Letter #9
MUSIC NEWS
- Out now, RED HOT & RHAPSODY, a benefit album for AIDS research and
relief. Released on the Antilles label (a PolyGram company).
Red Hot & Rhapsody is the twelfth in a series of AIDS awareness and
fundraising projects produced by The Red Hot Organisation. To date
these efforts have donated nearly 7 million dollars to AIDS
organisations around the world.
Dedicated to George Gershwin and everyone whose life has been cut
short tragically by an incurable disease.
Tracklisting:
1. MORCHEEBA & HUBERT LAWS: 'Summertime'
2. FINLEY QUAYE: 'It Ain't Necessarily So'
3. NATALIE MERCHANT: 'But Not For Me'
4. SMOKE CITY: 'They Can't Take That Away From Me'
5. SPEARHEAD & ERNEST RANGLIN: 'I Got Plenty O' Nuthin''
6. BOBBY WOMACK & THE ROOTS: 'Summertime'
7. DAVINA: 'I Was Doing All Right'
8. DUNCAN SHEIK: 'Embraceable You'
9. CLARK TERRY: 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off'
10. LUSCIOUS JACKSON: 'I've Got A Crush On You'
11. MONEY MARK: 'Peter Sellers Sings George Gershwin'
12. MAJESTIC 12: 'Nice Work If You Can Get It'
13. SARAH CRACKNELL & KID LOCO: 'The Man I Love'
14. SKYLAB: ''S Wonderful/Rhapsody In Blue'
15. SINEAD O'CONNOR: 'Someone To Watch Over Me'
16. BAABA MAAL: 'Bess, You Is My Woman Now'
17. DAVID BOWIE & ANGELO BADALAMENTI: 'A Foggy Day (In London Town)'
Credits for 'A Foggy Day (In London Town)'
David Bowie: vocals; Angelo Badalamenti - keyboards; Todd Coolman -
bass; Grady Tate - drums; Al Regni - alto saxophone; Andre Badalamenti
- clarinet, bass clarinet; Steve Badalamenti - trumpet; Sherry Sylar -
oboe; John Campo - bassoon; Vinnie Bell - music contractor The String
Orchestra Of SoHo
- UK ragga youngster Glamma Kid is set to release his first major
label single called "Fashion 98", based, not surprisingly, on Bowie's
"Fashion" from the 1980 album Scary Monsters. Glamma Kid takes the
original UK top 10 hit single and reggae-raps over the top of it along
the lines of Puff Daddy's "Let's Dance" take off in his "Been Around
The World". On a discussion on the Jo Whiley show in the UK when the
video premiered, with the general consensus being that budding
musicians would do better to try and write original material rather
than sampling and coopting previous hits.
The single will be released to stores in the UK on November 2, and may
become the third UK Top 40 hit this year based on an old Bowie song
(following in the footsteps of Dario G's "Sunmachine" and Puff's "Been
Aound The World")
- According to Teenage Wildlife, Grant reports receiving a UK record
store MVC flyer listing a release for November 9th titled "The
Eighties", but with no picture or other details. It looks like this
one will be a reality, although no word on any US release date (where,
ironically, it may well sell better than the previous two Best Of
releases).
In Japan, "DAVID BOWIE: THE BEST OF DAVID BOWIE 1980-1990 (CD)" is
listed for a November 26 release.
More intriguing is a sign seen in an English HMV store:
Artist Information
David Bowie
Ziggy Stardust Volume II
To be released in 1999
Watch this space!!!
- As reported in the last edition of this newsletter, BMG will not be
releasing Earthling Live on CD. Bowie's PR organisation in the UK,
Outside, issued the following statement:
"BMG have never been offered, let alone heard the 'Earthling Live'
tapes. Virgin America were offered the CD as an Internet only release.
They refused to go this route but wanted it for street-release. David
Bowie himself stopped the street-release negotiations as he was very
committed to 'Earthling Live' being an Internet release. He has now
arranged with Virgin for the tracks to be made available on 'BowieNet'
within the next few weeks."
When I asked how come various UK media sources reported this summer
that a normal CD release of "Earthling Live" was imminent from BMG,
Outside declined to comment.
Meanwhile, BowieNet have announced a "Design a Virtual CD" initiative
whereby fans are invited to submit concert reviews, pictures and "fun
Bowie encounters". Presumably, this is the live album.
It's not yet clear what format 'Earthling Live' will be released in
(whether it will be available online only to BowieNet subscribers,
whether they'll be able to download or order it on CD etc. etc.).
Whatever happened to the good ole days when you just went to your
local record shop and bought the latest Bowie album, without having to
buy a computer and a modem, pay $20 a month to BowieNet and design the
sleeve first yourself? ;-)
- Another CD release not happening is Sky Life, the Bowie/Gabrels
composition intended for the children's film Rugrats. This has
reportedly been cut from the movie due to re-editing. The song now
reverts back to Bowie, who apparently has no plans at the moment to
release it. Says Bowie 'Unfortunately, it really doesn't fit in with
what I'm doing at the moment. A shame really, as it was quite sweet
for what it was.'
- Teenage Wildlife reports that Target department stores in the US are
selling a $5.99 7 song CD called Halloween Rock. The last song on the
CD is Please Mr. Gravedigger. Bowie appears alongside such illustrious
bands as Deep Purple and Kiss. (from Elk).
__________________________________________
MOVIE NEWS
- The 1983 Vancouver Serious Moonlight video has been rereleased on
the Warner Budget label in the UK (PAL only) for £5.49, an excellent
deal for this long out-of-print video.
- The new James Ivory/Ismail Merchant film A Soldier's Daughter Never
Cries includes Fame in the soundtrack.
- Velvet Goldmine, the film based on the early 70s UK Glam scene, just
went on release in the UK. Director Todd Haynes has been talking about
Bowie's refusal to allow his songs to be used:
"The original script had six Bowie songs in it that I wanted for the
film. I know people who have talked to Bowie unofficially and they
said that he read the script three times, watched all my films on
tape. He definitely treated it with serious consideration. His manager
said at the time that he didn't want to give us right to his music
because Bowie was thinking of using the material for some kind of a -
at that time it was described - as a live stage version of the Ziggy
era. Now it's a movie. But that only came out after [he nervously
laughs], because [more nervous laughter] Then we came back one last
time and begged him. Harvey Weinstein came on board and wrote a really
eloquent complimentary but persuasive fax to Bowie. And again Bowie
said no. I felt at this point, if Miramax were distributing this film,
it's going to get a lot of attention one way or another. The press are
going to hound him, like "why didn't you give the songs, what's the
story, what's behind it, dah, dah, dah? So that's exactly what
happened. His business manager finally called and said "What's going
on? What are you going to do about this? We're getting inundated by
calls. We were like "well you've made your decision. And then the next
week Bowie came out with this announcement of a Ziggy Stardust movie.
He now refers to Velvet Goldmine as the trailer for his movie.. ".
__________________________________________
ART NEWS
- David Bowie and Laurie Anderson are to show their twenty drawing
collaboration at the Luwig Museum starting in November this year.
- Teenage Wildlife reports that Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum is
currently having an retrospective exhibition at The Astrup Fearnley
Museum of Modern Art in Oslo, Norway. Bowie, who owns three of
Nerdrum's works, has lent to the exhibition a large seven square meter
canvas piece called Dawn, considered one of Nerdrum's best works. The
two artists orginally met in October 1990.
__________________________________________
BOWIENET NEWS
- There is growing speculation in the industry that BowieNet is
falling well short of advance expectation in terms of membership
numbers, particularly in the number of people who have opted for full
ISP membership. Against this background, Ultrastar organised an online
chat session this week at which a handful of Bowienet subscribers
vented their frustrations with the service to date (if the few people
who have subscribed aren't happy with it, then who is?), made
suggestions as to how it could be improved, and gave their feedback to
suggestions and questions from Ultrastar. One proposal that Ultrastar
seemed very keen to push was the idea that other artist's music be
made available through BowieNet. This may tie in with speculation by
some insiders that BowieNet will be merged into a larger service
encompassing other popular artists, in which the Bowie content would
make up only a tiny proportion (at best) of the overall content.
When I contacted Ultrastar, they declined to make an official
statement on the matter or to comment in any way on this speculation.
- They didn't exactly send some large gentlemen around to my house to
break both my legs, but BowieNet have insisted I desist from
reprinting extracts from Bowie's occasional journal on BowieNet, so I
have no choice but to comply (as it happens, there's nothing much of
interest in the last couple of journals since the last newsletter).
Here's the statement I got from Ron Roy (ronroy@ntr.net).
"Andrew - I was reading your last newsletter and have to make a very
strong comment - all materials within BowieNet are copyright protected
- as stated in the "Terms of Service" and on the web pages themselves.
The posting of any materials - text or images is prohibited. Please
do not run another newsletter and "lift" information from BowieNet."
The statement that "all materials within BowieNet are copyright
protected" is amusing since much of the material on their news page is
clearly "lifted" from UK newspapers.
- When I was contacted by Jonathan Wingate of Bowie's UK Outside
organisation concerning the Earthling Live album, he told me that
Bowie was "concerned that you are reporting on industry stoires
without checking them with us (Outside Organisation) first".
While I obviously have no problem contacting Bowie's management for a
statement on any stories or rumours I dig up (even if they have never
responded to a single request for clarification or a statement when I
asked them in advance - it seems they only contact me or respond when
they see something in the newsletter they don't like), the suggestion
that I am required to check with Outside before I can report anything
is worrying, and ties in with stories I've been hearing of Ultrastar
(the company behind BowieNet) using their weight to pressurise online
Bowie fan news providers to not report certain stories. Anyone who
pays close attention to some of the online news pages may have noticed
certain stories appearing and then quickly disappearing without
explanation. These stories include:
-- The original BowieNet story, which first appeared online (but only
very briefly) a few months before I eventually broke the story in one
of my first newsletters
-- The songwriting contest story reported by Rolling Stone and French
and UK TV, which I also broke a few newsletters back, but has been
eerily absent from the fansites
-- The Earthling Live cancellation
After contacting some of the leading online news providers, my
suspicions have been confirmed. One prominent online news provider who
asked not to be named has this to say:
-- "I have been contacted on a number of occasions by Ultrastar or
other people speaking for Bowie asking me to either not report
something, or to report only their version or correction. For example,
the original BowieNet story actually broke early in March via an
announcement on an EMI record store flyer, but after running the
initial report, Ultrastar requested that the story be squelched until
they were ready to announce it themselves publically. When Best Of
David Bowie 74-79 was finally released in Canada with the multimedia
patch promoting the new online service, Ultrastar still wasn't
publically ready since "they did not know that EMI was releasing the
disc with the multimedia ad on that date". At the point when multiple
people are posting about buying an album with a new online service, it
makes me appear either stupid, or a shill if I pretend it doesn't
exist.
A second such case was the censorship of the Songwriting Contest which
was supposed to be announced shortly after the launch of BowieNet. The
story was leaked to Rolling Stone who reported it in their online news
available to all web users.
Not only was I asked not to report any details on the story, but I was
prevented from even listing an online link to the story to my readers.
This non-disclosure agreement appeared to only apply to online fan web
sites, since it was not long before the BBC and French television
stations picked up and ran the story. I still get regular emails from
European readers asking me "Why can't I find any information about the
songwriting contest on your web site?"
Finally, I was told that the live album cancellation thing you dug up
was not to be reported directly, but instead I was given an "official
statement" to run.
I didn't mind keeping the lid on the initial BowieNet story because it
was a big story, and I assumed that the fan news sites who had found
out about it first would get a day's or so notice over the rest of the
world in getting the official scoop. As it turned out, the first
official press release about the service actually came from Worlds,
Inc. the 3D chat provider who reported their involvement with BowieNet
before a press release from Ultrastar had even been issued. After
sitting for almost six months on a story, I had been turned around and
scooped behind my back.
Of course, most of the large fan sites are in a somewhat weakened
position since Bowie's organization does have the ammunition and
capability to get nasty (e.g. demand the
removal of all copyrighted lyrics, album covers, pictures etc, which
would pretty much gut the sites and non-Bowienet fee-paying fans would
lose out even more than they are with all the current censorship,
which for now extends only to the story reporting level).
I just hope that it doesn't get to the point of absurdity, where the
official sources feel they can demand that I not report this or not
report that, without running it by
them first (shades of 1984).
Just because an Internet fan-site doesn't have glossy graphics or a
payroll in the hundreds of thousands, it doesn't give license for them
to be treated in ways that the established media would never accept."
-- Another online news provider who also asked to remain unnamed had
this to say:
"Yes, it is true, Ultrastar have been limiting what I can report. They
have used what I feel are intimidatory tactics to ensure the removal
of some stories that don't suit them, or the reporting of some stories
in only the way they want. There has also been interference from
Bowie's PR people over a longer period, since I started my site. It's
very annoying when there are stories that newspapers and magazines are
reporting that I know are of huge interest to my readers, but I'm
being told I can't report them. I feel that Ultrastar in particular
are trying to hamper the fan sites to make BowieNet look better. They
talked about working with us in the beginning, but actually they give
us nothing, not even free subscriptions to BowieNet. Eventually, I
wonder if they won't just pull a Prince on us and leave us as shadows.
I have been afraid to do anything about this up to now, but now I
really don't care if they decide to shut me down. It gets harder every
day to remember why I started doing this and why I would want to go on
giving so much time to keeping it going. I think BowieNet will try to
squeeze us all out in the end anyway, for now they are just using us
for free publicity because it suits them. I find it hard to believe
that Bowie approves of all these heavy-handed tactics, but we have no
way of knowing".
-- Bonnie Powell who runs the other (longer established and more
frequent) Bowie newsletter also confirmed that Ultrastar had asked her
not to report on certain stories, and she complied with the request:
"I am among the websites/newsletters that were asked not to run
certain articles associated with Bowienet, but I understood the
marketing reasoning behind the requests, it was always my choice
whether I would do it or not, I was never personally (in a newsletter
sense) threatened in any way.....".
In what hopefully doesn't turn out to be a taste of things to come
from Bowie fans, a story reported at Teenage Wildlife talks about a
recent clampdown on Cure fan sites with MP3 files (and one in
particular, maintained by a Cure fan called Hajdik), and the story
mentions Ultrastar's Ron Roy.
"Hajdik contacted Ron Roy, webmaster for the official homepage of the
Cure, whose most recent release was last year's Galore, featuring the
single "Wrong Number". Roy, who was unavailable for comment, asked him
to remove rare B-sides and demos from the site, Hajdik said".
______________________
CHART NEWS
From Dara's latest Chartwatch:
UK TOP 200 ALBUMS
Best Of 69/74: 13, 20, 25, 34, 37, 45, 51, 52, 52, 69, 82, 80, 136,
193, out of top 200, 137, 116, 96, 108, 112, 122, 131, 114, 116, 115,
91, 95, 120, 134, 173, 170, 191, out for 3 weeks, 147, 187, out, out,
182, 116, 152, out
Low: 131, 128
Heroes: 164, 132
Station To Station: 170, 145
All three studio albums recently reissued mid-price made the chart, on
the back of good promotion by EMI and much media coverage. Low is
faring the best of the three, debuting at #131, then climbing three.
Also climbing are "Heroes" (up thirty two to #132) and Station To
Station (up twenty five to #145). Stage was also re-issued midprice,
but didn't make the chart.
"Best Of 69/74" has been off the charts for the last few weeks, but
don't rule out a return to the charts in the run-up to Xmas.
SUNMACHINE (Dario G single)
UK: 17, 30, 44
(Dance Top 30): 7, 24, out
Ireland (FM104 Dublin Top 40): 11, 10, 11, 13, 26
(Dance Top 10): 8
Netherlands (Veronica Top 100): 99, 90, 95
(Wateringse Top 43): 34, 29, out
Belgium (BRF Top 40): 37, out
Turkey (Funky C Club chart): 12, 8, 2, 2, 8
Lithuania (M1 Top 40): 38, out
Moldova International Top 50: 48, 39, 40, out
Macedonia (Antenna 5): X, 14, 14, 14
Czech Republic (Radio Faktor Top 20): 6, 9
EuroPop Dance chart: 14, 18
Germany (Top 100): 99, 96, out
(HR-3 International Hit Parade): 14, 18
(TWS Dance Top 10): 7, 8, 10
(N-JOY Top 40): 23, 29, 38, 32
(Harz Top 100): 49, 46, 66
(Eins Live Hitfahrzentrale): 16, out
Italy (Radio Modena Top 40): 36
Latvia (Radio chart): 5, 4, 20, out
Europe (Eurochart Top 100): 66, 34, 26
The main development since the last Chartwatch has been the appearance
of the single on the German Top 100 (Germany is reportedly the second
biggest singles market in the world). The single debuted three weeks
ago at #99, climbed three to #96, but drops off this week.
The same week, the Wallflowers cover of "Heroes" debuted at #100 on
the same chart, and it climbed five to #95, so for two weeks, there
were two songs co-written by Bowie on the German Top 100. "Heroes"
enjoyed much better luck in its third week than "Sunmachine", climbing
ten to #85.
WEDDING SINGER SOUNDTRACK (featuring China Girl)
US (Billboard): 90, 26, 9, 5, 9, 7, 11, 11, 19, 20, 25, 35, 52, 60,
70, 78, 65, 83, 86, 98, 103, 130, 127, 141, 151, 126, 72, 39, 36, 45,
50, 54, 62, 60, 73, 86, 89
Canada (Soundscan): 100, 47, 15, 15, 13, 12, 18, 23, 38, 45, 50, out,
147, 148, 53, 36, 34, 32, 31, 28, 27, 22, 22, 25, 27, 27
(alternative Top 50): 28, 12, 2, 2, 1, 1, 3, 4, 9, 11, 12, 14,
17, 21, 22, 21, 23, 24, 26, 25, 33, 35, 35, 40, 38, 14, 10, 11, 11, 8,
9, 9, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8
Australia: X, X, X, X, 13, 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 5, 5, 6, 10, 7, 8, 10, 15,
19, 24, 23, 26, 38, 50, 49, 51, out, 70, 69
New Zealand: 25, 29, 16, 8, 3, 5, 2, 2, 5, 5, 6, 10, 10, 10, 10, 12,
19, 20, 24, 33, 45, 45, out, 39, out
UK (Compilations chart): X, 15, 18, 18, 23, 22, 24, 23, 35, 50, out
Ireland: 12, 5, 6, 9, 8, 11, 17, 18, 21, 29, out
CDWorld: 17, 27, 2, 5, 5, 14, 27, out, 18, out
(Soundtrack chart): 7, 9, out, 9, out, 9, 10, 10, 4, 7, 5
Internet voting chart: 94, 91, 61, 65, 89, 71, 73, out
The soundtrack has now gone double platinum in the US and Australia.
It recently climbed dramatically back up the US and Canadian charts,
primarily as a result of the movie being released on video. This
effect seems to have now reached a plateau. In Australia, New Zealand,
the UK and Ireland, it has also started to slip.
So far, it hasn't charted on the European mainland, so for the moment,
the nostalgia for 80s music the movie has engendered seems to be
restricted to the English-speaking world.
GODZILLA Soundtrack
US: 4, 2, 4, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14, 22, 33, 38, 53, 69, 78, 87, 97, 113,
128, 160, 201, 232, out
Canada (Top 75): 2, 3, 5, 5, 4, 2, 2, 5, 9, 10, 12, 12, 16, 21, 27,
36, 50, 58, 69, out
(Alternative Top 50): 1, 1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 2, 4, 4, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10,
14, 16, 17, 19, 20, 19, 20
Australia: X, X, 20, 9, 8, 10, 8, 14, 17, 18, 20, 30, 44, out
New Zealand: 9, 9, 7, 10, 9, 6, 4, 9, 7, 11, 12, 26, 40, out, 34, out
UK (multi-artist compilations chart): 48, 48, 36, 19, 13, 16, 20, 27,
35, 47
France: 48, 45, 27, 33, 44, 58
Italy (Topnetita): 22
Austria: X, 35, 28, 25, 14, 12, 11, 6, 5, 4, 11, 12, 16
Sweden (Videobutiken Top 20): 19
Finland: 37
Ireland: 27, 17, 17, 17, 18, 27, out
Belgium (TipTop): 24, 23, 22, 21, out, 19, 18, 17, 21, out
(UltraTop Top 50): 50, 26, 25, 40, out
(Studio Brussels): 40, 45, out
Hungary (Ambro Top 20): 4
(Mahasz Top 40): 29, 24, 18, 10, 14, out, 33, 24
Czech Republic: 39, 25, 24, 24, 30, 10
Poland (RAK Top 10): 2, 9, 8
CD World (soundtrack chart): 1, 2, 2, 3, 7, 8, 7
CD Outpost Top 50: 22
Internet Voting chart: 80, 75, 62, 89, 91, 84, 91, 85, 89
This soundtrack continues to drop on most charts it's on. Countries
where it has recently debuted include Finland, Belgium, Hungary, the
Czech republic and Poland. It has now gone Gold in Australia.
OTHER SNIPPETS
- Marilyn Manson's cover of "Golden Years" seems to have sunk without
trace everywhere except in Japan and Slovakia, where it was a minor
hit:
Japan (J-Wave Top 100): 65, 57, 59, 76, out
Slovakia (Ragtime Top 15): 10, 11, 15, out, 9, out
- The two Best Of's tread water on Tower Records Top 1000 (perhaps
helped by the VH-1 Legends):
Best Of 69/74: 167, 288, 438, 449
Best Of 74/79: 246, 425, 858, 833
There are also three soundtracks featuring Bowie contributions on the
chart. Recent Bowie-related soundtrack performances:
Wedding Singer: 2, 3, 3, 3, 8, 17, 19, 29, 58, 73, 72, 69, 73, 81,
159, 134, 137, 222, 214, 79, 38, 41, 53, 85, 99
Great Expectations: 15, 21, 21, 21, 53, 96, 108, 120, 222, 245, 254,
246, 252, 276, 640, 563, 577, 799, 783, 640, 653, 555, 599, 588, 677,
565, 774
Grosse Pointe Blanke: 281, 316, 339, 335, 325, 340, 418, 405, 490,
411, 423, 415, 424, 393, 506, 600, 615, 631, 618, 781, 773, 999, out,
921, out
Trainspotting: 699, 758, 808, 804, 528, 706, 899, 874, 872, 797, 810,
799, 805, 914, out, 981, out, 958, out
Trainspotting #2: 889, 851, 902, 896, out, 837, out
Godzilla: 3, 12, 16, 16, 27, 27, 130, 124, 206, 208, 199, 262, 583,
616
Dead Man On Campus: 514, out, 620, 621, out
__________________________________________
OTHER NEWS
- Godfather of punk Iggy Pop will team up with Lenny Kravitz (both of
them previous Bowie collaborators) to perform Bowie's Rebel Rebel live
before the VH-1 Fashion Awards on US television on October 27th.
Other performers on the night include Janet Jackson, the Brian Setzer
Orchestra, Madonna and the Smashing Pumpkins. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres
will host. (Information from Sonicnet)
A cover of the guitar intro (and a couple of "do do do's") from Rebel
Rebel are featured in a series of Mazda car advertisements in the US
and Canada. These ads will run over the next year on both television
and radio.
- The Songwriter's Hall Of Fame has included Bowie in their list of
nominations for induction into the Hall for this year. Current members
range from Keith Richards and Mick Jagger through Oscar Hammerstein.
Results will be announced after December 8.
- Italian Bowie fans should mark down October 31 on their calendar as
fanzine Velvet Goldmine is planning a "David Bowie Bash"
What: David Bowie Bash
Where: Downtown Club, via delle Moline 16/b, Bologna, Italy
When: Saturday, 31 October
Contact: stnard@tin.it or g.magri@bo.nettuno.it
Plans are for just a get together, dance, chat and keeping in touch
with fellow fans.
In honour of this great occasion, I'd like to wheel out my pidgin
Italian and say "Spero che avrete tutti un buon momento!"
- A new book on the glam rock era has been released in the UK and
Ireland.
Glam: Bowie, Bolan and the Glitter Rock Revolution
by Barney Hoskyns
Teenage Wildlife reports the book is expected to be available in the
US in December 1998 and is available for preorder at Amazon.com.
- News of another book from Toloudmuze:
Bowie features prominently in the forthcoming book, High On Rebellion
Inside the Underground at Maxs Kansas City By Yvonne Ruskin with a
foreward by Lou Reed. Bowie photos and interview are featured, it's a
must have on the Ziggy era NY rock scene. Book hits US and Canada book
stores Nov. 2nd.
- In the UK, a new series of "STELLA STREET" started on Friday 16th
October at 11.15 on BBC2. Featuring impersonations of the likes of
David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Al Pacino, Michael Caine,
Roger Moore, Jack Nicholson, John Hurt and Joe Pesci. All performed by
John Sessions and Phil Cornwell. This year's series includes Serious
Moonlight era Bowie, complete with jerky hand movements, impeccable
suit and boater hat, and robotic dancing.
- The hit single 'PERFECT DAY' raised an amazing £2,125,000 for
CHILDREN IN NEED. It helped boost the charity's fundraising total for
last year to £20.9 million.
The song, from a BBC promotional campaign, featured a host of stars
including the song's writer Lou Reed to David Bowie.
- The Japanese film crew that have been following Goldie around the
world for the last few months have nearly completed their documentary.
The documentary which also features footage of Bowie with Goldie at
the Chisholm House Art Gallery will be screened on UK TV next month.
- Other upcoming David Bowie TV appearances includes a repeat of US
VH-1 Legends, to be aired on Thursday, October 29th, Noon - 1:00 p.m.
(EST) (subject to change).
- Excerpt From the Mail on Sunday, October 4, 1998, Britain:
The defining matrix for Geri Halliwell she has been telling friends is
David Bowie. He moved effortlessly in the Seventies from stylised rock
star with a seemingly cast-iron image as Ziggy Stardust, to actor by
playing the Elephant Man on the Broadway stage and later to brilliant
businessman who sold his back catalogue of songs for more than 50
million USD to Wall Street investors.
- Also from the Daily Mail:
BOWIE THE POP STARS' POP STAR HAS THE BEATING OF THE BEATLES
Of his many incarnations during a glittering career, this could be the
one David Bowie will prefer to be remembered by.
A poll of fellow rock and pop stars and leading music industry figures
has named him top music star of the past 30 years, controversially
edging ahead of The Beatles who were placed second. Bob Marley, Marvin
Gaye and Jimi Hendrix also trailed in Bowie's wake.
The 51 year old former art student from South London has been Major
Tom, Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke, among others, since
launching his career in the Sixties. During this time he was at the
forefront of glam rock, Seventies soul and Eighties funk, as well as
being a leading light of the New Romantic era. His exotic outfits set
new standards. A film star in "The Man Who Fell To Earth" and a
filmmaker as well as a painter, he was also leader of his own band,
Tin Machine. His skill as a collaborator is said to have helped launch
the careers of Mott The Hoople, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop.
Already fabulously wealthy, he raised more than 34 million LST last
year by giving Wall Street investors the chance to buy into his back
catalogue of chart hits. But it was the sheer span of his creativity
that made him the most important act of the last three decades, in the
eyes of pop stars, musicians, critics and leading music industry
figures.
The poll was compiled by London magazine Time Out to mark its 30th
birthday. Stars such as Boy George, Robbie Williams and Mick Hucknall
voted. Time Out critic Garry Mulholland said: "David Bowie irrevocably
altered our culture." The magazine also compiled a list of the
favourite programmes of the stars. Fawlty Towers topped the table for
television shows, followed by The Simpsons and I'm Alan Partridge. The
Godfather movies, parts I and II were the biggest hits in the film
world with Chinatown and Raging Bull coming in just behind.
The list in full:
1. David Bowie
2. Beatles
3. Bob Marley
4. James Brown
5. Marvin Gaye
6. Jimi Hendrix
7. Stevie Wonder
8. Kraftwerk
9. Iggy Pop
10. Bob Dylan
11. Stone Roses
12. New Order
13.Led Zeppelin
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