In September 1977, Bing Crosby was recording his television special “Bing Crosby’s Merrie Olde Christmas.” Slated for a guest appearance in the show was a rather unusual choice – Ziggy Stardust himself, Mr. David Bowie.

Bowie was scheduled to sing a duet with Crosby of “The Little Drummer Boy.”

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The pair seemed an odd fit artistically, but commercially it made sense, at least in theory. Bowie was then seeking to somewhat mainstream his career, and the producers of Crosby’s special no doubt hoped that a young, ultra-hip performer like Bowie would bring in a demographic not normally inclined to tune in to a very old-fashioned holiday special.

But Bowie balked at the choice of songs; he thought “Little Drummer Boy” was wrong for him, and asked the producers if he could do something else.  So, as The Washington Post described the scene:

Just hours before he was supposed to go before the cameras, though, a team of composers and writers frantically retooled the song. They added another melody and new lyrics as a counterpoint to all those pah-rumpa-pum-pums and called it “Peace on Earth.” Bowie liked it. More important, Bowie sang it.

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Not entirely sure what the point of this is. Maybe you can figure it out.

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Part 3 – 1976, The Big Bang

(Author’s note: Apologies to all the readers of “The Vault” who wrote in wondering when the next chapter was coming. I promise I have not abandoned this series, and have been grateful for all the suggestions and critiques of the previous posts, which can be read here and here. As always, comments and criticisms are welcome at mpatterson.column@gmail.com)

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October, 1975. A Roxy Music concert in London, England. Budding bassist Steven Severin meets a striking young woman named Siouxsie Sioux. “She had some mad outfit that she had hired for the night and I had dyed white hair and a 1950s Lurex jacket,” Severin later recalled. “It was a match made in heaven.”

A few months later, in Sussex, classmates from St. Wilfrid’s Comprehensive School form a band. They call themselves Malice, and feature on guitar a young man named Robert Smith. In January, 1976, they begin rehearsing in a rented church hall on Thursday nights, cutting their teeth on David Bowie tunes; in April they are joined by guitarist Porl Thompson. Later that year they rename themselves Easy Cure before settling, eventually, on just the Cure. (more…)

Part 2 – In The Beginning

1965.  Cafe Bizarre.  Greenwich Village, New York City.

An unknown band takes the stage and begins to play.  The electric viola weeps an unearthly, hypnotic lament, as the singer chants: “Not a ghost-bloodied country, all covered with sleep, where the black angel did weep…’”

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Perhaps The Black Angel’s Death Song was just a little too bizarre for Cafe Bizarre.  Perhaps the song’s rumored anti-communist message did no go down well in deep-red lower Manhattan.  For whatever reason, The Velvet Underground are promptly fired from their first regular gig for playing the strange and dissonant tune they had been warned not to play.

But the Velvets had secured their future nonetheless:  Andy Warhol was at Cafe Bizarre that night.  He described the audience as “dazed and damaged” after the performance – Warhol loved it.  He took them into his fold and became their manager, producer and sponsor.  He helped them secure their first record contract; he painted the cover for the first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. (more…)

Duncan Jones’ debut indie feature Moon is being hailed by critics as a modern tribute to great sci-fi films of the past, but I couldn’t help but think about the future — namely, what’s become of the U.S. space program?  40 years ago, America launched the Apollo 11 mission that triumphantly landed men on the moon; yet, where have we gone since? 

Moon rocks the imagination as it presents a totally plausible, realistic way of utilizing space for practical purposes — in this case, mining for eco-desirable Helium 3 energy from the lunar surface.  Jones strove for science-fact over fiction in researching many minute details of the script.  He even screened the film before a panel of NASA scientists — many of whom are working on making fantasy into fact. 

Before reading any further — be advised: don’t see Moon to learn about science, but DO see it! It’s a fascinating film featuring an Academy Award-worthy performance by Sam Rockwell. 

Now, back to reality… In 2004, President George W. Bush called for a return to the Moon to build a base — it would be a prelude to something even greater: a mission to Mars.  He noted words from astronaut Eugene Cernan, who traveled with the last Apollo mission: “We leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind.” With that, scores of engineers, scientists and experts made headway designing, building and planning America’s next endeavour to explore space, they were ready to accomplish the mission.  (more…)