david bowie

let the children boogie

after years of neglect, i decided that tonight was time to rip my bowie archive into my digital archive ...

one bottle of red wine later, and damn, this is going to take some doing ...

Bowie has posted a whole set of videos dating back to the 70s....

http://vimeo.com/davidbowie/videos

h/t open culture

My favourite is the bit in 'DJ' where he busts open a door wearing a pink jumpsuit and a gas mask.

Cracked Actor on BBC1 tonight UK viewers.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01rt50j

Classic.
"I hope we're not stopped... *SNIFF*"

hrm, this really troubled me...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWrUWbTJESk

courtney love implies around 52:28 that bowie didn't go on tour for The Next Day because he's really sick/can't do it/is at death's door. i know i'm reading into it but judging by the tone of her voice when she says 'yea, but you know...' to howard after he asked why bowie didn't tour, it sounds bad :(

*52:14

Hilarious, brilliant rev from Caitlin Moran in The Times this morning of the Bowie through the 70s blah that was broadcast on the beeb last Saturday. Great lil' love letter really..

i know i'm reading into it but judging by the tone of her voice when she says 'yea, but you know...' to howard after he asked why bowie didn't tour, it sounds bad :(

Courtney Love also thinks that Edward Norton conspired to steal all of her money. Not exactly the most reliable source of information.

yeah if he could keep recording an album a secret from the whole music industry i reckon he'd be able to prevent news of an illness reaching courtney love

rod stewart lets it slip that bowie is prevented from touring for "medical reasons" around 24:00 - howard tries to probe but they move on immediately

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eQa150Fk9c

But none of this is surprising to me, after the heart attack and all. Sure it's been years but why risk it again? Add to that his cocaine-wrecked seventies and that's increasing stress as you get older. This doesn't strike me as surprisingly grim, just him dealing with age and repercussions.

Maybe Bowie just can't get insured? Especially after Michael Jackson's death, it might be really hard for an artist with a pre-existing health problem to get tour insurance.

then again, maybe he just cant be arsed.

OK, so, still, his last visible performance remains that appearance on Ricky Gervaise's "extras"..

xp I'm leaning more towards 'would rather spend time with his wife and kid than schlep around the world'.

wouldn't you?

yes

would rather spend time with his wife and kid on ILX than schlep around the world

I know I'm the guy who said he shouldn't have recorded TND in the first place, but, still, he's seventy and is a carbon-based breathing Superfund site of toxic chemicals. Leave him be with his kid, Iman, and espressos overlooking Battery Park.

xpost -- You figured out my identity. Iman, unleash the lawyers.

Ned Raggett discusses his new memoir Unleash The Lawyers on "The Today Show" next week.

Now all we have to do is figure out which ILXor is Lou Reed...

http://k.7w7.us/li/mpr/mpr/shrink_80_80/p/2/000/060/2d9/03c1a55.jpg

Lou's not that misanthropic.

You ain't got the looks,
you're not the person that you used to be...
And there are people on the street
that would... go for me.
And I say
no no no no no-ooooo
scarfy face

There's a better than good chance Courtney Love and Rod Stewart have no idea what's up with David Bowie and are merely parrotting the same rumors us plebes hear.

Yes, and in any case there is a lot of room between "not physically up to performing pop concerts" and "at death's door".

kinda awesome that Rod Stewart and Courtney Love lurk in secret celebrity websites

ILX is a secret celebrity website?

Can't wait to hear Bowie explain that Rod Stewart can't tour the U.S. without an Aviva-mandated stomach pump.

There was some travel article about Woodstock and upstate New York, maybe in the NY Times, that talked about Bowie living and hanging out there, and how you can see him having coffee in the morning in the town's coffeehouse, etc.

At the end of the day, I wasn't expecting a follow-up to Reality to happen, and whatever anyone's opinion of The Next Day, it's great to know that at least it exists and he felt like making another record. Whatever his reasons for not touring, I don't think I was expecting him to tour it to begin with. I mean, at the stage he's at now, he's got nothing to prove to anyone. I'm quite happy for him to spend his time anyway he sees fit, and with advancing age and especially after his heart attack scare, he's going to want to spend the time that he has doing what the hell pleases him. He's done enough.

I know I'm the guy who said he shouldn't have recorded TND in the first place, but, still, he's seventy and is a carbon-based breathing Superfund site of toxic chemicals. Leave him be with his kid, Iman, and espressos overlooking Battery Park.

Alfred otm. He doesn't need the money, and he's never been the sort that needs validation from an audience.

Bowie also didn't tour behind:

Young Americans
Low
Lodger
Scary Monsters
Tonight
Black Tie White Noise

Because he was deathly ill, duh.

He doesn't need the money, and he's never been the sort that needs validation a lollipop from an audience.

he's never been the sort that needs validation from an audience.

Dunno about that, not sure if you get to become a legendary rock star without craving validation. It seems likely he's fine with the extraordinary amount of validation he's already received over the course of the last four decades, however.

Probably just doesn't want to deal with the shit from the misses, 'last time you went and gave yourself a heart attack...', etc.

And people labelling it the 'Seriously Ill Moonlight' tour

The Megan Draper theory is he's already dead.

I'm no genius, or doctor, or genius doctor, but I'd guess the heart issues had less to do with touring and more to do with a career of ... extracurriculars.

Yeah nobody is saying touring CAUSED his health issues, just that now that he has those issues, touring might be too physically taxing.

He could perform sitting on a throne.

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTiCzlz2onbSrr5PP-dZRzjEHAFWerYXpBIiTlsLa1KQxZf9G7AwQ

Well that's been a busy year. Anyway, looking back now, Simon Price found this unaired interview in three parts from 1977 with the man. As he put it: “The poor bastard. His huge brain, assailed by Pepe Le Punk at every turn.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-gjeeB4wuI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qqqwz2s7ong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sofdCU79X1M

Ha, Bowie keeps taking the conversation in interesting directions but the guy doesn't even notice. He just wants to get on to the next dumb question.

This period is my absolute favourite Bowie look. I love his hair. So beautiful.

You should see my fifth-grade yearbook.

Why? What's in it?