ago today.
Originally recorded as a promotional tool for the release of the record in 1973, but never used, the recording features snippets from Pin Ups interspersed with brief but nevertheless wonderful observations from Bowie regarding some of the bands he covers on the album.
Adopting his very best mockney to recall his days as a mod during the period, it's great fun and if you’ve not heard it, it’s still available here.
Vinyl and CD versions of the release were made available in very limited quantities and command fairly stiff prices these days.
The closest idea to this promotion back in 1973 was a 7" record sent to RCA Record Club members in New Zealand.
Featuring Rosalyn and Where Have All The Good Times Gone the disc introduced listeners to the very enthusiastic Tim, The RCA Stereo Club Disc Jockey. His interjections over each track ensured lucky recipients had to buy the album if they wished to hear the tracks uninterrupted.
📸 Mick Rock
#BowiePinUps50 #BowiePinUpsRadioShow
If you were ever lucky enough to catch David Bowie live in Japan, you have Japanese concert promoter Seijiro Udo, aka ‘Mr Udo’, to thank for that.
Sad to report that Mr Udo has died at the age of 92 following a long illness.
Launching Udo Artists, Inc. in 1967, Udo staged more than 10,000 concerts in Japan in a career spanning over fifty years.
Udo promoted Bowie’s Japanese shows right up to and including A Reality Tour in 2004.
It’s clear to see from reading other tributes that he was extremely well respected and that this honest, honourable gentleman will be sorely missed.
#BowieInJapan