Those wondering when we might catch a glimpse of Moon (the debut film directed by David Bowie's son Duncan Jones starring Sam Rockwell), there is now a theatrical release date for Australia - 03 September 2009.

From the ABC archives, Richard Kingsmill:

''On February 11, 1997, I spoke for over half an hour to one of music's true legends.

That was the year he released his drum and bass inspired album Earthling.

The conversation felt so natural the whole way through, I had to remind myself I was speaking to Bowie.

Here it is from start to finish (minus my first words which were 'Hi, how are you...')''.

LINK

On Friday May 29 as night fell on Sydney and the Opera House sails were lit in a vibrant display, curator BRIAN ENO took the stage of the Opera Theatre.

A long time collaborator of David Bowie and co-writer of the song "Heroes", Eno's keynote address soon turned intriguing when he began presenting such items as screwdrivers (shown on an overhead projector) in explaining an axis between function and style.

The following two nights, Eno's highest music recommendation Battles took to the same stage with awe inspiring shows. During these shows, Brian observed from a seat in the audience. On Monday, French-Algerian musician, Rachid Taha had the same honour ... but this time, it was clear there would be no sitting in seats for the audience or Brian Eno. This is how the events unfolded ....



In total, Brian Eno danced and sang back up vocals for nearly half the concert. Many Thanks to Svetlana who was standing beside us taking the above pictures.

The Brian Eno curated Luminous Festival continues over the following week before culminating in the finale Scenius on Sunday June 14.

Those among you that are following the Sydney Luminous e-newsletters may have seen a question about who exactly should curate next year's festival.

It must come with no debate that David Bowie should be high on the priority list. Since 2000, Bowie has currated two major festivals - Meltdown in London (2002) and Highline in New York (2007).

Check out the comments section of this page. Fingers firmly crossed!

New Zealand Bowie fan Bodacea1 and documentary maker Sam Coley have created slide files for Sam's brilliant 1983 David Bowie radio docos. Enjoy:

Down Under The Moonlight:



Frank Simms on Steve Ray Vaughan:



Frank Simms on Let's Dance:



Frank Simms Interview (Part 2):



Bowie's Waiata Radio Documentary (Part 1):



Bowie's Waiata Radio Doco (Part 2):



Bowie's Waiata Radio Doco (Part 3):



Discuss this topic at Bowie Downunder

As part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival....

In 2006, it was Bob Dylan; in 2007, They Might Be Giants got a guernsey; in 2008, Prince was the one. But at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre benefit in 2009, there's a host of people to meet: Aladdin Sane, the Goblin King, Ziggy Stardust, the Thin White Duke, the Jean Genie...

Yes, this year, for one night only, Casey Bennetto and Scott Edgar bring together festival artists and musicians from everywhere to pay tribute to the great David Bowie in a riotous extravaganza.

If you say run, they'll run with you – but get your ticket early, or the planet Earth will be blue, and there'll be nothing you can do.

Proceeds go to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

RSVP your attendance on our facebook page for this event.

David Bowie's VH1 Storytellers is being released for the first time on CD, DVD and digital audio.

Now 10 years old, Storytellers was a quality concert in which Bowie provided insights into his songs and their stories. An extra appeal of the DVD is the appearance of tracks not originally seen/heard when it aired overseas.

There is no word yet on a local release (if you know, email me) but the international release date has been given as July 6. More details here on Bowienet.

''I was invited to do a two week festival at Sydney Opera House which is hard to turn down as it's one of the great buildings in the world.

I've never been to Australia before. I've always wanted to go there - but I've always wanted to have a reason for going''

~ Brian Eno, 2009

David Bowie collaborator and musical innovator Brian Eno will curate the first ever Luminous Festival.

Claimed to be the largest of it's kind in the Southern Hemisphere, the festival opens in Sydney on May 26 and runs for 3 weeks.

In addition to a range of music acts, there will be special lighting installations that include Eno's 77 Million Paintings and a new project that involves lighting the Sydney Opera House Sails.

For Brian Eno - a key collaborator on some of Bowie's greatest and most experimental albums (Low, Lodger, Heroes and Outside) - this will mark his first ever visit to Australia.

Tickets to the following events are already on sale (more international and local acts are still to be announced in the coming weeks). These all take place at various theatres inside Sydney Opera House.

Click on the artist for tickets and info:

''One of the things I've been interested for a long time is replacing the word 'genius' with the word 'scenius' which is a word I made up.

Genius is often taken to mean the special intelligence of one person where as what I think more often happens is you get fertile scenes - which is the cumulative intelligence of a lot of people that give rise to great new ideas.

So what Sydney offered was the chance to create a scene of some kind. ''

~ Brian Eno, 2009


More info at the Luminous Sydney website.

Many of you will recall American-born Australian talk show host Don Lane.

Back in 1983 - on the very last episode of his successful show - Lane had a significant career moment when David Bowie made an impromptu appearance.

The show took place at the now heritage listed GTV9 studios in Bendigo Street, Richmond. Bowie - at the height of his fame and in Australia for the Serious Moonlight Tour - received a roof raising applause as he entered the studio.

Considered one of the show's all time highlights, the appearance is at least partially recalled on The Best of The Don Lane Show (1994) DVD.

Now from the archives of youtube ..... heeeere's Don .....



Discuss this topic at Bowie Downunder

Several years ago, Melbourne's BEAT newspaper had an amusing regular column called 'The Disturbing Bowie'.

Check out a few of them here.

As fans endure by far the longest wait between Bowie albums, tours and public appearances, Australian music website Undercover is among several reporting rumours of a Bowie comeback in the making:

JAN 21: Bowie Working on New Album in Berlin

JAN 24: Bowie to Reactivate Ziggy Stardust in 2009

EDIT: As somewhat expected, both rumours denied.

A second screening of Labyrinth for the 2009 season will take place in February.

If you intend to join in the fun in the open air above Swanston Street, join our facebook page for this event.

Last week's archival Bowie interview (televised on RAGE) is now on youtube.

The interview took place on the shores of Sydney Harbour with Molly Meldrum in early 1983.

Around this time, Bowie was in Australia filming his music videos - prior to the release of Let's Dance and the start of the Serious Moonlight Tour which made it here in November of that year.

Also around the same time, Bowie saw The Psychedlic Furs as reported and photographed here by Bruce Butler and Fiona Hamilton.

Watch out for some Bowie late this Saturday evening 17th January.

After midnight - in fact some time after 2 AM - ABC TV's RAGE will play a play a Bowie special from Rock Arena (November 15, 1983) followed by some clips such as 'Changes', 'Wild is the Wind', 'Life on Mars' and 'Jazzin For Blue Jean'.

Thank you Harry for the info.

For a person that was so hotly tipped to follow David Bowie's footsteps, it always seemed unusual that his son Duncan Jones seemingly never picked up a guitar.

Having reached his late 20s and then his early 30s, it seemed the boy originally known as Zowie Bowie (and for which the song KOOKS was written) was preparing for something outside the public eye altogether.

Now at 37, the story offers another twist.

Since at least 1978, David Bowie has been claiming that the main reason for his own (fairly notable) acting career was really a desire to become a director.

It therefore comes as a significant news that later this month, Duncan and not David will have his major directorial film debut.

The movie - actually a science fiction thriller - includes popular actors such as Sam Rockwell and Kevin Spacey and its being met with some anticipation.

Already drawing comparisons to 2001: A Space Odyssey, it will be interesting to see the reaction when Moon begins screening at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23.

IMDB's movie synopsis here.

The very first clips from Moon were released today:

Bernard Yin from Los Angeles' unsurpassable Amoeba Records has contacted me as follows:

On this day in 1947 when Elvis Presley turned twelve, it is known that a clock tower in South London literally refused to strike the number.

What happened was freezing conditions in England's capital had caused the Lambeth Town Hall clock to malfunction and gong no less than thirteen times at midnight .

But the really strange thing is this - less than half a mile from that clock on the very same day, England's answer to the king of rock was born in a suburban household.

...a plot from a sci fi or a well known religious text? Nope, it's The Story of David Bowie.

A couple of years later when George Orwell published his novel 1984, he opened with a line that has become among the most famous in English literature....

"It was a bright cold day ... and the clocks were striking thirteen."

As for the two Future Legends that share a common birthday, if only one went on to be labeled 'The King' then perhaps time has been telling us otherwise.

As the thirteen hour clock in Labyrinth would suggest ... things are not always as they seem.

Or as the 1970s First Encyclopedia of Pop suggested - Elvis: the greaser with dirty songs and no future or Bowie: the disturbing new King of Rock.

In the meantime ...
Happy Birthday 'King' Bowie!

JB Hifi currently has a David Bowie specific sale. Check out their online Bowie bargains here and their wider range of music bargains here. Titles include:

To make things potentially cheaper again, until Sunday they have additional 20% off every CD and DVD in store.

Ken West - the organiser of The Big Day Out - has confirmed a long standing rumour that David Bowie was once a contender for Australia's most popular music festival.

Speaking with the New Zealand Herald, West said that Bowie's management inquired about a Big Day Out appearance in the late 1990s but organisers decided the set he planned to perform wasn't suitable.

"And then he went and did Glastonbury and got booed because all he did was obscure material from the new album that he wanted to test drive and use the festival like a rehearsal room. You don't do that to a hundred thousand people."

Interesting information although exactly how West thought that Bowie was in any way poorly received at Glastonbury or played a set of all obscurities is anyone's guess. I can only presume he has his wires crossed with an earlier performance when Bowie maintained more of a non-hits policy (ie. 1995-97).