FRANCE: BOWIE LAUNCHES HIS 23RD SOLO ALBUM 'HOURS'

Record ID: 388754

  • Title: FRANCE: BOWIE LAUNCHES HIS 23RD SOLO ALBUM 'HOURS'
  • Date: 14th October 1999
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (OCTOBER 14, 1999) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) BOWIE SAYING: I think certainly it works in a traditional mode, yes. The musical arrangements are very conventional the lyrics are very simplistic, I wanted it to be light and boyant in its pessimism which it seems to be it is jolly while sad."
  • Embargoed: 29th October 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVAC4IRFASFNN5K898Q4SO7OXDWX
  • Story Text: The iconic David Bowie chose Paris for the European launch of his 23rd solo album, "Hours" on Thursday (October 14) where he marked the occasion with an intimate performance at the Elysee Montmartre.
    This visit to the French capital will be remembered by the master of morphosis for years to come, as he was also honoured for his contribution to the arts by the French Culture minister.
    "Hours", Bowie's latest musical offering was produced by Bowie and long-time collaborator/guitarist Reeves Gabrels and is said to be one of his most autobiographical albums yet.
    Bowie admits that it is a return to traditional song writing for him, while being next generation.
    The artist who is renowned for his skills of reinvention was inspired to write this collection of songs when approached to marry music and technology for a French computer game "Omikron; The Nomad Soul".Bowie, Reeves and the rest of the band also appear in scenes in the game performing the songs.
    He recently turned his hand to mastering the information superhighway when in 1998 he launched BowieNet, the first artist-created Internet Service Provider and became the first artist to make a single "Telling Lies" available exclusively through the Internet.
    As a result of Bowie's fascination with the technological frontier, eight of the songs featured on "Hours" appear on "Nomad Soul".His intentions were to take music and cuberspace one step beyond.
    ++ sarah please put first bowie bite in here ++ An interactive level on, Bowie fans have already had the opportunity of a sneak listen of "Hours" via the Bowie ISP, when Bowie exclusively previewed 45 second chunks of tracks and revealed the album sleeve on his web site.One fan had more interaction than most when Bowie ran a songwriting competition on the web-site.Alex Grant, the winner, was chosen from thousands of entries to co-write a track which was ultimately included on the new album The first single "Thursday's Child"
    was released on September 20.
    While giving a press conference in Paris on Thursday (September 14), Bowie was also presented with the French honour "Commander des Arts et Lettres" by the French Culture minister, Catherine Trautmann for his contribution to the arts.
    Afterwards, Bowie performed with his band in Paris for an audience of 700 people at the Elysee Montmartre where he introduced a selection of tracks from his new album while delighting fans with songs from the past.
    The evening was rounded off with an after-show party at the hottest bar in town,Mann Ray which is co-owned by Johnny Depp and Mick Hucknall.Bowie and band attended.
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