Tag Archives: David Bowie

Single review – David Bowie – Where Are We Now

Posted on Friday, 25th January 2013 | 10 Comments

As you all probably know by now, David Bowie released his first single, ‘Where Are We Now’, after ten years.  I’ve read a lot of criticism, some good, some bad, and wanted to post my own opinion to share with others.

One of the most common criticisms I’ve read in regards to Bowie,  is that he has never done anything truly original. That to me, is simply, a bunch of bollocks.  Every performer is influenced and inspired by someone else. Inspiration is the key to creation, but what you do with those influences is what matters.  Do you become a clone imitating your idol, with nothing new to say,  or do you take that influence and inspiration, and present it in a new way?

If he were just a talentless copy-cat, would he be Bowie? Of course not. Do not forget, this was the man who dared to shock UK audiences back in the day, when he gave the world Ziggy Stardust.

Time passes, fashions change. How silly would David Bowie look now, at the age of 66, if he was still trying to be Ziggy or even the Thin White Duke?

‘Where Are We Now’ is a melancholic, bittersweet view to his past.  It shows us an older Bowie, but one, whose voice, still sings in that iconic crooner’s voice we know so well. The one imitated by so many.  Would  Suede, who’ve also released a new single after ten years, exist, if it wasn’t for Bowie? Just listen to Brett Anderson’s voice, for the answer to that.

The biggest wrong we, as an audience, can do to an artist, is to typecast them, expecting them to create the same type of music they became iconic for, over and over, as if they’re a one-trick pony.  All artists grow and change, we as an audience, deserve to give them that chance.

If you haven’t heard the song, have a listen, I personally love it…

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Posted in Music, Music Releases, Reviews, Rock Music

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A Musical Journey – 1997

Posted on Tuesday, 8th May 2012 | 4 Comments

My choice for 1997, is a track from an album you may, or may not be familiar with, though the artist is certainly someone you will know: David Bowie

Earthling, released in February 1997,  features strong Prodigy and Underworld influences.  As always, Bowie is able to take an influence and synthesise it to make it his own, much like he did with Young Americans or Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

The one track you may know is the Trent Reznor remix of ‘I’m Afraid of Americans’,  however, the track I’ve chosen, is ‘Dead Man Walking’ which I often played on my MP3 player and will forever associate with the writing of Julian’s novel.  No pun on the title, Julian isn’t dead or undead ;-)

Dead Man Walking.

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London’s Lost Rock Venues – The Marquee Club

Posted on Monday, 7th May 2012 | 11 Comments

90 Wardour Street in 2012

They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell

London is a city steeped in history,  in spite of that, it appears as if the city’s modern musical history is not worth preserving, since we’ve lost many legendary rock venues and with them, all the history they were a part of.

This lack of concern for the preservation of rock history  is something I find puzzling, since the UK is known for its many legendary musicians throughout the world. Considering the success of musicals such as We Will Rock You, currently playing at the Dominion Theatre, located only minutes away from Soho, one would think more would’ve been done to ensure London’s rock history was preserved for future generations.

A walk around Soho now, leaves one wishing for a time machine. 90 Wardour Street marks the location of the once legendary Marquee Club with a plaque telling visitors Keith Moon played there.

30 years of rock history reduced to this?

However, it wasn’t just The Who who played there,  but many legendary rock musicians.  Amongst them: The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie to name but a few.

The Marquee club opened its doors in April 1958 at 165 Oxford Street and soon became known for its jazz and rhythm & blues scene.  In March 1964, the club relocated to its legendary Soho location at Wardour Street, becoming the place for emerging bands to play in. The club’s popularity continued into the 70′s and 80′s with bands like the Clash, the Cure, the Damned, Joy Division, the Police and the Sex Pistols playing there.

A bit of trivia that I found personally very interesting:  Bauhaus played there  once, in November 1979, something I had no idea about as it is not mentioned in any of the books I’ve read about them.

The end of the Marquee came in 1988, after the facade of the building was found to have suffered structural damage, caused by the years of vibrations from the thousands of watts the venue had experienced. Considering the vast age of many buildings around London, I cannot help but wonder if something could have been done to save the venue from demolition. Sadly, this was not to be, and the club closed its doors on the 18th of July, 1988, but all was not lost.

The club relocated yet again, this time to 105-107 Charing Cross Road, and there, it remained until 1995.  Since then, the club has resurfaced in a variety of locations and guises, though none have lasted long.

Will the Marquee be reborn yet again?

There is a promising announcement on the official website announcing a new TV series entitled ‘Live From The Marquee’, meant to have gone into development this past March, but there are no further updates.

If anyone who happens to stumble upon this post, was lucky enough to visit the club at any of its locations, but particularly at its Wardour location, I’d love to hear your memories.  I never had the good fortune of visiting it myself.

If you would like to know more about the Marquee’s legendary history, be sure to visit the excellent archive website ran by Koldo Barroso here which has a lot more historic information, as well as a list of gigs from 1958 to 1988. To rock history buffs, such as myself, this is priceless information.  Sadly, due to time constraints, the website is no longer being updated, but don’t let that deter your from paying it a visit, it is worth a look.

***

Stay tuned for a future post about the London Astoria, another lost venue that is no more, where I saw The Damned perform in 1998.

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Starman – A review and homage to a unique artist.

Posted on Wednesday, 2nd May 2012 | 13 Comments

On one of my many walks through Soho last week, I stumbled upon a bookshop and went in. I was seeking something, though exactly what, I wasn’t sure until I saw the cover and the book’s title, named after a song I remember hearing as a kid so many times.  Starman by Paul Trynka is not the first Bowie biography, and I doubt it will be the last, but it’s the first one I’ve ever read about him.

Personally speaking, I knew I was on the right track the day I realised one of Bowie’s iconic songs included the surname of the persona Julian adopts. On a novel footnote, Julian’s persona is a conglomerate of many rockstars,  but of course, one is unable to write a novel set in the world of rock music without being inspired by Bowie, the ultimate rock ‘n’ roll shape-shifter.

The biography is a gripping read, from start to finish. To someone like me, who only knew bits here and there, it paints a much larger picture, giving you insight as to how and why he became an icon but it also showed me another side. His many failures before Ziggy.

I had no idea how many times Bowie failed to achieve what he had set out to do. Each time,  he started again. He had an almost otherworldly sense of his destiny or maybe,  he was more confident that most. Whatever the reason, the man never gave up. He also became a sponge, absorbing many different influences. Varied genres of music. Art. Theatre. Dancing.  He was not one-dimensional and I think that is key to his success.

There’s also  mention of the moment his features were transformed, during a fight with his best friend George Underwood, who punched him over a girl. Whilst the experience was a harrowing one (he needed several operations), the unfortunate event gave his already unconventional looks an additional quirk.

Striking, described as ‘this fey, elfin creature’ by his then girlfriend Hermione. Bowie tried several looks, until he finally came up with something nobody had seen before. The iconic moment when he and his band performed in a Top of The Pops 1972  show is wonderful to read, and makes one long for being one of the lucky ones who were there to witness it.  Like Beatlemania, this was the moment where rock history changed forever.

For someone like me, who was called names by other kids in my neighbourhood for riding my bicycle dressed all in black, in 1976,  (in a Catholic country where black was only worn at funerals)  Ziggy and others, like Freddie Mercury, with their electric flamboyance, made us feel like it was okay to be different.

Ziggy continues to be a great inspiration to me, even to this day, and thus, when doing research for my novel, I find no better artist to research than the amazing, iconic, ever-changing Bowie.

Here to those who may have never seen it, it the 1972 Top of the Pops perfomance, I speak of.

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Mick Ronson – A tribute

Posted on Sunday, 29th April 2012 | 9 Comments

If you’re a fan of David Bowie. You will also be familiar with the name of Mick Ronson, a talented musician who became an integral part in the success of Bowie’s  Ziggy Stardust album, where he provided string arrangements and other instrumentation, as well as lead guitar.

Nineteen years ago, on the 29th April 1993,  Mick passed away from liver cancer. He was only 46. I wanted to pay him homage, for he deserves to be remembered.

After Bowie, he went on to record two solo albums and worked with Ian Hunter and Bob Dylan. In 1992, he produced Morrissey’s Your Arsenal solo album.

In an 1994 interview, Bowie said this about him: ‘Mick was the perfect foil for the Ziggy character. He was very much a salt-of-the-earth type, the blunt northerner with a defiantly masculine personality, so that what you got was the old-fashioned Yin and Yang thing. As a rock duo, I thought we were every bit as good as Mick and Keith or Axl and Slash. Ziggy and Mick were the personification of that rock n roll dualism.’

His work can be heard on Bowie’s The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Aladdin Sane, and Pin Ups. In 1993, he reunited with Bowie for the Black Tie White Noise album.

If you’ve stumbled upon this blog and want to know more about Mick Ronson, be sure to check his official website here.  Remember the man and his music.

A few videos below:

Moonage Daydream – Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars from 1973 at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. Featuring a mind-blowing solo from Mick.

Once Bitten Twice Shy – with Ian Hunter – 1975

I’d Give Anything to See You – Mick Ronson

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Ziggy Stardust – A Rock Pilgrimage in London

Posted on Saturday, 21st April 2012 | 8 Comments

When David Bowie adopted his rock persona of Ziggy Stardust in 1972, he changed rock history forever.  Since the idea of a musician adopting a persona is a pivotal theme to my story, I’ve been reading up on Bowie and that time in his life, which makes for a fascinating read.

If you are a fan, you will undoubtedly be familiar with the iconic cover of his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars which shows him at a London street, 23 Heddon Street to be exact. News of a plaque being erected there recently, made me want to visit the location so I could get a feel on things, and that is where I headed this afternoon.

A lot has changed since the time the photograph was taken. The street is full of restaurants and has an affluent feel to it. I wanted to photograph the famous phonebox as well, but the original is no longer there. There is a replacement, which could be seen around the corner, but it was located by the entrance of a restaurant so I did not dare to venture further. I will probably go another time when the restaurant isn’t open, or maybe I’ll order something and sit near it 8-)

You can access Heddon Street from two entrances off Regent Street. This street sign is the one across from HSBC.

(c) 2012 Alannah Murphy

The plaque is easy to find, right above the building number but it is kind of lost amongst the restaurants with people sitting there, oblivious to the iconic location.

(c) 2012 Alannah Murphy

The street is almost unrecognisable, with only the building in the background giving you a clue this is the correct location.

(c) 2012 Alannah Murphy

The doorway has also changed, the K West sign long gone, at least the bin with overflowing rubbish from a restaurant nearby helps to maintain the illusion this is still a run down area but the illusion doesn’t last long.

(c) 2012 Alannah Murphy

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Velvet Goldmine – A Glam Rock Fairy Tale

Posted on Sunday, 15th January 2012 | 12 Comments

Velvet Goldmine is one of those films I’d heard of many times, but had never seen until a few days ago. A while back, a friend suggested it to me, particularly since I am writing about a musician who adopts a rock persona. When another friend brought it up recently, I decided it was time to finally watch it and I’m so glad I did…

I knew this was going to be a meaningful film for me from the start. It begins with a fantasy sequence with a nod to  Oscar Wilde. Later on, Dorian Gray, Wilde’s greatest creation is also mentioned, as well as a direct quote from the novel that only those who have read the novel will recognise.

Add a charismatic powerful performance by a young Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who plays the role of Brian Slade with Bowiesque intensity and the earthy rock charisma of Ewan McGregor as Curt Wild and you’ve got an amazing rock film. Anyone who knows their rock music history will also realise the characters are based on David Bowie and Iggy Pop. I read somewhere that it is also a nod to the relationship the UK and US have musically, and how each country has taken musical inspiration from the other and turned it into something new.

The film has a surreal fairy tale feel to it,  it made me feel as if I was watching how myths are made. When it ended, I was convinced I’d seen a true story and couldn’t help but wonder where Brian and Curt are today and it left me with a peculiar sense of nostalgia.

There are some great glam rock tracks heard throughout, as well as brilliant original tracks, many sang by Jonathan and Ewan themselves. Needless to say, I’ve ordered the soundtrack of the film as well.

This has become one of my favourite films in a very short period.  I keep watching it over and over for there is something in the way the story is told that appeals. I suppose it’s great inspiration for my own novel, and Julian himself could have been a glam rock star if I had chosen my novel to be set in the 1970′s.

Two of my favourite original tracks below…

and the trailer:

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