Close your eyes and imagine a world where David Bowie turned down the role of Jareth in Labyrinth. Millions of little girls won’t have their eyes opened to the wonderful world of the male area by Bowie’s tights. Millions of little boys won’t look down at themselves and think, “Am I going to look like that in tight pants when I grow up?” Even more little boys won’t discover that girls aren’t that hot anyway, they’d much rather have what is dancing around onscreen. Labyrinth fanfic sites will never come into being and make gutter-minded Bowie fans blush, giggle, and pick up their jaws off the ground. Global warming will have come and gone and the world will be covered in gigantic glaciers, sleeping through an ice age. Well, that is apparently the world that Graeme Thompson from The Observer wants for us all to live in – a world where Bowie never donned the Jareth tights and hair extensions. Maybe it was a diversion from Bowie’s previous stage personas, but Mr. Thompson does not take into consideration that Bowie was absolutely perfect for the movie and the movie perfect for him. Without him, the movie would have gone the way of Gigli. Mr. Thompson I hope you never obtain a Time Machine. You will make the world a colder, darker, more boring place.
Posted in Opinions | Comments Off on A World Without Bowie As Jareth?!A few notable Bowie covers have popped up in the news recently and are worth a mention here. The first is by new band The Last Of The Shadow Puppets, a union of Artic Monkeys singer Alex Turner and Miles Kane’s of The Rascals. Their first album, The Age Of Understatement, will feature their take on In The Heat Of The Morning, one of Bowie’s best early recordings if you ask me, that is actually a 40 year old song as of this year. It’s a unique selection for a cover so it should make an interesting listen. The album hits stores April 21st.
Next, Tulsa act Radio Radio has been covering I’m Afraid of Americans in concerts. Many of the Radio Radio songs I’ve heard have a strong bass line, so the choice is well suited for their style. LiveDaily.com gave the song a rave review, suggesting their version rivals Bowie’s own interpretation, if that is somehow possible (hehe). The tune is not included on their debut album so I’m working on tracking it down elsewhere. Americans has been reworked before by Trent Renzor, a band called “Q,” and most recently by Fashion Bomb on the unfairly-titled cover compilation, 2. Contamination.
Life on Mars has also been given the cover treatment by jazz trio The Bad Plus. Earlier this month they did a recorded show at the Linda Norris Auditorium in Albany, NY, and their performance of the song caught the attention of reviewer David Singer who wrote:
They followed with a roaring version of David Bowie’s “Life On Mars,” which had its unrecognizable but vicious Bad-Plus moments. As always, they either crept back into the tune or explosively broke free to rejoin the Bowie song.
Their rendition can be heard on their last album, Prog.
To hear a wide range of other Bowie covers, open up the player at the BowieZone.net and choose the “Bowie Covers” playlist.
Posted in News | Comments Off on Thoroughly CoveredBack in February we reported a rumor that Bowie may be cast in the upcoming movie “Will” starring Lisa Kudrow and Liam Aiken. According to Bowienet today, he will indeed have a part in “Will” playing himself. While the movie will be a musical dramedy, Bowie has described his screentime as being “a ten second scene of absolute silence.” Ah well. You know that’s still enough involvement to get us fans out to see it. Expect a link to an exclusive shot of the original cracked actor sometime in the near future.
…You can now fill in those days where you have to wear *gasp* non-Bowie t-shirts with a brand spankin’ new shirt. Funny t-shirt site TeesMyBody now has a new David Bowie in Space shirt. The front of the shirt shows a cartoonish illustration of Aladdin Sane floating away from his spaceship in a spacesuit. I totally WANT one!
Posted in More To Own | Comments Off on In Case You Don’t Have A Bowie Shirt For Every Day of the Year…God bless The Jim Henson Company. They’ve just released Labyrinth for download on iTunes. Boys and girls, if you’ve not already got a copy of Labyrinth then now is the time to buy it. Don’t let another night go by where you have not experienced the awesomeness of Labyrinth. Oh yeah, the Dark Crystal is also available for download. I’ve actually never seen that one. Guess it’s about time.
Posted in More To Own, Movies, News | 2 Comments »This weekend the Amherst Ballet will be performing it’s seasonal show “Dance Diversity: A Collage of Works.” The third part of the performance is a piece choreographed and performed to “Space Oddity.” University of Massachusetts faculty member Jenny Bennett-Mansur choreographed the work and showcased it at Northampton’s First Night. The dance s described as a “very unique contemporary piece” by Ethan Schweitzer-Gaslin, one of the dancers who will be performing it. Man, I’d lvoe to see some video of the performance. Maybe some proud parent will record it and stick it on YouTube.
Posted in News | 1 Comment »What Bowie song is the obvious choice to appear on the soundtrack for the TV show “Heroes”? Why, “Heroes” of course! Knocked me over with a damned feather. Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop have some songs on the album as well. I’m so bored by this bit of news I can’t be bothered to write more about it.
Posted in More To Own, News | Comments Off on Another Day, Another CompilationOn their new album Women As Lovers, Xiu Xiu recorded an excellent cover of Under Pressure. The song featured Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy singing Freddie Mercury’s vocals and Michael Gira singing Bowie’s vocals. As always, Stewart delivers an intense vocal performance. If you are ever curious to hear a verbal demonstration of the word “saudade”, Stewart’s vocals are it. They define it. Good thing they’re so distinct too, because Michael Gira’s vocals were a bit bland. When I first heard the song I was actually a bit disappointed with his vocal performance. I’ve never heard him sing before, but I got the feeling that he may have phoned it in with this song. Upon further listens, however, I started to wonder if his performance was intentionally flat to contrast with the soaring intensity of Stewart’s. I’m still undecided. Overall, the cover was brilliant, though. Xiu Xiu is one of those rare bands that can force harmony and discord into the same song and still produce a work that is completely listenable. Not only do I recommend this song, but I recommend the whole album. And if you’re new to Xiu Xiu, get the previous album The Air Force while you’re buying Women As Lovers.
Posted in More To Own, News | 2 Comments »