Major Tom 24.05.2009 14:34 |
As I got drunk yesterday I sat down and listened to one of my absolute favs of all time, David Bowie. He's done it all really. RnR, pop, electro-(shit)(only David can get away with that), and most important, he's written many, many fricking awsome songs. My question, as you might have guessed: Where is David Bowie? I've asked this before both here on QZ and on nomerous websites but with no luck. Don't really expect to get a solid, non-cynical, bullying answer here on MoanZone, but hell, I give it a try :D He's obviously a very private guy since I can not find much info about what's he been up to for a couple of years. Maybe he's retired and I've missed that statement. But what I wouldn't do to see him live...I'd offer five random toes for sure! |
Yara 24.05.2009 22:29 |
Hello, Henke, How are you? :op (throat itching... lol) Last time I heard anything from him was on actress Scarlett Johanson's album - I didn't like the album, but I love her as an actress - which is a kind of tribute to Tom Waits. He does some vocals there, but that's it. He's featured some time ago in a movie I liked a lot, called the "Prestige", with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackmann - he plays the role of "Tesla", one of the great innovators of the 19th Century alongside Thomas Edison, who also made its way into the movie, though I don't remember the actor who played him. It's an interesting movie, really, it's worth watching. Anyway, I saw a recent interview in which he says he's got a very little daughter, his last marriage being quite recent, and I tend to think he's taking more care of his private life now. He seemed to be happy with the marriage and the daughter, at least. He's such a great artist and I think I like all his albums, even the trash stuff like Absolute Beginners or Dancing in the Streets. lol A fond memory I have of him is from the Reality Tour. One of Bowie's main qualities was detecting talents and getting them to play with him - the wonderful, really wonderful bassist and singer Gail Ann Dorsey was a treat to me. I must say that Bowie and her managed to make Under Pressure happen as a song - that is, live. It's the first time, to my mind, the song really worked. And it's in great part thanks to her - I know many people like Queen's live versions - I'm not that fond of them - but it was a delight to see the song finally being played to its fullest potential. I don't know where this giant of music is, but something tells me that we won't hear much from him anymore, he talks as if he were this family man really wanting to stop doing albums and tours. He's about 60, I guess, after all. Though it'd still be great to see him work as producer, arranger or in partnerships. Great thread as always, Henke! I loved the Black Sabbath, ops, Heaven and Hell album and I managed to find a live version of Megalomania in Youtube - it runs for more than 9 minutes, I guess - from 1975. It's just amazing, I love that sound. :op Thank you for your great threads and may your week be a great one! Yara |
Jjeroen 25.05.2009 04:32 |
In case you missed the news back then: halfway through the second leg of the Reality-tour, Bowie had a heart attack (on stage - at first they told us that it was a nerve in his neck that got stuck, later on it was revealed that it was a heart-attack.) Officially, Bowie got to hear from his doctors that he is not allowed/capable to tour anymore. Ever. (Wether this also means that he will never do single, or only a few, shows is not clear.) He did get on a stage a couple of times since then though: he did two songs with David Gilmour, did a song or two with Secret Machines and he performed a song with Kashmir. He also, as mentioned above, contributed minor vocal performances to other artist;s records (Scarlet, Kashmir, TV on the radio) Then, he also did some cameo's and small parts in a couple of movies (The Prestige, Spongebob). What is worrying though, is that indeed he has done absolutely NOTHING since then when it comes to making music. Not a single song, not even a hint to that he might be writing or intends to do some music in the future. Yes, he did turn family-man and yes he indeed said he wanted to spend as much quality time as possible with his children and Iman... but 6 years of total inactivity for someone who was being very creative again the last years, is odd... And the time has come that I as a huge fan, am also getting worried about not hearing any music from him anymore. There has never been an official announcement of any kind of 'retirement'. And I just can't understand it - the man was full of inspiration round the time he got struck, and also, I can not imagine that an artist with such a legacy would allow himself to 'go out' with such a thing as what happened in 2003. I'm sure he must feel that at least he needs to make one more album, to properly finish off his carreer as a musical artist. |
Major Tom 25.05.2009 13:10 |
Lovely, lovely Yara. I always go through your posts with a smile. Such a wonderful attitude towards everything. Thank you for your kindness! It is much appreciated. :) I'm glad you liked the old sabbaths! Yes I heared about his heart-condition. To bad, he looks so "fresh", at least at the Reality DVD. And regarding "Prestige"...I absolutly LOVE that movie. He plays Nikola Tesla with such ease, he could very well gotten huge as a actor aswell. I really like the kids movie Labyrinth, but let's be honest, the role of Jared the goblinking doesn't demand serious actor-skills :P. I really haven't seen that much of "his" x-files kinda series wich he produced(?) and played maincharacter in. Anybody remembers that one? Well, I hope your happy wherever you are David Bowie. I wish you the best of luck and a long healthy life toghether with your stunning wife! Take care! /Henke |
Yara 25.05.2009 22:26 |
Hi there, Henke! Thanks a lot for the kind words! I hope you have a excelent day. And let's hope we get to hear more from David Bowie. I have a very old DVD, the sound of it is very low, of the Glass Spider Tour - I love this show - I don't know where the concert featured in the DVD was recorded, I think it was Australia, but I'm not sure. It's such a pity my copy, which is original and all, is so bad - the image is ok, but the sound, although clear, is way too low. Reading this thread, I felt like watching it again and am definitely going to do it once I go home in the weekend. I love the concert. That huge spider encompassing the whole stage. Carlos Alomar plays the guitar, I think, and there plenty of dancers and other artists. Best of all, the setlist: there are truly superb versions of "Fashion", "Fame" and "Modern Love" - the sax on the last one is tremendous. There's an exciting performance of Lou's (Velvet's) "White Light White Heat" with a guest guitarist whose name I don't remember - he had long, dark hairs, and his soloing in this song is a killer! I love both the introduction to - "Real friends don't walk over real friends", or something like this :op, and the performance of "Absolute Beginners" in this concert. Then there's "Rebel Rebel", "Let's Dance", "Young Americans", many great songs. Have you seen this one? It's such a joy. There must be a better version out there already, but I never managed to find it here, neither in CD nor in DVD. It's def. worth having! Thanks a lot for the thread, Henke, it was a delight to remember all this, and thanks also to Jjeroen for contributing to the thread with her knowledge. Regards, Yara |
Jjeroen 26.05.2009 04:50 |
Yara wrote: Hi there, Henke! Thanks a lot for the kind words! I hope you have a excelent day. And let's hope we get to hear more from David Bowie. I have a very old DVD, the sound of it is very low, of the Glass Spider Tour - I love this show - I don't know where the concert featured in the DVD was recorded, I think it was Australia, but I'm not sure. It's such a pity my copy, which is original and all, is so bad - the image is ok, but the sound, although clear, is way too low. Reading this thread, I felt like watching it again and am definitely going to do it once I go home in the weekend. I love the concert. That huge spider encompassing the whole stage. Carlos Alomar plays the guitar, I think, and there plenty of dancers and other artists. Best of all, the setlist: there are truly superb versions of "Fashion", "Fame" and "Modern Love" - the sax on the last one is tremendous. There's an exciting performance of Lou's (Velvet's) "White Light White Heat" with a guest guitarist whose name I don't remember - he had long, dark hairs, and his soloing in this song is a killer! I love both the introduction to - "Real friends don't walk over real friends", or something like this :op, and the performance of "Absolute Beginners" in this concert. Then there's "Rebel Rebel", "Let's Dance", "Young Americans", many great songs. Have you seen this one? It's such a joy. There must be a better version out there already, but I never managed to find it here, neither in CD nor in DVD. It's def. worth having! Thanks a lot for the thread, Henke, it was a delight to remember all this, and thanks also to Jjeroen for contributing to the thread with her knowledge. Regards, Yara Hi Yara - my pleasure (and I'm a 'he', btw, lol - but in a topic about Bowie it's al fine with me ;-)) Some more knowledge here for you: the concert you mention, Glass Spider, indeed in Australia, is officially released on DVD and a DVD/cd package! (Make sure you get the official EMI one - there is some semi-officials and bootlegs out there as well) To be honest: after Queen, Bowie has always been my favourite artist, but this period in his carreer, I can not stand... ;-) I LOVE everything he did in the seventies up to Scary Monsters (favourites: HUnky Dory (!!!), Station to Station (!!), Diamonddogs, Low) . Then Let's Dance, had it's qualities in his own right, though it will never be my artistic favourite. The two records he made after that in the 80's (Tonight and Never Let Me Down, I find some of the most horrible records ever made...) Unfortunately for my taste, he translated the 80's pop sound to the stage as well... I do understand though that people like this, it's just not my cup of tea. On the other hand, I'm one of the few fans that totally loves what he did after that: Tin Machine! I was less impressed with Black Tie White Noise (also matter of taste btw) and Buddah of Suburbia. But from 1.Outside onwards, I again like everything he did as much as I love his seventies stuff. To Major Tom: YES, I agree that Bowie is a fine actor as well. One of the few musicians that actually CAN act for real! Big fan here of The Man Who Fell To Earth (Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and Basquiat deserve to mentioned as well) - and I even have to say that Bowie's part (only one scene) in Zoolander made that whole questionable movie worth watching. He's brilliant in that one! With his 'x-files' thing, I assume you mean the The Hunger series - Bowie appeared in every episode of one season, as the 'storyteller'. You see him the first few minutes of every episode, introducing the story. Cheers! |
Micrówave 27.05.2009 12:08 |
Dave's not here. |