Two items that may be of interest:
One. On 3 PM on Saturday December 4, I’ll be speaking at the New York Bowie pop-up shop, which is located at 150 Wooster Street (it’s a quick walk to Bowie’s old apartment and the former sites of the Magic Shop and Looking Glass studios, where he made his last albums, if you wanted to do a tour). I believe I’ll talk about various elements that went into the making of 1. Outside, but that’s subject to change.
If you happen to be in the city, please come! Only wrinkle is you have to get tickets beforehand (but they are free!)—I believe there may be a space issue. More information here.
Two. Those of you who follow publishing news may have seen that the parent company of Repeater Books, which published Ashes to Ashes, has acquired Zero Books, which published Rebel Rebel. This means that both my books are now under one roof: an unexpected and quite welcome development.
And this means I’ll be able to do a major revision of Rebel Rebel in the medium-term future. This revision would take into account the new songs that have appeared since it was first published (in early 2015), new sources of information (autobiographies of Woody Woodmansey, John Cambridge, Phil Lancaster, John Hutchinson etc.; the scads of interviews done with Bowie’s fellow musicians in the years since his death), and most of all, I will be able to correct errors, fix names, and make other improvements that I feared I’d never be able to do. I’m very happy to be able to do this; I believe it will substantially improve the book.
Pushing Ahead of the Dame 
Looking forward to a new edition of Rebel Rebel, fantastic news.
Sadly I am not in New York or would love to have come to your talk. I would be interested in the updated version of Rebel Rebel though so that is good news
Reserved my ticket today
Great news. I’ll just buy the new version of Rebel Rebel then.
Just reserved, a perfect occasion to finally pay a visit to this artistic-commerce Brigadoon! The ingredients of 1. Outside, you say? The very subject of my most recent Bowie-summoning (https://www.hilobrow.com/2021/08/30/swerve-your-enthusiasm-18/), which is especially indebted to your scholarship…
Would you consider also revising Ashes to Ashes should similar developments mount up between now and whenever the RR revision is done?
Would be neat to have all of this as a line of smaller uniform books a la Encyclopædia Britannica, or as a single book (with all the footnotes included within), a mighty block of once-trees that could stop tank artillery…
eh, maybe down the road, with a similar time gap between editions. So an Ashes 2.0 at the end of the decade or early ’30s maybe. Depends on what the estate releases from the vaults—indeed, much of the timing of the new Rebel Rebel will hinge on whether there actually is any “new” stuff issued for the 50th anniversaries of Hunky Dory and Ziggy.
Listening to – and, latterly, accumulating – DB’s entire catalogue, with your notes as vade mecum, has been a lifeline for me these last couple of years. I look forward to a new’n’improved RR – and to struggling with the temptation to go right back to “Lisa Jane” and do it all over again. (Not least because I’ve already done that once! To be precise, I got as far as “Sue”, then baulked at the last fence; basically I didn’t want it all to be over. I am not a Bowie obsessive, I am not a Bowie obsessive…)
As for A2A, I understand why you didn’t go with this, but from a reader’s p.o.v. the original(?) plan of three volumes rather than two would have worked better (A2A is a beast of an object, and I’m always forgetting to check the notes online). That would be a maaaajor revision, though!
Great to hear about the new edition of Rebel Rebel. I’ve been waiting to get both books but since I live in Brazil buying them is quite an investment, so I guess I’ll wai till the new version is out to get them both!
(also this is my first time posting here and I just want to compliment you on your work!! This blog is a treasure trove)
thank you!
I loved your talk and it was a pleasure to meet you. Thanks for signing my copy of Ashes To Ashes!
thanks so much!