Silly bit of gossip for you all - while filming The Prestige, Hugh Jackman managed to offend Bowie. According to Jackman in an interview with The Courier-Mail, he told Bowie that the first show he ever bought tickets to was one that Bowie did in Australia in 1981. He then admitted to Bowie that someone outside of the show offered to buy his tickets for $50 and Jackman took the offer. Amazingly, Jackman asked Bowie to sing him a few songs and Bowie refused. Wonder why. Jackman has a reputation for being a nice guy, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe he was so awe-struck at being in the presence of a living legend that he took his foot and stuck it directly in his mouth.
Posted in Circle Of Friends, Opinions | No Comments »“[This will] probably be the last time I will be doing these songs.” “Fuck Off. I’m in Tin Machine.” “I’m fed up with the industry…I’m taking a year off.” In light of Bowie’s recent announcement that he will curate the New York Festival, we see right through that last statement much like we saw through the previous two. Bowie will be taking his “year off” to choose which musical acts and artists he wants to feature in the First Annual 2007 High Line Festival. He will be assisted in this enormous task by his two co-founders David Binder and Josh Wood. The ten-day festival will culminate in a show by Bowie - which will be his first big show since his heart attack. You can read more about Bowie’s announcement on NME.com and Billboard.com. (Thanks to pooh burgess from the Bauhausmusik forum for doing my homework for me with the NME link.) You can also read an interesting Bowie Conspiracy Theory on Pitchforkmedia.com.
Posted in News, Opinions | No Comments »A friend on the illustrious Love and Rockets forum Torched posted a link to the newest ad for Campari. My exact response to the ad was, “Boys Keep Swinging, anyone?” The climactic moment of the ad shows the ‘girl’ removing her lipstick with a swipe of her arm, a la Bowie in the video for Boys Keep Swinging. The Campari ad is a very striking one and well done.
Man, you gotta love the tabloids. The title to the article Iman forces David Bowie to change diet after heart attack tries to whip up scandal where there is none. At first the reader might think, “Oh, that horrible Iman!” But if you actually read the article, she’s just making sure that one of rock’s living legends lives long enough to add another 40 years to his career. With fruits and veggies replacing fried food and gym trips replacing runs to the store for cigarettes, he just must give us a few more masterpeices.
Posted in News, Opinions | No Comments »Back in the 80’s when audio cassettes were totally rad, comedian Rich Hall said if he ever had a band he would name it Tape Head Cleaner because even if they sucked, they’d be sure to sell a lot of tapes. And so was the thought behind the title of Failure To Communicate Records’ new CD, 2. Contamination. Far from the long-awaited sequel to Bowie’s 1995 album 1. Outside, it is a 2-disc compilation of mostly unknown bands covering their favorite Bowie songs, as though the world needed another.
It’s only natural that any album, article or website related to Bowie might nick part of a old song title or lyric from his back catalog to talk about how his music has ch-ch-ch-changed over the years. Any such reference in a catchy headline pays homage to an artist who is so much a part of popular culture, he is identifiable through countless obscure associations: the Thin White Duke, Alladin Sane, Ziggy Stardust. But stealing a title he has yet to use doesn’t smell like admiration as much as twisted marketing.
For one, it’s not a title known to the passing fan of his music. It’s the hardcore fans who know of 2. Contamination and have been anxious for its completion and release. And it’s those fans who will see the title on a web page or the CD cover, feel that jolt of excitement that the possibility may have at last been realized, and then be let down when they see a tracklist of nothing but old songs performed by also-rans.
On plenty occassions Bowie has recognized that there is a divide between he says he will do and what he has done. It’s all a part of his “entertainment value.” He has retired, refused to play old hits, and more recently planned to release and album called Toy. And good luck separating his true intentions from the smokescreen.
At last mention in a live chat some six years ago (see BowieWonderworld.com), he wrote that he was most looking forward to “trying to piece together ‘2.contamination’, the follow up to Outside” during that year. According to Dr. Andrew Broad’s site, Bowie’s Outside sessions with Eno yielded more than 24 hours of material and the only missing ingredient was time to “sift through” it all. I also recall reading that he and Eno were considering completing the album entirely via Internet, without ever physically meeting.
Whether or not Bowie has any desire to complete 2. Contamination, the general consesus among fans of 1. Outside is that a forthcoming follow-up would be greeted with open ears. And until the artist who originally conceived the title puts it to use, anyone else’s capitalization of it is, in my mind, deceitful to the fans and disrespectful to the performer they were trying to honor.
Posted in News, Opinions | 2 Comments »Paul Weller, winner of the Brits Lifetime Achievement Award, recently bashed Bowie in an interview with Uncut Magazine. He stated, “Wrong! I like about three records of his. The rest of it’s pish” when Bowie’s recent Recording Academy Lifetime Acheivement Award was mentioned. Maybe he’s been taking Bowie-bashing lessons from Morrissey. A review of the interview can be found at Gigwise.com.
Readers, raise your hand if you can immediately name three modern artists who cite Bowie as an influence. Now, raise your hand if you can do the same for Weller. Exactly.
Weller also attacked Freddie Mercury, Sting, Bono, and Bob Geldorf. Good job attacking Mercury, Weller. Malign a dead man. Next on his list of dead influential artists to disparage: Joe Strummer, Ian Curtis, Joey Ramone, and Kurt Cobain.
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An online acquaintance asked an interesting question today - what Bowie song would I like to see Peter Murphy cover? The first song that popped into my head was “We Prick You.” This is a creepy song from a dark and imposing album (not to mention my all-time favorite album). Peter’s “cavernous baritone” would be perfect to make the song even darker. In fact, it should really be covered by Bauhaus rather than just Peter. It’s not something I would necessarily like to see on an upcoming album, but it would be a great impromptu cover at a live show. Not that Bowie’s version isn’t outstanding, because it is. Just a random thought…..
This is an essay/rant from the original CrackedActor that Michael and I ran in my college days. I have edited it slightly, but the original message is there.
Anyone ever noticed that there are two Bowie songs that read very much like a fairy tale? The two songs that I am referring to are Glass Spider and Wild-eyed Boy from Freecloud. However, these two songs have absolutely nothing in common except for the fact that, in my less than humble opinion, they sound like fairytales. The main difference is that Wild-eyed Boy from Freecloud is a great song and Glass Spider is just plain tedious. Nevertheless, the two are definitely fairy tales.
Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud is simply a great song. The first time I heard it, it seemed to be a Grimm Brothers fairytale set to Bowie. Compare the lyrics to the basic layout of a Grimm’s story. In the Grimm’s fairytales, there were always the characters that children could empathize with, a terrifying villain, and a tragic ending. Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud has all of that. The character is obviously the Wild-Eyed boy himself. At the time Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud was written there was a bohemian movement in England. Naturally, the Wild-eyed Boy was the representation of the bohemians in Bowie’s song. He communes with nature, symbolized by the mountain Freecloud, much like the bohemians did and is described as “the missionary mystic of peace/loveâ€, which is exactly what the bohemians aspired to be. The terrifying villain is, of course, the village Dreadful which is trying to kill the peaceful Wild-Eyed Boy. And last, but most certainly not least, we have the tragic ending. The Wild-Eyed Boy is hung by the village Dreadful, which gives us our “Grimm†ending. **Sidenote: I love the way that Bowie’s voice cracks at the very end of the song. I wonder if he did that on purpose or if it was an artistic accident?**
On the other hand you have Glass Spider. I have one word to say about this song…ugh. Actually, I have many more words than that. If you like this song, then don’t read the following. To me, Glass Spider sounds like a fairytale on crack. It hurts me to listen to it. For example….
Up until one century ago there lived,
In the Zi Duang province of eastern country
A glass-like spider
Having devoured its prey it would drape the skeletons over its web
In weeks creating a macabre
Shrine of remains
This is not a song. It is a fairy tale written by someone on bad drugs and muddy coffee. I can practically see Bowie killing the traditional “Once upon a time†with that first line there. And the word “macabre†is not a word that should be used in an eighties pop song, especially one that a spectacular tour will later be based on.
Its web was also unique in that it had many layers
Like floors in a building
At the top of this palace-like place, assembled with almost apparent Care…
When the breeze blew thru this construction
“Constructionâ€?? “Unique in thatâ€??? “Apparent careâ€???? That’s as bad as Madonna using the word “bourgeoisie” in Music. Please.
Oh-The Glass Spider had blue eyes almost like-a human’s.
Oh? OH???? What, did he forget to add that part in the song and sing it in the recording studio at the last minute? The spoken part of this song bugs me. It seems like a fairytale mutilated with a butter knife held in a hand that is all thumbs. Okay, enough ranting. I can’t stay mad at Bowie. Even his crap is better than most artists’ best work. In my own fairytale, the Wild-eyed Boy lives and steps on the Glass Spider.
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