Bowie's Astoria gig 1999

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Cat People, May 20, 2020.

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  1. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    THANK you. Slicky is so versatile and is seen as just the "dirty rock" guy but he can do ANYTHING. He did a solo album with Plati a few years back, 'Zig Zag', that was aces.
     
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  2. blastfurniss

    blastfurniss Forum Resident

    Location:
    Marion, OH, USA
    Glad to see Mr. Slick has other fans. In my original post I neglected to give him his due for his studio contributions. Station to Station is arguable the best Bowie album his playing on that is some of the best guitar ever put down on a Bowie record. The title track, Golden Years and the riff and solo on Stay are all outstanding. He may not have been the collaborator that Gabrels was with Bowie but Slicky's contributions are criminally overlooked.
     
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  3. footprintsinthesand

    footprintsinthesand Reasons to be cheerful part 1

    Location:
    Dutch mountains
    Listen with headphones and be stunned with his sounds when the chorus kicks in on TVC15
     
  4. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    Actually it's Carlos Alomar doing the riff on Stay, I believe. But I agree with everything else you said!
     
  5. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    My tickets and related memorabilia from the 1999 tour:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  6. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    These are great! Were you a member of BowieNet?
     
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  7. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Yes, for a while.
     
  8. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I will dedicate this one to Reeves:

    [​IMG]
     
  9. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    I looked for one of those "F**k You, I'm in Tin Machine" t-shirts for a while.

    There's nothing like seeing Bowie at a TV Taping. I saw him at Top of the Pops and it was one of the greatest experiences in my life.

    I always remembered this; seeing the Beatles Anthology and hearing McCartney describe when they first met Elvis, and Sir Paul kept going "he just LOOKED like Elvis..! I mean, he looked like Elvis...!" And, teenage (re: stupid) me found this very obnoxious. "Who else would he look like?? What a stupid story!"

    So, when Bowie strolled to the edge of the stage- he was about 8 feet from me- I remember just how surreal it was and how stunned I was. And all I could think was, "man.. he just LOOKS like Bowie..."
     
  10. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Yeah, I went to quite a few over the years. It was always fun, but kinda stressful getting in.

    Later with Jools Holland 1995
    TFI Friday 1999
    Later with Jools Holland 1999
    Quelli Che Il Calcio 1999
    TFI Friday 2000
    BBC Radio Theatre 2000
    NBC Today Show 2002
    A&E Live by Request 2002
    Last Call with Carson Daly 2002

    I might be forgetting one or two. Plus, there were others that slipped through the net.
     
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  11. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    I was at a few of those. That's another thing we can credit Mark Plati for- at the sound-check for NBC Today Show, he started going into "Rock N' Roll Suicide", prompting DB to sing a few lines of it- the last time he ever performed it.
     
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  12. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    Yeah, it was my friend David, from Philadelphia, who shouted out the request.

    I am responsible for him playing “Waiting for the Man” on the Earthling tour, but that’s another story, one that I’m sure I’ve told before on this forum.
     
  13. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    David gets credit for sure because he shouted out that request at like EVERY OTHER TV APPEARANCE that happened that week! :righton: Not complaining, we loved that guy- I vividly remember him requesting it at the other tv appearances we were at also.
     
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  14. Cat People

    Cat People Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    West Midlands
    Glad I started this thread now as we have had some really good intel on reeves and plati and some really good personal stories too...didn't know we had people who had met Coco, she is such an enigma. Fancy staying so loyal to someone for so many years - was it a romantic relationship early on that became platonic, but did she continue to love him deeply for all that time, seeing the break up with Angie, the time with Melissa Hurley, then later Iman of course? She really does fascinate me and she is there in the pictures sometimes throughout every period. I guess she has some of that Bowie mystique, because it is unlikely she will ever want to tell her story - what a story that would be; at least, I couldn't see her doing it, after so long.
     
  15. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    Coco seemed semi-surprised when we called out to her and was the cutest thing. Asked our names, where we were from... she was protective but nothing wrong with that. Anyone who criticizes her is insulting Bowie and his judgment, I'd think. I doubt she'll ever write anything or contribute to anything simply because of that loyalty, and I really admire that. I wish I could get a message to her to thank her for everything she did, but I'm sure she knows. Just a great lady, though Reeves alluded to her complaining about Tin Machine devaluing the Bowie brand which always cracked me up!
     
  16. stepeanut

    stepeanut The gloves are off

    I feel the same way, and have considered reaching out to her since Bowie’s death, but haven’t acted on that impulse. Is the Isolar office in NYC still active? If so, that would be your best bet.

    She kept very much in the background, but she knew who I was and would always smile and say hello. There was a hierarchy within the Bowie fan world, and it was understood that partners who were relatively new on the scene may not get into events that were really tight. Still, Coco made sure my then-wife got into Live by Request, which was really kind of her. I thanked her afterward, and she just smiled. Class lady.
     
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  17. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    I will not try to reach out to Coco at all out of respect and anticipation of her feelings. Like you, the brief fan interactions with her are very special to me, you know? No need to ruin those. You're right, she was pure class.
     
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  18. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident

    I can't remember where I read it, but I remember a story about Coco encouraging Bowie to steer away from the experimental sound of Earthling to a more commercial sound on Hours. I am not sure I buy that.
     
  19. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    Not true whatsoever and Bowie would have ignored that as he ignored her on Tin Machine. 'Hours...' was a completely organic evolution. Coco spoke positively about hearing DB being excited and enthused hearing the playback of 'Pallas Athena' from Black Tie/White Noise so, seeing how inspired DB was on "Earthling", I can't see this happening at all.

    I think Bowie has a vast and documented history of quickly mellowing out on his initial enthusiasms and I believe this is all that happened. By the end of the long and successful Earthling Tour, he was simply evolving again and an introspective album was probably more "new" to him to sink his teeth into instead of the sonic experiments and cut-ups of Earthling.
     
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  20. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    It's possible you're remembering an interview with Reeves where he stated that Coco (though he referred to her as "David's assistant") told him that Tin Machine was bringing down the value of Bowie as a brand and that Bowie should do less abrasive things. That's the only thing I've ever heard/read that would align with that.
     
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  21. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident

    Thanks. Was never convinced by that claim. Bowie always seemed to be on his own path.
     
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  22. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident

    It's possible it came from a Reeves interview but it was definitely in relation to Earthling.
     
  23. William Byron

    William Byron Forum Resident

    Location:
    Princeton
    Maybe he meant the label or critics? If you ever find that interview please share it. I don't doubt you at all! I'm just curious about the context.
     
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  24. Bink

    Bink Forum Resident

    Absolutely. If I find it I will share it.
     
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  25. muzzer

    muzzer Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Fwiw I think Reeves did well to last 10 years as db’s main collaborator. It must have taken talent and tenacity. Db was notoriously capricious - therein lay much of his talent - and to roll with the twists and turns would have been something to behold. One day someone will write a critically informed account of Coco’s relationship with db, surely the longest and most significant of his life (largely platonic obvs), in the context of artists and those who facilitated their path. All of us fans owe her an eternal debt.
     
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