Legendary David Bowie bandmates, producer/bass player Tony Visconti and drummer Woody Woodmansey, are performing together for the first time since 1971 to play ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ in full.
Fronting the band is Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 and on saxophone and guitars is Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman with other special guests set to appear for the four dates around the UK.
Two dates have already sold out, with an extra date in London and a date in Glasgow added due to popular demand. Talking about the dates and ‘The Man Who Sold The World’, Tony Visconti had this to say:
“One reason I’m looking forward to playing The Man Who Sold The World album in its entirety is because lots of people ask me if I still play bass. I do, but I’ve since rarely played anything as ambitious and demanding as the music of that great batch of songs conceived by David Bowie. With Woody Woodmansey and Mick Ronson, two of the finest musicians I’ve had the pleasure of recording and playing with, we set out to create something both new and classic, we called it our ‘Sgt. Pepper.’ David gave us a chance to bring our unique talents to the table and we made up our parts within David’s framework. Mick forced me to listen to Jack Bruce, however, and told me ‘that’s what great bass playing was all about’. I got it, lead bass playing, as a guitarist this came natural to me. With David as our charismatic frontman we were ‘Young Turks’ determined to spin heads and change the world of music. Well, we sold about 20 copies instead. But over the years members of the public finally got it and eventually the album sold a million or two. A great homage to us was to hear Nirvana perform the title track unplugged in the 90s on an MTV special, note for note. I’m sure Bowie picked up some new fans afterwards although a lot of people still believe that Kurt Cobain wrote it.”
The Man Who Sold the World is unusually sonically heavy and dystopian for a Bowie album; with lyrical themes including annihilation and a totalitarian machine. The sound combines riff-laden heavy rock with futurist synth sounds and Visconti’s innovative production techniques. The distinctive and robust guitar playing which contributed so much to the artistic success of this remarkable record was Mick Ronson, who sadly died in 1993. Mick’s daughter Lisa, his sister Maggi and niece Hannah will perform the album with Tony and Woody.
The tour dates are below:
September 17 – The Garage, London – sold out.
September 18 – O2 Academy 2, Sheffield – £18 adv
September 20 – O2 ABC, Glasgow – £20 avd
September 22 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London – £25 adv
Tickets are available through ticketweb or by calling 08444772000.
Check out the title track from ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ below: