Fred Durst, Tommy Lee And Fame

Original press ad for David Bowie's 'Fame'.

Fame, what you need you have to borrow...

Limp Bizkit's first remix album 'New Old Songs' was released last week. The album features remixes of old Limp Bizkit tracks by the likes of Timbaland, P Diddy and Butch Vig. But of more interest to most here is the fact that, along with Josh Abraham, ex-coalman Fred Durst has remixed his own song 'Faith', incorporating David Bowie's 'Fame' in the process. If you fancy a listen to Fred's handy work go here.

While we're on the subject of people borrowing 'Fame'...

Ex-Motley Crue naughty boy, Tommy Lee, is scheduled to release a cover of 'Fame' on the second Methods of Mayhem album. Lee will be joined on the track by Brandon Boyd & Mike Einziger of Incubus, Cypress Hill's B-Real and Mixmaster Mike of the Beastie Boys.

News: Mercury Rev Chat Transcript

Jonathan, Grasshopper and Jeff previous to answering your questions.

Last night they loved you...

The Mercury Rev chat was a jolly wheeze last night as the band fielded questions from David Bowie, Tony Visconti and many a BowieNetter. Rev members Jonathan, Grasshopper and Jeff were all present and answering live from Washington DC just before they were due onstage in that very city.

The band happily answered questions as diverse as Simone's: "Do you have pets?" (two peacocks, 3 highland cows, 14 snakes, 1 llama and a gaggle of bats) and Andromache's: "What is your favourite pasta shape?" (Grasshopper - Bowtie. Jeff - Fucilli. Jonathan - Enneagrammo)...and they even had the good grace to answer Alecz's predictably boring and miserable question "What's it like being the most boring and miserable band in the world?" with: "I don't know, you'd have to ask the Manic Street Preachers." He he.

The subject of David's music was mentioned on more than one occasion, and it soon became clear that his appreciation of Mercury Rev was mutual when dbfan1847 asked: "...Do you listen to any of David's music? and if you do, what are some of your fave songs by him?", this was their reply:

"Yeah we love David's music. Some of our favorites are: Jonathan - Duet with Bing Crosby. Jeff - Quicksand from Hunky Dory. Grasshopper - Ashes to Ashes"

You still have time to catch Mercury Rev live in Philadelphia tonight and New York tomorrow. The band also have five Japanese dates starting next Monday 17th December, perhaps Eri will put you up if you ask nicely. Go here for further details and ticket availability.

By the time you read this, you should be able to read the full transcript of last night's chat (including David and Tony's questions) here...if not, pop back a little bit later, if it's still not up try a little bit later and so on. };-)

'ask Q' : Joe The Lion, The Inspiration?

You'll never know the real story...

In the 'Ask Q' section of December's issue of Q magazine, is a question from reader David Plant of Ontario :-

"I vaguely remember hearing a story about how the David Bowie song, Joe The Lion, off 'Heroes', was about an artist who nailed himself to the roof of a car. True?"

The answer draws from an interview David gave to huH magazine in Sept 95:-

"Yes, this actually happened. Bowie has said the song - with its line "Nail me to my car, tell you who you are" - was inspired by the Californian conceptual/performance artist Chris Burden...."

We covered this well-known story last year, when the Q writers selected the song for their 'On Heavy Rotation' section, (12/30/00 SNIPPET:Q WRITERS LOVE JOE THE LION ) but it remains no less fascinating. You can go here to listen to an audio clip of Chris Burden talking about the 1974 performance in an interview he gave at the Royal Academy Of Fine Arts, Stockholm in Feb 1999, and here to read more of the 1995 interview with David.

:))

Join Bowie And Visconti In Rev Chat Tonight!

Grasshopper and Jonathan Donahue of Mercury Rev.

Mercury Revolution comes in the strangest way...

Don't forget Mercury Rev are tonight's chat guests folx. The fun will commence at 7:00pm (EST), and David Bowie will join Tony Visconti to pop a couple of questions to the band.

Rev members Jonathan, Grasshopper and Jeff will be plugged in from Washington DC, where they have a gig tonight. I for one look forward to the REVelations with excited anticipation! See ya there.

You can join in the chat by clicking here

Diamond Gods Cd Competition Winners

Hey man, well she's a total blam-blam...

I did say we would post the answer to this one on the Eighth Day, which was intended as an O'Connor-tastic pun. And seeing as it is the 8th today, I guess we aren't actually late with this post at all.

I asked you for the title of the Bowie cover that Her name is Hazel O'Connor released as a 12" only bonus track back in the early Eighties? (11/13/01 NEWS: DIAMOND GODS CD COMPETITION) And the extra clue I gave was that I wouldn't exist without this particular song. Well, you all know me as Total Blam Blam and I wouldn't exist without the David Bowie song, 'Suffragette City'.

Many of you guessed 'Time', and you don't know how close you were with that guess, as Hazel's version of 'Suffragette City' appeared as a live recording on the b-side of her 1981 single, 'Time'. But, unfortunately this was not the Bowie composition.

TRS? has dutifully picked five correct answers and the authors of those answers are listed below:

snikpoh@davidbowie.com
cannibalkate@davidbowie.com
janchor@davidbowie.com
ziggielaming@davidbowie.com
dionysia@davidbowie.com

If the five of you could please send your names and addresses to TotalBlamBlam@DavidBowie.com with a subject line of "Hazel Winner". Please note my change of e-mail address and make sure you do use the subject line "Hazel Winner" as the system is now fully automated.

Thanx again to the folx over at Ncompass who generously donated these five copies of 'Diamond Gods - Interpretations of Bowie'.

Beckenham : The Evening...

Who'll love Aladdin Sane?

As Blammo promised in the news on Friday, (12/07/01 NEWS: BECKENHAM REMEMBERS DAVID BOWIE AND THE ARTS LAB) here is a page of photographs and words about the evening event at The Rat and Parrot on Thursday night. Thanks to all who joined us.. It really was a very special day, with an atmosphere of love, pride and camaraderie. Special thanks to Paul Kinder (Rednik) of BowieWonderWorld, without whose hard work and dedication this very special day would not have been possible.

I must say though Paul, I was disappointed that the planned duet with you, Blammo and the original Trident studio piano was cancelled.. ;)

Go here, and check out the page..

:))

Mercury Rev In Chat This Monday

Please give a big hand for Mercury Rev frontman,
Jonathan Donahue. Oh it's OK, he's already got one!

A Mercury Rev fan painted 'Holes' on his hands...

It is with the utmost pleasure that I tell you our next chat guest for this coming Monday is the most magical Mercury Rev. David has made no secret of his admiration for the band, and Tony Visconti helped with string arrangements and such on a few tracks on the Rev's last album, 'All Is Dream'. (08/02/01 NEWS: TV AND THE NEW MERCURY REV ALBUM)

Though the band have been active for over ten years now, it took a change of line-up and the release of the sublime 'Deserter's Songs' to turn the public at large onto Mercury Rev. The chat will commence at 7:00pm (EST), and it promises to be a whole bunch of damn weird fun!

Beckenham Remembers David Bowie And The Arts Lab

The plaque commemorating David's time in Beckenham.

We used to be so happy, Remember, remember...

"Hello everyone. We're here to celebrate the achievements of David Bowie - One of Beckenham's most illustrious former residents - together with the people who joined him at The Three Tuns to create a weird and wonderful phenomenon called the Beckenham Arts Lab."

...So begun Mary Finnigan's unveiling speech at The Rat & Parrot, formerly The Three Tuns, in Beckenham yesterday.

You all know about David's involvement with Growth and the Beckenham Arts Lab and the characters around that scene, many of whom attended yesterday. It's also common knowledge that Mary put David up for a while, (no pun intended) as did Christina Jackson and her partner of the time, Barry. (That's Christina on the left in the picture below)

Christina Ostrom (Nee Jackson) and Mary Finnigan, The Electric Land Ladies,
backstage with Steve Harley at the Rat and Parrot. Picture by Total Blam Blam.

In her speech, Mary explained how the four of them started the ball rolling for the Arts Lab and what an incredibly fertile place The Three Tuns was for a while:

"David Bowie was the energy and the inspiration behind the success of the Beckenham Arts Lab. We touched the lives of the whole community because we took our enthusiasm into the streets and into the parks. We did a series of concerts and talks at the Bromley Arts Centre and we threw a free festival (Blam note: The very festival that inspired the 'Space Oddity' track, 'Memory Of A Free Festival') that crowned our summer of love - and made a profit. In 1969 we believed we could change the world and maybe in some ways - we did."

David Bowie at the Growth Arts Festival August 1969. © David Bebbington.

After Mary's speech and a few short recollections from Christina, the plaque was unveiled to much cheering from the assembled crowd as a nervous local police force looked on. Then it was all back inside for a short, but very sweet set from Steve Harley. As Steve told us a couple of weeks back, (11/23/01 NEWS: STEVE HARLEY RETURNS TO THE THREE TUNS) he began his professional career at The Three Tuns in 1972.

Mr Harley was accompanied for yesterday's performance by the ever-faithful and breathtakingly brilliant Robbie Gladwell - who has to be heard to be believed. The pair wowed an appreciative audience with a handful of classics that included 'Judy Teen', 'Sebastian', 'Star For A Week', 'Mr Soft' and 'Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me)'.

It was all over too quickly and everybody readied themselves for the evening's entertainment that our reporter in the field, Spaceface, will be bringing you details and pictorial evidence of in the near future. That's when she's dragged herself out of the Beckenham gutter that her and Susans are currently sleeping in. Having left the event soon after Steve Harley's performance, I asked Susans this morning for details of the evening's fun (Bowie tribute bands, a raffle an auction etc., etc.) she remembered nothing...which I guess is kind of fitting in a way, as it is often said of The Sixties that if you can remember them*, you just weren't there!

Steve Harley rockin' out at the Rat and Parrot
almost thirty years on. Picture by Total Blam Blam.

*You may not remember The Sixties, but with Steve Harley's help you can remember The Seventies every Tuesday night at 22:00 (GMT), in his regular RADIO2 show, Sounds of the Seventies.

Have You Seen The Schoki Gallery Yet?

© Brigitte "Schoki" Schokarth

I'd like to be a gallery...

Some of you weekend BNetters may have missed our new section which we've called The Schoki Gallery. If you've not yet seen it, you really should go check out this fascinating collection of photographs and writings by Brigitte Schokarth now.

Brigitte, (or Schoki as she is known to those who know her as Schoki) has been writing about, and photographing David through the whole of the Nineties. And her work is truly excellent. But don't take my word for it. Here are some comments from the MBs regarding The Schoki Gallery:

Wow, now we are all able to see your fantastic photos you took of David :)))!!! Many, many congrats to the gallery!! You deserve it soooooo much!!!! - Bianca

WOW! what great pics!! Love 'em!! thanks for putting them up! - dbfan1847

Great job! Thanks for sharing them with us, loved going through the gallery. - Mask

You can browse The Schoki Gallery by clicking the image above, or from the link in the infectious box on the home page.

Come And See The Schoki Gallery

© Brigitte "Schoki" Schokarth

I'd like to be a gallery...

We are very proud to present a new feature called Schoki Gallery, wherein the extremely talented BowieNetter, Brigitte Schokarth, presents her photographs and writings relating to David Bowie.

The Schoki Gallery is a fascinating glimpse into the world of rock journalism, Including loads of wonderful pictures and Schoki's own recollections of the adventures she went through to get her pictures and interviews with David. Adventures that took her through the whole of the Nineties and a zig-zag journey around Europe and New York.

This is hopefully just the first in a few similar galleries that will focus on other photographers and writers who have been inspired by the work of David Bowie.

You can browse the Schoki gallery by clicking the image above, or from the link in the infectious box on the home page.

David Donates Three Fedoras To Tibet Auction

"Guaranteed to break the ice at parties...what am I bid for this rather handsome
titfer? A dab of Stain Devil will get it looking like new in no time darlin'!"

Your hat and hat and hat are gone...

David Bowie has donated three of his very own Fedoras to tomorrow's benefit auction at Christies Auction House in New York City. David wore all three of the hats during the Seventies and Eighties throughout the world. Though not the actual hat he wore in the 'The Man Who Fell To Earth', (he gave that away during his time in Berlin) they are of a similar appearance and the one pictured above may actually be one of them.

The online information makes no mention of many of the lots up for auction, but I can tell you that these incredible items are autographed by David and really are the very last of these hats from that period. These highly stylish Fedoras come in three colours, and here are the lot numbers with the corresponding colours:

601 Black
602 Gray
603 Brown

This is the entry from the auction catalogue that just about sums up the generosity of this donation:

David Bowie Memorabilia - Lots 601-603 - (Auctioned Individually)

Straight from the wardrobe of legendary music icon and actor David Bowie, three autographed Fedoras that he wore in the 1970s and 1980s.

Donated by David Bowie - Value: Priceless

The auction commences at 6:00pm local time tomorrow and tickets to attend are $100. To purchase tickets, call Lynn Schauwecker or Angie Kwak at Tibet House (212-807-0563). Another interesting lot up for grabs is an exclusive invitation for four to attend the dress rehearsal for next year's Tibet House benefit concert at Carnegie Hall.

Boy am I jealous of you New Yorkers. Oh, how I wish I had one of those Star Trek-type Teleporters.

The Good News And The Bad News...

The good news
BowieNet has MOW Radio for each new MOW. This means that the MOW can DJ their own mix of 20 tracks from the full Bowienet Radio playlist. The MOW also has the ability to skin the MOW Radio player to match their playlist using Photoshop or Flash.

So far 3 MOW's have created custom playlists. It is this fact that leads us inevitably to...

The bad news
As cool as the MOW Radio is, the response has been minimal. We want to get you all more involved with this great feature, and are asking you for your input on how we can get this working more smoothly. Currently we have been emailing potential MOW's in advance, telling them the week for which they were chosen, and then hopefully having them return the email with their playlist and skin attached.

This has worked miserably.

We, therefore, are opening this dilemma up to you all with a poll.

What should we do with the MOW Radio?

Signed Mouse Pads In The Bowiestore Now

Mouse Pad? Not likely, that's going up on my wall!

I asked for an autograph...

The item above is the latest addition to the BowieNet Store. Originally manufactured to celebrate the launch of BowieNet, a limited quantity of these BowieNet v 1.0 Mouse Pads are now available to you at the bargain price of $24:99.

And just to make 'em even extra value for money, DB has signed the lot! A Bowie signature on a scrap of loo roll is worth a lot more than that. Just the job as a Christmas present for the Bowie fan in your life who doesn't yet have an autograph in the man's fair hand.

It's Time For Another Journal!

"Bet you can't do this...look, I've got finger ghosts!"

The Spookyghost of Manhattan...

David Bowie uses new guitarists like a person who uses loads of new things, or something. Go here for the low-down on one of the new boys, and the latest instalment of the Thom and Gerry show.

Illustrated Db Discography New Domain

Sometimes I feel, The need to move on...

After seven years of being an integrated part of Evan Torrie's brilliant Teenage Wildlife site, Ruud Altenburg has decided to cut the umbilical cord and take his Illustrated db Discography into the big bad cyber-world all by himself.

This very thorough and well researched site is now up to v12.0, and includes six months of updates to celebrate its new domain, at: http://www.illustrated-db-discography.nl...But do beware, it's very addictive to spotters like me. I went in yesterday to check out the updates and came out again three hours later! Well done Ruud, somebody has to keep a record of these things, and you're so very well suited to the task.

Bowienetter Mask Shoots Bowie For Ap

The January 2002 edition of AP.

When I live my dream...

Out today in those outlets with their finger on the pulse is the January 2002 edition of Alternative Press. The magazine will be of interest to many of you for a couple of reasons...the first being that there is a beautiful new full page shot of DB and the second being that our very own Mask was responsible for the session from which it came. (Click on the image above to view a bigger version...but please respect the copyright on this picture and do not post outside of BowieNet.)

In a feature entitled THE MOST ANTICIPATED RECORDS OF 2002, AP celebrates the new year a month early with words and pictures from Nine Inch Nails, AFI, Bouncing Souls, Disturbed, Filter, Chemical Brothers, Green Day, ICP, Marilyn Manson, Weezer and of course, David Bowie.

Mask was responsible for the shots of all three of the artists outlined above in bold, but DB is the trophy she has had her lens on for a long time now. When I asked David how he thought the session had gone, he replied:

"I was gobsmacked when I met Mask as she wasn't wearing one and there wasn't even a sniff of one in the studio. To hide my disappointment I just started posing and Lo and Behold she whipped out a camera and started clicking away, giving a very credible performance as a first class photographer. I told her to keep it up and then we both went home. Brilliant!"

And this is how Mask responded when I asked her the same thing:

"Why didn't anyone tell me Sailor was really David Bowie? I showed up with my throwaway instantmatic camera hoping to shoot Sailor and David Bowie walks into the studio. To hide my disappointment, I just started shooting and Lo and Behold, he started posing...Yeah right!"

In the feature itself David compares the follow-up to 'hours...' to such disparate albums as Diamond Dogs and Low, and he had this to say: ''Townsend said it was like Franz Kafka meets Ed Wood. And that's because he liked it. But I really got what he meant. There's a handmade quality to the album. But other than that, I couldn't compare it to any work that Tony and I have done before.''

Intrigued? I know I am...And I didn't once mention cows! Oooops...

Recent Cds Round-up

And while we spoke of many things...

A recent spat of compilation CDs have included tracks by David Bowie. We have listed them below in a handy cut-out-and-keep erm...list, with the tracks that appear on each. All of the CDs are now available, and both the 'Millennium Gold' and 'Air Guitar' CDs are still enjoying TV advertising here in the UK.

Here ya go:

'The Concert for New York City'
'America' and "Heroes" - both tracks live
3 December, 2001 - Sony TV

'MOULIN ROUGE - Music Inspired by the Film'
'Diamond Dogs', "Heroes" and Nat King Cole's version of 'Nature Boy'
3 December, 2001 - Virgin TV

'Millennium Gold'
'Ashes To Ashes'
19 November, 2001 - Universal Music TV

'The Best Air Guitar Album in the World...Ever!'
'Rebel Rebel'
5 November, 2001 - Virgin TV

Bowie On Moulin Rouge Companion Cd

'MOULIN ROUGE - Music Inspired by the Film' is a companion album to the original film soundtrack album released earlier in the year. (04/16/01 NEWS: FINAL TRACK LIST FOR MOULIN ROUGE SOUNDTRACK) Due next Monday (3rd December) the album concentrates on original versions of the songs that were covered by other artists in the film.

So, not only does the recording contain the Nat King Cole version of 'Nature Boy' that David did a version of for the film, but it also contains his own versions of both 'Diamond Dogs' and "Heroes", covered for the original soundtrack by Beck and Ewan MacGregor & Nicole Kidman respectively. 'Diamond Dogs' is the regular cut and "Heroes" is the 3:35 single edit.

Here follows the full track-listing:

01 Labelle - Lady Marmalade
02 Nat King Cole - Nature Boy
03 DeBarge - Rhythm Of The Night
04 Disco Diva - Material Girl
05 Marilyn Monroe - Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend
06 Dolly Parton - I Will Always Love You
07 Billy Paul - Your Song
08 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Don't Leave Me this Way
09 David Bowie - Diamond Dogs
10 Randy Crawford - One Day I'll Fly Away
11 Philharmonica Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan - Can Can from Orpheous in the Underworld
12 Les Compagnons De La Chanson - The Song From Moulin Rouge
13 T.Rex - Children Of The Revolution
14 Fatboy Slim - Going Out Of My Head
15 Kylie Minogue - On a Night Like This
16 George Michael - Roxanne
17 David Bowie - "Heroes"
18 Queen - The Show Must Go On
19 Jack Lantier - La Complainte De La Butte
20 Edith Piaf - Hymne A L'Amour

Bowie To Play Tibet House Benefit Again

Davey Jones and The Monkees, backstage at Carnegie Hall for
last year's benefit, February 26th 2001. Picture by Tony Visconti.

You wish and wish, and wish again...

David Bowie is set to play at next year's Tibet House Benefit Concert almost exactly a year to the day since February's appearance at the same event. (02/27/01 NEWS: SCREAMS AND SHOUTS FOR DAVID AT TIBET SHOW) David Bowie, Philip Glass and The Kronos Quartet are the artists currently confirmed to play at the benefit on February 22nd, 2002, and the show will take place in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall.

Benefit package tickets, which include prime seats at the concert and a supper party afterwards, are now available through Tibet House, who can be reached on (212) 807-0563.

Concert-only tickets will be available about two months prior to the event by phone via Carnegie Charge (212) 247-7800 or at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street. These concert-only tickets will not be sold through Tibet House.

We will post more relevant details as we get them, so do keep watching this space.

Tibet House Benefit Package Ticket Prices

BowieNetter Susans did a helpful bit of research regarding the prices of package tickets for next year's Tibet House Benefit Concert that we posted details of yesterday...and here are her results:

Benefit package tickets, which include prime seats at the concert and a supper party afterwards:

Party of 10 (non sponsor) = $10,000
Party of 10 (sponsor) = $5,000
Party of 2 (committee member) = $700
Single person $375

Susans also says that she was told that they are only taking names and addresses at the moment....