There were some funny contributions too, “ so flip they’re almost successful, because they were written with such a lack of responsibility attached. He found many fans contributed work in the vein of the as-yet-released ‘ Hours,’ “ very soul searching and angst-ridden” stuff. Bowie claimed he read through most of the reported 20,000-25,000 entries (“ there were a lot of potty ones,” he told Chris Roberts: one wag rewrote “Laughing Gnome” to make it fit Bowie’s melody, another sent in “Wind Beneath My Wings” unaltered). The contest ran from 2 November to 15 December 1998. This was a gimmick: “What’s Really Happening?,” the first “Cyber Song,” with Bowie singing the fan-written lyrics in the studio while being filmed via webcam and a Lucent 360 “BowieCam.”* The webcast provided “ a ground breaking “insiders view” into the studio session,” as per the breathless PR copy. BowieNet members got to vote on single mixes and cover art most of all, fans competed to write a lyric for a Bowie song. And the site was serious, for a time, about keeping up its participatory half of the deal. ![]() BowieNet was among the brightest of the new worlds: for a relatively cheap subscription, you got a number of actual exclusives and chances to “talk” to Bowie online. What was hopeful about the first generation of Internet pop music fandoms was that (sometimes) both parties, fan and star, seemed to want a less exploitative relationship. It’s a one-sided relationship seemingly designed for abuse: fan clubs milked for cash by managers female fans sexually propositioned by roadies, bodyguards and hangers-on for backstage access. The more time and money you devote, the further you can go into the circle (but only so far). ![]() ![]() If you’re a member of the fan club in good standing, you could win a contest to go backstage or have lunch with the star, or maybe his drummer. You buy the records (well, you used to), and if you like them, you join the fan club: pay your dues, subscribe to the newsletter, and maybe you get an autographed picture in the mail, or an exclusive Christmas record, or first dibs on concert seats. What’s Really Happening? (Bowie studio vocal takes).īeing a pop music fan is transactional. What’s Really Happening? ( Internet Tonight, studio footage, 1999). What’s Really Happening? (demo with guide melody).
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