Rhino Factoids: Bowie’s Big Birthday Bash

First of all, if you’re looking at the headline and thinking, “How embarrassing for Rhino: they’ve gotten David Bowie’s birthday wrong,” then think again: we know quite well that his birthday is January 8. When the Thin White Duke hit the big 5-0 in 1997, however, he actually threw a party for himself on January 9.

Why?

Because the big birthday bash took place at Madison Square Garden, and when the Garden’s already booked, even David Bowie can’t do anything about it. Rest assured, though, that the party was well worth the 24-hour wait.

18 years earlier, Bowie had been asked by a reporter for The Daily Express how he thought he handle it when he turned 50. “I shall welcome it, Lord yes,” he replied. “Pop stars are capable of growing old. Mick Jagger at 50 will be marvelous — a battered old roué — I can just see him. An aging rock star doesn’t have to opt out of life. When I’m 50, I’ll prove it.”

Proving himself a man of his word, Bowie did just that, singing his way through a celebration that featured many opportunities to prove that he still had the goods as a singer as well as a songwriter, thanks to a number of selections from his more recent albums, including one – Earthling– which wouldn’t even see release until two weeks after the event. Perhaps more impressively, Bowie also brought in a number of special guests to join him onstage and share in the fun, including Frank Black on “Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps),” Foo Fighters on “Hallo Spaceboy” and a solo Dave Grohl on “Seven Years in Tibet,” Robert Smith on “The Last Thing You Should Do” and “Quicksand,” Sonic Youth on “I’m Afraid of Americans,” Gail Ann Dorsey on “Under Pressure,” his old buddy Lou Reed on a foursome of songs (“Queen Bitch,” “I’m Waiting for the Man,” “Dirty Blvd.,” and “White Light / White Heat”), and Billy Corgan on “All the Young Dudes” and “The Jean Genie.”

Oh, and we haven’t even gotten to mention the songs Bowie sang all by his lonesome: “Little Wonder,” “The Hearts Filthy Lesson,” “Telling Lies,” “The Man Who Sold the World,” “Battle for Britain,” “Voyeur of Utter Destruction (As Beauty),” “Looking for Satellites,” “Heroes,” “Moonage Daydream,” “Space Oddity,” and “Can’t Read.”

Basically, what we’re saying is that if should happen to be contemplating your own 50th birthday party, you should know that Bowie’s got the bar set pretty damned high...and if you don’t believe us, just listen to the playlist we put together using the setlist from his birthday bash.