Win The Book Of Nat Tate's Life Story

...how the others must see the faker...

Spaceface highlighted a piece in the last BOWIEPHILES from the Sunday Times, regarding their list of "Six of the Best Hoaxes", in which they mentioned the Nat Tate episode. You may also remember a brief piece I did about the very same thing last August. (07/18/01 NEWS: NATE TATE EXPOSED TONIGHT)

'Nat Tate - An American Artist: 1928 - 1960' is a book written by William Boyd and published by 21 Publishing. A clue that the 'biography' may not have been all it seemed was in the date of the launch. The launch party was held in the studio of Jeff Koons in NY on April 1st 1998. And just for the event, David Bowie read excerpts from the book, which he had also written the foreword for. But you all knew that.

I have received a few e-mails asking me if the book is still available, and as it happens, it is quite easy to track down online...but before you scamper off, why not try and win one of ten copies generously donated by 21 Publishing. For your chance to win simply send Nat Tate's 'date of birth', as fictional as it is, (Day, Month and Year) to TotalBlamBlam@DavidBowie.com with a subject line of "Nat Tate". The randomly selected winners will be announced this time next week, or thereabouts.

_oints, P_ints, Po_nts, Poi_ts, Poin_s, Point_

The results are in, and points are out - well, at least for the time being...

The last BowieNet Poll asked "What should we do with the Points System?"

The response showed that an overwhelming majority of Bnetters would not be opposed to removing points completely from the site.This brings up a few new questions.

Q
1. What do points mean now?
2. What's to be done with all the prizes?
3. Are they ever coming back?
4. What about the points you used to get for sending invitation emails?

A
1. NOTHING. EVERYTHING. ANYTHING. They're just on pause for now. Think of them as magic beans if you like...
2. We'll be having more trivia chats and events where we'll be giving out these prizes among other things.
3. We dunno. Depending on the reactions we get in the interim, we'll decide whether or not to bring them back.
4. The points you used to get for sending invitation emails are no longer in effect, however you'll still be awarded backstage points and free months for the people you successfully refer.

NOTE: If you were a points winner in the last quarter, your prizes are being fulfilled as you read this.

If you have questions and/or comments, please send them here.

David Remembers Freddie And Daniella In New Journal

"He brings you out in style..." Freddie and Daniella, late 1972.

My sweetest friend, Everyone I know goes away in the end...

David recalls Freddie Burretti, the man who helped shape the look of Ziggy, and who with the help of Daniella, changed the look of women in Britain (and quite a few men). Read David's latest journal for a touching account of their influence, with a very sad Postscript.

'pop Art' Cd Track Listing

Put you all inside my show...

We now have the full track-listing for the 15-track CD 'Pop Art - Underground Sounds from the Warhol Era' that we mentioned last week, (01/22/02 NEWS: BOWIE TRACK ON WARHOL RETROSPECTIVE) and jolly good it is too. As I said in aforementioned piece, the UK is currently in the grip of Warhol fever, with a major retrospective at TATE modern from 7th February to April 1st 2002.

Part two of the fascinating three-part Channel 4 documentary, 'Andy Warhol - The Complete Picture - Shooting Stars' is due this coming Sunday, from which this CD is a spin off. Here's a bit from Channel 4's blurb on this episode:

"Meanwhile, to fund his experimental agenda Warhol also became a commercial portrait artist, charging wealthy patrons for flattering portraits that, through their sheer number, became another vast work of social documentation. Warhol further capitalised on this shrewd business approach by taking on the management of seminal rock group The Velvet Underground, and playing host at the Factory to an outrageous coterie of people that his patronage alchemically transformed into superstars. Although this culminated in an assassination attempt that almost killed him, it also set the seal on Warhol's status as both a star and a brand."

'Pop Art - Underground Sounds from the Warhol Era' is released on February 11th, and here's that full exciting track-listing:

01. Velvet Underground ? ?I?m Waiting For The Man?
02. Iggy Pop & The Stooges ? ?Search & Destroy?
03. Nico ? ?These Days?
04. 13th Floor Elevators ? ?You?re Gonna Miss Me?
05. MC5 ? ?Kick Out The Jams?
06. David Bowie ? ?Andy Warhol?
07. New York Dolls ? ?Jet Boy?
08. The Tubes ? ?White Punks On Dope?
09. Patti Smith ? ?Redondo Beach?
10. The Ramones ? ?I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend?
11. Blondie ? ?X Offender?
12. Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers ? ?Roadrunner?
13. Television ? ?Marquee Moon?
14. The Stooges ? ?I Wanna Be Your Dog?
15. John Cale/Lou Reed ? ?Hello It?s Me?

Third Bowienet/ebay Auction Live Now

Make sure you're noticed at the next David Bowie fan meeting with a glow-in-the dark shirt!

Under the moonlight, this serious moonlight...

While there are still almost two days to go on last week's delayed auction, we are back on course with another three items today. Check out the BowieNet Auctions Page to view all six of the current live items. The bidding has been far better than we could have hoped, with the total of last week's items currently at $366.00, that figure will no doubt exceed $400.00 if we can expect the usual pattern of last-minute bids.

The previous week's total ended at $259.50, with an incredible $132.50 paid for the signed 'Survive' 7" picture disc by BowieNetter Glennoddity. The Serious Moonlight Tour Scarf was also won by Glennoddity for $46.00, and a world-famous zany UK DJ won the Sound & Vision/Man City football strip for a bargain $81.00.

This week's items have a Serious Moonlight theme, and are all very rare indeed, including two unique tour jackets and a very cool glow-in-the-dark shirt. Below is an artist's impression of how the shirt may actually look as it glows in the dark. Of course, the beauty of an "artist's impression" is that they are very rarely accurate, so if one of you lot wins this item we would have great pleasure in posting a picture of you wearing it in the dark. A little photographic tip though, don't use a flash while trying to capture the glow.

An "artist's impression" of that shirt actually glowing in the dark!

Gail Ann Dorsey's bass guitars that we mentioned on Saturday sold for a fair bit more than their reserve prices too. The MusicMan Stingray fetched a very respectable $740.00, while the Peavey Cyberbass was pushed up to $650.00 with some frantic, last-minute bidding. It's times like this that I wish I hadn't bought a house and that I had kept all my money for eBay instead!

Tibet House Benefit Concert - Latest Line-up

Image courtesy of Tony Visconti

One boy breaks a rule

Only 25 days to go until David's next live appearance! How could we forget with Patsdragon's daily reminder on the message boards? The Concert, which promises to be just as spiritual and unique as last year, takes place at Carnegie Hall in New York City on 22nd February 2002.

You can check out the webpage for the Tibet House organisation for full details, which now include the latest line-up of David Bowie, Bebel Gilberto, Philip Glass, Nawang Khechog, Kronos Quartet, Patti Smith, and Monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery.

See you there!

:))

Gail Ann Dorsey In New York Tonight

Well she's a tongue twisting storm, she will come to the show tonight...

Gail Ann Dorsey has been in touch to tell us that she is playing a solo show tonight at the Rosendale Café in Rosendale, NY. Gail's spot commences at 9:00pm, and this time she'll be performing without the other Hudson Valley Girls Kate Pierson and Sara Lee. (See story from last November 11/27/01 NEWS: THREE MORE GAIL ANN SHOWS THIS WEEK) Gail's usual set-list will be supplemented by a batch of recently-written tunes that she'll be trying out in public for the first time tonight. The Rosendale Café is situated at 434 Main St. Rosendale, NY (845) 658 9048).

Another local gig for Gail takes place on February the 15th and 16th at the Hudson River Theater in Hudson, NY (521 Warren St Hudson, NY 12534, (518) 822-8189). These post-Valentines Day dates are billed as 'A Love Seranade', (see ad above) and sound like they're going to be a fairly romantic sort of thing to take your partner along to. This of course is my presumption, but don't blame me if Gail decides to slip 'Anarchy In The UK' and 'Ace Of Spades' into the set!

See story below for your chance to own a bit of real Bowie history from Gail's own collection...

Thanks to Kiarrith for the continued plugging of all things GAD

Gail Ann Dorsey Guitars On Ebay Now

Gail Ann the other day with one of the bass guitars she
will be keeping, probably. Picture by Total Blam Blam.

Gail's guitar sound jealousies scream...

There's a little under two days to go in a very special eBay auction of two of Gail Ann's very own bass guitars. Both instruments have been used during performances with David Bowie, as Gail explains below. Click on each of the images to take you to the relevant eBay page.

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1996-97 MusicMan STINGRAY 4-String Bass

"I acquired this bass as a spare during an extensive touring period with David Bowie from 1997 through 2000. It was my detuned bass that I always kept tuned a whole step down (D-G-C-F) for special versions of songs like Drive-In Saturday and Rebel Rebel. For those die hard Bowie fans, you would have seen me playing Rebel Rebel on this bass on Saturday Night Live during the 'hours...' promotion in 2000!"

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PEAVEY CYBERBASS MIDI Bass Guitar

"I purchased this bass in 1997 for the David Bowie Earthling World Tour and used it specifically for the TAO JONES INDUSTRIAL (or was it Index?) concerts, which you die-hard Bowie fans will remember---the special few who got to see those shows around Europe! I used the bass on stage with an Akai sampler to trigger earth-rattling sub bass and synth bass grooves...I realize I may be giving up my eBay anonymity, but if you would like it autographed (by me, not David!), I am happy to do so. I will even throw in an Earthling Flag from the tour, and maybe that could be autographed by David as well! You will have to win to see!"

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Bowiephiles

© Mick Rock

Did you ever have a dream or two?

"Dreamdances" : The Peacock Theatre : 1/29/02 - 9/02/02 Lindsay Kemp returns to London with "Dreamdances", "a selection of his most magical and best loved moments". For more information, check out the website of The Peacock Theatre. There is also a great article about Lindsay, from The Times, online here.

Rebel Rebel : Mojo : Feb 2002 This month's 'Gimme Ten : A packed handbag of transgender pop classics', includes Rebel Rebel at number five. They say :- "Two years after producing Reed's Transformer, David Bowie's relentless riffage touts an epicene tacky thing. Wanna piss off mum and pop? Mess with your gender.

The Langley Schools Music Project*, featuring Space Oddity, with an arrangement described by David as "astounding", also has a double page spread this month. *(11/09/01 SNIPPET: BOWIEPHILES)

Various : Sunday Times : 1/20/02 In the first of several mentions for David in this week's issue, he is chosen to represent those who know how to keep their appearance fresh and young-looking. They say, "....they (David Bowie, Raquel Welch and Madonna) have mastered the art of image reinvention, which means that new generations still perceive them as looking fresh, even after they have spent several decades in the public eye." The story was accompanied by five images of David from his youth to the present day.

Elsewhere in the paper, David's part in 1998's great Nat Tate hoax reached number five in a list of "Six of the Best Hoaxes", described thus :- "The glitterati flocked to Jeff Koon?s Manhattan loft in 1998 to hear William Boyd introduce his monograph of the American abstract expressionist Nat Tate. The book boasted a blurb from David Bowie. Tate, of course, never existed." For more about Nat Tate, see Bowienet News : 07/18/01 NEWS: NAT TATE EXPOSED TONIGHT.

Also, in a review of Black Rebel Motor Cycle Club's debut album which made Record Of The Week :- "Right now, nobody else is doing this better. Certainly, nobody else could smash together Bowie's Jean Genie and Norman Greenbaum's Spirit In The Sky and end up with a song as addictive as Spread Your Love."

:))

Lee Wagstaff Private View Report

Lee Wagstaff, improbably dressed, wearing his art under
his sleeve, last night in SW1. Picture by Total Blam Blam.

Full of blood, loving life and all it's got to give...

Went to the Lee Wagstaff private view last night that I mentioned in the news yesterday. The show is being held in a huge private house in Belgrave Square in two very large rooms. The place was heaving with the sort of folk that I feel a little intimidated by...you know the type, painfully hip and talking far too convincingly about art all the time...like it makes sense. Bit like Rex Ray. (Hallo love)

Anywaaaay...It was all very tastefully done, with huge life-size C-Prints of Lee in various domestic situations, shopping, vacuuming etc. Only joking, the prints are actually very beautiful things that show Lee in all his natural tattooed glory in various settings; a dark forest, submerged in a bath, standing up to his chest in a lake etc., etc. Very impressive stuff.

Lee standing in front of 'Shroud' which, despite the
optical illusion, is life-size. Picture by Total Blam Blam.

Then around eight o'clock, Lee, in a bright orange boiler suit, (looking like an escapee from Camp X-Ray) squeezed through the throng for his 'performance' which consists of him stripping down to a loin cloth and standing on a rotating plinth while some stirring music played. It all sounds very silly, but it was actually quite moving and very spiritual, not least of all because Lee looked so serious and mournful and as if he was about to burst into tears. He was probably just nervous.

After about ten minutes of this, the music climaxed and as soon as it ended, Lee was gone again. I got to have a quick chat with him after his performance, and I have to say he has an unnerving presence. Not the biggest bloke on Earth, Lee is slight of build and the type that immediately makes one feel protective toward them, the fact that he has undergone such a painful process for his art seems quite perverse now. A bit like those kid boxers at Town Hall charity event type things.

Whatever, his art is good, and if you get a chance to go check out the exhibition you really should. See yesterday's news, or click on the images above to take you to the BowieArt feature for further details. While we're on the subject of Illustrated Men...

Ken The Mo

The dark, and somewhat disturbed, Katey M, aka
Ken The Mo last night. Picture by Total Blam Blam.

Englishman going insane...

Not much of a Bowie connection to this one I'm afraid, (not yet at least) but, another artist I got chatting to at the do last night, who goes by the name of Ken The Mo, claims to be a work-in-progress himself. Tattooed upon his chest is the legend: "BORN 1961" with a target tattooed below that, and finally the word "DIED" tattooed beneath that. This of course is the "work-in- progress". Apparently Katey M as he is known when not working (Ken The Mo, KTM, Katey M...get it?) exhibits himself for eight hours on the first Sunday of every month at various locations around the globe.

Not sure how legal any of this can be, but the 'exhibition' consists of a naked Ken The Mo seated in front of a table, upon which a loaded firearm is placed, while Ken The Mo mumbles "Go on, pick it up, do it..." and similar phrases to startled passers-by. You've guessed the rest.

Katey claims the artwork will be completed by a Japanese collaborator who has already bought his skin for a considerable amount. The collaborator will fill in the final date when Ken The Mo dies, either by natural causes or when his murder is provoked while exhibiting himself. If Katey doesn't manage the route of natural causes, this will surely be a case for Nathan Adler!

I sort of befriended Katey after we chatted last night, but I'm not sure how long the friendship will last, as I am afraid it may be a relationship founded purely on my morbid curiosity. But anyway, let's just hope the chap is around long enough to stay friends with!

Have You Seen This?

As an added bonus to our regular Friday news, here is a fun little gem we've unearthed for you. It's an oldie but it's a goodie. Enjoy!

Bowie Foreword And Image In New Photo Book

"Bow wow, woof woof, bow wow wow!" Diamond Dog
and David Bowie by Terry O'Neill, London 1974.

Halloween Jack is a real cool cat...

Following the London Evening Standard's lead yesterday, much of this morning's press in the UK (Metro, The Times, The Independent, The Mirror, The Daily Express) has given one or two pages up to the top ten photographs from a new book published by Q. The 212 page tome, 'The 100 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Photographs', is worth the cover price alone for the large format reproduction of Terry O'Neill's classic shot above of David Bowie and friend in 1974.

The Bowie shot is number two in the top 100, pipped at the post by Pennie Smith's iconic shot of Paul Simonon of The Clash destroying his bass guitar at The Palladium, New York in 1979. Most of you are familiar with O'Neill's shot of Bowie, which was the basis for a painting by Guy Peelleart, later turned into a very rare promotional poster by MainMan. The image was originally considered as a cover for 'Diamond Dogs' before the version we all know and love was settled on.

Anyway, here is the top ten from 'The 100 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Photographs', which you can view by following the Evening Standard link above:

01. Paul Simonon of The Clash By Pennie Smith. The Palladium, New York, 21st September 1979
02. David Bowie by Terry O'Neill. London, early 1974
03. The Beatles by Jim Marshall Candlestick Park, San Francisco, 29 August 1966
04. Robbie Williams by Rankin. Dazed & Confused Studios, London EC1, 3 May 2000
05. Debbie Harry by Chris Stein. Stein and Harry's apartment, the Bowery, New York, 1976
06. Kurt Cobain by Ian Tilton. Motor Sports International Garage, Seattle, 22 September 1990
07. Johnny Cash by Jim Marshall. San Quentin Prison, 1969
08. Tina Turner Revue by Barrie Wentzell. Hammersmith Odeon, London, Winter, 1971
09. Tupac Shakur by David LaChapelle. Chateau Marmont hotel, Los Angeles, 18 January 1996
10. Napalm Death by Ken Sharp. The Canterbury Arms, Brixton, December 1988

The book also has a fascinating 800-word foreword written by David Bowie...from which, these opening paragraphs:

"A first encounter with the professional side of rock photography was as customer. Around 1957, it must have been around then as I hadn't yet taken my 11-plus, I was dipping into the back pages of the New Musical Express when I stumbled across a small, column width, half-inch advert for film stills from 'The Girl Can't Help It'. Among the available stars was Little Richard standing and pounding on his white piano, backed up with his impressive sax line-up all of which would initialise and inspire my future trajectory in life. The enticingly named StarPix Company offered two ten by eights for the sum of two and sixpence. I duly sent off my postal order then knuckled down to something like a two month wait.

I was furious at the contents of the bent and smudgy envelope that dropped through the letterbox on a damp school day in May of that year. Not only had the 'cats' at StarPix omitted one of my two expected pictures but the solitary, dog-eared inclusion was torn and, adding insult to injury, sized at about six by eight instead of the expected whopper. I was devastated and, happily, it was to be the last time I ever shelled out spondulics for a rock photo. Now of course, it's hard to come by an original signed rockprint for less than about three hundred pounds. Two and sixpence now doesn't really sound too bad."

Good stuff eh? 'The 100 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Photographs', goes on sale in the UK tomorrow at £5.99.

Crummies Archive

db LIVE at the Kit Kat Klub

http://www.davidbowie.com/rmedia/bowie/members/e_epk.rm

omikron_1a.rm

http://www.davidbowie.com/rmedia/bowie/members/hoursepk.rm

db Cover Project

BowieNet Ball

vh1 storytellers

all the young dudes live from roseland!
L | M | H

LIVE AND WELL FORM

placebo

comic relief

placebo2

melissa

alex sings

cnet

ziggy

cycling knees

making hours

bb_02

the money mix

Up And Down With Ebay

Three more Bowienet/eBay items up again now!

Sell Me A Coat...

This weeks BowieNet/eBay auctions were ended prematurely due to an offending e-mail link, or something like that. Bidding had been going very well, and hopefully the high bidders will re-join the auctions now that they are live again. Go check out the BowieNet Auctions Page now.

Lee Wagstaff Photographic Show Tomorrow

So bloody red, Tomorrow's shrouds...

Living artwork, Lee Wagstaff, opens his first solo show in the UK tomorrow at 35 Belgrave Square, London. Wagstaff will be showing a series of large format photographic self-portraits, alongside a version of 'Shroud', a life size impression of the artist screen-printed using his own blood. You may remember a piece regarding Lee's work here on BowieNet over a year ago. (09/11/00 NEWS: BLEED LIKE A CRAZE, DAD)

Aside from being one of the first artists to have space on BowieArt, two of Lee's artworks are owned by David Bowie, the original version of the aforementioned 'Shroud' and a photographic print called 'Baptism'. This new exhibition includes eleven photographs, eight of which have not been shown in this country before, and it runs from tomorrow until March 6th. The exhibition is open Tuesday - Saturday 11:00am - 6:00pm. See more details at BowieArt by clicking on either of the images here.

Bowie Track On Warhol Retrospective

Dress my friends up just for show...

'Pop Art - Underground Sounds from the Warhol Era' is a 15-track CD due next month as part of a tie-in with a three-part Warhol retrospective starting on Channel 4 next week. In fact, the UK is due to go Warhol berzerk in the coming weeks with a major retrospective at TATE modern as well as the TV series and CD.

Released through Channel 4 Music, the CD includes tracks from The Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Television, New York Dolls, MC5, The Tubes, Nico, The Ramones, 13th Floor Elevators, Blondie, The Modern Lovers, John Cale & Lou Reed and of course, David Bowie.

Surprisingly, the Bowie track is 'Andy Warhol'...albeit a slightly clumsy edit, at least it is on the promo. I'll post the full track list and more details of the TV series as they are confirmed, and as you would imagine, we will be making a fairly big deal of this one for obvious reasons, with a couple of competitions hopefully.

The Outing Of Ziggy - 30 Years Ago Today!

Melody Maker, January 22nd 1972.

Became the special man...

With the approach to the celebration of the release of 'The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars' on June 6th, I thought it would be cool to remember some of the key moments that led up to the album's release back in 1972. It was thirty years ago today that the UK was privy to the very first sighting of Bowie's Ziggy persona and it came in the form of the front page of Melody Maker.

Under the headline of "Oh You Pretty Thing", the popular music weekly carried an interview with David, conducted by Michael Watts, that is generally considered to be the piece that really started all the glorious fuss. Apart from the shocking new look, (nobody with an ounce of cool had short hair up to that point*) the content of the interview raised the blood pressure of many a parent of teenagers in the UK, particularly with David's "I'm Gay" announcement.

"I'm just a cosmic yob, I suppose."

Though Melody Maker made no fuss about the proclamation at the time, everybody else certainly did...here's the paragraph that did it:

"David's present image is to come on like a swishy queen, a gorgeously effeminate boy. He's as camp as a row of tents, with his limp hand and trolling vocabulary. "I'm gay," he say's, "and always have been, even when I was David Jones." But there's a sly jollity about how he says it, a secret smile at the corners of his mouth. He knows that in these times it's permissible to act like a male tart, and that to shock and outrage, which pop has always striven to do throughout it's history, is a balls-breaking process."

Hard to imagine the impact those few words had at the time, but along with the wonderful new look, a 'Single Of The Week' on Radio 1 with 'Changes', and the recent release of the critically-acclaimed 'Hunky Dory', it was clear to all that David Bowie was on his way.

Elsewhere in the paper, Lou Reed was interviewed while recording his first solo album, unaware that he himself would be working with the cover star in a matter of months, and an advert for West End screenings of 'Clockwork Orange' shared a page with a feature headlined "T. Rextacy!" about the continued success of Marc Bolan's T Rex.

If you want to read the whole transcript of this Melody Maker interview, pop over to Mike Harvey's brilliant The ZIGGY STARDUST Companion, keeper of the flame of all things Ziggy.

*Adverts for Hunky Dory had run up until the week before in Melody Maker, adverts that depicted the album cover with that famous shot of David with his hair flowing over his shoulders.

More Rare Bowienet Stuff On Ebay

Three more Bowienet/eBay items going up later today.

Who could ask for more...

With a little over two hours to go, our first BowieNet/eBay auction has been a big success. It seems the unquestionable authenticity of these items has given them more value than such things would normally have on eBay. Or perhaps it's because you're a generous lot out there, and the fact that a portion of all BowieNet auction proceeds are donated to Save the Children is why you placed a bid.

Whatever your reason, don't forget that all auctions that close with a final value (before shipping) of $64.99 or more will receive a free one-year BowieNet membership, including the exclusive LIVEANDWELL CD. Now that is a cool offer when you consider that copies of the LIVEANDWELL CD alone have sold on eBay for over $70!

We'll post the final results of our first auction tomorrow. In the meantime, keep an eye on the BowieNet Auctions Page for the three items pictured above that will be posted on eBay later today.

New Mow And Gallery Selections

NEW MOW:

"Stand by stand not, one is to hover only when there is something good in the pot"

"All of my recordings by David are "my children" (of course until a have a few of my own). His performances totally fascinate me, even as I listen to them for the billionth time.."
- Who is the MOW?

NEW GALLERY:
The week is anew, as is The Galley.

Celebrating The 73rd Anniversary

Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963

In honor of Martin Luther King Day, here is the text of Dr. King's famous "I have a Dream" speech. (click picture)