Just a reminder that Sunday, December 5, 1999 at 14:55, Bowie will be the guest of Fabio Fazio on Italian Tv RAIDue transmission Quelli Che Il Calcio' Italy.
more details (in Italian) here.
Jools Today
Just a reminder for UK residents to tune into Later with Jools Holland, BBC 2, UK.
Bowie will be interviewed and perform on the Later with Jools Holland show.
The broadcast also features Gomez, Elastica, The Brand New Heavies and Diana Krall. Check local listings for details or check the Jools website.
Omikron Rides Again
Everywhere we turn, Omikron is making headlines. And we're not just talking about game magazines' stories either (though there are plenty of those). Headlining this batch of stories is one from the Reuters/Variety newsfeed:
Soul switching adds spice to 'Omikron'
"The game is set in a Blade Runner type world, and it features music, soundbeds (background sound schemes) and spoken word content from David Bowie."
"Bowie contributed 8 songs, 50 atmospheric soundbeds, and plays two characters in the game. As youd expect, one of the characters he plays is the lead singer in a band (called The Dreamers), and there is a sequence in the game where you get to see a virtual performance which is simply brilliant to watch. Not only does this performance feature some of the best virtual lip-syncing ever seen, but the whole piece works well as a self contained example of performance art. Indeed, if Bowie were to release the track he performs in the virtual world of the game as a real world video clip, many people would be impressed."
The review gave The Nomad Soul a 9 out of 10 scoring overall, and an 8 of 10 for Sound/Music.
go to Play Now
"The sound is also well done and adds to the overall atmosphere of the game. David Bowie has composed eight songs for the game and these songs are to be released later as a separate album. David Bowie and his beautiful wife Iman make an appearance later in the game. The animators have done a good job on Bowie and especially Iman is well rendered."
go to Gamers Central
"PC gaming as an art form may seem foreign to the big ol' American consumer. It may seem vaguely French or Art Deco, highly stylized and pushing the envelope of tradition. Yet, in time, computer games as art, like indie films as art, will grow to be the convention and not the exception. The millennium is ripe for this transition -- and who better to lead the soft parade than the paragon of art rock, David Bowie? And let's not forget the French game company Quantic Dream with its computer game art opus, Omikron: The Nomad Soul."
"This game could stand on its good looks and music by David Bowie alone. But with Omikron, it's the highly original story that makes the game."
go to Incite Games
"The Nomad Soul has been getting its fair share of media coverage, mainly because of the David Bowie connection - he plays a background character in the game and has composed eight original tracks for the score. His wife Iman also makes an appearance."
The review gave Nomad Soul an 8 of 10 rating.
go to Gamespot UK
Of course, all these new articles can be found in the ever-expanding "News" section of BowieNet's Nomad Soul section.
Its Not Ramoana
The contest is simple, scroll down the page and look at the pictures and answer the questions asto who IS with Bowie, behind RaMOANa's fat head (they are all famous people). To enter thecontest, email RaMOANa with the subject "It's NOT RaMOANa" and number your answers (1through 4).
Send your emails by December 15th, 12 noon EST and RaMOANa will draw thewinning entry from the emails with the correct answers. Drawing to be held at 6 p.m. the sameday. The winner will receive a fab Y2k Bowie Calendar!
The correct pictures with the answers tothe questions will be posted on this site by midnight December 15th.
go to RaMOANa's contest
Duet In The Works?
David Bowie has revealed he wants to record a duet with Macy Gray.
David Bowie: "I'd love to work with her," Bowie told Jools Holland at this week's recording of BBC 2's 'Later with Jools Holland' show. "There, I've thrown down the gauntlet, but I'll be very surprised if she picks it up."
To read all about it, visit dotmusic (the insider's guide to music) now.
go to dotmusic
Ashes Makes Top 100 Vid
TV Guide this week has listed the results of a (U.S.) TV Guide/MTV poll of the top 100 videos, ever made, and Bowie is listed as #58 - Ashes to Ashes (click on the link to see a clip of the video).
The videos air 15 per night starting next week on MTV at 8 p.m. EST-- we are guessing that means Bowie airs Thursday night! ;)
go to TV Guide's 100 Greatest Music Videos article
go to MTV's Top 100 Videos
20 Tickets For Copenhagen Show!!
We now have 20 tickets to the December 7th Copenhagen 'Vega Musikkens Hus' David Bowie Show up for grabs.
If you want a ticket to the COPENHAGEN show, just fill out the form including your BowieNet User name (NOT your password), and if you win, you will be notified via email on Monday morning, December 6th.
Please remember:
Please don't enter if you can't physically be in Copenhagen on Dec. 7nd.
The show is Dec. 7th at 'Vega Musikkens Hus'
Street Address:
Enghavevej 40
1674 V.
Telephone:
3325-7011
Any questions can be forwarded toinfo@davidbowie.com
Good Luck!
London...ta Ta
"Not only is it the last show" etc... again
London is still reeling from the shock of the visiting media monster that is the Bowie machine. And Total BlamBlam is still in the recovery position... so here are a few pictures that he took yesterday at the Virgin MegaStoresigning and the Astoria show, to tide you over until he re-surfaces with his report tomorrow. Just click on theimage above for a link to images from both events.
click here for more pictures
From our European Correspondent, Total Blam Blam
The Best 50 Albums Of 1999
The first 'Q' magazine of the new millennium has afeature on 'THE BEST 50 ALBUMS OF 1999'. These arenot 'ranked', but they do have this to say.
"The returning Dame looked fantastic and youthful and'hours...' excitingly marked twin excavations of theacoustic guitar pop of Hunky Dory/Ziggy Stardust andthe glacial synth textures of his Berlin period."
"BEST BIT: 3.10 into 'Thursday's Child'. The breathyfemale whispers that usher in the second gorgeouschorus of 'throw me tomorrow...'"
info courtesy of Spaceface
'Q' Online has a 100 Greatest Albums Ever, too, and our man David made the grade with 3 albums:
London...ta Ta
"Not only is it the last show" etc... again
London is still reeling from the shock of the visiting media monster that is the Bowie machine. And Total BlamBlam is still in the recovery position... so here are a few pictures that he took yesterday at the Virgin MegaStoresigning and the Astoria show, to tide you over until he re-surfaces with his report tomorrow. Just click on theimage above for a link to images from both events.
click here for more pictures
From our European Correspondent, Total Blam Blam
Bowie On Vh1
This Sunday, December 5th, at 1:00pm, VH1 is showing their 1996 Fashion Awards (Music).
The hour-long show will have "Pop Up" video performances and highlights from the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards, including "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees and a performance by David Bowie.
On Monday, December 6, at 1:00am, VH1 is showing their History of Rock 'n' Roll "The '70s: Have a Nice Decade" (Music)
"The seventies may stand as the most colorful decade of rock, with the theatrics of artists like David Bowie, Kiss and Alice Cooper. Also, a new craze called disco swept across America."
Music Up!
Bowie is on the cover of the Decemberissue of French monthly magazine MusicUp! which includes a translation of a "dbinterviews db" article authored by Bowieand which has appeared in numerousmagazines around the globe.Subscribers to the magazine also get aCD with some "archival Bowie material".
info from TW
Planned Accidents
Planned Accidents part 1 or as that bloke in that film said: "If you're given a gift horse, walk up to it, yank its jaws wide open and take a good long look"
Reports of a mis-pressed version of Thursday's Child CD 2 that is meant to contain the 'Thursday's Child (Rock Mix)', 'We Shall Go To Town', 1917, and the 'Thursday's Child' video are filtering through from the US of A. By all accounts the CD case and the disc itself list these tracks, but when played it turns out to be UK CD 1 with 'We All Go Through' and 'No One Calls'.
Virgin have held up their hands to this one and have confirmed that it does indeed appear that about 200 mis-presses left the plant with the two formats mixed up. Appropriate punishment has been meted out to the guilty parties, and hopefully there have been promises made that it will happen again with the next single 'Survive'!
For, you see, an instant collectors item has been created here that will no doubt become a regular item on eBay for those strange enough to want to part with it. I am only saddened that I have not been able to secure my own financial future and that of my extended family with a copy of my own.
So I am making an appeal to anybody out there that wants the actual version they thought they were getting by contacting me at: MrTotalBlamBlam@aol.com with 'Thursday's Child mis-press in the subject field, and I will gladly swap a mis-press for the normal version that was released here in the UK. What could be nicer for you?
From our European Correspondent, Total Blam Blam
Planned Accidents Part 2
In my recent listing of the AOL Jimmy Page chat on 30th November I said "You are probably aware that Jimmy played as a session guitarist on the very first David Bowie release from 1964, 'Liza Jane' by The King Bees." Of course the more astute among you will have realized that I was trying to trick somebody into persuading Jimmy to correct this information and to confirm which session(s) he really did play on. No, really I was.
Anyone worth their salt knows full well that Jimmy actually played lead guitar on the second ever David Bowie release, 'I Pity The Fool', that was issued by Parlophone in March 1965. As lead vocalist for The Manish Boys, David turned in a wonderfully moody performance of this blues classic that was probably a little more successful in commercial terms when released by Bobby 'Blue' Bland earlier.
Thanks to Kevin Cann and John 'Bristol Gas-Head' Harrison for pointing out what surely must be the most deliberate of mistakes.
From our European Correspondent, Total Blam Blam
Dr. Garson...paging Dr. Garson
A track from the STIGMATA soundtrack,co-composed by Mike Garson and BillyCorgan, was used on the ABC daytimedrama "General Hospital" Wednesday,December 1st.
The track, which appeared to be aremix or out-take of "reflect" wasused behind a pivotal plot pointand really set the mood.
For more information about MikeGarson, visit his official site:
http://www.mikegarson.com
Bowie To Do Signing Session In London Today
Just a reminder David Bowie will be signing autographs at the Virgin MegaStore on Oxford Street between 4:00pm and 5:00pm.
THAT'S TODAY!
The Boy Wants In!
"David Bowie's fans are nothing if not loyal. Boy George is so desperate to go to Bowie's one-off gig at the London Astoria tomorrow that he's insisted a BBC recording he's doing with Culture Club in Golders Green is put forward and the Beeb pay for a taxi bike to whiz him there in time."
from Matthew Wright at The Mirror (UK)
Strangers When We Meet...
To all the Alcatraz Milan concertgoers... Friday Dec. 3 don't miss the chance to meet the Bowie fans and bowie- netters from all Europe! Velvet goldmine Italian Bowie fan club is pleased to welcome you at our meeting "strangersWhen we meet...
The gathering will be at:
Cafe Tabac
Via Larga 8
Milan
Via Larga 8
Milan
Show up at h. 21.30. Entrance fee is Lire 10.000 (E. 5.16) and includes first drink. Please book your entrance at: velvetgoldmine@libero.it. For more information check the Velvet Goldmine site (in italian).
how to get there:
The place is very near to the Duomo Square, in the very centre of Milan. Underground stop is DUOMO (yellow line and red line).
Click here for a small map showing the location of the cafe.
Rolling Stone
David Bowie appears 3 times in Rolling Stone's December 1999 "Behind the Scenes (1967-1999)" issue.
Click on one of the Bowie's above for a larger resolution image of the original photos, and info about each picture.
go to Rolling Stone's Bowie Photo Gallery
photos and info courtesy Rolling Stone
It's Later Than You Think
- David Bowie slays 'em at the BBC
David Bowie and band stole the show during 'Later with Jools Holland' Last night at the BBC Television Centre in Shepherd's Bush. The appearance was David's second on the show and guests were treated to a truly blistering set of five and a quarter songs. David looked quite gorgeous (I mean that in a manly way) in a green velvet jacket, Blue split-bell-bottom jeans, white V-necked T shirt, black platform boots and tinted glasses.
Against a backdrop that included nine album covers from across the years and a huge reproduction of the 'hours...' sleeve, the David Bowie band performed a beautiful rendition of 'Ashes To Ashes', the best and most emotionally-charged version these ears have heard of 'Something In The Air', the next single 'Survive', complete with the addition of seventies style fade-out vocals that are reproduced on the new recording of the song for release next year, and a cracking version of 'Cracked Actor', with a saucy lyric change that I couldn't possibly report on a family site such as this.
As if this wasn't enough Bowie was obliged to placate the noisy mob with an extra song for fear of the BBC building being razed to the ground. After a false start of 40 seconds worth of a rudely-interrupted 'Changes' we were treated to a particularly menacing 'I'm Afraid Of Americans'. A flu-afflicted Bowie also gave a most hilarious interview that re-introduced an old idea that was a recurrent theme through David's career in the seventies. Yes, David has unveiled the next in a long line of characters that have included 'Major Tom', 'Ziggy Stardust', 'Aladdin Sane', Halloween Jack' and 'The Thin White Duke'. The name of this new character...'Ducky Mir'...
All will be revealed in the broadcast that goes out this Saturday, December 4 on BBC2 that also features Gomez, Elastica, The Brand New Heavies and Diana Krall.
Pictures by Total Blam Blam except for the two live shots which were generously provided by the talented and all-round-diamond-geezer Steve King
Click here for more photos
From our European Correspondent ~ Total Blam Blam