#rare Bowie

[thin-white-marmaduke]

Bowie by Masayoshi Sukita

November 2009

[jimmorrisonfants]

Arctic Monkeys backstage playing The Ultracheese 2022 (Kings Theatre).

[brookbee]

David Bowie Polaroid, London, 1981 photographer: Robert Rosen

[mikatoonist]

it had to be done <3

[beewithtwoes]

💐🪐KURT COBIAN SEMI-RARES PART.5🪐💐

[rhapsodynew]

How David Bowie traveled the entire USSR in a compartment of an ordinary train.

During his more than half a century-long career, British rock musician David Bowie toured almost the whole world, and almost everywhere he was greeted by crowds of fans mad with delight, and concerts were held only at the best urban venues. 

One of such inhospitable countries for foreign artists was the Soviet Union, where Bowie's songs were simply banned. Therefore, when rumors appeared in the press that David Bowie had secretly visited the Soviet Union in the early 70s, all public attention turned to this extremely curious story.

It later became known that the trip was not such a secret, because along with Bowie, the USSR was also crossed by journalist Robert Musel, who later wrote an article about the musician's journey, friend and colleague of the singer Jeff McCormack, who published an entire book about the artist, and photographer Lee Childers, who recorded all the details of the trip.

David Bowie and Jeff McCormack in the dining car

In April 1973, when David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust Tour, dedicated to the promotion of two albums by the artist ("The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" and "Aladdin Sane"), was already coming to its logical conclusion, the entire David Bowie team was counting on a short vacation, because The next concert in London was scheduled for mid-May only. In general, it is an ideal situation to stay at home and relax for a while. However, Bowie had completely different plans in this regard...

David Bowie during the "Ziggy Stardust Tour"

. . . And all because in the distant 70s, David Bowie suffered from terrible aerophobia, the cause of which was a very nervous flight from Cyprus during a storm for the performer. Looking ahead, I note that over time Bowie still managed to overcome his fear of flying, but until then he tried to move between concert venues using land or water transport. And this, as you know, required much more time than flying by plane.

In general, David Bowie planned to spend all his free time on the road before the concert in London. At first, the artist and his team had to travel for two days on the ship Felix Dzerzhinsky, en route from Yokohama to Nakhodka. Most of the passengers on board were ordinary tourists, but this did not bother the rock musicians in any way: they drank and had fun all the way, and Bowie even played an unplanned acoustic set, performing his main hits.

The audience of this spontaneous concert liked the version of the song "Amsterdam" the most Jacques Brel, which was performed by the artist. On the stage after the concert, Bowie talked with the Russian sailors for several more hours, telling them about Western culture.

When the steamer finally arrived at the port of Nakhodka, all passengers, including musicians, were escorted to the train, which Bowie liked very much - a big and, unfortunately, forced fan of railway travel

At the same time, all foreign tourists were given a book "On Scientific Communism" by Marx, Engels and Lenin, as well as memos explaining what can and cannot be photographed in the USSR. However, the funniest "gift", according to the musicians, was a brochure in which the authors stated their point of view that the animated series "Tom and Jerry" contributes to the mental degradation of children.

The train that the musicians boarded took them only to Khabarovsk in three days, where foreign guests had to switch to a much more modest Trans-Siberian Express - the most ordinary train, similar to thousands of other trains that still run between Russian regions.

In addition, the "ordinariness" of this train was also in the contingent traveling in it, consisting of ordinary Soviet citizens, for whom David Bowie seemed like some kind of alien. It is understandable: the actor had red hair, he was dressed in bright outerwear - shiny T-shirts, wide trousers, caps and platform shoes, and on the train he even wore a kimono.

The journey from Khabarovsk to Moscow lasted six days, during which David Bowie and his team not only listened to the unflattering statements of the Soviet middle class, but also did more pleasant things - they communicated with the guides and even sang their songs to them, for which, in addition to ovations, they received additional portions of tea and products that the guides They bought it during stops.

In addition, the "ordinariness" of this train was also in the contingent traveling in it, consisting of ordinary Soviet citizens, for whom David Bowie seemed like some kind of alien. It is understandable: the actor had red hair, he was dressed in bright outerwear - shiny T-shirts, wide trousers, caps and platform shoes, and on the train he even wore a kimono.

The musicians looked out the window for a long time and thought a lot. Bowie, for example, was very struck by the poverty of the Soviet people, and he could not understand how they survived the harsh Siberian winters in wooden houses. He was also surprised by Soviet women who, regardless of age, performed hard physical work. And, of course, the musician admired nature, because in addition to picturesque landscapes, he often saw wild animals from the train window.

The Trans-Siberian Express arrived in Moscow on April 30, and Bowie and his team spent three days in the capital. Of course, they went to Red Square and looked into GUM, but Bowie didn't like it there. He noted that they did not even manage to have a delicious lunch in GUM. Well, on May 1, the musicians witnessed a large-scale festive parade, which they watched from the windows of the Intourist hotel on Tverskaya Street (now The Ritz-Carlton is located there).

Bowie was frankly amazed not only by the size of the crowd, but also by the fact that each participant in the parade was holding a red flag and singing patriotic songs. This sight remained in the musician's memory for a long time and became his last great impression from a long journey through the Soviet Union. The next day, the musicians boarded a train and, passing Warsaw, Berlin and Paris, headed for London.

After this trip, David Bowie came to the USSR (Russia) twice more. In 1976, together with Iggy Pop, on the birthday of the latter, they decided to fly from Zurich to Moscow in between shows, and celebrate the holiday there.

But, this is the next story.... to be continued...

[hatsunerandal]

my father has asked me to tell my tumblr that he thinks that after particularly hard jobs lockwood locks himself in his room and listens to david bowie while doing the lightning bolt makeup thank you and goodnight

[dicaeopolis]

Klavier Gavin btw if you'd forgotten.

[rocknrollinbitchforu]

I think my whole life revolves around David Bowie right now. and I think it should stay that way

[personalized-chaos]

There's a starman waiting in the sky

He's told us not to blow it, 'cause he knows it's all worth while

[tenmilesofquartz]

YING'S SHOP CATALOGUE!

My shop (which is just you ordering thru DMs) will open on Aug 1! Here is the full catalogue and all the important info! Thanks for your support on the promo posts <3

[blurple-m]

Love To See It! the tiktok lobster guy switches pronouns for Extremely Rare Lobster, Bowie, in a normal and natural manner!

[brookbee]

David Bowie — Fame '90

[colorsoundoblivion]

Financially things are the worst they’ve ever been, so I’m willing to part with a couple major pieces (to me) from my collection.

#1) Lucky Pierre “Communique” 7”. This is the impossibly rare promo only single from the mid 80’s. 100 were made, and of that 100 who knows how many exist. In the last 20 years, I’ve only heard of 3 ever coming up for sale. I wanted to be buried with this record, so you know shit has gotta be really hard. Asking $2000.

#2) Lucky Pierre “Into My Arms/Match” 7” Test Pressing. Yep… you read that right. No more than 5 of these exist. Asking $1000.

#3) David Bowie “Five Years” Vinyl Box Set. It has been opened so I could look at the included book, but the records are unplayed. Box has very minor wear. Asking $850. Shipping will probably be at least $30 for this thing, just FYI.

I’ll consider any reasonable offer, but things over here are bad and I don’t have much wiggle room. I would prefer to send within the US only, but if you want it bad enough and you’re outside the US, get in touch.

I’m “rferent” on eBay if you want to check my feedback as a seller and see I’m not a con artist. I got a special needs kid, a diabetic dog, and a lotta desperation :) For what it’s worth, I’m embarrassed to be begging, but I’m stuck.

Thanks for reading.

[calimarikid]

(via Rare Original '90 DAVID BOWIE Changesbowie Ryko/analogue - Etsy)

[rhapsodynew]

Rare photos of David Bowie.