Last Week Of Michael Putland Exhibition

An 11-year-old Merlin Blam Blam admires the first Bowie poster his father
ever owned...a beautiful Michael Putland shot taken in early 1972 when
Daddy Blam Blam was but a skinny little fresh-faced 11-year-old himself!

Snapping pictures of scrawny limbs and toothy grins...

Michael Putland's photographic exhibition, My Generation, ends this Saturday. The shots he took of a pre-fame Ziggy Stardust (see above) are among my very favourites. The series of pictures (generally reproduced in mono, but, I think, actually taken in colour) was taken at David's home in Beckenham, Haddon Hall.

The majority of the shots were of David sat down relaxing, possibly during an interview. But, there were others of him, (still in the famous outfit worn during the Ziggy album cover shoot) paintbrush in hand up a stepladder, adding the finishing touches to the paint work of one of the downstairs rooms.

Anyway, as I say, it's a great session that I'm sure the majority of you are familiar with.

My Generation, at the Snap Galleries in Birmingham, England, only displays one of the shots from the session (with the opportunity to buy a high quality Bowie print too) but if you're in the area, I think it's still worth a visit to check out Michael's other brilliant work.

Here's an excerpt from the press release by Snap Gallery Director, Guy White.

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My Generation - Photographs from the music archives of Michael Putland

Michael Putland didn?t have a day off in the seventies. At least that's how it seemed to him at the time. And looking back, there?s just no other way he could have assembled a photographic archive of such immense breadth and depth. Michael started photographing musicians in the late sixties. He really hit his stride in the seventies and by the mid-eighties he had captured pretty much everyone of significance in the music business over the course of a twenty year career.

My Generation is Michael?s first solo exhibition in the UK and will consist of around 100 photographs which, as a body of work, represent a cross section of his career as a music photographer ? from AC/DC to Frank Zappa, and back again, taking in Bowie, Bolan, Clapton, The Clash, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Hendrix, Rod Stewart, Bryan Ferry, The Who, The Rolling Stones and many many others. Michael has a very intimate and personal style of portraiture and combined this with a flair for live work.

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All Michael?s photographs are available to purchase, and admission to the exhibition is free. Here are the details for those of you thinking of popping along.

Snap Galleries
Gibb Square
The Custard Factory website is at The Custard Factory
Birmingham B9 4AA
Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10.30 am to 6 pm, Thursdays to 7 pm. and any other time by prior appointment.
Telephone 0121 224 7345
info@snapgalleries.com

As this is the last week of the exhibition, it may be worth calling to check it's still OK to attend before you set out on a long journey...particularly on Saturday.

Club Bowie Now Available Digitally In The Us

Have you heard the news?...

BowieNet members in the US will be relieved to learn that Club Bowie (10.30.2003 NEWS: NINE TRACK CLUB BOWIE CD DUE NEXT MONTH) should now be available to purchase digitally. Here's how EMI broke this terrific news:

"Only available in the U.S. on CD as an import, this U.S. digital-only release is a unique and eclectic collection of 8 remixes either specially commissioned for this project or previously only available on limited club vinyl formats.

EMI is aiming to have this release up on 4/19 and will be available on iTunes, and all DSPs (digital outlets) such as Real Networks, Napster, MusicMatch and Liquid Audio."

It's at times like this I have to agree with some of the grumpier European members: American David Bowie fans are truly spoilt!

Here's that track listing again for those of you that don't already know this fine collection off by heart...

1 The Scumfrog vs Bowie - Loving The Alien
2 David Bowie - Let's Dance (Trifactor vs Deeper Substance Remix)
3 David Guetta vs David Bowie - Just For One Day (Heroes) (Extended Version)
4 The Scumfrog vs David Bowie - This Is Not America
5 Solaris vs Bowie - Shout (Original Mix)
6 David Bowie - China Girl (Riff & Vox Club Mix)
7 David Bowie - Magic Dance (Danny S Magic Party Remix)
8 David Bowie - Let's Dance (Club Bolly Extended Mix)

You heard it here first, folx!

It's Boy George Again, By George!

Sometimes I fear that the whole world is queer...

Boy George is high profile in the UK right now as he plugs the follow up to his Take It Like A Man autobiography, entitled Straight. Those familiar with Take It... will know George gives very good quote, and Straight is just as entertaining...if not more so...and it includes a limited edition 5-track CD!

Needless to say, there are never too many pages between mentions of David Bowie in Straight, as a quick scan through the index confirms, with one whole chapter, Starman, concerning itself pretty much entirely with David Bowie.

There's far too much to quote in the news, but here follows the first mention of our man as early on as page 2!

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From the age of twelve to seventeen my main fantasy was to befriend David Bowie and hang out with him at Haddon Hall in Beckenham. I thought: 'He'd really understand me. We'd have so much in common.'

How strange that panic was still in place twenty-odd years later when I sat with my hero in a New York restaurant. I faked cool but every corpuscle in my body was screaming: 'Ohmigod, it's Ziggy Stardust!!'

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Here's an excerpt from an interview in today's Guardian, (The Guide) in which George names the most important artist of our time, and frankly, it's no surprise to anybody...least of all us.

You turned down I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, even though they offered you £300,000.

I turned them all down, The Farm, Celebrity Big Brother. I'm a hideous snob. You wouldn't have seen Ziggy Stardust on The Farm. Old Bowie stomping around the thoroughfare with his platforms - I don't think so, and if it's not good enough for Ziggy then they can fuck off. I'm not good in the morning. I don't do casual. The idea of a jungle is hideous enough but especially stuck there with a load of twats I have absolutely no respect for. It was a bad move for Lydon, a good move for Jordan and Janet Street-Porter belongs there.

Who for you was the most important artist of our time?

David Bowie. He was just everything for me. He was and still is so important. He is a genius.

You can read the whole thing by clicking on George's titfer.

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Britain's favourite homo was also on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross last night. I missed it, but apparently there was Bowie content, if not only in the shape of George's new line of clothing, B-Rude, which we told you about last month. (02.27.05 NEWS: MORE CELEBRITY BOWIE FANS SHOW THEIR LOVE)

The programme is repeated again tonight, according to the Radio Times, but I'll be buggered if I can find mention of a repeat anywhere online. The Radio Times also has an interview with George in the current issue, as a preview to his forthcoming interview on The Paul O'Grady Show, on ITV1 on Monday. This Boy gets about a bit, doesn't he?

Check out George's official site here, for all the latest BG news including links to a rash of recent controversial interviews with UK newspapers, in which he talks plainly about a few fellow pop stars.

David And Iman Demand A Shrubbery

"Is, uh,... Is your wife a goer, eh? Know whatahmean, know
whatahmean, nudge nudge, know whatahmean, say no more?"

'Til the sun drips blood on the knights who say "Ni!"...

Iman attended the opening of the Monty Python musical Spamalot at the Shubert Theatre in New York City last night. She was followed around by British glam rock star husband, David Bowie, who apparently made a horse clip-clop noise with two half coconut shells every time she got up to walk around a bit.

The pair were spotted giggling throughout the production, and were even said to have participated in some loud guffawing and a few bursts of tittering. David also used the opportunity to partake of a solo chortle.

She looked lovely in specially designed supermodel clobber and he wore high heels, suspendies and a bra. ...OK too silly...stop that now.

If you want to read something sensible about the evening go here and here and check out the official Spamalot website here.

Exclusive First Look At The Collection Cover

Just about the best you can hear...

Above is the sleeve for the David Bowie - The Collection CD that I told you about a couple of weeks ago. (03.04.05 NEWS: DAVID BOWIE - THE COLLECTION, DUE NEXT MONTH) And, as promised, you're the very first to see the finished thing.

As I said at the time, this low-priced 12-track compilation CD will be released through EMI Gold on April 18th with a recommended retail price of just £5.99.

For those of you disinclined to click back to that original news piece, here's the track listing again...

DAVID BOWIE
THE COLLECTION

01 Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed ~ From Space Oddity
02 The Width Of A Circle ~ From The Man Who Sold The World
03 Andy Warhol ~ From Hunky Dory
04 Soul Love ~ From The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
05 Cracked Actor ~ From Aladdin Sane
06 Sweet Thing ~ From Diamond Dogs
07 Somebody Up There Likes Me ~ From Young Americans
08 Word On A Wing ~ From Station To Station
09 Always Crashing In The Same Car ~ From Low
10 Beauty And The Beast ~ From "Heroes"
11 Repetition ~ From Lodger
12 Teenage Wildlife ~ From Scary Monsters

Stay tuned for your chance to win a copy of David Bowie - The Collection nearer the release date.

Btwn Dvd Winners

Like the video films we saw... (almost identical in fact, but better quality)

OK, I won't delay any further with this one...not that I'm late or anything. See the original news piece if you missed this contest, and if you want to double-check when I said I would post the winners. (03.07.2005 NEWS: BTWN DVD OUT TODAY...WIN A COPY NOW)

Here are the answers that would have got you into the Random Selector's in-box. (Ooer missus)

BTWN DVD contest 1

01 David recorded a foreign language version of one of the Black Tie White Noise tracks. What was the track and what language did he sing it in?

David recorded an Indonesian vocal version of Don't Let Me Down & Down - (also known as Jangan Susahkan Hatiku)

02 There were four cover versions recorded for Black Tie White Noise. What were they, and who wrote each track?

- I Feel Free (Bruce/Brown)
- Nite Flights (Engel)
- Don't Let Me Down & Down (Tarha/Valmont)
- I Know It's Gonna Happen Someday (Morrissey/Nevin)

BTWN DVD contest 2

Below are 10 anagrams of Black Tie White Noise ...excepting one, which is close, but not quite right. Identify the anagram which doesn't quite translate to Black Tie White Noise.

01 TICKLISH BOWIE EATEN
02 BOWIE TAKES LECITHIN
03 INHALE BOWIE TICKETS
04 BOWIE KILT HESITANCE
05 AESTHETIC BOWIE LINK
06 BOWIE HECKLES TITIAN
07 ETHICAL BOWIE THINKS
08 SAINTLIKE BOWIE TECH
09 BOWIE CHALK ENTITIES
10 THICKSET BOWIE ALIEN

07 ETHICAL BOWIE THINKS translates to BLACK TIE WHITE NOISH, but not to BLACK TIE WHITE NOISE.

The ten randomly-chosen winners are alphabetically listed below in an easy-to-follow, cut-out-and-keep, list-sized list:

alicia
bjossilu
bruneva
ciggy5tardust40
cjs
dlm
georgina23
Jani
kwest
lowlodgerheroes

If you're in the winners' list and haven't already done so, please furnish me with your address as soon as you like.

David Live And Stage Out In The Us Today

Gee gee, gee gee, Take me away, Gee gee, gee gee, Take me today...

Today sees the long-awaited release of the David Live and Stage re-packaged and expanded CDs in North America.

Also, you still have a chance to enter the VH1 Classic David Bowie LIVE in Your Living Room Sweepstakes launched to celebrate the release of the albums, which we told you about recently, (03.07.05 NEWS: WIN $11K HOME ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM WITH VH1 SWEEPSTAKES) and there's the audio player that was launched before that. (03.03.05 NEWS: OFFICIAL FILTER DAVID LIVE AND STAGE AUDIO PLAYER) Click on the image below to get to it.

Don't forget that apart from the audio player there is the facility to send an e-card, and the chance to enter a competition to win 15 albums from the David Bowie back-catalogue that's still open for another couple of weeks.

Bowienet News Archive Updated

Things that happened in the past...

BowieNetter, Susan 'The Smudger' Smith, has updated the BowieNet news archive to include January and February.

Click on any of the above images to be reminded of what happened in the world of David Bowie during the first couple of months of 2005.

Much Mick Rock Madness Coming Up

Hit me, Hit me baby, On the camera...

Mad as a box-of-frogs photographer, Mick Rock, has a busy few months ahead of him promoting lots of groovy new product, including the little beauty above. Here's the breakdown of a few of the things we're allowed to tell you about right now...

March 2005
Exhibition at the Lo-Fi Gallery Los Angeles.
Mick will be at SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas for a signing and presentation at Factory People March 19th. Phone 512-440-8002 for details.

April 2005
Blood & Glitter German edition (with German and English text) Publisher: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf. This is in a larger format, slip cased and hardback. This is the best version of this book.

May 2005
Iggy & The Stooges Raw Power photo book (Omnibus Books) Brilliant new design with new text by Iggy Pop and Mick Rock. (See cover above)

September 2005
Major retrospective with multimedia and interactive installations at the Urbis Cultural Centre in Manchester, UK.

Autumn 2005
Hardback trade version of Moonage Daydream, published by Rizzoli USA, Cassell UK.

I'll have more details of all this and more, including Mick Rock competitions and the like, in the very near future.

Meanwhile, check out Mick's music fashion layout in the March 2005 issue of American Playboy, featuring The Killers, The Libertines, Sondre Lerche, Fat Joe, Snow Patrol and The Raveonettes. Also, go here to view a wonderful bit of footage of Mick in action.

Rock ?n? Roll Icons: The Photography Of Mick Rock

Rock ?n? Roll Icons: The Photography of Mick Rock at Urbis, Manchester, 29 September - 8 January 2006

Legendary photographer Mick Rock comes to Manchester in a new exhibition spanning 40 years of rock ?n? roll ? in his largest ever exhibition to date. At Urbis, Manchester 29 September to 8 January 2006, this will be the UK?s only venue before it tours internationally.

Described as the ?man who shot the 70s? and the ?photo-laureate of glam?, Rock?s illustrious career has both defined and documented an era where music, theatre and showmanship went hand in hand and has profoundly influenced contemporary culture today. This exhibition, taken from his vast archive is an extraordinary chronicle of the lives and music of many of rock's seminal artists, including Syd Barrett, David Bowie, Sex Pistols, The Ramones, Iggy Pop, Queen and Lou Reed through to his work contemporary bands such as Razorlight, the YeahYeahYeahs, The Killers, Kasabian, The Chemical Brothers, Marilyn Manson and Manchester?s own legendary guitarist Johnny Marr, who comments

"I first met Mick in 2001 when he was doing a big article for a French magazine and we did some pictures in New York. It's great working with him because he's looking for magic, he tries to create it. When he works it's pretty high energy and quite intense in a way, always interesting. So many images which marked out my musical discoveries were made by Mick. They're iconic because he saw them that way. "

Featured will be over 150 images, including previously unseen video footage, rare images, out-takes, private recordings and personal interviews with some of the greatest rock legends, as experienced by Rock through his life on the rock ?n? roll party circuit. Based for the past 20 years in New York, and the official photographer Bowie?s most incandescent alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, Rock hung-out with Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop and lived - just - to tell the tale. A series of heart attacks during Christmas 1997 almost killed him, resulting in a quadruple heart bypass and a conversion from chemicals to yoga. The last ten years have seen a renewed hunger for his work with contemporary artists citing him as an influence and designers Mosley Meets Wilcox on behalf of Mick and Paul Smith developing and establishing entire product lines based around his imagery examples of which will be shown at the exhibition.

Scott Burnham, Creative Director of Urbis commented, "In the same way that Urbis showed how Peter Saville influenced a generation of graphic designers with his work, we?re now exploring how the imagery of Mick Rock helped define a period of rock history and went on to inspire imagery and fashion in popular culture and the music scenes of cities around the world. Even for those people who don?t know him by name, we?ve all at one time or another been captivated by his photographs.?

Rock has shot many famous album covers such as David Bowie - Space Oddity (1971), Lou Reed - Transformer (1972) and Coney Island Baby (1975), Iggy and the Stooges - Raw Power (1973), Queen - Queen II (1974) and Sheer Heart Attack (1974) and The Ramones - End of the Century (1979). He was the pioneer of seminal music videos by David Bowie - Life on Mars (1973), Space Oddity, John I?m Only Dancing, The Jean Genie (1972) and was the official photographer for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).

Urbis has worked closely with Mick Rock and Mancunian design agency Igloo Design to assemble this unique exhibition for its world premiere in Manchester.

As Mick Rock comments, "I was struck by the imagination, ambition and enthusiasm at Urbis and by Manchester's rich musical heritage and knew that that this was the city where I wanted to do my biggest exhibition to date. I couldn?t think of a better backdrop for my work than the scene of Manchester - you could say the city itself provides a neat piece of the rock 'n' roll jigsaw that has been my life ".

All prints in the exhibition have been supplied courtesy of Fujifilm UK.

Spooky Gig And Ky Shows Update

In the old days, Mr Ghost was so passionate about his guitar
playing, he used to take it along to his line dancing classes.

Late night, big town...

Spooky Ghost has contacted us with details of an upcoming show at his regular, erm (I refuse to say haunt) ...Anyway, here are the details.

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Spooky Ghost "Stay Up Late Gig" March 25

Dearest Ghoulie ones. In the spirit of the new, a gathering shall occur, with glittering jewels abound. It might get late, but things will happen that are beyond description right now... What the hell is he blathering on about now, you ask .

***Midnight Friday March 25th Spooky Ghost Living Room NYC***
The first half will be a Spooky show with Paul Bryan on Bass and Doug Yowell on Drums. Then we will have Shawn Pelton and Brian Mitchell from "House of Diablo" sitting in for some vintage Spooky tunes. Duncan Sheik is also rumoured to be around that night.

So come late and hang out. If you stay up late... things happen. That's all I'll say... for now... I will also sit in with Rachel Loshack at 10 pm the same night. Hope to see you there. Mr Ghostly

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Thank you so much Gerald... Will somebody let us know what happened for those that stayed late?

Kristeen Young is about half way through her London visit right now, with a handful of shows still to go that you can find details of here.

I do believe a contingent of BowieNetters (including some folk all the way from Germany) plan to attend the Wednesday March 30th show at The Underworld, where Kristeen will be opening for Concrete Blonde. Here are the details for that show, for those of you wanting to attend.

The Underworld
174 Camden High St. (London NW1 One)
Tickets by credit card (phone: 08700 600 100)

See ya there.

DB and RG on RND in the UK tonight

"Ha ha ha, he he he...I'm David Bowie and you're Ricky G" - Bowie and Gervais 'avin a laugh.

There's laughter in the air...

As I'm sure most of you know by now, David Bowie makes a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-him cameo in the Ricky Gervais contribution to Comic Relief tonight.

Ricky can be seen hanging out with David in a spoof video diary which will go out on BBC 1 as part of

Here's what Britain's funniest man had to say about Britain's "greatest living rock star"...

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Bowie is only on screen for a moment but I had to include it. He has been my musical idol for nearly 30 years and we met and became friends a couple of years ago.

He is a fan of The Office and we started e-mailing each other about music, comedy, Pop Idol whatever.

I'd heard that other acts had teamed up with various pop stars for Comic Relief so I thought I'd go one better and get the world's greatest living rock star.

He?s also a very funny, very clever and very nice bloke. Maybe you shouldn't refer to The Thin White Duke as a "bloke". I'm more your Short Fat Duck.

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Click on David's nose in the shockingly and uncharacteristically low quality screen grab above to read more about this.

Bloc Exhibition Starts Thursday

I'd like to be a gallery, Put you all inside my show...

The BLOC exhibition that we told you all about last month (02.06.2005 NEWS: BOWIEART AND BLOC PRESENT NEW LONDON EXHIBITION) is starting to pick up press here in the UK.

Luke Leitch has previewed the show in the London Evening Standard. Here's a an excerpt...

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David Bowie will this week launch a surprise bid to steal Charles Saatchi's crown as the art king of County Hall.

The superstar's foundation, Bowieart, is to fund a series of major exhibitions of contemporary art over the next three years - and the first opens this Thursday. The shows, entitled Bloc, will be held in the County Hall Gallery underneath The Saatchi Gallery.

The first will present the work of 16 young artists including Doug Fishbone, famous for installing 30,000 bananas in Trafalgar Square, and Eleonora Aguiari who wrapped a statue of Lord Napier in red tape.

Beth Greenacre, who curates Bowie's art collection and is the director of Bowieart, told the Standard: "David knows the work of all the artists. He has worked very closely with us. Bloc presents the works of tomorrow's stars."

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You can read the whole thing online by clicking on Simon Keenleyside's Never Felt Magic Crazy painting above. Meanwhile, here are those details again for those of you that missed them the first time around.

BLOC is at White Space, County Hall Gallery, London SE1, 10th March to 22nd May 2005.
Opening times: Friday to Monday 10:00am ? 6:00pm.
Telephone: 0870 744 7485. Admission Free.

Logo Test

Win $11k Entertainment System With Vh1 Sweepstakes

So deep in your room, You never leave your room...

To celebrate the North American release next week (March 15th) of David Live and Stage, we are pleased to announce the launch of the VH1 Classic David Bowie LIVE in Your Living Room Sweepstakes.

But, before you torture yourself with the list of prizes, I should point out that "Sweepstakes is open to VH1.com users who are legal residents of the U.S. and are at least 21 at time of entry."

For those of you still reading, here's the low-down:

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VH1 Classic Presents the David Bowie LIVE in Your Living Room Sweepstakes

Watch and listen to David Bowie in style in your own living room! Log on to VH1 Classic.com for your chance to win over $11,000 worth of equipment from the likes of Sharp, Denon and Definitive Technology as well as the entire David Bowie Virgin Records catalog.

Get essential albums like Ziggy Stardust, the newly re-mastered and expanded live albums David Live and Stage and the Sound + Vision box-set plus a one-year subscription to Sound & Vision Magazine, the ultimate source for your home theater and enjoy it all on your new state-of-the-art home entertainment system.

One Grand Prize Winner will receive:

~ State-of-the art Sharp Aquos 45" LCD flat panel HDTV
~ Denon DVD-Audio, Video and SACD player/receiver
~ Definitive Technology Surround Sound speaker system ~ 1 year subscription to Sound & Vision Magazine
~ David Bowie's full catalog from Virgin Records

The contest starts today (March 7, 2005) and runs through April 18, 2005. For your chance win, enter here now!

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For those of you that simply can't wait for the release of David Live and Stage in the US next week, don't forget the audio player we told you about last week (03.03.05 NEWS: OFFICIAL FILTER DAVID LIVE AND STAGE AUDIO PLAYER) where you can listen to two full tracks from each album. Click on the image below to get to it.

Don't forget that apart from the audio player there is the facility to send an e-card, and also to download some cool Buddy Icons and enter a competition to win 15 albums from the David Bowie back-catalogue, that's open until the end of March.

Btwn Dvd Out Today...win A Copy Now

Jangan Susahkan Hatiku...

To celebrate today's release of the Black Tie White Noise DVD throughout Europe etc., that we told you about last month, (02.01.2005 NEWS: BTWN DVD OUT NEXT MONTH) and in attempt to lessen the disappointment felt by those that can't enter the competition below, we have 10 copies of the wonderfully stylish 63-minute DVD to give away to 10 lucky BowieNetters.

I've decided to run two competitions in one here, to try and give you the chance to select the type of thing you prefer. First up there's a couple of trivia questions relating to the Black Tie White Noise album, then we have a find-the-wrong-anagram...you only need enter one or the other. OK, here goes...

BTWN DVD contest 1

01 David recorded a foreign language version of one of the Black Tie White Noise tracks. What was the track and what language did he sing it in?

02 There were four cover versions recorded for Black Tie White Noise. What were they, and who wrote each track?

Enter BTWN DVD contest 1 here

BTWN DVD contest 2

Below are 10 anagrams of Black Tie White Noise ...excepting one, which is close, but not quite right. Identify the anagram which doesn't quite translate to Black Tie White Noise.

01 TICKLISH BOWIE EATEN
02 BOWIE TAKES LECITHIN
03 INHALE BOWIE TICKETS
04 BOWIE KILT HESITANCE
05 AESTHETIC BOWIE LINK
06 BOWIE HECKLES TITIAN
07 ETHICAL BOWIE THINKS
08 SAINTLIKE BOWIE TECH
09 BOWIE CHALK ENTITIES
10 THICKSET BOWIE ALIEN

Enter BTWN DVD contest 2 here

That's about it folx...hopefully one of those will be enough to tempt you to take part.

As usual, usual rules apply: Only one entry per BowieNet account. Please remember to enter using your BowieNet e-mail or at least supply your BowieNet user name. It may also speed things up for you if you include your real name and address, as we won't then have to wait for another e-mail from you in the event you are a winner.

The contest closes a week from now, at midnight UK time on Monday. The ten randomly-chosen winners may be announced on Tuesday...but most probably Wednesday. };-)

The US release date is scheduled for sometime in May at the moment. I'll give you a definite date the moment I have one.

Meanwhile, if you are waiting for the US release, you may want to enter the VH1 Classic David Bowie LIVE in Your Living Room Sweepstakes below, for your chance to win something to play the blighter on...

Ian Hunter On Mint Tonight

Brother you guessed...

Sunday night is MINT night, and, as you've hopefully realised from the headline above, host Marc Riley has Ian Hunter as his very special guest this week.

The ex-Mott The Hoople main man will no doubt be probed about his remembrances of David Bowie and the gift of All The Young Dudes.

Regular listeners to Mr Riley may have heard yesterday's Rocket Science on which Marc set a competition to win copies of David Live and Stage. If you didn't, it's not too late to enter, as explained below.

Both Rocket Science and MINT are online and on DAB radio every week at the times in the lovely station ID thing above. But, don't fret if you miss the initial broadcast as you can still listen to both shows online up until the following week's instalments.

Ziggy On Stars In Their Eyes Tonight

Let me put my arms around you Ed...

Good time gal, Spaceface, has informed me of another Bowie act on tonight's Stars In Their Eyes in the UK, which airs at 17:45.

Ed Blaney, (pictured above) is a 45-year-old teacher from Wearside near Newcastle* (Spaceface's neck of the woods) and has been a Bowie fan since the 1970s.

Though the show is pre-recorded, entrants are sworn to secrecy about the result of the voting. So you'll have to tune in tonight to find out how well Ed does.

Good luck to him anyway, not least of all for having the courage to dress up in that clobber at his age!

Previous Ziggy winners include clothes designer, Boy George.

*This is a geographical joke

David Bowie - The Collection, Due Next Month

Everything tastes nice...

This low-priced 12-track compilation CD isn't really aimed at you, the serious Bowie fan, but more at the casual listener who perhaps owns The Best Of Bowie but now wants to delve a little deeper.

Nevertheless, I am duty-bound to report on this rather cool tatser anyway, so here goes...David Bowie - The Collection is released through EMI Gold on April 18th with a recommended retail price of £5.99, a bargain at around 60p per track.

The CD features what are considered by the compilers to be "The Best Of The Album Tracks", a claim bound to be hotly-debated on the message boards, though it has to be said there are some crackers on here.

If the likes of Teenage Wildlife and Sweet Thing don't convert the listener into a fully-fledged Bowie fan, then frankly, they are beyond all hope of redemption!

Here's that track listing in full...

DAVID BOWIE
THE COLLECTION

01 Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed ~ From Space Oddity
02 The Width Of A Circle ~ From The Man Who Sold The World
03 Andy Warhol ~ From Hunky Dory
04 Soul Love ~ From The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars
05 Cracked Actor ~ From Aladdin Sane
06 Sweet Thing ~ From Diamond Dogs
07 Somebody Up There Likes Me ~ From Young Americans
08 Word On A Wing ~ From Station To Station
09 Always Crashing In The Same Car ~ From Low
10 Beauty And The Beast ~ From "Heroes"
11 Repetition ~ From Lodger
12 Teenage Wildlife ~ From Scary Monsters

We will run a competition for copies of David Bowie - The Collection nearer the release date, aimed at the completists among us who simply must have EVERYTHING!

As you've probably noticed from the image above, the cover isn't even finished yet. But, rest assured, you'll be the first to see it when it is. Well, not literally the first, the designer would have to be blind for that, (Hi Darren) but you know what I mean.

Official Filter David Live And Stage Audio Player

Listen to me...

Filter magazine has produced a very tasty David Live/Stage audio player that allows you to listen to two full tracks from each album: Suffragette City and Rebel Rebel from David Live plus Fame and Ziggy Stardust from Stage.

It's accompanied by some very flash erm...Flash graphics, and it has the facility to send an e-card, and also to download some cool Buddy Icons and enter a competition to win 15 albums from the David Bowie back-catalogue, that's open until the end of March.

Frankly it's far too groovy and typical of the very stylish stuff you've come to expect from Filter. Click on the Japanese Kabuki Aladdin Sane stick mask to start enjoying this feature now!