The Chicago Reader celebrates The Elephant Man
“He’s a broken man”
The Chicago Reader has posted a cool piece by Patrick Sisson titled; The time David Bowie called Chicago home.
It relates to Bowie's time in Chicago while performing the lead role of Joseph Merrick in the stage show of The Elephant Man from August 5 to August 31 1980.
Here’s a bit from Julie Weiss, the production's costume designer.
“Watching David Bowie become the Elephant Man, it was so much more than a cap, a hood, and a loincloth for me. It was seeing the soul of Merrick scream the line 'I am not an animal! I am a human being!' He understands what it's like to be an outsider. When the audience saw David Bowie playing Elephant Man, they were reminded of the shame we should all feel rejecting those who are different.”
Elephant Man director Jack Hofsiss had this to say about Bowie’s approach to playing the Elephant Man.
“David really embraced the idea that this child had been beaten up and pushed around because of his deformities, and he was much more weary of interacting with people. It's a significant difference in the way the character was played like that, and I was astonished how well it worked. David understood it, having grown up on the tougher streets of London, and made it very much his own."
Read the full article here on The Chicago Reader.
Nothing Has Changed campaign artwork tease
“Look in his eyes and see your reflection”
The Jimmy King photograph accompanying this item is one of the images being used for part of the upcoming Nothing Has Changed campaign.
Much more than that we cannot tell you right now, suffice to say, keep your eye out for next week’s NME (Issue dated October 11th, street date October 8th), which will feature an explanation of the artwork concept for Nothing Has Changed, among other things.
GAD wears Bowie for Kravitz iTunes show
“I should wear your old red dress”
All round top fella and brilliant photographer to boot, Brian Rasic, sent in this splendid shot (main pic) of Gail Ann Dorsey sporting a Bowie T-shirt, onstage at Friday night’s Lenny Kravitz (See inset pic) iTunes Festival gig at The Roundhouse.
GAD is currently on tour with Lenny and it was a treat to see her back onstage. You can view the show for a limited time on iTunes.
Sadly there was no Bowie tune performed by LK and the gang, which is a shame considering what a good fist he made of DJ back in 2008 on French TV show Taratata.
Meanwhile, those of you hoping to get the GAD look may have some difficulty getting your hands on the Bowie Aladdin Sane T-shirt. Though it’s an official shirt we can’t find it online. The one in our montage is from the Bowie Archive dressing up box.
September 27 good for Scary Monsters and Reality
“More Idols than realities”
Both David Bowie’s Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) and Reality entered the UK album chart on this day in 1980 and 2003 respectively.
The former entered at #1 and the latter at #3, which were also the peak positions for both.
Both artworks featured paintings of Bowie as have a few of the other 27 Bowie studio albums (can you name the others?).
However, it may have escaped your attention that Edward Bell’s Scary Monsters painting has a flipped image of Bowie, the eyes are the obvious giveaway.
Bell got it right later for his portrait of Bowie which he is pictured sitting underneath in our montage.
The designer of Reality, Rex Ray, enjoyed the flattery of Bowie recreating his cover painting via a photo shoot which was used for promotional advertising and the Reality artwork.
Go listen to both Scary Monsters and Reality on Spotify now.
BowieBall NYC 2014 on sale now
“New York’s In Love”
It’s that time of year again and Deryck Todd has been in touch with details of this year’s BowieBall in NYC.
You have a little over a fortnight (October 12) to get your look together if you want to try and out-Bowie one of the stars of the video for The Stars (Are Out Tonight), Iselin Steiro.
Iselin, who played a young Bowie clone in the promo, is pictured here from a shoot from October 2010 for Vogue Paris.
Visit the BowieBallNYC page to view pictures from past events and to purchase tickets for this one.
We are duty-bound to point out that this is not an official Bowie promotion, but don’t let that put you off attending this highlight of the NY Bowie social calendar.
David Bowie is documentary in Canada tonight
“Hooked to the silver screen”
A brief reminder that there will be screenings of David Bowie is across Canada this evening.
We’re also pleased to announce that due to the success of this nationwide presentation in America on Tuesday, encores are now planned in the US for November 18.
As ever, check DavidBowieIsFilm for screenings near you and to book tickets.
Outside album’s last year as a teenager
“The music is outside”
David Bowie’s 1. Outside album was released on this day in 1995, the same week that the first single from the album, The Hearts Filthy Lesson, entered the UK single chart at #35.
Outside entered the UK chart at #8 and narrowly missed the US Billboard Top 20 when it peaked there at #21.
The album was supported by the brilliant 1995/1996 Outside World Tour, which kicked off on September 14 in Hartford in the US, and a couple of remarkable videos for The Hearts Filthy Lesson and Strangers When We Meet single releases.
Remind yourself just how good an album it is via this link to the deluxe reissue on Spotify.
David Bowie is documentary in the US tonight
“Like the V&A films we saw”
Are you a young* American Bowie fan wondering if there’s anything decent on the box this evening?
Well stop right there and go check ticket availability at your nearest participating cinema for the David Bowie is documentary film, this very evening.
And don’t forget, from September 25 young* Canadians can see the film and then the worldwide youth* can enjoy it from November 5.
* Actually, people of all ages are welcome, but the Bowie pun wouldn't have worked otherwise.
David Bowie Is at MCA in Chicago now
“It’s happening now”
Following a great build up and the proclamation that today is David Bowie Day in Chicago, the MCA’s version of David Bowie Is can now be enjoyed by many more thousands of peoploids.
Aside from the exhibition itself, don’t forget to keep an eye on the MCA Bowie Events page for lots of exciting stuff.
Today’s events include a David Bowie Tribute Concert at Daley Plaza at noon (local time) and a set of Bowie covers from White Mystery (the Chicago-based brother-sister rock ‘n’ roll duo), at the MCA at 6:00pm this evening.
If you can't make it to the opening today, you have until January 4, 2015, to attend the MCA which is the only US stop for the exhibition.
Meanwhile, enjoy a preview feature courtesy of The Huffington Post with lots of great pictures by Kim Bellware and Joseph Erbentraut.
KOW picture disc and S&V Box out now
“It’s no secret”
Released yesterday in the UK and today in the US are both the reissued Sound + Vision 4CD set and the Knock On Wood (KOW) 40th Anniversary picture disc.
The exclusive KOW picture disc and T-shirt bundle is still available here.
However, the KOW bundle which included an exclusive commemorative ticket stub replica from Bowie’s 1974 concert at the Tower Theatre, Philadelphia, has now completely sold out.
Sue single update plus cover artwork revealed
“Was loving her such a crime...”
As we told you a couple of weeks back, Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime), will be released as a limited edition 10” single and digital download in the UK on Monday, November 17th. (In the US the single will be released as a Black Friday 2014 exclusive 10” on November 28th.)
Here’s the tracklisting for both the physical and digital download formats.
10” UK Catalogue Number: 10RDB2014
10”
A/ 1. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (7.24)
B/ 1. 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore (5.27)
2. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (radio edit) (4.01)
DD:
1. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (7.24)
2. 'Tis A Pity She Was A Whore (5.27)
3. Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) (radio edit) (4.01)
As mentioned previously (http://smarturl.it/BNetNHCpr), Sue (Or In A Season Of Crime) will also be included on the upcoming Nothing Has Changed compilation released on the same day in the UK, Monday, November 17th. (Regional variations apply)
Scroll image for close-up of A-side.
Simon Critchley and Rick Moody discuss Lodger
“Yassassin - I’m not a moody guy”
There’s a great piece over on salon.com wherein; “A David Bowie critic and an obsessive battle over maddening brilliance of Lodger”.
In other words, Simon Critchley and Rick Moody discuss “Bowie's 1979 masterpiece, Lodger, and the way pop music mutates and deepens over time”, via this lengthy and fascinating email exchange.
If you’re not familiar with their work but think you’ve heard the names before, then that’s because you probably have.
Rick Moody is the chap who exclusively managed to get Bowie to talk about The Next Day last year, in the shape of a list of 44 words in an incredible piece for The Rumpus.
Simon Critchley is the author of the superb recently-published Bowie available from Or Books, eBook already available.
Finally, check out this recent interview with Critchley by Tyler Malone over on Full Stop.
Good Luck to Holy Holy in London tonight
“I was going, round and round, the Highbury Garage...”
The chap on the left in our picture will be performing songs written by the bloke on the right at the first of four UK shows this evening.
Good luck to Tony Visconti and his merry men, AKA Holy Holy, for the sold out show at The Garage in London tonight, and indeed, at the remaining performances of The Man Who Sold The World in Sheffield, Glasgow and again in London at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. All three of which have available tickets.
Check out the Holy Holy FB page for more info.
MOV to reissue David Bowie’s Peter and the Wolf
“And Peter tried to climb aboard”
David Bowie narrates Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf is reissued as a numbered limited edition red/gold mixed vinyl (illustration here is a guide only) via RCA/Music On Vinyl on October 23rd.
Originally released thirty six years ago in 1978 on the RCA Red Seal label, the music is performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy.
Bowie apparently recorded the Prokofiev favourite as a Christmas present for his seven-year-old son, Zowie (AKA film director Duncan Jones), and this reissue comes in good time to brighten up the festive season for the Bowie-loving ‘child’ in your life.
Read more about the release over on the MOV site.
September 23rd is David Bowie Day in Chicago
“Coming Tuesday I feel better, even Mayor Rahm looks good”
Kudos to Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, for declaring Tuesday, September 23rd (the opening day of David Bowie Is at the MCA), David Bowie Day in the Windy City.
Emanuel describes Bowie as “an undisputed global icon boasting a catalogue of 26* critically acclaimed studio albums,” whose “remarkable half-century career has bridged cultures and faiths while both transcending and fortifying the music, art, fashion & design, and theatrical canons.”.
Hopefully this accolade will catch on and in the future every day of the year will be Bowie Day somewhere on the planet.
If you can't read the declaration in the montage here, check out ConsequenceOfSound for a bigger version.
Apologies to Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago, David Bowie and the late Brian Duffy for the clumsy PhotoShop application of the Aladdin Sane lightning bolt.
(* actually 27 http://smarturl.it/27BOWIEalbums ...but this is no time to quibble!)
Mick Rock Exposed paperback edition and exhibition
“Till there was Rock”
The current issue of NME celebrates the reissue of Mick Rock’s 256-page Exposed paperback book in the shape of three posters, including the iconic double-page shot of Ziggy and Ronno ’enjoying’ British Rail nosh on their way to Scotland for shows in 1973.
The original hardback (bottom left in montage) featured Bowie on the cover, but the new paperback (published by Palazzo, September 25), sports a 1973 shot of DB on Kate Moss’s chest, not to mention a foreword by Tom Stoppard and an afterword by Andrew Loog Oldham.
The attendant exhibition at SUMO in NY, opens to the public on September 23. Full details here.
We’ll leave you with a link to a recent Mick Rock interview courtesy of Hit-Channel.com, wherein he discusses the work featured in Exposed.
In the interview, Mick also teases news of an upcoming co-signed (with Bowie) limited edition Ziggy Stardust book for Taschen due next year.
At the moment, the book is planned to feature a ton of previously unseen Bowie photographs from the 72/73 era and it will be released as one of those beautiful Collector's Edition books with a stand that Taschen do so well.
Read that Hit-Channel.com interview here.
More dates added for David Bowie is documentary
“Seven days to see my life”
In just seven days (September 23) the documentary film about the blockbuster exhibition, David Bowie is, will be screened in theatres across the US. Canada from September 25 and then worldwide from November 5.
View a clip from the film over on SPIN.com and check ticket availability at your nearest participating cinema here.
Stay tuned for details of further screenings as they happen.
Meanwhile, here’s an interview about the film with director Hamish Hamilton on Radio.com.
Bowie writes sleeve notes for Kinks retrospective
“In my life I've never stopped to worry about a thing”
Due next month (October 14th) via Legacy Recordings in North America, is the 48-track compilation, The Essential Kinks, released in celebration of 50 years of Kinkdom.
David Bowie has written the sleeve notes for the 2 CD set and here’s an excerpt from them.
“Of course, from their noisy and brash beginnings, the Kinks have come to stand for some of the most enduring and heart-clutching pop of all time. They are in the gut of every British song-writer who followed them and are indisputably a cornerstone of everything pop and rock. I love ’em. The world loves 'em.”
Indeed it seems Bowie does love ’em with two wonderful Kinks covers released thirty years apart in the shape of Where Have All The Good Times Gone and Waterloo Sunset, released in 1973 and 2003 respectively.
Listen to them both on Spotify.
Where Have All The Good Times Gone
Bowie also performed the latter live with main Kink, Ray Davies, in 2003 at the Tibet House Benefit in New York. (See picture) View a very shaky hand-held recording of that performance here.
For more details of the upcoming Legacy Kinks campaign and a full tracklisting of The Essential Kinks, check out the press release on PR Newswire.
Rita Ora channels Bowie circa 1996 for Fashion Rocks
“Fashions may change, heaven knows”
Rita Ora paid tribute to David Bowie at Tuesday evening’s (September 9) Fashion Rocks 2014 charity event at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
She echoed Bowie’s own October 1996 performance of Fashion at the VH-1 Fashion Awards at Madison Square Garden in NY, by performing a cracking version of the same song in similar attire.
Bowie’s original Union Jack coat (designed by Alexander McQueen in collaboration with Bowie for the Earthling album cover), was approximated for Rita’s performance, complete with distressing and burn marks.
Some took the 23-year-old Brit’s wearing of the flag as a nod toward next week’s Scottish referendum poll, though her only comment seemed to be this Instagram message to DB accompanying pictures of her in the outfit; “David Bowie. For you.”
Coincidentally, in October 2003 Bowie contributed a specially filmed version of Fashion as part of Fashion Rocks for the Prince’s Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
You can view Rita’s performance here and Bowie’s 1996 VH-1 Fashion Awards rendition here.