Ziggy is 50!

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Mind you, not sure how I'll get back, 'cos there's an ASLEF thing today where they're limiting the amount of overtime.

Imagine being STUCK IN WORKINGTON! that's really only something that happens in nightiemares....

www.ilivehere.co.uk/workington.html

[Sneelock]

by movie you mean the Pennebaker doc?
my wife loaned it and was stunned that it was never returned. I told her this is what frequently happens when you loan good things to people. since then she makes verbal agreements before loaning things.

I love DB but breaking up the band like that was a total dick move. without thinking about it very much I will nominate is as the ORIGINAL Rock and Roll dick move.

[rayge]

Blimey.
Bus or train?

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Jul 3, 2023 15:03:15 GMT Sneelock said:

by movie you mean the Pennebaker doc?
my wife loaned it and was stunned that it was never returned. I told her this is what frequently happens when you loan good things to people. since then she makes verbal agreements before loaning things.

I love DB but breaking up the band like that was a total dick move. without thinking about it very much I will nominate is as the ORIGINAL Rock and Roll dick move.

The Pennebaker doc, yeah. It's been remastered (4K) and there's some discussion beforehand - I think that part might actually be beamed live from London or something. I'm actually kind of excited. This NEVER happens in West Cumbria 

And yeah, Bowie was a dick. It wasn't just the band members (although some of them stayed on, right?) but for that dedicated audience. All those teenage girls crying after his hammy 'the last gig we'll ever do'. What a sham.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Jul 3, 2023 15:19:23 GMT rayge said:

Blimey.
Bus or train?

Train there, that's certain. And if there's no train BACK then it will have to be a bus. Which is quite honestly a horrible experience. 

[Stacy Heydon]

Jul 3, 2023 15:21:35 GMT Mr. FOLLARD said:

Jul 3, 2023 15:03:15 GMT Sneelock said:

by movie you mean the Pennebaker doc?
my wife loaned it and was stunned that it was never returned. I told her this is what frequently happens when you loan good things to people. since then she makes verbal agreements before loaning things.

I love DB but breaking up the band like that was a total dick move. without thinking about it very much I will nominate is as the ORIGINAL Rock and Roll dick move.

The Pennebaker doc, yeah. It's been remastered (4K) and there's some discussion beforehand - I think that part might actually be beamed live from London or something. I'm actually kind of excited. This NEVER happens in West Cumbria 

And yeah, Bowie was a dick. It wasn't just the band members (although some of them stayed on, right?) but for that dedicated audience. All those teenage girls crying after his hammy 'the last gig we'll ever do'. What a sham.

Oh...I don't know. Fantastic theatre.
But his treatment of The Spiders wasn't good. He wouldn't have been able to go on to make the music he made with them, so artistically it was justified. But he was cowardly in not saying it to their faces, but young men can be like that...look at The Beatles and Best.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

and your pal WELLER cutting those poor simpletons loose 😢

[Mr. FOLLARD]

SO

I think this does the same kind of job as the Moonage Daydream film did for Bowie. That is, it serves to remind us of how much of a pretentious arse the bloke could be. I'm happy to see this, because for the last few years the man's every piddle has been praised to the heavens, and it's a bit much.

The film itself is definitely worthwhile for Bowie fans. It's uncut - so you now get songs which I don't recall being in the original version. And it is a concert film - 95% of what you get is live performance.

The Spiders were a fine rock band. I was knocked out by the first song you hear, which is 'Hang On To Yourself'. They might have boosted the sound for this new edition, but still...it gives the lie to any notion that live Bowie was never as good as the records. There are other great versions - 'Watch That Man', 'Moonage Daydream', 'Suffragette City', and a really fine 'Jean Genie' with Jeff Beck. Some of these dissolve into endless, pointless jams, but mostly they're really hard-hitting and exciting. At least for the first couple of minutes.

Looking at the set list, I'm not even sure that much of the Ziggy album is represented. At least half isn't played at all (only 'Moonage D' from side 1).

Ronson is in the camera's eye for much of the time, almost as much as the main man himself. He's great, you see how skilled he was. But you almost never see Woody, and Trevor Bolder might get three seconds altogether (and for 2 of those seconds there's someone walking in front of him )

The crowd shots were some of my favourite moments. At one point you see something like eight faces in a row in profile, singing along, rapt. It's a great shot by Pennebaker and it's really moving. At other stages you see people crying. It really adds something to the film. I think I'd rather watch these devoted DB fans than the hammy actor up there on the stage.

So yeah. Bowie. You might well come out with mixed feelings like I did. Because for every 'Ziggy Stardust' there's a 'My Death'. And for every 'Cracked Actor' there's 'Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud'. They're rubbish tunes, and although the band do an OK job, they're much better at the tougher, more basic stuff.

Oh, and he does some mime.

[Stacy Heydon]

I love 'My Death' (although I prefer Walker singing it to Bowie) and especially 'Wild Eyed Boy From Free Cloud', which is like this hippie, mystical epic..I love that stuff! The latter would be difficult to reproduce live though with its orchestration and unusual instrumentation etc.

[loveless]

I do love Freecloud A LOT (the single version is stunning - and the version in the film was not bad at all...apart from being part of a medley, which...this is cheese, right?).

Dear Lord - My Death is a slog.

And it closes the first act of the gig, which...Jesus, man.

Anyhow - saw the film today. Oh boy.

It's as close as I'll get to seeing the Spiders, to seeing him at a peak, etc.

I'm glad I waited - the sound is pretty great, and the full encore gives it some much needed release at the end.

The caveats are what they are...miming, shit like that.

But...hearing Ronno's guitar at that strength and volume while watching him melt (he was the wicked witch of glam, wasn't he?) was a hell of an experience. I think he's just so utterly special - like a cross between Paul Kossoff and Jackson Pollack. His tone, his vibrato, all the sort of "fucking around" he does, that massive clam in "White Light, White Heat". Jeff Beck doesn't play QUITE as much crazy shit as I'd like, but...he's great of course, and seeing him as an honorary Spider ca. 1973...wonderful.

Angie Bowie's squeaky voice...

The surround mix was cool - getting (variously) tambourine, mellotron, lead guitar, piano, backing vocals sort of discreetly blaring in one ear was nice.

I can confirm (after however many tours I saw, and...various movies) that live Bowie may have been more about seeing the man/hearing the songs than experiencing anything as magical as the records (or more than - see Who, Zeppelin, etc.). But God - yes, the fans. I love them all. Beautiful children as into ZSATSFM as they'll ever be into anything.

[loveless]

Mick Ronson guitar face yesterday.

[Mr. FOLLARD]

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Social media posts saying something Ziggy-related is scheduled for this Thursday. Your guess is as good as mine.

[Stacy Heydon]

Mar 18, 2024 15:55:11 GMT Mr. FOLLARD said:

Social media posts saying something Ziggy-related is scheduled for this Thursday. Your guess is as good as mine.

Maybe an alien coming down from another planet and teaching the kids to boogie?

[Mr. FOLLARD]

Maybe the Dame herself will reappear!