Journaliste à l'écoute du chant du monde, à la fois inquiet et consolateur pour qui s'attarde face au spectacle de la Beauté.
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Paris honors David Bowie
In 1965, David Robert Jones, a member of the band "The Lower Third", made his first appearance in Paris, during a concert at the Golf Drouot. First steps in the majestic epic of David Bowie, icon of glam rock. On January 8, he would have been 77 years old. Paris had opportunely chosen this day to honour this sparkling star, forever nestled in the firmament of Art. Eight years without him. Already.
The plaque of a street bearing the name of the English artist was unveiled yesterday, a stone's throw from the Gare d'Auzterlitz. The official inauguration of David Bowie Street took place on Monday, January 8, 2024 at 4:15 pm at 61, avenue Pierre Mendès France, in the 13th arrondissement. Bordered by office buildings, including the futuristic offices of the Le Monde group, this cold, bare bridge, still under construction, is unfortunately hardly glamorous. Not very evocative of the celebrated rock icon. Once the work on the bridge is completed, it will be extended to the Boulevard de l'Hôpital and will link the Salpêtrière and Gare d'Austerlitz districts.
The British singer certainly had a connection to the 13th arrondissement. After the industrial activity of the Grands Moulins de Paris had ceased, David sometimes went privately to the heart of this colossus, the main building that had become for a time, an alternative place of artistic creation and exchange. One of the hosts was one of Fellini's screenwriters.
After his visit to Paris in 1965, The Thin White Duke, attracted by the Berlin underground, effervescent and more anonymous, did not return to perform in France until 1976, once extinguished, the flamboyant and worldwide fireworks that was the Ziggy Stardust Tour. In 1977, he stayed for a short time at the Château d'Hérouville, where the album Low was recorded. Lausanne, New York, London, Tokyo... it was only at the turn of the 2000s that French admirers of David Bowie were able to see him live on a Parisian stage.
Why didn't you choose a more central, off-centre but more cultural location, such as Ground Control, located not far away, in a former SNCF postal sorting hall? A place of multicultural experimentation and sharing, dedicated to "Major Tom", where music… Where the artist permeates the space. Inhabited by Baudelaire and Rimbaud, lover of Jean Genet, ‘l'enfant de Brixton” sang Brel, (My Death, Amsterdam). He deserved to have a grander place dedicated to him, worthy of the man, the symbol, his musical genius.
Crédit photo. Mairie de Paris
Agrandissement : Illustration 2
EXCEPTIONAL CONCERT EVENING
Hosted by Jérôme Soligny - Clifford Slapper concert
An exceptional evening in tribute to David Bowie took place in the evening from 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at the Town Hall of the 13th arrondissement. This Clifford Slapper concert was hosted by Jérôme Soligny, friend and one of David Bowie's biographers. American pianist and producer, Clifford Slapper, worked with Bowie and released an album of covers of his songs in 2017, titled Bowie Songs One. From Space Oddity to Let's Dance, via Life on Mars, Heroes and so on, his most emblematic songs, which have become cult and universal, resonated yesterday night under the vault of the village hall.
Agrandissement : Illustration 3
EXHIBITION
Open since January 4, an exhibition of photos and paintings is also on the menu of this Parisian tribute. It was designed by two childhood friends of the British singer:
- the English painter George Underwood whom he met at the London high school in Bromley, who played with the young David Robert Jones in a band called "George and the Dragon", and designed the artwork for the covers of Hunky Dory and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars. George Underwood, to whom David Bowie owed one of his dilated pupils during a fight, which did not dampen their deep friendship.
-- British photographer, Geoff Mac Cormack, also singer, known as Warren Peace. His companionship with the future David Bowie also dates back to his high school years in Bromley. As a backup singer on the Ziggy Stardust tour, which ended in 1973, he collaborated on the recording of the album Aladdin Sane and participated in David Bowie's albums until 1976. Under the name Warren Peace, he wrote one of the songs on the album Diamond Dogs (1974).
In 2007, Geoff Mac Cormack published an illustrated memoir of his time on the road with David Bowie. Book entitled : From Station to Station: Travels with Bowie 1973-76.(1). And another opus, Rock'n' Roll with me, last year.
Free of charge, this exhibition will be on display until January 13 at the town hall of the 13th arrondissement at the Galerie Athéna. It is open during the opening hours of the town hall, i.e. Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday morning from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m In the afternoon, from 1p.m to 5p.m
