Bowie FAQ 2.10/part 1 (54k)

[Eyal Perek]

If you have anything to comment, send e-mail to pe...@zoot.tau.ac.il, where
requests for this file should also be sent. Please note I *DON'T* visit
the Internet regularly.

To search for additions/changes made since the previous version, find
<NEW>/<UPDATED>.

New in this version:
A list of Bowie fanzines (please send some more information).

Many thanks to those who contributed since the previous release:
Kristian Hellesund <krih...@telepost.no>, Malinda McCall <mmc...@emory.edu>,
Martti-Tapio Kuuskoski <mtku...@cc.helsinki.fi>, ?? <MAlfo...@aol.com>,
Daniel Hopp <ho...@student.uni-kl.de>, SherryLin <Sherr...@aol.com>, Bonnie
Powell <db...@aol.com>, Keith Moore <keith...@dpav.glasgow.gov.uk>

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The official Bowie FAQ, written and maintained
by Eyal Perek, pe...@zoot.tau.ac.il

Description: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (and non-Frequently Asked
Questions) about Bowie and the alt.fan.david-bowie newsgroup.
Version: 2.10
Last modified: January 30th, 1996
Next post: March 1st, 1996

Legal disclaimer:
It has been proven that this text may cause changes in the outcome of your
favourite war. Another symptom that was reported in some cases after reading
this article is wRiTiNg In ThAt StUpId WaY. You have been warned!!!
I'm not too generous when it comes to using smileys. If you read something
really REALLY ridiculous it probably means that I again spent too much time in
rec.humor. If you see a sentence ending with a :-) (or is it AN :-)) it
either means I wrote something I thought was funny (you may, or you may not
share my sentiments), or I just thought of a joke and the smiley was typed
without intention.
I therefore announce I will take no responsibility for any damage caused by
use, or misuse of this document, either direct or indirect.
If this product fails to work, check to see you've installed the batteries
right (not supplied in the original package). To be on the safe side, keep
out of reach of children and pets: it may explode in contact with non-Bowie
fans and water; if under pressure (and I quote from the Queen/Bowie song
Under Pressure: 'under pressure, pressure, pressure'); or if bent.
Any opinion expressed in this whole document is strictly mine, but can be
exchanged in return for a rare Bowie bootleg.
Why are you reading this anyway? Do you find it amusing reading legal notices?

For the narrow minded people: I was just joking, it is not THAT serious (or is
it?)

TOC section (Table of contents):

Part 1. Introduction (welcome to alt.fan.david-bowie)
1.1 Requests, thanks, wishes and (surprisingly) an introduction
1.2 The proper posting algorithm. Basic guidelines. YOU MUST READ THIS.
(In case you weren't good in computer class at school, algorithm = a
way of doing things. Sorta.)

Part 2. Bowie facts. Contains answers to questions you shouldn't ask, and will
probably get you flamed if you insist on asking.
2.1 Facts listed in chronological order
2.2 Facts of no known dates
2.3 Misc., gossip, what other people have to say about the man
2.4 Bowie quotes (sometimes controversial, sometimes not so famous,
sometimes pointless)

Part 3. Discography, filmography, and the rest of the gang. A discussion of
Bowie's work. <Some of the info taken from Evan's site>
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Official albums
3.3 Re-releases
3.4 Singles (any single Bowie participated in its making)
3.5 Filmography
3.6 Videos
3.7 Books
3.7.1 Where can I read about Bowie?
3.7.2 Song Books
3.7.3 Related books
3.7.4 Fanzines
3.8 Other releases
3.9 Important notes
3.10 What's next?

Part 4. Song discussion. Talks about meanings and correctness of lyrics,
different interpretations, notes on specific songs, etc.
<Most of these are either taken from Evan's site, or are based on
postings>
4.1 Love You Till Tuesday
4.2 When I Live My Dream
4.3 Space Oddity
4.4 Letter To Hermione
4.5 Conversation Piece
4.6 Memory Of A Free Festival
4.7 All The Madmen
4.8 London Bye Ta-Ta
4.9 Life On Mars
4.10 The Bewlay Brothers
4.11 Kooks
4.12 Quicksand
4.13 Five Years
4.14 Rock 'n Roll Suicide
4.15 John, I'm Only Dancing
4.16 Song For Bob Dylan
4.17 Andy Warhol
4.18 Queen Bitch
4.19 Velvet Goldmine
4.20 The Jean Genie
4.21 My Death
4.22 Diamond dogs
4.23 1984
4.24 Dodo
4.25 Candidate (demo)
4.26 Young Americans
4.27 Fame
4.28 Station To Station
4.29 TVC15
4.30 Warszawa
4.31 Heroes
4.32 Helden
4.33 Joe The Lion
4.34 V-2 Schneider
4.35 Red Money
4.36 It's No Game
4.37 Ashes To Ashes
4.38 Scream Like A Baby
4.39 Crystal Japan
4.40 China Girl
4.41 This Is Not America
4.42 Dancing In The Streets
4.43 Day In Day Out
4.44 Fame '90
4.45 The Buddha Of Suburbia
4.46 Leon Takes Us Outside
4.47 Outside
4.48 The Heart's Filthy Lesson
4.49 Segue - Baby Grace
4.50 The Motel
4.51 Segue - Algeria Touchshriek
4.52 Segue - Nathan Adler
4.53 Through These Architect's Eyes

Part 5. Bowie resources on the (inter)net. Where to find more information
about Bowie, in case you reached the (clever) conclusion that this FAQ
doesn't cover everything (nor it should).
5.1 Newsgroups
5.2 FTP sites
5.3 Web sites
5.4 Gopher

Part 6. Contact addresses

Part 7. Credits. Self explanatory.

Part 8. Who is the best solo artist in the whole human history?
In this part you will find out who is the best solo artist in the
whole human history. Try to guess and then check to see if you guessed
it right.

==============================================================================

Part 1. Introduction

1.1 Requests, thanks, wishes and (surprisingly) an introduction

o Welcome to the Bowie FAQ.

o I wrote some of the stuff you'll find here myself, but I also used info
from postings written by other people. Their names are included in the
credits section. I also used some biographic details from Evan's site (see
section 5.3). The people who have helped writing this biographic
information are also credited.

o I also used the biographies included in the Early On and Sound + Vision
compilations.

o If you think you can contribute to this FAQ, in any way (even correcting
typos), please do!

o HELP!!! I need:
- The exact quote about Bowie and Angie living on Mars (posted a long time
ago);
- Details about The Singles Collection (differences between the three
versions), posted waaay back;
- Details about Bowie's son;
- Details about the album Rough Power. Was it published *only* because
Iggy Pop fans said Bowie ruined Raw Power with his mixing?;
- Details about Queen's The Ultimate Collection - Rarities, Oddities
And Cover Versions (that featured Bowie);
- More information about the biographies (section 3.7). Which of them are
out of print?;
- The name of the female singer who recently covered Changes;
- Short reviews of Bowie's albums. The reviews should be general, and
should not include items like descriptions of specific songs, release
details and musician info. Finally: I don't need personal opinions, I
can write those myself.
A one sentence reviews (something like 'a glam-rock album') would be
just fine.
- Details about his nomination for the Rock 'n Roll Hall Of Fame museum.
Was he nominated the first time around 1987?
- The different versions of the lyrics to Sweet Head. This was discussed in
the newsgroup a long time ago.

o I know, this is too long for a FAQ. I'm thinking of releasing a shorter
version. Meanwhile, you can call this text a biography, an anthology, or
whatever you like!

o If you have a question but can't find the answer, and the table of contents
doesn't help, try using a text search.

o The FAQ is split into three parts, because some newsreaders can't handle
files larger than 60K.

1.2 The proper posting algorithm

o Every now and then, a new person gets an internet account. This person,
given the right conditions (being a Bowie fan, hearing about the Usenet),
sooner or later discovers the alt.fan.david-bowie newsgroup. Occasionally,
he would post an annoying question that some of us got tired of seeing.

o Conclusion: Before you post a question with a header that goes 'I'm new to
this newsgroup, and this question was probably already brought up, but
I would still like to know...' READ THE WHOLE FAQ. You will then prevent
the ('logical') possibility of being flamed or being hated.

o In particular, these questions should NEVER be asked:
'Are his eyes really differently coloured???!!!?###'
'Is he REALLY gay??!!?????&&'
'Did he do something prior to Let's Dance?!?#######@@@??????!!!'

o When posting rumours, clearly specify it's a rumour, preferably in the
subject. Something like 'RUMOUR: Bowie used to date my cat'.

o If you have intentions of posting something that is not related to Bowie
(how to make money fast, etc.), let me help you.
We'll read the name of the newsgroup together. alt.FAN.DAVID-BOWIE, that's
right, alt.FAN.DAVID-BOWIE. More slowly. alt.F-A-N.D-A-V-I-D---B-O-W-I-E.
Not alt.being.gay.is.disgusting, not alt.I.want.to.become.a.male.lesbian,
it's alt.fan.david-bowie.
We will now go over the MEANING of the name. The meaning is that only
posts about Bowie should be made.
And there's an appropriate newsgroup for posting stuff about Brian Eno
(alt.music.brian-eno). Here, we're only interested in Bowie-Eno facts.

o Don't get way off topic, (or even a bit off topic, unless it's very
interesting). It may lead to a flame war.
Note the example of 'are drugs used as a medicine for mental illnesses'
or something that was discussed in the newsgroup. I can't remember the
original question, which proves my point.

o Ignore irrelevant postings (How to make money fast, Get HOT SEX here),
and people who are searching for flame wars.
I ignore all flamers, I suggest that you do the same.

o Avoid posting a general question asking for an opinion like 'What is
Bowie's best album?'. This may lead to an endless, confusing thread, with
mixed replies, too many different thoughts, and no one can keep track who
said what to whom. In the end, even YOU wouldn't get a satisfactory answer.
You can, instead, ask people to mail their opinions directly to you. It
would be nice, though, if you later post a statistical report that will
make sense to us all (how many votes you got for each album in the case of
the given example).

o Avoid personal insults. No need to explain, is there?

o Some people (including me) find postings formatted to more than 80 columns
irritating (same goes for postings formatted to less than 20 columns :-)).
But more important than that, some newsreaders can't handle them (you DO
want other people to read your posts, don't you?).

==============================================================================

Part 2. Bowie Facts

2.1 Facts listed in chronological order

o David Bowie is David Robert Jones, born in Stanfield Road, Brixton, south
London, on the 8th of January 1947 to Peggy (whose real name was Margaret)
and John (whose real name was Haywood Stenton) Jones.
He changed his stage name from Jones to Bowie in 1966 because of the
success of Davy Jones on the London stage. That was prior to the success
of the Monkees (with Davy Jones).
He decided to choose a last name that was also the name of a knife because
he liked Mick Jagger (jagger means knife). He chose the name Bowie from the
American frontiersman, Texan soldier Jim Bowie, who the knife is named for.
He wanted to choose the name of an American, because he's always been
interested in that country.

o He had an older half brother, Terry, through his mother, that suffered many
years from the mental illness with the long name Schizophrenia and was in a
mental hospital for that reason. Terry committed a suicide in 1985 (this
was after many attempts that failed). Bowie did not come to his funeral.

o Bowie also has a step sister named Annette through his father.

o When he was young he had an accident in which he broke his two legs. He
still has a big scar on one of his legs, a result of that accident.

o Bowie moved to Bromley, and studied art and graphic design in the Bromley
Technical School.

o Owen Frampton was his teacher. Owen's son, Peter Frampton, who was studying
in the same school, and is three years younger than David, was a member in
the band that played behind him in the Glass Spider tour (1987). They used
to sing Sons Of The Silent Age as a duet.

<UPDATED>
o Bowie's eyes are of different colour. His right eye is blue, his left eye
is either brown or green, depending on the light. This is a common trait
amoung people with differently coloured eyes. When he was born both of his
eyes were blue.
I've heard contradicting stories explaining this. I will summarize them
in one sentence (pick what you think might be the best explanation):
He had a {car accident/eye infection/street fight/fight with a high school
friend over a girl} and {his left eye became paralyzed/his left eye was
damaged in an operation/the doctors transplanted a wrong coloured pupil in
an operation}
Total of 4*2=8 combinations (I haven't heard about pupil transplants).

The most common belief is that Bowie's left eye was damaged in a school
fight with longtime friend George Underwood circa 1962 during art class.
He was stabbed in his eye with a pencil. His pupil was paralyzed and
subsequently could not adjust to light properly.

In an interview in Atlanta, October '95, David said, himself, that at the
age of about 13, he and another guy liked the same girl, and the other guy
socked David in the eye, making for a permanently enlarged pupil, which
appears to be an eye of a different colour than the other eye.

The scientific explanation is that when the iris is compressed it appears
darker.

In the picture on Black Tie White Noise and several other pictures in
recent interviews, Bowie is wearing blue contact lenses.

o Bowie still keeps a white acrylic alto saxophone his parents bought him
when he was twelve years old. That was his first instrument. He took
lessons from Ronnie Ros, who introduced him to the jazz saxophonist Charlie
Parker.

o Bowie was influenced by Rhythm & Blues, a relatively new music style that
started in America. Bowie's favourite singer was Little Richard. He also
liked John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy and King Curtis.

o His half brother, Terry, introduced him to progressive jazz, and to
American poet Jack Kerouac.

o The Konrads was Bowie's first group. The name he suggested was Ghost
Riders. A known Konrads song is I Never Dreamed (written by Jones, Ferris,
and Dodds), in which Bowie sings backing vocals.

o He left them because they didn't want to play R&B.

o Then he formed Reds & Blues (with friend painter George Underwood), a band
that played many covers.

o Bowie graduated high school with an A in art.

o He took a job at the London agency as a commercial artist.

o In November '63 Bowie formed his first recording band Davie Jones and the
King Bees. The name originated from the Louisiana's blues singer Slim Harpo
song I'm A King Bee. They were: Bowie (vocals, tenor. alto sax), Roger
Bluck (lead guitar), George Underwood (rhythm guitar, harmonica, vocals),
Dave Howard (bass), Bob Allen (drums).

o To raise money Bowie sent a letter to a rich English entrepreneur, John
Bloom, who was in the washing machines business. Since he had nothing to do
with music, he passed Bowie's request to Less Conn (who was managing Doris
Day's music publishing company, Melcher music, and doing talent scouting
for the Dick James Organization). Conn suggested that they play at Bloom's
wedding anniversary. He accepted, and they played Got My Mojo Working and
Hoochie Coochie Man in that party. Conn then decided to become their
manager.

o They recorded the very first Bowie single Liza Jane (an old Negro
spiritual but Conn was credited as the composer)/Louie Louie Go Home
(composed by Paul Revere & The Raiders). The single was recorder at Decca
studios, West Hampstead and was released on a subsidiary label Vocalion
Pop on the 5th of June, '64.
Bowie and his band gave performances in Marquee Club, Cafe Des Artists, the
Roundhouse, and several universities.
They also performed this single on the Juke Box Jury show, and on the BBC2
show The Beat Room.

o Since they weren't gaining any popularity Bowie decided to leave the band,
on August '64, and they broke up.

o Immediately afterwards Bowie joined The Manish Boys (The name originated
from a Muddy Waters song), an R&G band from Maidstone, whose name used
to change very often (Band Seven and The Jazz Gentlemen were amoung their
previous names). They were: Bowie (vocals, tenor, alto sax), Johnny Flux
(lead guitar), John Watson (bass, rhythm guitar, vocals), Mick White
(drums), Bob Solly (organ), Paul Rodriguez (tenor sax, trumpet, bass),
Woolf Byrne (baritone sax, harmonica).

o After they'd heard David's copy of The James Brown Show Live At The
Apollo, and under David's influence, they changed their music style.

o On November 12, '64 Bowie gave his first known television interview on
BBC's Cliff Michelmore's Tonight show about the organization he founded for
'The Prevention Of Cruelty To Long Haired Men'.
Bowie: 'Well, I think we're all fairly tolerant, but for the last two
years, we've had comments like "Darling" and "Can I carry your handbag?"
thrown at us, and I think it just has to stop now'.

o The Manish boys signed with the Arthur Howes Agency. They played six shows
as backup for Gene Pitney - Gerry & The Pacemakers tour, starting December
1st.

o In Regent studios they recorded for Decca a cover of Barbara Lewis's
song Hello Stranger (that was never released) and Love Is Strange. Mike
Smith was the producer.

o Then they met the producer Shel Talmy (who was producing The Kinks, The
Who, Manfred Mann at the time), that after hearing them, decided to produce
them.
Talmy: 'I really liked David because of the fact that he was, I thought, a
head of the game'.

o In IBC Studios they recorded the single I Pity The Fool (an Early '60 hit
by American R&B singer Bobby 'Blue' Bland)/Take My Tip (The first Bowie
composition recorded. Jimmy Page appeared as a guest guitarist. The song
was covered by Kenny Miller as an A-side)
The single was released on March 5th.

o Leslie Conn arranged that they perform I Pity The Fool on the BBC show
Gadzooks! It's All Happening. Producer Barry Langford insisted that Bowie
cuts his hair. He, of course, refused. Conn organized fans to parade around
the BBC with banners like 'Be Fair To Long Hair'. Bowie also sent a letter
to a local newspaper in which he claimed 'people with long hair have rights
too'. The story was told in many other local newspapers. BBC Then decided
to let him appear on the show, in condition that if they get complaints the
band's fee will to to charity. No complaints were received :-)

o In April '65 The Manish Boys broke up.

o In March '65 Bowie met the band The Lower Third in Giaconda coffee bar, on
Denmark St., a popular hangout for musicians. He became their lead singer.
They were: Bowie (vocals, tenor, alto sax), Devis 'Tea Cup' Taylor (lead
guitar), Graham Rivens (bass), Les Mighall (drums) (who left before the
release of their first single, and was replaced by Phil Lancaster).
Nicky Hopkins played piano in several sessions.
The band was mainly influenced by The Who.

o They appeared regularly on each Saturday at the R&B club La Discotheque.

o In Central Sound Studio, on Denmark St. they recorded several demos,
including Born Of The Night (that was never released) and two radio
jingles for the U.S. including Youthquake Clothing (that David and Denis
wrote when they arrived at the studio).

o Their first single (and second Bowie single to be produced by Talmy) was
released on 20th of August under EMI's Parlophone label. You've Got A Habit
Of Leaving (influenced by The Who)/Baby Loves That Way (that David admitted
it was a take off on Herman's Hermits. On backing vocals: Less Conn, Shel
Talmy, two engineers and the band as monks).
On the press release of this single David said that he likes Sammy Davis
Jr.
The band also recorded Over The Wall We Go - that was covered by Oscar.

o Graham: 'David used to sit at home and strum a guitar and write some
lyrics. We then used to sit down together as a group and make the whole
thing something feasible and bring the whole tune together. A lot of the
early stuff we did with him, apart from the basic tune and lyrics, was very
much a joint effort'.

o Talmy: 'David and I went straight to monaural tape on those demos.
Certainly that wasn't multitrack. We did it specifically to do demos. They
were things he had that we were talking about recording at a future date.
And it was always nice to get them down on tape so we could have a listen'.

o Ralph Horton (who was working for the agent Terry King, managing Screaming
Lord Sutch and The Casuals, and who worked as a driver for The Moody Blues)
became Bowie's first official manager.
He arranged a few shows. The first - as a support to the Moody Blues at
the Bromel club in Bromley. Other shows included Summer weekend engagement
at the winter gardens in Ventnor, and support for Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
on the Isle Of Wight.

o They also did a series of afternoon concerts at the Marquee Inecto Show,
that were broadcasted by a pirated radio station Radio London, sponsored
by the makers of Inecto shampoo. They used to sing songs by The Kinks,
Chim Chim Cheree (from Mary Poppins), and Mars (from Holst's Planet
suite, the theme music from the British television serial The Quartermass
Experiment).

o Horton phoned Ken Pitt, who later on became Bowie's 2nd manager, at the
end of '66, (and at the time, was managing Manfred Mann, Crispian St.
Peters) because the band had financial difficulties. Pitt had no time, but
he did suggest that Bowie changes his name. And he did (on November '65).

o On November 2nd they band was auditioned at BBC but they were turned down.
That was explained in '87: '...Like the Rolling Stones before him, the 19
year old Bowie's performance was not suitable for the BBC's purposes. The
talent selection group were particularly surprised by the inclusion of the
Lower Third's version of Chim Chim Cheree from Mary Poppins, and as for
Bowie's singing..."a Cockney type, but not outstanding", "A singer devoid
of personality", "sing wrong notes" and "Out of tune" were just some of
the comments. But two years later, Bowie was back at the beeb with a
complete change of style and a trial broadcast'.

o The year ended with the first performances outside of England, including
two shows at the Golfe Drouot in Paris, one on New Year's Eve (On The Bill
with Arthur Brown), and the other one on January 2nd, '66.

o In the end of '65 the band signed with Pye records.

o On January 14th the first single under the new name was released, produced
by Tony Hatch, head of A&R for Pye. Can't Help Thinking About Me/And I
Say To Myself. That was the first Bowie single to be released in the U.S.
(on the Warner Brothers label, in May)

o Since they didn't have any success, The Lower Third broke up, January
'66.

o Bowie then joined The Buzz (named by a radio station DJ).
David Bowie and The Buzz were: Bowie (vocals), John Hutchinson 'Hutch'
(lead guitar), Derek Fearnley 'Dek' (bass), John Eager 'Ego' (drums), Derek
Boyes 'Chow' (organ).
Hutchinson was replaced after four months with Billy Gray 'Haggis', but
rejoined Bowie two years later with Feathers.

o They were auditioned at February 3rd, in the Marquee club.

o Their first performances were on the 10th of February, in Leicester
University with the Graham Bond Organization and Jimmy James & The
Vagabonds, and a day later in the Marquee club.

o They recorded a few songs, including That's A Promise (written by Bowie).
This song was only released on a bootleg single, and bootleg albums, one
of which is Pierrot In Torquoise.

o In March They performed The Lower Third's song Can't Help Thinking About
Me on Ready, Steady, Go! and reached #26 on the Melody Makers chart.

o In March 7th they recorded Do Anything You Say/Good Morning Girl (with Tony
Hatch as the producer), that was released on April 1st.

o They gave some successful performances in Scotland, and, at the Marquee -
Bowie did a Sunday afternoon series of his own The Bowie Showboat (from
the 10th of April '66 to the 12th of June), and it became apparent that
Bowie had a group of devoted fans.

o In the second The Bowie Showboat show Bowie met his next producer Ken
Pitt.

o I Dig Everything/I'm Not Losing Sleep was recorded on June 6th, and
released August 19th. Band unknown. Producer Hatch thought the songs needed
rearranging and used session musicians.

o Hatch: 'David was then extremely conservative, good to get on with and
excellent in the studio. His material was good, although I thought he wrote
too much about London dustbins. Those were his formative years and he
hadn't reached maturity, but he was unusual, unique'.

o In December, '66, The Buzz broke up.

o In 1967 Bowie signed with Deram, a Decca subsidiary, and released Rubber
Band and Love You Till Tuesday, that both later appeared on his debut album
David Bowie.

o This album was released without We Are Hunger Men and Maid Of Bond
Street in the U.S.

o A year after he released his song The Laughing Gnome, in 1967, Roni
Hilton wrote an orchestral version to that song.
The song was later (in 1973) re-released on a collection, and reached
the sixth place on the british charts.

o Around this period, Bowie made an unsuccessful attempt to become a family
entertainer.

o After that, Tony Visconti became his producer, and they recorded Let Me
Sleep Beside You and London Bye Ta Ta but no company wanted to release
these songs.

o His first role as an actor in the cinema was in a short half hour art film
called The Image, in which he portrayed a corpse. In one of the scenes,
Bowie lies on a window sill and someone pours water on him to create the
illusion of rain. The film was shown as a 'filler' in seedy Soho cinemas.

o In 1968 Bowie wrote a four page play called Ernie Jones. It tells the story
of a man, Ernie, that wants to commit suicide, so he decides on having a
'suicide party'. The play never acted on stage.

o In the same year, the famous choreographer Lindsay Kemp let young Bowie
(who, by then, was a mime with Kemp's dance troupe) appear on his show, in
return for sex. Before one of the performances Bowie disappeared with the
beautiful scene decorator Natasha Korlinov and Kemp tried to commit suicide
by cutting his wrists, but he was saved. Two months later Bowie came back
to him, then Natasha tried to kill herself with sleeping pills. She was
also saved.

o Bowie: 'Lindsay gave me lessons in exchange for writing music for them. He
introduced me to a lot of extraordinary things - artaud, theatre of the
absurd, all that kind of thing. A lot of my attitude toward the stage, and
staging, really came from Lindsay. He was my mentor'.

o Bowie then opened up for the duo Tyrannosaurus Rex (with Marc Bolan),
a band Visconti was producing, as a mime (as a Buddhist priest).

o As a pantomimist, he presented his own version of the chinese invasion to
Tibet.

o He also appeared as an extra in the movie The Virgin Soldiers.

o He won 2nd place in the Maltese Song Festival with his song When I Live My
Dream.

o After that, he formed a mixed media band called Feathers with John
Hutchinson and ballet dancer Harmione Farthingale that he was dating, and
who was studying with Kemp. They combined original songs with Jackues
Brel songs, poetry and mime acts.

o Very shortly after, Farthingale dumped him. He wrote the song Letter To
Hermione about it, that is included in his album Space Oddity.

o In February 2nd, '69 he recorded the song Space Oddity with Hutchinson.

o In the first recordings of Space Oddity, Bowie tried to make the sound of
the spaceship by himself. It sounded bad. (He also did this on stage, in
1972. The live version is available in Santa Monica '72, or in any bootleg
of that performance).
If you don't have any of these recordings, try to imagine how they sounded,
for everlasting amusement.

o Bowie: 'Hermione had run off with a dancer. I was totally head-over-heels
in loved with her, and it really sort of demolished me. That event, plus
the 2001 movie, sort of set me off on the Space Oddity song'.

o Space Oddity, plus some tracks from the album David Bowie were used in the
promo film Love You Till Tuesday. The film and the soundtrack were
released in 1984.

o The film didn't succeed.

o Because of the American moon landing on July 20th, Mercury signed with
Bowie, and they wanted him to re-record Space Oddity.

o Bowie: 'John Hutchinson was going to record it with me. In fact, on the
demo, Hutch is singing the first verse. We had intended making an album
together, and we had demoed quite a few songs. This single was going to be
"Bowie and Hutch". But then, two or three days before the session, Hutch
said that he really didn't think that we were going to make it in rock. He
was married, and he had a kid up in Yorkshire, and he decided he was going
home. So I ended up doing the whole thing myself. I was heart broken. I
mean, I'd built up a whole thing around the idea of duets'.

o Space Oddity was re-recorded in June 20th with Gus Dudgeon as a producer
(who was the engineer in the recordings of the album David Bowie) and with
Paul Buckmaster's arranging.

o Space Oddity became Bowie's first big hit (reaching #5 in the UK). The
interesting fact is that Bowie's producer at that time, Tony Visconti,
rejected the song. Bowie HAD to give the song to another producer - Gus
Dudgeon.
Bowie produced an alternative version to the song in '79.

o Space Oddity was used by the BBC as the theme song of the U.S. moon
landing.

o Because of the big success, Mercury agreed to produce Bowie's next album in
the early seventies. It was released as David Bowie in Britain in Britain
(note: there's no typing mistake here), and as Man Of Words/Man Of Music
in the U.S. This album was later on re-released as Space Oddity, in 1972,
without the song Don't Sit Down. (but the song was included again in the
Ryko 1990 re-release).

o Bowie also recorded an Italian version of Space Oddity - Ragazzo Solo,
Ragazza Sola (lonely boy, lonely girl) and a French version that I don't
know its name, but the English translation is 'A man who disappears in the
sky'.

o Space Oddity is about Major Tom, an astronaut who gets lost in space.
David returned to Major Tom in his hit single Ashes To Ashes, that is
included in his album Scary Monsters (in '80). The Ryko re-release of the
album includes a performance of Space Oddity from the 31st of December,
'79.

o Space Oddity only became a hit in America in 1973 (after the Ziggy tour),
when the single was re-released, reaching #15 on the charts.

o Bowie organized an art festival in Bromley, and a music festival.
The song Memory of A Free Festival from the album Space Oddity is about
that festival.

o Bowie, talking about Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud: 'That, for me at the
time, was the most fully developed song that I'd written. It had the
narrative form, a loose mythology. It was a portent of what I was going to
be doing later on'.

o According to a rumour, Bowie attempted to enter U.S.S.R. around '69, but
he was denied as he was found to have been carrying national socialist
propaganda.

o In January '70 - Bowie recorded the original version of Prettiest Star
(that later appeared on his album Aladdin Sane) in London's Trident
studios with Marc Bolan on guitar (who was about to become a superstar with
T. Rex).
Bowie: 'There was quite a lot of rivalry between Marc and myself. We had a
sparring relationship. We both knew we were going to be doing something in
the future, but he was a few rungs up - he was really starting to happen.
But he decided that he wanted to contribute to something that I was doing,
and so he played guitar on this one. I don't think we were talking to each
other that day. I can't remember why, but I remember a very strange
attitude in the studio. we were never in the same room at the same time.
You could have cut the atmosphere with a knife. We eventually became the
tightest of buddies until his tragic death in 1978'.

o Bowie and Bolan were also members of the band Dib Cochran.

o Afterwards, Bowie set a backup band: Tony Visconti (bass), his friend John
Cambridge (drums) and Cambridge's friend, classically trained from Hull,
Mick Ronson (guitar). Their first session was at the Roundhouse, London,
February '70.
Bowie: 'I thought It would be really interesting if each of us adopted a
persona of some kind. I remember Cambridge was a cowboy, and Tony Visconti
wore a Superman outfit. I can't remember what I wore, but it was very
spacey, and there was a lot of Lurex-y material in it. Bolan was there, and
he was open-mouthed that we had the balls to camp it up so much. I think
that was the first glam-rock performance. I was all jeans and long hair at
that time, and we got booed all the way through the show. People hated it.
They absolutely loathed what we were doing. It was great!'.

o In March 20th he was married to Mary Angela 'Angie' Barnett. Their son,
Zowie, was born in May 28th.

o In the early seventies, Bowie used to wear dresses ('a man's dresses'). He
wasn't the only one (see Mick Jagger's little white 'party dress'), but
still it was very odd.

o A Texan man pointed a gun at Bowie once because he was wearing a dress.

o His next band was called Hype: Tony Visconti (bass), Woody Woodmansey, who
was the drummer in Ronson's band The Rats (drums), Mick Ronson (guitar).
Bowie himself acted as The Rainbow Man.
Bowie: 'Hype was a super band to be in. It didn't come to much, it was a
shame actually. I enjoyed everything that we did. It was the embryo of what
was to become the spiders'.

o With the band, Bowie recorded his next album, The Man Who Sold The World.

o Marc Bolan appeared as a guest guitarist on Black Country Rock (released
November '70).

o In January '71 Mercury arranged that Bowie meets the American press.

o On the original cover of his album The Man Who Sold The World Bowie
appeared wearing a dress. Mercury rejected the cover, and it was replaced
with a cartoon drawing of a cowboy holding a rifle with a shot out clock
tower behind him (designed by Bowie's artist friend). Later on, after the
album was already released, they replaced this with the black and white
Ziggy picture. The album was published with different covers in other
countries.
The album was not sold very well so Mercury decided to fire him.
(All the covers appear in the Ryko re-release of the album, BTW).

o Later that year, Bowie signed with RCA in the U.S.

o In New York he met Andy Warhol, and Lou Reed. Lou Reed introduced him to
Iggy Pop, and the three of them became good friends. There is a picture of
them hanging out together.

o Bowie has always been a Lou Reed fan. He recorded two cover versions of his
songs: White Light/White Heat and Waiting For The Man. He also sang these
songs a few times in the sixties.

o In 1970 He recorded what's known to be the first song he ever wrote, Tired
Of My Life. The song can be found on the boolegs Lost In Our Vaults Until
Now and The Shadow Man.

o Bowie had a Riley car which he used to call Rupert. He wrote a song about
it - Rupert the Riley - which wasn't officially released, but can
be found on the bootleg The Shadow Man.

o With previously The Rats member Trevor Bolder on bass and Rick Wakeman
(who later on joined Yes) on keyboards, and his old band, Bowie recorded
his next album Hunky Dory, that was produced by him and Ken Scott
and released in November (after Wakeman had left).

o One song became a big hit, Changes. It reached #66 on the U.S charts.
Bowie: 'I really started to feel at home as a songwriter in Hunky Dory. I
really felt that I knew how to write songs at that point. There were couple
of things that attempted to sort of transplant the brain of a cabaret song
onto a piece of rock writing. One was Life on Mars and the other one was
Changes. Changes started out as a parody of a nightclub song, a kind of
throwaway. But it turned into the monster that nobody would stop asking for
at concerts. "Dye-vid, Dye-vid - do Changes". I had no idea it would become
such a popular thing'.

o Hunky Dory reached #93 on the U.S charts.

o The album featured tribute songs to Bob Dylan, Andy Warhol, and Velvet
Underground (Queen Bitch).

o According to several resources Andy Warhol hated the song Bowie wrote for
him (Andy Warhol). They met, Andy listened to the song and sat and stared
at David for a while, then said 'I like your shoes'.
In a recent interview, to the radio program Modern Rock Live, Bowie said
Warhol wasn't terribly communicative and how they basically stood there and
looked at each other before having a conversation about shoes.

o Talking about Oh! You Pretty Things Bowie said he tried to play the piano
part, but had to stop after every couple of notes because his fingers hurt.

o Peter Noone reached #12 on the UK charts with Bowie's song Oh! You Pretty
Things.

o Bowie once appeared with a circus elephant called Changes on stage.

o Two tracks, Moonage Daydream and Hang Onto Yourself were released under the
name Arnold Corns (originated from the Pink Floyd song Arnold Layne) in
'71. The dress designer Freddi Burette was supposedly the lead singer.
These tracks were later re-worked for the album Ziggy Stardust.

o In 1972 Bowie invented Ziggy Stardust, a science fiction story with a hero
by the same name. He created a concept album based on it.
This album is considered to be Bowie's most influential and famous album,
and one of the best albums ever made, by any artist. It was chosen as
the most influential album of the seventies by Melody Maker.

o The album was released on June 6th and stayed more than a year on the U.S.
charts.

o It reached #5 on the UK charts and #75 on the U.S charts.

o The first single from the album, Starman, reached #10 on the UK charts and
#65 on the U.S. charts.

o The band that played behind him in the years 1972-73 (until their last
concert in Hammersmith Odeon) was called The Spiders. The members:
Mick Ronson (guitar), Woody Woodmansey (drums), Trevor Bolder (bass).

This is what happened after they broke up:
Mick Ronson released a couple of solo albums (now available as a double
on MainMan/Trident). He then worked for many years with Mott the Hoople.
He played on their final single (Saturday Gigs), and on their European
tour in October/November '74. He then worked with their writer/singer Ian
Hunter on and off for the next 20 years.
He has many productions with credits to his name, some of which are: The
Morrissey album with I Know It's Gonna Happen on it, an Andi Sex-Gang
single Seven Ways To Kill A Man, Dalbello's album Who Man Four Says.
He also worked with some minor UK punk bands. For example, he produced and
played on the Slaughter and the Dog's first album.
Ronson had been living in the U.S. for some time. He died of liver cancer
in 1993.

Woody Woodmansey and Trevor Bolder went on to release a Spiders From Mars
album with unknown guitarist and vocalist.
Woody Woodmansey then released another album (the name of the band was
Wood Woodmansey's U-Boat) (The album has a 'cartoon' cover, BTW).
They were touted as having 'the biggest drum kit in the world' - Woody
promptly fell off it and broke his wrists!

Bolder and his band played a mini concert in 1977 during a street party to
commemorate the Queens silver jubilee.
He was playing bass for Uriah Heep at Reading Festival around 1987. He's
still playing for them now.
His dad used to have a record shop, but that was closed many years ago and
is now a cafe. His brother also had a brief musical career.

o The home town of the Spiders from Mars is the city of Hull, North
Humberside.

o Ziggy Stardust - the character Bowie played, is an amalgam of Vince Taylor,
the insane rocker, who used to dress up like Jesus on stage; Iggy
Pop/Twiggy; and the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, a failed one-time performer
on TV.

o Bowie: 'Vince was American and came to England, then went to France and
became a star of dirge. But then he came back to England and we spoke of
our findings. He wore a white robe and sandals and we sat in the busy
London street with a map of the world and tried to find the people who were
passing by and scowling at us. They were nowhere on the map. Vince went
back to France, then I heard about the famous show where he had told his
band to go home and appeared in front of the curtains in that old white
robe and sandals telling the French people about the comings and goings due
upon us. He was banned from performing.
My records were selling and I was being a man in demand. I thought of Vince
and wrote Ziggy Stardust. I thought of my brother and wrote Five Years.
Then my friend came to mind, standing the way we stood in Bewlay Bros. and
I wrote Moonage Daydream'.

o Some say Ziggy Stardust is David's self portrait (and that he did that
intentionally). Examples: Lady Stardust is about a man who is rejected by
the environment because of his makeup and long hair. Ziggy Stardust (the
song) is about a man who wants to become a famous rock star. John, I'm
Only Dancing (which was released as a single at the time) deals with
bisexuality (note: there is another interpretation that he's telling
his friend he's not trying to steal his girlfriend).
Some people claim that Ziggy is Jimi Hendrix. To prove their theory all
they can say is that they are both left handed. Of course, it didn't occur
to them that Bowie is also left handed.
Other people say Ziggy is not a human, and that David always claimed he was
an actor, implying that he roles (so Ziggy is only a fruit of his
imagination).

o When John, I'm Only Dancing was released in September 1st in Britain,
it reached #12 on the charts. But RCA America didn't want to release it,
and it was banned from some radio stations because of it's suggestive
lyrics.
The song was released in America in '76 in the compilation album
ChangesOneBowie.

o Bowie was one of the first rock stars to admit he's bisexual. Some claim he
was the very first. In January '72, in a Melody Maker interview he said:
'I'm gay, and always have been'.
In '83 with Let's Dance and his foray into the mainstream he went from
admitting it to denying it. He's now claiming it was just an experimental
act.
Quotes that are worth mentioning:
'probably the most provocative thing one could say in 1972. Drug talk was
positively establishment and this sort of felt like the era of self
invention coming up'.
E Entertainment: He told that he was trisexual ('I'll try anything once').
Out: 'I was fairly forthcoming about the fact that I was bisexual. I don't
think there was any question about me being ambiguous, was there?'
Details: He said he had admitted he was bisexual because he didn't want
someone else to discover it.

o Bowie's ex-wife, Angie, claims she caught her husband in bed with Mick
Jagger. Bowie's response (US magazine, 1995): 'About 15 or 16 years
ago, I really got pretty tired of fending off questions about what I used
to do with my [penis] in the early seventies. My suggestion for people with
prurient interests is to go through the 30 or 40 bios on me and pick out
the rumour of their choice'.

o For the tour that followed the Ziggy Stardust album, Bowie created a show
with glamorous costumes and stage effects (with The Spiders and American
Jazz pianist Mike Garson) (and dyed his hair red :-) ). In one performance
Bowie sent his tongue to Mick Ronson's guitar, while touching his thighs.
The media interpreted it as if Bowie was trying to send his tongue to
Ronson's loins. This caused a big scandal and Ronson threatened in
resignation.
Bowie supposedly licking Ronson's groin was commonly termed 'the electric
blowjob' and he did it quite frequently in Ziggy shows. He also did this a
few years before the Ziggy tour, at a concert in Northern England. He
wasn't the one who invented it, by the way.
You can see this act in Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture. It basically
looks like he's trying to perform fellatio on the guitar.

o Bowie was once left only in his underwear when fans tore his clothes and
took them as souvenirs.

o Ronson initially didn't want to wear the costume-y glitter garb Bowie
wanted him to as one of the Spiders. Bowie joked many times that he finally
convinced Ronson and the others by telling them they'd 'pull more girls'
that way.

o The phone booth that appears in one of the photos on the cover of Bowie's
album 'The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars' was
torn from its place and was sold to an American fan in the late seventies.
There was nothing special about that phone booth.

o The picture for the cover of Ziggy Stardust was taken in Soho.

o The K. West sign shown on the cover of Ziggy Stardust was stolen by a
Bowie fanatic (never to be found). K. West was an agent / theatrical
supplier.

o Still in 1972, Bowie produced Lou Reed's album Transformer.

o Lou Reed appeared as a guest singer in a Bowie performance in London, the
same year. They performed Reed's Sweet Jane as a duet.

o Bowie surprised his fans in the last concert of the Ziggy Stardust tour,
as he performed the Beatles song Love Me Do as part of a medley with
The Jean Genie. Jeff Beck appeared as a guest guitarist.
The resulting performance was, however, left out of the original release
from the concert (Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture) but can be found on
the old vinyl bootleg His Master's Voice, along with a few others.

o Bowie is afraid of spiders as a result of a trauma he had when he was a
child. He told in an interview that he remembers saying to himself:
'Spiders, creatures from the darkness, I need to turn into a spider in
order to fight crimes'.

o Bowie had many successes that year. Hunky Dory reached #3 on the UK charts.
The Man Who Sold The World was re-released and reached #26 on the UK
charts and #105 in the U.S. Man Of Words/Man Of Music was re-released as
Space Oddity and reached #17 on the UK charts and #16 in the U.S.
In addition, Mott The Hoople reached #3 on the UK charts with a song Bowie
had written for them, All The Young Dudes.

o His next album was Aladdin Sane.

o The name Aladdin Sane is actually A Lad Insane.

o The first single from the album, Jean Genie, reached #2 on the UK charts
and #71 on the U.S. charts.

o Bowie: 'It was a sort of a half hearted effort to leave Ziggy alone. It
wasn't very committed. It was a case of not wanting to let go of something
that was successful, yet another part of me really wanted to go home. Also,
I had a ... not a falling out, really, but a loss of enthusiasm with the
spiders. They didn't really wanted to go where I wanted to go. I was
already developing a great interest in soul music, and experimental forms.
They were pretty much into playing this straightforward rock. Which was
understandable - they played it very well'.

o He originally wrote the song Drive In Saturday, that was included in this
album, for Mott The Hoople as a follow up to the song All The Young Dudes
that he had previously written and produced for them (he produced the whole
All The Young Dudes album).
Bowie: 'They never used Drive In Saturday. I don't know why'.

o Aladdin Sane was originaly supposed to included a re-recording of John, I'm
Only Dancing (available on Sound+Vision, as well as other compilations),
but eventaully didn't, because the album already contained another
re-recording (of Prettiest Star).

o In the seventies, there was a lot of gossip concerning his favourites in
sex. They included: Japanese and black females, white and Japanese males,
women of African extraction.

o Bowie told proudly he saw four couples making love in his performance in
Glasgow, in 1973.

o There were dozens of Ziggy doubles in every concert Bowie gave during his
Ziggy tours.

o In one of the nights during the Aladdin Sane tour the surrealist painter
Salvador Dali was in the audience.

o His most famous quote is probably 'Not only is it the last show of the
tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do. Thank you'. He said that
at the last concert of the Aladdin Sane tour, in July 3rd, 1973,
Hammersmith Odeon.
Many Bowie fans believe that he meant THE SPIDERS will never perform again.
It's a known fact, however, that he and his company, RCA had a disagreement
about the money they let him spend.

o And then he released Pin-Ups, a cover-versions-only album for songs from
the London '64-'67 club scene.
Bowie: 'Pin-ups was really my way of shaking Ziggy completely, while
retaining excitement in the music. It really was treading water, but it
happens to be one of my favourite albums. I think there's some terrific
stuff in it. I had it in the back of my mind to do a volume two, and cover
the American scene. I would've done Velvets and early Iggy things, The
Seeds, Pearls Before Swine. There were some great things I was gonna dig up
and do'.

o Lou Reed's White Light/White Heat was recorded for Pin-Ups, but was never
released.

o In '73 Bowie also remixed Iggy Pop's album Raw Power.

o He sang Sonny Bono's I Got You Babe as a duet with Marianne Faithfull in
the 1980 Floor Show in October (available on the Dollars In Drag bootleg).

o Bowie produced Lulu's single from 1974 Watch That Man/The Man Who Sold The
World (both songs previously written by Bowie). He's also provided backing
vocals, and his band was playing in the background.

o In 1974 he wrote and recorded a song called You Can Have Her, I Don't Want
Her, She's Too Fat For Me. After the recordings, he burned the tapes.

o David had wanted to make a theatrical production of 1984, but the Orwell
estate denied the rights. So he turned his original idea into what became
the Diamond Dogs album, that was released in June '74.
Bowie: 'I was stuck with a partially written musical. And I converted it
into something more Borroughsian. That was when I really started playing
around with cut-up techniques, and that really opened up a whole new
avenue of songwriting to me, a whole approach creating different
atmospheres. Because that was the crux of what rock was to me. It wasn't so
much what rock said. It was just the attitude and the atmosphere that it
created. I was trying to define my version of rock-personally, in the way
that I felt it, as a more stage oriented, theatrical kind of artist'.

o The album cover of Diamond Dogs originally showed a half dog, half Bowie
figure. The offending parts were censored in the American release of the
album. It is now available in the U.S. with the original cover.

o One song that didn't make it to the album was Dodo. It was attempted with
The Spiders, and with a soul arrangement. Bowie: 'I also had Lulu cover it,
but that never came out either'.
The song is available in the Ryko re-release, and the Sound+Vision CD set
as part of a medly 1984/Dodo. Even prior to these releases, this song was
available on many bootlegs.

o The first single from the album, Rebel Rebel was the first song the
American press really liked.

o Eventually, the album reached #5 in the U.S. album charts.

o The tour that followed was glamorous. On the stage there was a big movable
bridge, and a giant diamond that opened up to reveal a giant hand.
Bowie: 'The set was unbelievably expensive. We were stoney broke. It wiped
me out for a few years. But it was definitely worth doing'.

o In 1974 journalists took pictures of him with Lou Reed in a crowded room.
It was interpreted as a passionate kiss by some in the media, others think
they were just talking closely.

o The band that played behind him on the first half of the 1974 tour almost
started a strike. They claimed they are not getting enough exposure, and
that their fee is low. The threatened strike was settled only hours before
the David Live album was recorded.

o David Live was recorded in Philadelphia. When David was there, he took his
time to record some songs at Sigma Sound, a soul music centre. He used the
guitarist Carlos Alomar, who he have seen at Harlem's Apollo theatre, and
the backup singer Luther Vandross (and co-wrote Fascination with him).

o So the second half of the Diamond Dogs tour was different than the first,
because the soul influence was obvious, and because Alomar, Vandrus, and
David Sanborn on sax were in the band.

o Bowie released his soul album, Young Americans, in 1975.

o Bowie met John Lennon in '75, before he released Young Americans. They
became good friend and even wrote a song together - Fame (with Carlos
Alomar), the only #1 Bowie hit single in the U.S. Bowie also recorded a
cover version for the Beatles song Across The Universe. Both of these songs
were released on Young Americans. He also sang Imagine on stage three years
to the day of Lennon's death, December 8th, 1983 (in Hong Kong).
There's a rare Bowie/Lennon single that supposedly includes Let's Twist
Again performed by them, believed to be a fake.

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