Photographer Herb Ritts Dies Aged Fifty

David Bowie revisits Yamamoto. Picture © Herb Ritts 1989.

And I'm gone, through a crack in the past...

Sad to report the death of celebrity photographer Herb Ritts last Thursday. Herb, who was just fifty, died of complications from pneumonia. He will be remembered by Bowie fans as the photographer responsible for many stunning pictures of David in the mid to late eighties and early nineties, including a Rolling Stone cover, and contributions to both the 1987 and 1990 tour programmes... and of course the shot above, which was published in his beautiful book, Notorious.

This is what Herb had to say about the session from which this shot was taken:

David Bowie, HOLLYWOOD, 1989

David Bowie's done it all in terms of visuals. He pulled this outfit out of his suitcase, which I think was from 1970. I want to say Yohji Yamamoto* designed it, but I'm not sure. I just loved this thing. Shooting him in it wasn't like putting something on somebody who had worn the thing twenty years ago. It was almost like a space oddity, very strange and futuristic.

The outfit was actually designed by Kansai Yamamoto and worn by David for the '73 Aladdin Sane tour.

More 'early Show' Video Streaming Now

ooh, I remember them all

The Early Show's New Year's Eve edition aired another two of the songs ('Slip Away' and 'Afraid') David recorded for the show back in October (10/24/02 NEWS: EARLY SHOW WINNERS!!), as well as repeating 'Rebel Rebel'. If you click over to their webpage right now, you can view all three songs, and also 'Cactus'.

:))

December Edition Voyeur Out Now

Any day now...

The latest edition of The Voyeur fan magazine should be dropping through letterboxes all over the world any day now. It's packed with all the usual pictures, features and reviews, outlined here by the magazine's very own Peter Smit...

The December 2002 issue of "The Voyeur" is out now!

The December issue of "The Voyeur" contains reviews from David's concerts in Bonn, the London Meltdown Festival, a "Best Of Bowie" DVD competition and much, much more.

To celebrate Christmas this edition of "The Voyeur" contains a full colour centerfold with exclusive David Bowie 'On Stage' photographs by Antoine Loogman.

In this issue:

Watch out for "The Voyeur"
Welcome to "The Voyeur"
Tress Bonn Bowie (review by Angela Palermo)
5 Past Midnight (review by Allert van Harten)
Standing Ovation From Crowd And Fans (review by Leon Haan)
Exclusive Full Colour Centerfold "On Stage" Photographs (by
Antoine Loogman)
European tour schedule
Searching For Jackalopes (The Mystery Resolved)
A Show You Can Only Dream About (review by Leon Haan)
"The Voyeur" Fanclub Meeting (review)
Ten Ago (by Antoine Loogman)
CD review (including promos, official and unofficial releases)
Best Of Bowie DVD Competition

Above are a few sample pages from the current edition, and if you don't already subscribe, then you can join up by going to the membership section of the Voyeur website by clicking on either of the above images.

Matchbox B-line Disaster For Bowie

I'll be a rock 'n' rollin' bitch for you...

The mildly loopy Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster is the subject of this week's 'Burn It' feature in NME. (Issue dated 4th January 2003) Regular visitors to this news page know that David Bowie has been in the top ten lists of many artists for this feature.

This week our man rubs shoulders with such luminaries as Lapsus Linguae, Torqamada, and Ikara Colt. EMBLD bassist, Sym Gharial, explains why 'Moonage Daydream' means so much to him: "When I was in the biggest psychosis of my life, it was the light at the end of my long, dark, twisted tunnel."

EMBLD release their second single, 'Psychosis Safari', on January 6th. The track, taken from their debut album 'Horse Of The Dog', will be available as a 7" picture disc and two CDs, one of which includes an appropriately scary 3D poster.

Jasper Steverlinck's 'life On Mars?' Rush Released

He's in the best selling show...

BowieNetter Nessler has kindly sent me details of a new release by Belgian singer Jasper Steverlinck from the band Arid. Due to popular demand, Jasper has just released his version of 'Life On Mars?' which has enjoyed much success on Studio Brussel's chart, 'De Afrekening'.

For this studio version of 'Life On Mars?', Jasper is joined by Steven and Stijn Kolacny who both play piano on the track, which is available online here. Meanwhile, you can hear a live version of 'Life On Mars?' by clicking on the image above, and you can find out more about Jasper Steverlinck and Arid here.

Good luck with the single Jasper.

Boy George Does The Double As Db

""Who'll love Aladdin Sane?" Everybody it seems.
Boy George in his winning guise as David Bowie.

Ah, here she comes, Here she comes, Here she comes again...

As we mentioned in the news last week, (12/21/02 NEWS: BOY GEORGE DOES BOWIE AGAIN! ) Boy George performed 'Sorrow' as David Bowie in tonight's Stars In Their Eyes Celebrity Christmas Special. George was his usual entertaining self, and went for the look and sound of the Aladdin Sane era Bowie with utter conviction. That conviction paid off with another well-deserved win.

George explained that he does communicate with David via e-mail occasionally, and he mentioned how the two had dinner together in New York last year. (08/24/01 NEWS: BOY GEORGE ON DINNER WITH DAVID) He also made no bones about the fact that everything that had happened in his life was pretty much David Bowie's fault!

After an emotional George was announced as the winner, he returned for an even more impassioned performance of 'Sorrow', while a host of other celebrities looked on jealously. As I suggested in my news piece last week, let's hope that this win will give George the confidence to make this an annual event.

Here's to a hat-trick at the hands of Halloween Jack.

Tibet House Vip Tickets Charity Auction Is Live

To the seat with the clearest view...

The first of five auctions for five separate pairs of VIP tickets to the Tibet House Benefit Concert in New York City is now live on ebaY. The concert is scheduled to take place in the Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall on Friday, February 28, 2003 at 7:30 PM. Right now, the line-up includes Philip Glass as Artistic Director and guest artists Laurie Anderson, David Bowie, Ray Davies and Rufus Wainwright.

This auction package includes:

Two adjacent tickets within rows A-101 thru A-110
Access to an exclusive buffet dinner the night of the show for both ticket holders

One pair of tickets will be auctioned per week, for five consecutive weeks. All proceeds from these auctions will benefit the Tibet House. You can reach the auction by clicking on the image above.

For those that won't be joining in the bidding, tickets go on sale from the Carnegie Hall box office tomorrow (28th December) at 11:00am. You can buy online by going here, or by phone on 212 247 7800, don't forget those dialling codes if you need them from your part of the world.

Happy Holidays To All From David Bowie

With 2002 being the 30th anniversary of Ziggy Stardust, I thought it appropriate to reproduce the advert above that was published as a two-page spread in the UK music press thirty years ago this week. The ad was placed to plug the show at the Rainbow on Christmas eve 1972, to which punters were encouraged to bring along a toy to be given to a children's home.

You'll notice that 'The Jean Genie' was David's current hit at the time, and on a personal note, it was the very first record I danced to at my very first disco that same week. The disco was given even more of a Christmas feel with the use of those wonderful UV lights that made it look like everyone (except me) had piles of snow (dandruff) on their shoulders.

I had turned eleven two months earlier, and my life was changing faster than I thought possible, with no clue as to where I would be thirty years later... Anyway, I'm rambling now. To bring things up to the present day, David has posted a holiday message on the MBs that goes something like this:

Happy Holidays!! - However brief they may be for some, a happy and peaceful holiday to everyone and let's look for a wonderful and exciting (in a nice way) new year!!! - Sailor

Thanx for all of the e-mails I've been sent wishing me compliments of the season, here's wishing you all the sort of time you want for yourself, from myself and all the staff here at BowieNet... I'm off to carve! };-)

You've Found S+v Photocard Number 4

Waiting for the gift of Sound + Vision

If you're looking for it, you'll be happy. If it makes no sense, then visit this news story: 12/27/03 NEWS: THE GREAT BOWIENET HOLIDAY GIVE-AWAY - PART 2

Post 4726

Nsfc Announce 100th Member

Oh my, naked eyes....

The BowieNet NSFC (Nekkid Sailor Fan Club) are proud to announce the recruitment of their 100th member! The brainchild of BowieNetter 'Kisch', the club has gone from strength to strength over the two years since their inception in January 2001. To celebrate, BowieNetter 'little_wonder' has designed some new web pages which house links to most of the photographs chosen by members as their favourite shots of db without at least some of his clothes.

Give yourself a holiday treat and scroll through the pages. Some of you had better have a glass of water and some smelling salts (and I suppose there are various other possible props you might require) handy. ;-)

Congrats again to NSFC and very best wishes for lots more future recruits!

:))

Lou's Raven Released Next Month

Black eyed Ravens, They spiral down...

We first told you about Lou Reed's tribute to Edgar Allen Poe more than a year ago. (11/05/01 NEWS: BOWIE CONTRIBUTES TO NEW LOU REED ALBUM) Well, the album finally has a release date of January 27th 2003 and it comes in two formats that both contain 'Hop Frog', the track that David has recorded with Lou.

For those of you that can't possibly wait until January 27th, promo copies (see pic above) of the two disc set are currently fetching more than $100 on eBay!

Meanwhile, those of us that can wait will have to content ourselves with the track listing for now. See below for both versions.

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The Raven (single disc version)

01. Overture
02. Edgar Allen Poe
03. Call on me - Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson
04. Valley of unrest (spoken track)
05. Thousand departed friends (instrumental)
06. Change
07. Bed
08. Perfect day
09. Raven (spoken track) - Lou Reed & Willem Dafoe
10. Balloon
11. Broadway song - Lou Reed & Steve Buscemi
12. Blind rage
13. Burning embers
14. Vanishing act
15. Guilty - Lou Reed & Ornette Coleman
16. I wanna know (The pit and the pendulum) - Lou Reed & The Blind Boys Of Alabama17. Science of the mind
18. Hop frog - Lou Reed & David Bowie
19. Tripitena's speech (spoken track)
20. Who I am (Tripitena's song)
21. Guardian angel

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The Raven (double disc limited edition)

Disc 1 - Act 1
01. Conqueror worm (spoken track)
02. Overture
03. Old Poe (spoken track)
04. Prologue (spoken track)
05. Edgar Allen Poe
06. Valley of unrest (spoken track)
07. Call on me - Lou Reed & Laurie Anderson
08. City in the sea/Shadow (spoken track)
09. Thousand departed friends (instrumental)
10. Change
11. Fall of the House of Usher (spoken track)
12. Bed
13. Perfect day
14. Raven (spoken track) - Lou Reed & Willem Dafoe
15. Balloon (spoken track)

Disc 2 - Act 2
01. Broadway song - Lou Reed & Steve Buscemi
02. Tell tale heart (part 1)
03. Blind rage
04. Tell tale heart (part 2)
05. Burning embers
06. Imp of the perverse (spoken track)
07. Vanishing act
08. Cask (spoken track)
09. Guilty (spoken track)
10. Guilty - Lou Reed & Ornette Coleman
11. Wild being from birth (spoken track)
12. I wanna know (The pit and the pendulum) - Lou Reed & The Blind Boys Of Alabama13. Science of the mind
14. Annabel Lee/The bells (spoken track)
15. Hop frog - Lou Reed & David Bowie
16. Every frog has his day (spoken track)
17. Tripitena's speech (spoken track)
18. Who am I (Tripitena's song) (edit)
19. Courtly orangutans (spoken track)
20. Fire music (spoken track)
21. Guardian angel (spoken track)

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Boy George Does Bowie Again!

"Who'll love Aladdin Sane?" Boy George moves on a year to 1973 for his second
attempt as David Bowie on ITV's Stars In Their Eyes Celebrity Christmas Special.

You're out there playing your high class games of sorrow...

Who could forget Boy George's winning performance of 'Starman' on Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes back in October of last year? (07/12/01 NEWS: BOWIE, BY GEORGE - 09/29/01 NEWS: BY GEORGE, IT'S ZIGGY - 10/06/01 NEWS: WILL STARMAN BE A WINNER FOR GEORGE? - 10/07/01 NEWS: GEORGE'S ZIGGY IS A WINNER) Well, in case you hadn't already noticed the fuss in the UK tabloids recently, England's favourite stately homo will be attempting the feat again next week, on ITV at 9:00pm UK time.

We can exclusively reveal that George has fast-forwarded a year from his last appearance to portray DB as Aladdin Sane via the 1973 top 10 hit, 'Sorrow'. I can't imagine he would be allowed to win a second time, but the Boy has chosen a winning combination of a great subject singing a great song, so let's just hope the audience has the good taste to make George a winner again.

So, what can we expect next year? George as Halloween Jack performing 'Diamond Dogs' perhaps?

Bowienet Wedding: The Bowie Bridesmaids

and I love your dress..

Remember back in September this year when we brought you news of our very own BowieNet wedding? (09/28/02 SNIPPET: BOWIENET WEDDING: THE PICTURE AND THE WORDS and 09/20/02 NEWS: BOWIENETTERS TIE THE KNOT). Well - Linda and Lindzay, being creative as they are, have made a beautiful website, which covers their wedding day so well you almost feel you were on the guest list. Fellow BowieNetters flew in to Michigan from across the world.

Lindzay sent me some more details of their Bowie-themed wedding, and the pictures of the three sets of bridesmaids tell the story of a day filled with love and also with David Bowie:-

Each set of bridesmaids came out anddid a little turn. The Punk Rockers and Glamour Fairies danced to 'Fashion' and'Magic Dance'. The Sailor Bridesmaids came out and gracefully took up theirpositions to 'Ragazzo Sola Ragazza Solo' (Italian version of 'Space Oddity'), which was selected because Linda is an American Italian. The bridesmaids loved the idea and the sense of performance.

Linda made her entrance to 'Let's Dance' and looked lovely. I came out firstwith my brother Gary (my best man) to Moby`s 'Everloving' from the 'Play' album.

Box123 (Rod) read a poem I wrote for Linda, and Pippa (Starwoman) chose 'Wild is the Wind' tosing in a bluesy style, accompanied by RuneKJ on pre-recorded guitar.

Check out the Crobsy Wedding website for lots more photographs of your fellow BowieNetters enjoying their day. Two of those BowieNetters began a whole new life together, which was born in our BowieNet Chat room.

:))

Darkness And Disgrace Tickets Winners

Someone's back in town the chips are down...

Posted this yesterday, but I've only had one reply so far, so here it is again...

We now have the results of the Darkness and Disgrace competition that I set last week. (12/09/02 NEWS: DARKNESS AND DISGRACE IS BACK, WIN TICKETS NOW!) We asked you the name of the BowieNetter who was our guest reviewer for D&D back in January last year? A few of you said Total Blam Blam, which, while I wrote a review of sorts, I don't think I could really be described as a guest reviewer.

Anyway, the great majority of you correctly stated that the BowieNetter I was after was the very beautiful Dick Mac... and I mean that in a manly, but somehow spiritual way! Here are the five people who have won two tickets to the date of their choice:

teresawalsh
sweethead
rpd
soniah
lizsk2

Send your real name and address to me at TotalBlamBlam@davidbowie.com with a subject line of "OMG! I told you it was Dick Mac!". Well done you lot...see you there.

Bowie Stuff For Christmas Reminder

George Underwood's highly collectable Ziggy Collection enamel badge set.
Just one of the wonderful items available now... but for how much longer?

He bought them presents with every coin he made...

I know we only posted this the other day, but it seems a few of you Europeans missed the item due to my late posting... So here it is again!

With only six shopping days left until Christmas day, I thought I should remind you of some of the Bowie goodies still available to you. Not sure how likely you are to get them before Christmas now, but I do know that today is the last day you can order the Ziggy enamel badge set (above) to stand any chance of receiving it before Christmas, if you use PayPal.

To find out how to order any of the items below, click on the relevant link to the original news story and proceed from there...

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06/24/02 NEWS: ORDER MOONAGE DAYDREAM "MASTERPIECE" NOW

Those of you that have already received your copy of Moonage Daydream will know what an absolutely stunning tome it is. Jam-packed with beautiful Mick Rock Ziggy shots, and accompanied by fascinating recollections from both David and Mick, this is easily the best Ziggy-related object ever produced. I honestly can't stop looking at my copy...Moonage Daydream is the sort of thing you'd rescue from a house fire.

With 346 pages printed on fourteen different paper stocks, including clear acetate, trace leaves and a variety of coloured and textured papers this is Genesis Publications most ambitious production to date...Oh, and it includes a signed insert by David and Mick! The deluxe edition has now sold out, but there are still copies of the regular edition priced at £295 / $465 + shipping.

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06/01/02 NEWS: BOWIENET DISCOUNT ON HUNKY DORY TAPESTRY

What can I say about this? It's a bloody great big tapestry (54" x 71") with DB's mug on it! It's actually a very nice reproduction of the 'Hunky Dory' cover that you'd probably rather use as a wall hanging than a hallway rug...after all, who wants to trample all over David Bowie?

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10/08/02 NEWS: GEORGE UNDERWOOD ZIGGY SET AVAILABLE NOW

David's old mucker George designed these Ziggy characters way back when, and decided to resurrect them for this very tasteful set of 30th anniversary Ziggy Stardust enamel badges. At only £49.00 per set, these beauties are flying out, so if you want to invest in a very tasty collectible you'd better hurry before you regret it. David was so impressed with the set that he even plugged it in his journal.

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11/27/02 NEWS: LIMITED SIGNED REX RAY DB PRINT IN BOWIESTORE & MORE

There were only 100 of these Rex Ray-designed prints produced, and each one is individually numbered and signed by David and Rex. There aren't many left now, and any still remaining will go on public sale in the next couple of days. So if you do want one, be sure to order it now before it's gone forever! There are also tons of items in the BowieStore including T-Shirts, posters, CDs, songbooks, hats and holiday package specials.

Bowienet Chat With Catherine Russell Tonight

Everything will be alright tonight...

If you can make it tonight, please do join us for the BowieNet chat with Catherine Russell at 7:30 pm UK time (2:30 pm EST). You can reach the chat area by clicking on the image above, or by pasting this url into your browser:

http://www.davidbowie.com/members/modchat/

This is a moderated chat, which means you will not see any of the questions you type until they are answered by Cat. You will not be able to log into the chat until approximately 10-15 minutes prior to its commencement.

"Go on Cat, don't be shy, we're right behind you!"

You all know Cat from her live appearances with David this year, and once seen, who could possibly forget that ever-smiling face grinning out from beneath that mass of dreads, as she waved from behind her keyboards and percussion... The Bowie band's very own Cheshire Cat!

But, her work with David is just a small part of her incredible résumé... go check it out now by clicking on Cat in the picture above, and swot up on those questions for tonight. With only five and a half hours to go, it's probably later than you think! Sorry, don't know why I said that. See ya later. };-)

Don't Forget Bowienet Cat Chat Tomorrow

David Bowie and Catherine "Don't call me Cathy" Russell,
waiting for a Greyhound in Pittsburgh yesterday...possibly.

"Cathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh...

Just another quick reminder about the BowieNet chat with Catherine Russell tomorrow. (Thursday, December 19th, 7:30 pm UK time - 2:30 pm EST) We'll post more details tomorrow, but if you can get along, please be sure to attend...Let's show Cat that us folx on this side of the pond are deserving of this new European-friendly chat time. See you there.

Darkness And Disgrace Tickets Winners

Someone's back in town the chips are down...

We now have the results of the Darkness and Disgrace competition that I set last week. (12/09/02 NEWS: DARKNESS AND DISGRACE IS BACK, WIN TICKETS NOW!) We asked you the name of the BowieNetter who was our guest reviewer for D&D back in January last year? A few of you said Total Blam Blam, which, while I wrote a review of sorts, I don't think I could really be described as a guest reviewer.

Anyway, the great majority of you correctly stated that the BowieNetter I was after was the very beautiful Dick Mac... and I mean that in a manly, but somehow spiritual way! Here are the five people who have won two tickets to the date of their choice:

teresawalsh
sweethead
rpd
soniah
lizsk2

Send your real name and address to me at TotalBlamBlam@davidbowie.com with a subject line of "OMG! I told you it was Dick Mac!". Well done you lot...see you there.

Bowie Night On New Year's Eve At Arlene Grocery

I live above the grocer's store...

Another event outlined in your BowieNet e-mail, but again worth a mention here, is a very special evening on New Year's Eve at Arlene Grocery in New York.

On December 31st 2002, Arlene Grocery's House band, 'The Major Toms', will feature guest vocalists during a back-to-back track-by-track string of the four David Bowie albums released between 1972 and '74: 'Ziggy Stardust', 'Aladdin Sane', 'Pinups' and 'Diamond Dogs'.

Click on the image above to take you to a detailed breakdown of the evening, with ticket details etc.