David Bowie Center: from the favorite songs to the letter from Lady Gaga
Last December 13, it opened its doors the David Bowie Centernew permanent headquarters for The archive of the late British musicianinside the V & A East Storehouse in London. The new museum, where pieces of the Victoria and Albert Museum collection were collected and cataloged, had been inaugurated on May 31 and, in addition to the Glastonbury Festival archives, the costumes of PJ Harvey and Elton John, high fashion pieces, vintage shirts, samurai swords and much more, Now it has been enriched with over 90,000 objects belonging to Bowie.
As reported by the description of the David Bowie Center, among the objects on display are – for example – personal effects, photos, letters, musical instruments, texts of handwritten songs, and obviously costumes. In addition to the notes on the latest project that the British artist worked before the disappearance in 2016, the collection – acquired by the V&A thanks to the contribution of the David Bowie Summer, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the Warner Music Group – also includes A letter written by Lady Gaga in Bowie.
In the correspondence, handwritten by the pop star to share with his profound admiration for the artist and expresses the desire to meet him in person, we read:
“Dear David Bowie, it was really an honor to receive a preview of his album. I cried, in reality, listening to every song. But how do I know that I exist? I feel the feeling that all my career was an artistic plea because she realized me. I am finishing my album ‘Artpop’ and I am in New York. I would be grateful and honored to meet her”.
As pointed out by, among others, the NME, although not specified as the album the voice of “Bad Romance” had received a preview, the reference to work on “ArtPop” – published on November 6, 2013, places the letter around 2012 or 2013. This suggests that it was probably “The Next Day”, released in 2013.
Before the opening of the David Bowie Center, which also includes special exhibitions curated by Last Dinner Party And Nile Rodgershad been revealed that among the objects on display is also included a note written by Bowie with The list of his favorite songs. The list, handwritten, was discovered while the organizers were collecting the huge collection of objects, memorabilia and souvenirs that belonged to Bowie which are now exhibited at the V&A museum in London.
The list of Bowie’s favorite songs, apparently noted of her own hand for a radio program in which she should have participated, is named “Memo for Radio Show – List of Favorite Records“, And includes songs by artists such as Miles Davis, Jeff Beck, Little Richard, Beatles, Ronnie Spector, Roxy Music and Sonic Youth.
Here is David Bowie’s favorite songs:
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Fantasy on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Richard Strauss – Four Last Songs
Alan Freed and his rock ‘n’ roll band – right now right now
Little Richard – True Fine Mama
The Hollywood Argyles – Show A Lot About Love
Miles Davis – Some Day My Prince Will as
Charles Mingus – Ecclusiastics
Jeff Beck – Beck’s Bolero
Legendary Stardust Cowboy – I Took A Trip On a Gemini Spaceship
The Beatles – Across the Universe
Ronnie Spector – Try Some, Buy Some
Roxy Music – Mother of Pearl
Edgar Froese – Epsilon in Malaysian Pale
The Walker Brothers – The Electrician
Sonic Youth – Tom Violence
