David
Bowie Storytellers [album/dvd]
Live Santa
Monica ’72 [album]
“The
Storytellers series has been a
great success and would not be
complete without including David Bowie,
taking his place on stage to endorse the
fact that he is not just a brilliant singer-
songwriter but can also mesmerise an
audience as a raconteur...
”
DOING WHAT COMES NATURALLY, the gifted and wildly successful David Bowie comes
to Storytellers, bringing with him all the charisma and enchantment that
makes him a real star. This set includes one DVD and one CD and is a "don't
miss" for Bowie fans.
VH1 Storytellers began in 1996 with intimate television performances
by Ray Davies and Elvis Costello. Over the next few years many singer-songwriters
appeared on the show, performing in front of a live audience and relating stories
about their musical journeys and the background to their songs along with sharing
memories from the world of show business.
From Garth Brooks to Smashing Pumpkins, the list goes on. Many of the most memorable
acts were from British rock and David Bowie appeared on the show on 23 August,
1999.
Storytellers with David Bowie is a compelling vision, awash with anecdotes
as the star proves to be a brilliant raconteur. "The things I could tell you,"
he chuckles enigmatically, "you don't know the half of it." And I'm sure we
don't! David looks relaxed and casual and the DVD captures the 'live' feel wonderfully.
Some of the familiar golden oldies are there as the audience sings along to
the terrific Life On Mars? and Drive-In Saturday; the superbly
emotive Word On A Wing and compulsive Little China Girl. David's
personality shines through as he recounts his amusing first meeting with another
great star, Marc Bolan, teaming up with Iggy Pop in Berlin, his admiration for
Eartha Kitt and the hit song he wrote for Mott The Hoople, All The Young
Dudes. A fun and evocative musical venture with a personal touch.
With a nod to Sixties and Seventies civil rights activist Abbie Hoffman, David
reminds mankind that "If we move one grain of sand, the Earth is no longer exactly
the same". He also talks of his own darkest days in the Seventies.
David Bowie comes across as a lovely personality and as he sings If I'm Dreaming
My Life you will be glad to be dreaming it with him! A really great CD/DVD
set and if you are not already wowed by this first class entertainer it's a
good time to check him out.
Bill Flanagan, Executive Producer of the show, was delighted to include David
Bowie in the series. He says: "We were used to dealing with legendary musicians.
Still, landing David Bowie was more than a big booking. There's no way to say
this without being corny. It was an honour. Bowie has a unique place in rock
'n' roll. He is not only one of the most influential musicians of the era, he
does nothing unless he is fully committed. He never phones it in.
"Bowie's Storytellers was a unique theatrical event, a sort of off-Broadway
'Evening with the Artist' in which a great songwriter used bits and pieces from
his life and career to show us all the roads leading up to a single moment,
a complement to his current album but also a performance strong enough to stand
on its own: a compelling introduction to David Bowie for the uninitiated and
a fresh experience for the long time fan."
• David Bowie VH1 Storytellers CD/DVD
and Digital version will be released on 6 July (2009). Catalogue Number: 964
9092.
CD: 1 Life On Mars? | 2 Rebel Rebel (truncated) | 3 Thursday's
Child | 4 Can't Help Thinking About Me | 5 China Girl | 6
Seven | 7 Drive-in Saturday | 8 Word On A Wing.
DVD: 1 Life On Mars? | 2 Rebel Rebel (truncated) | 3 Thursday's
Child | 4 Can't Help Thinking About Me | 5 China Girl | 6
Seven | 7 Drive-in Saturday | 8 Word On A Wing.
Bonus Performances: 1 Survive | 2 I Can't Read | 3 Always
Crashing In The Same Car | 4 If I'm Dreaming My Life.
Digital Version: 1 Life On Mars? | 2 Rebel Rebel (truncated)
| 3 Thursday's Child | 4 Can't Help Thinking About Me | 5 China
Girl | 6 Seven | 7 Drive-in Saturday | 8 Word On A Wing.
Bonus Performances: 1 Survive | 2 I Can't Read | 3 Always
Crashing In The Same Car | 4 If I'm Dreaming My Life.
Check out davidbowie.com and
davidbowie.ultimatefanpage.com.
"Doing what comes naturally, the gifted and wildly successful David Bowie comes
to Storytellers, bringing with him all the charisma and enchantment that
makes him a real star" — Maggie Woods, MotorBar
“He’s
a magnificent showman;
he’s a distinctive singer and he’s Real —
even when he’s Ziggy Stardust!
We’re
talking, of course, about the
inimitable David Bowie and we’re
reviewing his latest, historic release:
David Bowie: Live Santa Monica ’72...
”
RECORDED AT SANTA MONICA CIVIC AUDITORIUM, Los Angeles, on 20 October 1972
during the first leg of the Ziggy Stardust US tour, David Bowie: Live Santa
Monica '72 will be officially released by EMI Marketing
on 30 June (2008).
Over the last 36 years, this historic recording has only been available occasionally
as a bootleg and, for many, ownership of this concert has been regarded as a
true test of a proper Bowie fan.
There is not much more I can add to his many accolades, but David Bowie —
or should I say Ziggy Stardust? — is always dynamite and his performance
at Santa Monica is no exception. Am I a fan? Absolutely! But who isn't?
This powerful, stimulating show allows more than 70 minutes of a glimpse into
the earliest nationwide live radio exposure granted David and the Spiders. At
the pinnacle of his creative genius, Bowie exposes his personality as more than
a liberal sprinkling of Stardust and he continues to glisten into the 21st Century.
Back in 1981, NME critics called the recording of Santa Monica '72 "…quite simply…
the performer's, and one of rock's, best ever bootlegs".
David Bowie says: "I can tell that I'm totally into being Ziggy by this stage
of our touring. It's no longer an act; I am him. This would be around the tenth
American show for us and you can hear that we are all pretty high on ourselves.
We train wreck a couple of things, I miss some words and sometimes you wouldn't
know that pianist Mike Garson was onstage with us; but overall I really treasure
this bootleg. Mick Ronson is at his blistering best."
A heart full of tracks are here, including the respected Life On Mars?;
Space Oddity; John, I'm Only Dancing and The Jean Genie.
David Bowie's interaction with his audience is great. During the show, David
Bowie tells them they are "terrific". Somebody yelled back: "So are you, David
— fourfold!" Oh, sorry — that was me...
• The David Bowie: Live Santa Monica '72
CD will initially be released as a limited edition with — for the first
time — special packaging featuring shots taken at the actual gig. The double
LP album set will be a numbered limited edition on 180-gram heavyweight vinyl.
David Bowie: Live Santa Monica '72 Limited Edition CD: catalogue number
BOWLIVE
201072 | Limited Edition Double Vinyl Album: Catalogue Number BOWLIVELP 201071
| Digital Format: Catalogue Number 583 2215. Released 30 June (2008) by EMI
Catalogue Marketing.
Tracklisting
1 Introduction (Live) | 2 Hang On To Yourself (Live) | 3 Ziggy
Stardust (Live) | 4 Changes (Live) | 5 The Supermen (Live)
| 6 Life On Mars? (Live) | 7 Five Years (Live) | 8 Space Oddity
(Live) | 9 Andy Warhol (Live) | 10 My Death (Live) | 11 The
Width Of A Circle
(Live) | 12 Queen Bitch (Live) | 13 Moonage Daydream (Live)
| 14 John, I'm Only Dancing (Live) | 15 Waiting For The Man (Live)
| 16 The Jean Genie (Live) | 17 Suffragette City (Live) | 18 Rock
'N' Roll Suicide (Live).
"There is not much more I can add to his many accolades, but David Bowie —
or Ziggy Stardust — is always dynamite; and his performance at Santa Monica
is no exception" — MotorBar
