1.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
2.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
3.
Australia
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Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the worlds sixth-largest country by total area, the neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east, and New Zealand to the south-east. Australias capital is Canberra, and its largest urban area is Sydney, for about 50,000 years before the first British settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who spoke languages classifiable into roughly 250 groups. The population grew steadily in subsequent decades, and by the 1850s most of the continent had been explored, on 1 January 1901, the six colonies federated, forming the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia has since maintained a liberal democratic political system that functions as a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy comprising six states. The population of 24 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard, Australia has the worlds 13th-largest economy and ninth-highest per capita income. With the second-highest human development index globally, the country highly in quality of life, health, education, economic freedom. The name Australia is derived from the Latin Terra Australis a name used for putative lands in the southern hemisphere since ancient times, the Dutch adjectival form Australische was used in a Dutch book in Batavia in 1638, to refer to the newly discovered lands to the south. On 12 December 1817, Macquarie recommended to the Colonial Office that it be formally adopted, in 1824, the Admiralty agreed that the continent should be known officially as Australia. The first official published use of the term Australia came with the 1830 publication of The Australia Directory and these first inhabitants may have been ancestors of modern Indigenous Australians. The Torres Strait Islanders, ethnically Melanesian, were originally horticulturists, the northern coasts and waters of Australia were visited sporadically by fishermen from Maritime Southeast Asia. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent, are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the Duyfken captained by Dutch navigator, Willem Janszoon. He sighted the coast of Cape York Peninsula in early 1606, the Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent New Holland during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. William Dampier, an English explorer and privateer, landed on the north-west coast of New Holland in 1688, in 1770, James Cook sailed along and mapped the east coast, which he named New South Wales and claimed for Great Britain. The first settlement led to the foundation of Sydney, and the exploration, a British settlement was established in Van Diemens Land, now known as Tasmania, in 1803, and it became a separate colony in 1825. The United Kingdom formally claimed the part of Western Australia in 1828. Separate colonies were carved from parts of New South Wales, South Australia in 1836, Victoria in 1851, the Northern Territory was founded in 1911 when it was excised from South Australia
4.
Haymarket, New South Wales
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Haymarket is a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located at the end of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Sydney. Haymarket includes much of Sydneys Chinatown, Thaitown and Railway Square localities, Haymarket is adjacent to Darling Harbour and is surrounded by the suburbs of Ultimo, Chippendale, Surry Hills and the Sydney CBD. Sydneys produce markets were located in Haymarket from the early 20th century through to the 1980s when they were moved to a new site at Flemington, Paddys Markets still operate on part of the site of the vegetable markets as a produce and flea market. The outer walls of the vegetable market, built in 1909, were preserved and restored as an example of Edwardian architecture. They were part of the original city markets—designed by city architect C. Broderick—which were bounded by Hay Street, Quay Street and they were built to replace the old Belmore Market, which had failed because it was too far from Darling Harbour. The new markets included the Sydney City Markets building, designed by George McRae and built in 1910, the bell tower is now incorporated within the University of Technology, Sydney. The Capitol Theatre, Sydney, built in 1928, is located in Haymarket. At the 2011 census, there were 5,376 residents in Haymarket, the median age was 27 years and 50. 8% of people were aged 20–29 years. More than half of Haymarket residents were attending an educational institution, just 10. 3% of residents were born in Australia. 87. 8% of the population was born, the highest for any Australian suburb. The most common countries of birth were China 18. 3%, Thailand 14. 8%, Indonesia 10. 8%, Korea, Republic of 7. 0%. More than 80% of people spoke a language other than English at home, the main languages spoken were Mandarin 17. 0%, Thai 14. 4%, Indonesian 9. 6%, Cantonese 7. 6% and Korean 6. 4%. 99. 5% of dwellings were flats, units or apartments,48. 7% of households renting their accommodation were paying more than 30% of household income as rent, compared to the NSW average of 11. 6% and the Australian average of 10.4. Central railway station sits on the southern border, the Sydney Entertainment Centre is located in Haymarket, between Paddys Market and Darling Harbour. Building 5 of the University of Technology, Sydney is located in Haymarket, Haymarket is also serviced by the Dulwich Hill Line of Sydneys light rail network with stations at Central, Capitol Square and Paddys Markets. The light rail uses a former rail corridor. A short section of the corridor is not used by the light rail and this provides a pedestrian link to Railway Square and Central Station
5.
Darling Harbour
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Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is also a recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district. Originally named Long Cove, the locality extends northwards from Chinatown, Cockle Bay is just one of the waterways that makes up Darling Harbour, which opens north into the much larger Port Jackson. The precinct and its surroundings are administered independently of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Darling Harbour is named after Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling, who was Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831, the area was originally known as Long Cove, but was generally referred to as Cockle Bay until 1826 when Governor Darling renamed it after himself. The name Cockle Bay has recently restored in reference to the headwaters of the harbour. It was originally part of the port of Sydney, including the Darling Harbour Railway Goods Yard. During the Great Depression, the part of Darling Harbour became known as The Hungry Mile. Much of the land had been the site of the NSW Railways central marshalling yards, the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour was a venue of the 2000 Summer Olympic Games and a key meeting venue of APEC Australia 2007. Darling Harbour is accessible via various modes of public transport, the precinct is served by the Dulwich Hill Line of Sydneys light rail network, with access via Paddys Markets, Convention, Exhibition and Pyrmont Bay stations. Ferry wharves including Darling Harbour and Pyrmont Bay provide access to the Inner Harbour ferry services to Circular Quay, the Goods Line is a park and pedestrian pathway connecting Darling Harbour to Railway Square and Central Station. The nearest train station is Town Hall, east Darling Harbour is part of a massive urban renewal development. Plans for the 18-hectare site include half business and residential developments, the state government of NSW declared plans for Globe Street, a street designed to become Australias and Asia Pacifics centre for corporate trade. The urban renewal development is not expected to be completed until 2020, east Darling Harbour will be known as Barangaroo. The Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre site is being replaced by the new International Convention Centre Sydney, the passenger terminal is now in White Bay and the container terminal has also closed. The area was used for several events during World Youth Day 2008. Darling Harbour is the location of the residence on MTVs reality TV show, The Real World, Sydney. The house has a large Darling Harbour sign along its edge, 20th Century Foxs 1995 film Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, The Movie was shot in Sydney, and featured some scenes filmed in Darling Harbour
6.
Sydney Olympic Park
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Sydney Olympic Park is a large sporting, cultural and leisure complex in western Sydney. It is also a suburb of Sydney, commonly known as Olympic Park. Sydney Olympic Park is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, the area was redeveloped for the 2000 Olympics. The suburb also contains commercial development and extensive parklands, the area was originally part of the suburb of Homebush Bay, but was designated a suburb in its own right in 2009. The Wangal clan of Indigenous Australians lived in the area before British settlement, the area was called The Flats by a scouting party shortly after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. It became part of the Newington Estate in 1807, which was acquired by John Blaxland, the Government acquired some of the land for an aged womens home in the late 19th century. Much of the land was reclaimed from the river and wetlands by landfill, in the mid-1980s, an area bounded by Australia Avenue and what are now Herb Elliott Avenue and Sarah Durack Avenue was promoted as a technology park called the Australia Centre. However, apart from a few relatively high tech businesses like AWA Microelectronics, BASF, Philips and Sanyo, the idea did not catch on, in any event, a decade later the entire area became the site for the Sydney 2000 Olympics. Before its transformation, a part of Olympic Park was derelict former industrial land, after more than a century of industrial. The site was home to a brickworks, abattoir and an armaments depot as well as being the site for eight of Sydneys rubbish dumps. These activities resulted in a contaminated site with little natural ecology. Sixty-five percent of the soils were required to be excavated and contained on-site, commercial developments now sit alongside sporting facilities with tenants in office buildings such as Commonwealth Bank from September 2007. A five-star Pullman hotel and a two-star Formule 1 hotel were completed in mid-2008, the parklands have undergone redevelopment with Blaxland Riverside Park being transformed into an urban park along Parramatta River. The Park opened on 3 March 2007, in addition the Wentworth Common area was upgraded with significant adventure playground facilities for children aged 8–13 years. Auburn Council sought public comment on a proposal to rename the Homebush Bay area and it hosts the Big Day Out music festival and has been the venue for free, open air performances as part of the Sydney Festival such as Movies in the Overflow and Music by Moonlight. The Newington Armory has in the past been the venue for the now-defunct Great Escape and Acoustica at the Armory music festivals, in August 2009, the funerals for the murdered Lin family were held here. Every December since 2009, the V8 Supercar event, the Sydney 500, is held through the streets of the Olympic precinct, however, it was announced in March 2016 that the event would no longer take place at Sydney Olympic Park following its final edition in December 2016. EB Games Expo has been held at The Sydney Showgrounds from 2012 to present
7.
The Wiggles
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The Wiggles are an Australian childrens music group formed in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1991. The current members of the group are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, the original members were Field, Phillip Wilcher, Murray Cook, Greg Page, and Jeff Fatt. Wilcher left the group after their first album, Page retired in 2006 due to ill health and was replaced by understudy Sam Moran, but returned in 2012, replacing Moran. At the end of 2012, Page, Cook, and Fatt retired, and were replaced by Gillespie, Pryce, Cook and Fatt retained their shareholding in the group and all three continued to have input into its creative and production aspects. In 1991, Field was inspired to create an album of music based upon concepts of early childhood education, and enlisted Cook, Page. They began touring to promote the album, and became so successful, the group augmented their act with animal characters Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, and Wags the Dog, as well as the character Captain Feathersword, played by Paul Paddick since 1993. They travelled with a group of dancers, which later grew into a larger troupe. The groups DVDs, CDs, and television programs have been produced independently since their inception and their high point came in the early 2000s, after they broke into the American market. The group was consolidated in 2005. They were listed at the top of Business Review Weeklys top-earning Australian entertainers four years in a row, and earned A$45 million in 2009. In 2011, the recession hit The Wiggles, as it had done for many Australian entertainers, they earned $28 million. The Wiggles have enjoyed almost universal approval throughout their history, and they have earned several Platinum, Double Platinum and Multi-Platinum records, as well as sold 23 million DVDs and 7 million CDs, and have performed, on average, to one million people per year. The group has earned multiple Australasian Performing Rights Association and Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards. Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt were members of The Cockroaches, a Sydney pop band known for their good-time R&B material and several singles recorded by independent labels during the 1980s. In 1988, Fields infant niece, who was the daughter of Cockroaches founder and band member Paul Field, died of SIDS, and the group disbanded. Anthony Field enrolled at Macquarie University in Sydney to complete his degree in childhood education. Murray Cook, also a student, was the guitarist in the pub rock band Bang Shang a Lang before enrolling at Macquarie. Greg Page, who had been a roadie for and sang with The Cockroaches during their years, had enrolled in Macquarie to study early childhood education on Fields recommendation
8.
Dire Straits
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Dire Straits were a British rock band that formed in Deptford, London, in 1977 by Mark Knopfler, his younger brother David Knopfler, John Illsley, and Pick Withers. Dire Straits sound drew from a variety of influences, including jazz, folk, and blues. Despite the prominence of rock during the bands early years, their stripped-down sound contrasted with punk. Many of Dire Straits compositions were melancholic, Dire Straits biggest selling album, 1985s Brothers in Arms has sold over 30 million copies, and was the first album to sell a million copies on the then new compact disc format. They also became one of the worlds most commercially successful bands, Dire Straits won four Grammy Awards, three Brit Awards—winning Best British Group twice, two MTV Video Music Awards, and various other music awards. The bands songs include Money for Nothing, Sultans of Swing, So Far Away, Walk of Life, Brothers in Arms, Private Investigations, Romeo and Juliet, Tunnel of Love, Telegraph Road, and Lady Writer. According to the Guinness Book of British Hit Albums, Dire Straits have spent over 1,100 weeks on the UK albums chart and their career spanned a combined total of 15 years. They originally split up in 1988, but reformed in 1991, there were several changes in personnel over both periods, leaving Mark Knopfler and John Illsley as the only two original bandmates who remained throughout the bands career. Brothers Mark and David Knopfler, and friends John Illsley, after a performance at The Rock Garden in 1977, they took a demo tape to MCA in Soho but were turned down. Then they went to DJ Charlie Gillett, who had a show called Honky Tonk on BBC Radio London. The band simply wanted advice, but Gillett liked the music so much that he played Sultans of Swing on his show, two months later, Dire Straits signed a recording contract with the Vertigo division of Phonogram Inc. The groups first album, Dire Straits, was recorded at Basing Street studios in West London in February 1978, produced by Muff Winwood, the album was first released in the United Kingdom on Vertigo Records, then a division of Phonogram Inc. The album came to the attention of A&R representative Karin Berg and she felt that it was the kind of music audiences were hungry for, but only one person in her department agreed at first. Many of the songs on the album reflected Mark Knopflers experiences in Newcastle, Leeds and that same year, Dire Straits began a tour as opening band for Talking Heads after the re-released Sultans of Swing finally started to climb the UK charts. This led to a United States recording contract with Warner Bros, Records, before the end of 1978, Dire Straits had released their self-titled debut worldwide. They received more attention in the United States, but also arrived at the top of the charts in Canada, Australia, Dire Straits eventually went top 10 in every European country. The following year, Dire Straits embarked on their first North American tour and they played 51 sold-out concerts over a 38-day period. Sultans of Swing scaled the charts to number four in the United States, the song was one of Dire Straits biggest hits and became a fixture in the bands live performances
9.
Genesis (band)
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Genesis are an English rock band formed at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey in 1967. The most commercially successful and long-lasting line-up includes keyboardist Tony Banks, bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford, other important members were the original lead singer Peter Gabriel and guitarist Steve Hackett. The band underwent many changes in style over its career, from folk music to progressive rock in the 1970s. They have sold 21.5 million RIAA-certified albums in the US, after splitting with King, the group began touring professionally, signing with Charisma Records. The group were initially successful in Europe, before entering the UK charts with Foxtrot. They followed this with Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway before Gabriel decided to leave the group, after an unsuccessful search for a replacement, Collins took over as lead singer, while the group gained popularity in the UK and the US. Following A Trick of the Tail and Wind & Wuthering, Hackett left the band, reducing it to a core of Banks, Rutherford and its title track reached number one in the US. After the follow up, We Cant Dance and related tour, Banks and Rutherford recruited Ray Wilson for Calling All Stations, but a lack of success in the US led to a group hiatus. Banks, Rutherford and Collins reunited for the Turn It On Again Tour in 2007 and their discography includes fifteen studio and six live albums, six of which topped the UK chart. In 2010, Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Banks and Gabriel arrived at the school in September 1963, Rutherford in September 1964, and Phillips in April 1965. The five recorded six songs, Dont Want You Back, Try a Little Sadness, Shes Beautiful, Thats Me, Listen on Five, and Patricia, a group friend gave the tape to King who was immediately enthusiastic. Under Kings direction, the group, aged between 15 and 17, signed a recording contract with Decca Records. In response Banks and Gabriel wrote The Silent Sun, a pastiche of the Bee Gees, one of Kings favourite bands, King chose The Silent Sun as their first single, with Thats Me on the B-side, released in February 1968. It achieved some airplay on BBC Radio One and Radio Caroline, a second single, A Winters Tale/One-Eyed Hound, followed in May 1968 which also sold little. Three months later, Stewart left the group to continue with his studies and he was replaced by fellow Charterhouse pupil John Silver. King felt the group would achieve success with an album. The result, From Genesis to Revelation, was produced at Regent Sound in ten days during their schools summer break in August 1968, Phillips was particularly upset about Greenslades additions. When Decca found an American band already named Genesis, King refused to change his groups name and he reached a compromise by removing their name from the album cover, resulting in a minimalist design with the album title printed on a plain black background
10.
Billy Idol
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William Michael Albert Broad, known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. Idol began his career in late 1976 as a guitarist in the rock band Chelsea. However, he left the group and along with his bandmate Tony James formed Generation X with Idol being the lead singer. The band achieved success in the United Kingdom and released three albums on Chrysalis Records before disbanding, in 1981, Idol moved to New York City to pursue his solo career in collaboration with guitarist Steve Stevens. His debut studio album Billy Idol was a success and with music videos for singles Dancing with Myself. His second studio album Rebel Yell was a commercial success with hit singles Rebel Yell. The album was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of two million copies across the United States. He followed with a number of albums, including Whiplash Smile, Charmed Life. Idol spent the second half of the 1990s out of the eye focusing on his personal life. He made a comeback with the release of Devils Playground. Idol was born in Stanmore, Middlesex, the name Billy Idol was inspired by a school teachers description of him as idle. In an interview on 21 November 1983, Idol said the name was a bit of a goof and it was a double thing not just a poke at the superstar-like people. In another interview for BBC Breakfast in October 2014, he said that he wanted to be Billy Idle but thought he could not because of Monty Python star Eric Idle, in 1958, when Idol was two years old, his parents moved to Patchogue, New York. The family returned to England four years later with Idol and his sister, Jane, settling in Dorking. In 1971, the moved to Bromley, London, where Idol attended Ravensbourne School for Boys. Idol also attended Worthing High School for Boys in Worthing, West Sussex, in October 1975, Idol went to Sussex University to pursue an English degree and lived on campus but left after year one in 1976. He then went on to join the Bromley Contingent of Sex Pistols fans, Idol first joined Chelsea in 1976 as a guitarist. However, he and Chelsea bandmate Tony James soon left that group and co-founded Generation X, Generation X was one of the first punk bands to appear on the BBC Television music programme Top of the Pops
11.
David Bowie
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David Robert Jones, known professionally as David Bowie, was an English singer, songwriter and actor. He was a figure in music for over five decades, regarded by critics and musicians as an innovator. His career was marked by reinvention and visual presentation, his music, during his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made him one of the worlds best-selling music artists. In the UK, he was awarded nine platinum album certifications, eleven gold and eight silver, in the US, he received five platinum and seven gold certifications. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, born in Brixton, South London, Bowie developed an interest in music as a child, eventually studying art, music and design before embarking on a professional career as a musician in 1963. Space Oddity became his first top-five entry on the UK Singles Chart after its release in July 1969, after a period of experimentation, he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with his flamboyant and androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust. The character was spearheaded by the success of his single Starman and album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, in 1976, Bowie starred in the cult film The Man Who Fell to Earth and released Station to Station. Heroes and Lodger followed, each reached the UK top five. He then reached his peak in 1983 with Lets Dance. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with styles, including industrial. He stopped concert touring after 2004, and his last live performance was at a charity event in 2006, in 2013, Bowie returned from a decade-long recording hiatus with the release of The Next Day. He remained musically active until he died of cancer two days after the release of his final album, Blackstar. David Robert Jones was born on 8 January 1947, in Brixton, south London and his mother, Margaret Mary Peggy, was born in Kent, and had Irish ancestry, she worked as a waitress. His father, Haywood Stenton John Jones, from Yorkshire, was an officer for the childrens charity Barnardos. The family lived at 40 Stansfield Road, near the border of the south London areas of Brixton, Bowie attended Stockwell Infants School until he was six years old, acquiring a reputation as a gifted and single-minded child—and a defiant brawler. In 1953, Bowie moved with his family to the suburb of Bromley and his voice was considered adequate by the school choir, and he demonstrated above-average abilities in playing the recorder. Upon listening to Little Richards song Tutti Frutti, Bowie would later say, presleys impact on him was likewise emphatic, I saw a cousin of mine dance to. Hound Dog and I had never seen her get up and be moved so much by anything and it really impressed me, the power of the music
12.
Glass Spider Tour
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The Glass Spider Tour was a 1987 worldwide concert tour by David Bowie, launched in support of his album Never Let Me Down. It began in May 1987 and was preceded by a press tour that saw Bowie visit nine countries throughout Europe. The Glass Spider Tour was the first Bowie tour to visit Austria, Italy, Spain, Ireland, through a sponsorship from Pepsi, the tour was intended to visit Russia and South America as well, but these plans were later cancelled. The tour was, at point, the longest and most expensive tour Bowie had embarked upon in his career. At the time, the elaborate set was called the largest touring set ever. Bowie conceived the tour as a show, and included spoken-word introductions to some songs, vignettes. On stage, Bowie was joined by guitarist Peter Frampton and a troupe of five dancers, with the theme Rock stars vs Reality, the show was divided into two acts and an encore. The set list was modified over the course of the tour as Bowie dropped some of his material in favour of older songs from his repertoire. The tour was poorly received at the time for being overblown. Starting in the late 2000s, the tour began to collect accolades for its successes, the tour was named after the album track Glass Spider, and performances from this tour were released on the VHS video Glass Spider. Preparations for the tour began as early as 1986, when Bowie warned his band to be ready for next year. Bowie was initially mum on his plans for his tour, saying only Im going to do a stage thing this year, when asked if he would elaborate on his plans, he replied No. Too many other acts are goin out, Ill just be doing what I always did, which is keeping things interesting. In announcing the tour, Bowie embarked on a series of promotional press shows covering 9 countries in 2 weeks, including Canada, the press tour shows were typically delivered in smaller venues seating around 300 people, and local fans were often allowed into the events. He used the opportunity to educate the press on his album and the tour, Press tour shows included live performances of some of the songs from the album Never Let Me Down. Bowie was joined by long-time friend Peter Frampton on the tour, Frampton said I dont have a book to sell, I dont have an album to sell, Im just here as a guitarist. Frampton and Bowie had known each other since their teen years when both attended Bromley Technical School, where Framptons father was Bowies art teacher. Bowie had a goal for this tour, to return to the theatrics that he had performed during his short-lived 1974 Diamond Dogs Tour. and it grew and grew and there were 60
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