just the twinkling lights of heaven

howdy pop pickers

yes, yes, every single year i write "no, i am not going to mark anniversaries no more", figuring that i had written all that i could write. but, well, here we are, look you see. on this day today, as in when this is published or "goes live" on the internet, it's a staggering 33 years since i last saw Bowie, or if you will that amount of time since i saw tin machine.  

to write what i (more or less) normally do, if you go back through this blog of mine it is mostly so that on the 5th November of each year i commemorate this, a distinct highlight of my life. make of that statement what you will. usually i include a snippet, video or audio, of bootlegs of the actual gig i was at. these are things people have very kindly given me over the years. 

for a slight change, this is all from some of the promo stuff the band did for both the album, imaginatively titled tin machine ii, and the tour on which i saw them. the images here, and the first of two (not three) videos, are from their neither memorable nor celebrated appearance on Wogan, which was of course presented by the much loved, much missed Terry Wogan. 

here, or rather below, is their "performance" (i believe it may be mimed) of You Belong In Rock N Roll, which was the lead single for the album. and a top tune. i have had to quasi recompress an already compressed video to be able to add it here, so apologies for the likely poor quality. 

some years ago i added the above, plus the interview with "Woges", on that you tube thing. you are here now so you might as well click on the above, but if you are really keen and want to see a more better version then search away on that you tube thing. 

indeed it is so, and you are not mistaken. should you have watched the video and thought something along the lines of "is that a lady massage device (ahem) what Reeves Gabrels is playing the guitar with", yes it us. no idea how they got that one past the BBC, except for reasons of being David Bowie. 

don't believe the myth, rumour or stories that tin machine were in some way "rubbish", by the way. please go and explore both their albums. sure, one or two songs (mostly those where they let Hunt Sales sing) are a bit below average, but there's some amazing stuff on there. 

one never really knows if an anniversary they are celebrating is going to be the last time they are able to do so. just in case, then, i have borrowed a bit of video from a previous post. below is the end of the gig i was at, with David saying goodnight to everyone. 

quite likely i wrote similar to this on the original post, but anyway - you feel free to "keep" this video, and play it every night before bed. there are far worse things one could do in this life than have David Bowie say goodnight to them daily. 

i'm a hurt, i'm a hurt, i'm a hurting