MetaFilter posts tagged with DavidBowie

Not Afraid of Americans

spaltavian — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:14:30 -0800

David Bowie's response to his first American fan letter. In 1967, 14 year old Sandra Adams wrote a letter to Bowie. According to Bowie himself, this was his first bit of fan mail from the States. The response, though brief, is funny and sincere.

Synth Britannia

vronsky — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:27:35 -0800

Synth Britannia "Documentary following a generation of post-punk musicians who took the synthesiser from the experimental fringes to the centre of the pop stage. In the late 1970s, small pockets of electronic artists including the Human League, Daniel Miller and Cabaret Voltaire were inspired by Kraftwerk and JG Ballard and dreamt of the sound of the future against the backdrop of bleak, high-rise Britain."

Team, Meet Girls; Girls, Meet Team

Prospero — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 14:14:06 -0800

Psychologist Nick Troop has performed a "psycholyrical analysis" of David Bowie's 26 albums and used his findings, along with text analysis software Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, to write the "ideal" Bowie song (YT, 8:54; skip to 4:23 if you just want to hear the song). (See also.)

The Uncle Floyd FPP!

not_on_display — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:01:28 -0800

Deep in the Heart of Jersey you'll find "Uncle Floyd" Vivino, roaming the streets of various towns and cities, kibbitzing with the locals. In Belleville. Nutley. Bloomfield Avenue and Ferry Street in Newark. Kearny. Cliffside Park. Main Street, Paterson. An abandoned lot in Paterson. What, you never heard of Uncle Floyd? From 1974 to 1998, Floyd Vivino hosted The Uncle Floyd Show, a low-budget mess of a parody/tribute to variety shows and kids' shows, at the same time championing many local and/or outsider musicians, and accumulating a wide underground following via the UHF airwaves--why, David Bowie even wrote a song about Uncle Floyd. Here's a link to the entire Uncle Floyd Show Album Floyd currently plays over 300 gigs a year. His booking website gives a few examples of his New Jersified vaudeville stylings (not to mention some great publicity photos): 1 2 3 [music automatically plays when page is loaded] Here's more of UF on the pee-yanner. The late CM "Mugsy" Calam was a favorite performer on the Uncle Floyd Show; archive.org has some footage neatly arranged for you; there's plenty more of Mugsy on YouTube. Some newspaper articles about Floyd: NYT 1/10/88 ...more by Anthony Buccino, reporter for various NJ newspapers: 3/3/77 visiting the set | 3/17/77, Uncle Floyd Meets the Mayor of Bloomfield | 11/3/77 Web presence? Yeah! Uncle Floyd on Facebook Uncle Floyd on Flickr Photos: Backstage with Uncle Floyd And, finally, Uncle Floyd's Web Site, with updates on what cast members are doing these days.

"I'm a true fairy!"

pxe2000 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 06:14:01 -0800

Bruce Wayne "Jobriath" Campbell was mass-marketed [NSFW] to the American public as the first American glam rock singer (glam being a primarily British phenomenon) and the first openly gay rock performer. The publicity push and sexuality were too much for the American public, and his two albums seemed to sink without a trace. In recent years, a glam historian and pop singer named Stephen Paul Morrissey has helped to remaster his music and make it more readily available. Unfortunately, Morrissey's plans to have Jobriath open for him on his first solo tour were curtailed by his premature death from AIDS-related illnesses in 1983. Jobriath's music sounds like a cross between Elton John and Hunky Dory-era Bowie. Like Bowie (and Klaus Nomi after him), he frequently portrayed himself as a space alien. In the wake of his albums' failures, he was unable to record new music (under the conditions of his contract with impresario Jerry Brandt). During that time he wrote the unproduced musical "Popstar" and performed as the lounge lizard Cole Berlin. In addition to Morrissey, Jobriath counts among his fans groupie Pamela Des Barres and filmmaker Todd Haynes, who paid tribute to the fallen would-be star in his glam pastiche Velvet Goldmine. Some recollections of the man from his half-brother.

Calling sister midnight

milarepa — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:05:38 -0800

Iggy Pop chats with Dinah Shore in 1977. Performs Sister Midnight and Fun House with David Bowie and then opens up a bit. In other news, Dinah Shore is one classy lady.

And I think my spaceship knows which way to go

ozomatli — Fri, 25 May 2007 12:07:22 -0800

Animated Space Oddity. more from artist

Crack, baby, crack, show me you're real.

miss lynnster — Fri, 04 May 2007 23:01:23 -0800

David Bowie: Cracked Actor – a BBC documentary circa 1974. One|Two|Three|Four|Five (53 minutes)

"Window in the Sky", a U2 montage of 137 video clips

stbalbach — Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:20:28 -0800

"Window in the Sky" is a YouTube style video synch mash-up done on a professional budget with the magic of copyright clearances. "It's a triumph of postmodern reconstruction" says the Washington Post.

Pathetic little fat man, noones bloody laughing

headless — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:07:45 -0800

"See his pug-nose face." David Bowie, from Extras second season, which premieres tomorrow in USA. Stephen Merchant (from today's RADAR) and Ricky Gervais have been mentioned here before, but I think the David Bowie clip is worth it.

You are a Mystery, It's so Confusing

piratebowling — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:14:10 -0800

Amanda Lear is one of the greatest enigmatic personalities to emerge from the 70's. Known in equal measures for her disco hits (such as Enigma,Queen of Chinatown, and Follow Me WARNING, youtube link) and her affairs with David Bowie, Brian Ferry of Roxy Music (and thus appearing on their For Your Pleasure album cover) and Salvador Dali. Her past was hazy at best. The most debated aspect of her past (so prevalent as to be mentioned even in reviews of her paintings is what sex she was born (One popular telling of the rumor even claimed it was Dali who paid for her surgery to become a woman). Her more recent, very private life took a tragic turn in 2000 when her home in France burned down killing her husband, the equally interesting Alain-Philippe Malagnac d'Argens de Villele. [MI]

The Ledge

timsteil — Wed, 07 Dec 2005 13:52:46 -0800

The Ledge He appeared on Laugh In, produced one of the truly weirdest 45s of the 60's, and was one of many inspirations for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. Meet Norman Carl Odam, the Legendary Stardust Cowboy.

In Bowie We Trust... again?

me3dia — Tue, 23 Aug 2005 08:41:43 -0800

An unexpected side effect of iTunes. Remember Bowie Bonds? Introduced in 1997, bonds tied to future profits of music artists (besides Bowie, James Brown and the Isley Brothers offered them) tanked with the advent of online filesharing. Thanks to iTunes, some on Wall Street are betting that the Bowie Bond is a concept with a future.

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sat, 08 Jun 2002 19:22:28 -0800

Recollections based on the album Doolittle, by the Pixies. Most of the most memorable times in my life, at least the ones during and after adolescence, are linked inextricably with the music I was listening to at the time. Hearing Bowie's 'Modern Love' can set me off to reminiscing for hours about freshman teen angst, and Bob Mould's 'Hanging Tree' can still damn near make me cry with the memories it triggers. Doolittle is one of those albums that takes me right back. You?

mmarcos — Thu, 08 Nov 2001 09:01:42 -0800

60 school kids from the 70s singing Bowie's Space Oddity. An incredible recording. A 60 student chorus of western Canadian rural school children belting out, among other things, Good Vibrations, Desperado, and, the cream of the crop, I think, Klaatu's Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft. mp3 samples on the page. It is amazing. Read David Bowie's quip. (And the quip from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association is classic.)