I heard the news today…* Paramount and Warner Music team up for Bowie-related films; new Labyrinth universe movie planned; RIP Jack Hofsiss; new KillerStar video; Bowie mural in Peterborough; Tommy Richman adapts “Changes”; John Cameron Mitchell on Bowie; Jay Michaelson on Bowie and Kabbalah, plus features, profiles, lists AND MORE!
Welcome to my weekly roundup of Bowie news! You might note a change in how this feature is organized — the “lists” section now appears after “this week in the blog.” There are a LOT of lists, so if you like lists, they’re still here. Read on for summaries of Bowie-related stories that posted this past week, and click on the bolded story names to link to the original articles…
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NEWS
Paramount and Warner Music Team Up for Movies About Artists and Songwriters. Paramount Pictures and Warner Music Group have entered a multi-year deal to develop films based on the label’s artists, including Bowie, as part of a broader trend of music-driven biopics and storytelling.
New Film Planned in Labyrinth Universe. A continuation of Labyrinth set in the same universe but featuring new characters entered development with director Fede Alvarez and writer Jay Basu, while avoiding a recasting of Bowie’s iconic role as Jareth.
RIP Jack Hofsiss. Tony-winning director Jack Hofsiss, whose career included directing David Bowie in The Elephant Man, overcame a paralyzing injury after a 1985 accident before dying at age 65.
New KillerStar Video! KillerStar released a video for “There Must Be A Reason” featuring Bowie collaborators Earl Slick, Mike Garson, and Mark Plati alongside core members Rob Fleming and James Sedge. This blurb does not link to a separate story, but you can see the video by clicking above.
1980s sound studio with rock ‘n’ roll past up for grabs. A Melbourne property housing GM Sound Studios, a 1983 recording and performance venue still featuring Bowie posters, is being sold as its owner retires, ending its original operation while allowing for the possibility that a new owner could continue it as a music venue.
Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy wrote a rock ‘n’ roll-themed crossword for the New York Times. Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy created a New York Times crossword puzzle themed around his musical influences, including Bowie, while reflecting on the similarities between songwriting and puzzle construction.
New mural celebrates Bowie’s only performance in Peterborough. A new mural called Starman in Peterborough, England commemorates Bowie’s only performance in the city in 1966 with The Buzz at The Palais, a once-prominent local music venue that also hosted major 1960s acts before Bowie later achieved fame with “Space Oddity” and Ziggy Stardust.
A mystery American may be the world’s biggest Bowie fan. A mysterious billionaire has commissioned a massive, architecturally ambitious superyacht named “Ziggy,” likely inspired by Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust persona and designed as a floating luxury residence.
Tommy Richman Adapts “Changes.” Tommy Richman’s song “Changes” shifts further toward pop and alternative rock while paying tribute to his mother and interpolating Bowie’s “Changes.”
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FEATURES AND REFLECTIONS
The craftsmanship behind Immersive Experiences. The immersive experience David Bowie: You’re Not Alone was designed to use extensive Bowie archive material to create a venue-specific, emotionally resonant environment that cannot be replicated at home, prioritizing human connection and meaningful storytelling over novelty alone.
REVIEW: David Bowie – You’re Not Alone exhibition. The Lightroom exhibition presents Bowie as a multifaceted, constantly evolving artist through an immersive, non-chronological blend of archival footage, interviews, and performances—highlighted by seamlessly synchronized renditions of songs like “Space Oddity,” “Starman,” “Rebel, Rebel,” and “Heroes”—that emphasizes both his cultural impact and human complexity despite minor flaws such as misdated images and limited coverage of his final years.
Is 1976 the best year ever for great albums? A reader reflects that while many 1976 albums were memorable, Bowie’s Station to Station stood out as their most-played favorite, with songs like “Golden Years,” “Station to Station,” “Word On a Wing,” “TVC15,” and “Stay” showcasing diverse influences and anticipating the stylistic innovations Bowie would further develop on Low and Heroes, helping shape emerging genres like punk, new wave, and synth-rock.
I listened to David Bowie in a 360-degree show, and now I’ve seen what spatial audio can do. A 360-degree immersive exhibition in London uses spatial audio, large-scale projections, and archival material to create a visually and sonically striking experience that presents Bowie’s life, music, and creative process in his own voice.
His best since Scary Monsters: Let’s Dance. Let’s Dance became Bowie’s biggest commercial success, transforming him into a global pop superstar even as the album’s uneven structure and calculated approach marked a creative turning point and alienated some fans.
How Virgin Records Brings Its Music Legacy to the High Seas. Virgin Voyages incorporates its Virgin Records legacy, including artists like Bowie, into an immersive cruise experience featuring curated music programming, live performances, and themed entertainment.
Photos Of David Bowie & Wife Iman’s Love Story Through The Years. Bowie and Iman became one of the world’s most celebrated celebrity couples, openly displaying a deep and seemingly enduring love that lasted until Bowie’s death in 2016.
When Bowie rocked the North East. Bowie performed a series of increasingly high-profile concerts in England’s North East from the 1960s through the 1970s, including chaotic Ziggy Stardust-era shows in Newcastle and later performances featuring material from Low, “Heroes,” and Station to Station.
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PROFLIES
John Cameron Mitchell. Bowie’s dystopian songs, especially “I’m Afraid of Americans” from Earthlings, are seen as capturing contemporary fears of racism, collapse, and loss of empathy, inspiring John Cameron Mitchell to create an evolving theatrical work using Bowie tracks like “Station to Station,” “Sweet Thing,” and “Big Brother” to provide catharsis and reflect his worldview.
Peter Gabriel. A proposed cut to Vancouver beach lifeguards was reversed after public backlash that included Peter Gabriel recalling how lifeguards rescued him from a riptide before he performed with Bowie during their 1983 tour stop.
Dara O’Kearney. A poker player recounts being a devoted Bowie fan who initially doubted emails from “db” were real until Bowie placed him on a concert guest list in Ireland, confirming their long-running email connection.
Catherine Russell. Catherine Russell’s Live at Jazz at Lincoln Center is presented as a vivid, non-nostalgic interpretation of the Great American Songbook, underscored by her strong recent output and her credentials from performing with artists including Bowie.
Laura O’Connell. O’Connell names Bowie as her dream dinner guest, highlighting her admiration alongside mentions of Joni Mitchell in a related anecdote.
Toyah. Toyah presents a countdown of memorable music videos featuring wardrobe mishaps by stars including Bowie, Madonna, and Adam Ant.
Stryder Jones. Boulder artist Stryder Jones discussed his album Kitchen Window, his synth-driven production style, and the influence of artists including Bowie, Stevie Wonder, and Tyler, the Creator on his development as a musician.
Social Distortion. Social Distortion’s long-awaited album Born To Kill is described as a fierce and cathartic return that embraces the band’s punk roots while invoking influences such as Bowie, Lou Reed, and Iggy and the Stooges as part of its musical lineage.
James Downes. Bowie’s presence at London’s Blitz Club and his “Ashes to Ashes” video helped popularize the New Romantic scene, influencing figures like entrepreneur James Downes, who later drew inspiration from Bowie’s music and persona.
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THIS WEEK IN THIS BLOG
April 3: Last week’s news
April 4: David Bowie Cover of the Week: Sing It Live performs “Space Oddity”
April 5: Drive-in Saturday Tuesday Movie Review: The Devil Wears Prada 2
April 6: 1984 as Inspired by Diamond Dogs Debuts in Boston
April 7: We’re in a Cave…
April 8: Bowie and Kabbalah with Jay Michaelson Preview
April 9: From Kether to Malkuth: Jay Michaelson on Bowie, Kabbalah and Western Esotericism
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LISTS
The 5 Best Classic Rock Album Covers Of The ’70s. Before achieving major success with Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Bowie’s early commercial struggles gave way to the iconic Aladdin Sane cover, where a lightning bolt concept driven by Tony Defries and realized by Brian Duffy using advanced techniques became one of Bowie’s most enduring images, despite being used only once.
5 Surprising Facts About Iggy Pop’s The Idiot. Bowie delayed the release of The Idiot until after Low came out so that audiences would not think he had taken inspiration from Iggy Pop’s album.
5 Surprising Facts About The Modern Lovers’ Self-Titled Debut Album. The song “Pablo Picasso” has been widely covered over decades—including by John Cale, Burning Sensations for the “Repo Man” soundtrack, Bowie, and Jack White—demonstrating the lasting appeal of its central lyrical joke.
5 Surprising Facts About Iggy Pop’s Lust For Life. “The Passenger” was not written by Bowie but was composed musically by guitarist Ricky Gardiner, with Iggy Pop improvising the lyrics in the studio.
The 23 greatest albums of 1973. Aladdin Sane is portrayed as a more experimental and volatile album than Ziggy Stardust, with Bowie pushing glam rock into darker, artier territory highlighted by standout tracks and Mike Garson’s avant-garde piano work.
21 Big Box Sets For Music Fans. The box set Five Years compiles Bowie’s key 1969–1973 recordings and live material from his rise to stardom, and it is part of a larger series of posthumous releases covering later phases of his career.
Terrible songs on great albums. “It Ain’t Easy” is portrayed as an ill-fitting inclusion on Ziggy Stardust, overshadowed by Bowie’s stronger original songs like “Five Years,” “Starman,” and “Rock’n’Roll Suicide,” and seen as a puzzling choice given other available material such as “Velvet Goldmine” and “Sweet Head.”
3 Forgotten Classic Rock Songs From the 1970s That Deserve a Second Chance. Mott The Hoople is best remembered for the Bowie-penned “All The Young Dudes,” but “All The Way From Memphis” is also a distinctive glam rock classic that captures a Bowie-esque quality without sounding like an imitation.
The Songs That Invented Alternative Rock Before It Had a Name. “Starman” presented Bowie as a groundbreaking, androgynous rock figure whose sci-fi themes, unconventional image, and rejection of traditional masculinity set him apart from mainstream artists.
The 25 best Classic Rock albums of 1967. Bowie’s debut album initially failed to chart and was largely ignored, but has since been reassessed as an early showcase of his songwriting, featuring tracks like “Love You Till Tuesday,” “Silly Boy Blue,” and “Rubber Band.”
The 11 greatest albums by older musicians. Bowie released Blackstar on his 69th birthday just two days before his death from liver cancer, using secret New York sessions with leading jazz musicians to create a daring final artistic statement that became his first No. 1 album in the United States after his death.
3 Performances That Changed Rock History Overnight. Bowie’s 1972 Top Of The Pops appearance as Ziggy Stardust helped propel glam rock into the mainstream and inspired countless musicians by demonstrating the theatrical possibilities of rock music.
3 Classic Rock Songs From the 1980s That Were Insanely Ahead of Their Time. “Under Pressure” became a major hit by combining Queen’s catchy composition with Bowie’s emotionally resonant lyrics about human connection and compassion, creating a collaboration viewed as ahead of its time.
9 best musicians and bands who played Glasgow’s Green’s Playhouse. Green’s Playhouse, a major Glasgow entertainment venue later renamed The Apollo, hosted some of Bowie’s most memorable 1973 concerts, including performances featuring songs such as “Ziggy Stardust,” “Changes,” and “The Jean Genie,” while Bowie recalled the crowd’s intense energy and disruptive behavior during one appearance there.
14 Famous Rock Stars Who Turned Down The Simpsons. The Simpsons has featured hundreds of celebrity cameos and rock musicians over its long run, but Bowie declined an invitation to appear in the 2003 England-themed episode “The Regina Monologues.”
13 rock bands whose ambitions got the better of them. Bowie’s 1974 Diamond Dogs tour attempted an elaborate, dystopian theatrical concert production that proved too costly and unwieldy to sustain, ultimately evolving into a simpler format while later being recognized as a precursor to modern arena spectacle.
11 Albums That Could Be Movie Soundtracks. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust presents Bowie as an alien rock messiah whose rise, worship, and eventual collapse form a complete narrative rich in themes and cinematic potential.
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CHURNALISM
This section separates genuine Bowie news and original writing from recycled, usually slightly rewritten “churnalism” stories with vague click-bait headlines that often repeat familiar information but may still be of interest if readers have not seen them before.
The UK’s best musician and song named. Taking a page from the online version of Parade, which reports on other outlets’ lists as if they are news, the Daily Express reports here that Smooth Radio ranked George Michael at the top of its list of the UK’s most popular music artists, beating out Bowie, Elton John, Paul McCartney and, well, I guess 496 others. OK, I rank Bowie at #1– someone call The Daily Express and Parade for their next headline!
The song that dominated the summer of 1984 with nine weeks at number one. Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Two Tribes” dominated the summer of 1984 by channeling Cold War anxiety into a synth-driven pop format, marking a shift from the era of Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” while showing that politically charged themes still resonated with audiences.
The 1981 song David Bowie insisted on not singing. Bowie had his vocals removed from Queen’s “Cool Cat” after deciding the song did not suit his voice, reflecting his instinct to avoid collaborations that didn’t align with his artistic direction.
The 1991 Elvis Costello verse that mocked Roger Waters, John Lennon, and David Bowie in three lines. Elvis Costello’s “The Other Side of Summer” uses sharp, ironic lyrics to critique perceived hypocrisy in figures like John Lennon, Roger Waters, and Bowie, with the line about “rabid rebel dogs” suggesting a subtle jab at Bowie’s Diamond Dogs-era image and the commodification of rebellion in rock culture.
This Track From Scary Monsters Took a Jab at Gary Numan. This is a classic recycled story, which has been told and retold since 1980. In case you somehow down’t know, it’s “Teenage Wildlife.”
The surreal TV show that inspired Bowie’s an otherworldly song in 2002. This is a classic recycled story, which has been told and retold since 2002. In case you somehow down’t know, it’s The Uncle Floyd Show.
When David Bowie hired a witch. During Bowie’s mid-1970s cocaine addiction and fascination with fascist imagery and symbolism, he became convinced the devil haunted his Los Angeles swimming pool, leading him to hire a white witch to exorcise it before eventually relocating to Berlin with Iggy Pop in an attempt to rebuild his life and escape the excesses of America.
The singer from Hull who topped the charts for 10 weeks straight in the 1950s. Hull’s musical legacy was celebrated following the death of Adelphi venue owner Paul Jackson, with the city’s influence traced from The Housemartins and Fatboy Slim back to Bowie collaborator Mick Ronson and even 1950s chart star David Whitfield, whose “Cara Mia” became the first song to spend ten weeks at number one in the UK.
The album Dave Grohl and David Bowie agreed was the most important of the 1980s. Bowie and Dave Grohl viewed the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa as a crucial and highly influential 1980s album that reshaped alternative music by blending pop melody with abrasive, unconventional themes.
48 Years Ago, David Bowie Turned an Unusual Inspiration Into One of His Greatest Songs. “Heroes” drew on Bowie’s observation of a real-life affair near the Berlin Wall to convey a love story with deeper political resonance, later gaining lasting popularity despite modest initial chart success.
The 1970s icon Elton John never got to reconcile with. Elton John and Bowie began as friends but drifted apart due to differing musical tastes, leaving John with lasting regret that they never reconciled before Bowie’s death.
When Bowie and Mick Ronson Covered This Legendary Bob Dylan Song in 1994. Bowie’s 1988 cover of Bob Dylan’s “Like A Rolling Stone,” later released on Mick Ronson’s Heaven And Hull, originated from tapes Bowie gave Ronson while Ronson was assembling the album, with the recording featuring production by Bruce Fairburn and members of Bryan Adams’ band.
The music videos that launched the second British invasion. The dominance of British artists during the second British invasion was fueled in part by the UK music industry’s long-established use of promotional videos, including Bowie’s expensive and influential “Ashes to Ashes” clip.
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And with that, “we’ve finished our news…”*
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*“I’ve heard the news today” is Bowie’s adaptation of the Beatles lyric, which is heard in “Young Americans.” **“We’ve finished our news” is a line from, “Oh You Pretty Things”