Conan

Conan O'Brien is funny (that's why he has a TV show). BUT, his songwriting skills (and his interviewing skills) leave a bit to be desired. After the tight, yet smooth 'Thursday's Child', David (who was sporting the red long-sleeve shirt and shiny black pants) was in good humour about everything (of course), and played along with Conan's shenanigans, including Conan's song entry for 'What's Really Happening'.

Conan whipped out an acoustic guitar and played while Bowie sang Conan's "I Am The Greatest Talk Show Host" song, which conspicuously ended with Bowie's ever-famous Space Oddity lyric. A funny moment indeed.

Nevertheless, Bowie (in his been-there-done-that routine), fit in some 'Hours...' plugs and a quick vid of the Nomad Soul. Conan's slightly egocentric interview was full of joking around with David indeed.

Perhaps the highlight of the night was Bowie's performance of 'Cracked Actor' off 'Aladdin Sane', which had not been performed for years. Unfortunately for home viewers, the song was cut off after a minute or so, as the show was out of time.

Here's some shots of last night's show:

"Cool, Baby, Cool..."
Thursday's Children
"Oh, that David"
"You want me to sing this?!"
"Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday born I was..."	"That's a good one, Conan..."

Changes Update

The Chris Welch book, Changes, mentioned in yesterday's news is released in the US with a completely different title and cover. 'We Could Be Heroes', (not to be confused with Sean Mayes' charming '78 tour diaries 'We Can Be Heroes' released in the UK in July of this year, see below.) is published in the US next month. I've not yet seen this version of the book, but it appears to have an extra 60 pages when compared to the UK copy.

From our European Correspondent ~ Total Blam Blam

That's Mr. White Duke To You

Couldn't resist posting this wonderful little exchange between Paul Kinder (King of the Little WonderLAND} ;-)......) and a hapless visitor to the chat room, who shall remain forever Miss X.

We all knew Major Tom's christian name, and Halloween Jack's of course. In fact even Ziggy Stardust had a christian name! (It was Ziggy, doh!) But what on Earth did The Thin White Duke answer to when his mum used to call him in for lunch? Neville? Bert? Beowulf? Find out here:

http://www.bowiewonderworld.com

From our European Correspondent ~ Total Blam Blam

Milan Show

The show in Milan at The Alcatraz is now the 4th of December and not the 5th.

Sod Updates

Lots of updates to SOD in the past week, including:

New SOD of the Month for November!

New SOD Asks Poll Question

and more....

Check it all out at http://www.squeakie.com/sod/

Kit Kat Tix

If you still hunger for a ticket to the "private" show at the Kit Kat Friday night in New York City...

*** HOT! 20 TICKETS TO KIT KAT KLUB NEW YORK SHOW AVAILABLE!

Teenage Wildlife and Bowie Wonder World web sites are giving away 10 tickets for this Friday's New York City concert at the Kit Kat Klub!

Go to Teenage Wildlife

and Go to Bowie Wonder World.

Queen + Greatest Hits Iii

A new entry at number five on the UK album chart this week, (all the best albums go in at five these days, remember 'hours...'?) is a 17-track compilation called 'Queen + Greatest Hits III'. As the more astute among you will have realized this is the third greatest hits album from Queen to date, and in fact the second to include the number one hit song 'Under Pressure'. 'Greatest Hits II' contained a slight edit of the original version, but as I'm sure most of you already know the track has been radically re-mixed for this latest hits compilation, and for a single release in December. A video has also been made for the 'Queen + Greatest Flix III' video compilation released next week.

The version of 'Under Pressure' on 'Greatest Hits III' is listed as the 'Rah Mix'. Clocking in at 4:09 minutes, it includes vocals not present on the original, including the line from David: "Even a blind man could see that's not so".

You may have already seen the rather clever video that unites David and Freddie for the song for the very first time. Taken from two different performances, (Queen at Wembley Stadium in '86 and Bowie from The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert) the film does a pretty realistic job of giving the impression that the two singers were actually on the same stage for this performance. But, before all of the e-mails come flooding in from the aspiring continuity persons out there, we know it isn't 100%% convincing, and no, David's new line isn't a reference to the Video!

If you haven't seen the video, or if you want to see it again, there is a free download and a short documentary about the making of the piece here:

http://www.virginradio.com/music/queen/home.htm

For the collectors among you there is a limited version of the CD (pictured above) with a printed jewel case and there is also a three-track promotional CD single, (pictured below) that has a different 3:46 minute version of the 'Rah Mix' and a 3:53 minute 'Mike Spencer Mix'. This promo CD also has the Queen + Elton John performance of 'The Show Must Go On'.

Number one for the second time? Number one for Christmas? Make it happen!

From our European Correspondent ~ Total Blam Blam

Bowie Tix Site

Marcel The Guru has a new site dedicated to used Bowie ticket stubs. Right now there are 271 stubs from the Ziggy Stardust tour to Hours..., and everything in between. And he's getting more!

go to the Bowie Tix Page

Conan Tonight

Don't forget that Bowie will be on Late night with Conan O'Brien TONIGHT (Tuesday late night) at 12:35 a.m. EST on NBC after the Jay Leno Show in the U.S.- check local listings.

Ed. note: we have been told that there is the potential that Bowie might just play a classic track tonight, so make sure you tune in.

Sensation

We have updated the SENSATION site with a new Matt Collings' critique.

Here is an excerpt:

'Sensation' wasn't known about when I wrote Blimey! I remember the subject coming up just after the book was published in 1997 and thinking how boring it sounded. It would just be the same old faces with the same old gags and the usual old nonsense in the papers.

The same old rhetorics being spouted. Everybody awkwardly occupying positions in an unconvincing way. But then when the show came on at the Royal Academy later that year it was exciting. It was a very uneven grouping.

Join David as your master of ceremony for this exclusive virtual opening of the controversial art exhibit, "Sensation: Young British Artists From The Saatchi Collection."

Win Db Art Online

Go to www.yalplay.com, and you can enter a competition to win signed Bowie artwork! There are three albumcovers to identify...its EASY!

There's also an exclusive Real Audio "taster track" from David Bowie...

go play!

info courtesy of Spaceface

Changes

Changes ~ The Stories Behind Every David Bowie Song ~ 1970-1980
by Chris Welch. Published by Carlton. (www.carlton.com)

"Changes traces David Bowie's musical and personal development during thecrucial years between 1970 and 1980, when he released some of the mostimportant, ground breaking and influential albums in rock history."

From our European Correspondent ~ Total Blam Blam

Culture Club's Starman

Culture Club ~ Cold Shoulder + StarmanThat seasoned old pro and veteran of the BowieNetChat, Boy George, releases a double-A side on Virgin records in the UK today (Monday 15th November), with his faithful band of chums who make up Culture Club. 'Cold Shoulder' is a well-crafted ballad reminiscent of some of George Michael's gentler moments, and in fact of some of Culture Club's own past glories. But the song of greater interest to most of us here is the band's wonderful cover of 'Starman'.George has not been afraid in recent years to nail his Bowie colours to the mast, and has admitted that seeing Ziggy for the first time changed his life, didn't it everybody's?! The following is from an interview with George conducted recently by Clive Anderson: "I knew I was gay and suddenly I saw this man with no eyebrows and orange hair singing 'Starman'* and I thought, Daddy!" ~ indeed, and George certainly wasn't the only UK pop star of the early 80s that felt that way.This particular version of 'Starman' is not typical of Culture Club's sound, but it works all the same. The song opens with the familiar sound of strummed acoustic guitars, heavily chorused in this case, and follows the original quite faithfully apart from an unnecessary, but not too offensive, break of fairly tepid beats before the final fade-out. The string arrangement throughout is lovely and quite powerful. Culture Club have been performing the song on tour and it is to be included on their forthcoming album. This is a sincere and charming version of a timeless Bowie classic. Wouldn't it be nice to hear David do this one again?For those that care the third track on this CD is a mix of 'Your Kisses Are Charity' featuring Dolly Parton.* Trivia buffs should note that David's tele-visual performances of Starman here in 1972 was accompanied by a full set of eyebrows numbering two.From our European Correspondent ~ Total Blam Blam

Ziggy Starbucks

This image is from GQ Magazine's December 1999 issue. Here is some text that followed this colorful image. Click here for bigger image.

---

David Bowie: Down-to-earth Starman.

What qualities do you bring to the party?

My hard-won ability to know when to go home.

Tell us about the best party you've ever been to.

For the Sultan of Solo's birthday. Nine of his daughters played flutes and danced for us as rain seeped through the grand, but dilapidated, roof of his 12th-century palace.

Can you recommend a top non-alcoholic beverage?

I live on Starbucks' French Roast coffee.

taken from GQ Magazine December 1999 issue

Bowienet Things

Have you downloaded your free BowieNet Screen Saver?? This cool collection of 9 unique BowieNet Things are fun, interactive multimedia objects designed for your viewing pleasure. Just a reminder, to view things:

1. You must be on a PC (sorry MAC's)2. You will need ThingViewer 1.1
3. Internet Explorer (3.0 or higher) or Netscape (3.0 or higher).

For all the details, go to BowieNet Things. Have fun!

Ftd Hero Campaign

FTD and FTD.COM have started to run a new advertising campaign, "Be A Hero", which features the Bowie classic "Heroes". The song is the feature idea behind the campaigns' TV and Movie Theater ads.

The "Be A Hero" concept depicts the sender of flowers as "the hero" and points out that anyone can be a hero simply by giving flowers.

go to FTD.com

Album Of The Month

"hours..." is the ALBUM OF THE MONTH in the December 99 edition of 'The Net' internet reviews and listings magazine.

* * * * * five stars!!

Here is an excerpt:
This is some of Bowie's best work in years...you'll never hear a better career summation than'Pretty Things

they add
Buy over the internet, or else interact with ZiggyStardust himself on this ground-breaking officialsite.

Story from Spaceface

Merry X-mass

Don't miss the showing of Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, this Tuesday, November 16th at 3:35am on The Movie Channel. The film is rated 'R', and runs 125 minutes.

Originaly Released in 1983, and Directed by Nagisa Oshima, Bowie stars as a World War II POW in a Japanese camp.

Story Synopsis:
Major Jack "Strafer" Celliers In this taut psychological drama about clashing cultures and survival set in the midst of World War II, Bowie stars as Jack Celliers, a British army officer who is sentenced to a Japanese P.O.W. camp in Java. There, he engages in a private war of wills with the camp's commander (RYUICHI SAKAMOTO), and a belligerent sergeant (TAKESHI).

Despite their situation, Celliers and fellow prisoner John Lawrence (TOM CONTI) come to understand and respect the Japanese code of honor as the film builds towards a shattering emotional climax in the last days of battle. Co-written and directed by NAGISA OSHIMA, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence celebrates the bonds of friendship and the strength of the human spirit.

Have a look at this Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence RealVideo Clip.

Rolling Stone Story

"The Thin White Duke, on Zen, baseball, dreams, and more..."

go to the full article

Diamond Dogs Re-release

'Diamond Dogs' is featured in the monthly 'Q' 'best re-releases of the last three months' section.'...its skewed, future-shock lyrics and Mike Garson's bonkers piano remain just as gripping.'info courtesy of Spaceface