[Login] or [Signup]
Login
Username:
Password:
[Signup]
[Recover Account]

Navigation

Poll


You must be logged in to view polls
Bowie General > Images Vol. 23

You are in:  Forums / Bowie General / Images Vol. 23
Locked
homebrewPosted at 2025-05-10 13:42:40(17 hrs ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 23)


Uploaded: 152.13 GB
Downloaded: 375.34 GB
Posts: 122

Ratio: 0.41
Location: United States of America


We are one third of the way through the Images installments.

In the early days of the internet there was no Facebook. No Instagram, TikTok, etc. You had a crude world wide web and most people accessed it with services like A.O.L. Email was called the No. 1 "killer app" but one of the largest segments of online use was called Usenet or News Groups. You needed to download a "News Reader" to connect to the network of news group feeds. Those feeds were populated by hundreds if not thousands of topics which you could subscribe to and then participate in the discussion. One of those topics was alt.fan.david-bowie and one member of that group in the early 2000's began posting a series of articles that he called "Images". Many, many heated discussions (often called flame wars) erupted over these articles. They are often provocative, infuriating, humorous, and ultimately interesting enough (to me anyway) that I saved them all. I learned that the author, Jamie Soule, had passed a few years ago when I attempted to track him down to ask if I could share these articles. Finally I could sit on them no longer and decided if there was one place to share them it was here at Bowie Station (and now on Facebook in the fan page called Bowie Images). As stated in the disclaimer I didn't write these articles. I haven't even tried to correct the spelling or grammar. You are reading them just as they appeared to users logging in to the group to eagerly catch up on the latest drama.

These articles appear just as they were posted in the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie by group member Jamie Soule aka AladINSAnE. I have made no attempt to alter the formatting, spelling, grammar or edit in any way.

Images: Part 23

Around the time of the release of Heroes, October 14, 1977, Bowie shocks
the executives at RCA. He has taken it upon himself to arrange  a series
of interviews to promote Heroes.  The sales of Low were a real concern
for him, not because of money, it was for the reason that his most
important work to date slipped by virtually unnoticed. He was not about
to let another of what he considered a very personal album suffer the
same fate. In addition to the interviews  for the magazines he travels
around Europe appearing on TV and radio shows as well. One question
asked on a radio phone in show was, "Who, or were, the Bewlay Brothers.
Bowie replied that it was based on himself and his brother. He once said
it was, "Star Trek in a leather jacket." although physically The Thin
White Duke was gone, he was still there inside. Interviews were granted
to anyone who wished to have one, and The Evening News took advantage of
the opportunity. In a headline the next day were the results of the
interview. BRITAIN IS READY FOR A NEW HITLER says David Bowie.

The interviews were good and bad. Bowie talked about Low and Heroes in
depth. He also spoke of his interest in Cabalism and politics. This
Hitler he said would be the new leader of The Nation Front. Apparently
he had changed political parties personally as he stated that he was
closer to communism than fascism. It must have been the trip with Iggy
to Russia, or being so close to East Berlin that changed his mind, or
the coke.  The Record Mirror featured an unusually lengthy article which
was thoroughly unkind in it's appraisal of Bowie. The article called him
"condescending," as well as "fickle, distrusting and isolated." It also
said that Bowie's music, "tells us nothing about the guy." I feel that
this statement is by another critic who doesn't "get it" at all. Low and
Heroes are Bowie's two most personal albums, yet the concept of
displaying emotion through  "music" sailed well over top of this
person's thinking ability.  Melody Maker was far more in touch calling
Heroes and Low "adventurous" and "in pursuit of a new musical
vocabulary." They "got it." As always there were the writers that did
not care about Bowie's work, they wanted  sensationalism to sell their
magazines, and so their questions were aimed at Bowie's personal habits
instead. "We don't want to talk about that." That was what the  response
was, firm yet polite, to any questions regarding his sexuality. This was
about art, not tabloid trash.

As to be expected the personal promotional work done by Bowie did little
to improve the intelligence of the average  North American record buyer.
Heroes/V2 Schneider was released as a single on September 27, 1977. It
did well in Europe but was a dismal failure elsewhere. Oh, if anyone
disagrees, or became angry, with my assessment that most of the record
buying public are brain dead then you have an opportunity to defend
yourself. If I am wrong then you can start to explain to me the reason
for the failure of Heroes. If these people are so smart then why did
Heroes flop? Pardon? Speak up. I can't hear you. Just as I thought. It
was while in Britain that Bowie was visited by director David Hemmings
to discuss a starring role in his upcoming film called Just A Gigolo.
Bowie accepted the role. In October Bowie and his son, Joey, left for
vacation in Kenya. After his return Bowie went to New York to do the
narration on The Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra's version of
Prokofiev's Peter And The Wolf.

Bowie returned to Berlin. He was seen once in a cafe with his face down
in a plate of food. He was drunk and mumbling, "Help me." The readers of
Melody Maker voted Heroes the Best Album Of The Year.  The readers of
New Musical Express voted Bowie Singer Of The Year and  Songwriter Of
The Year. Heroes still flopped in America.

If you use the traditional definition of marriage David and Angela's
does not apply. By now their "marriage" had long been over as both led
their own lives mostly apart since the end of 1975.  Christmas 1977. The
press got hold of a rumour that Angela had abandoned her son and not
even bothered to call him over the holidays. This was a nasty piece of
news and Angela wanted to tell her side of the story. She summoned Tony
Robinson, a reporter from the Sunday Mirror, to Switzerland where she
was staying in Bowie's house. I mean "their" house.  Also staying in the
house was her boyfriend Keeth Paul who was a sound engineer for Tom
Petty And The Heartbreakers. Bowie was still supporting Angela
financially. He was giving her $40,000.00 a year as well as paying her
travelling expenses which amounted to around $75,000.00.  In 1977 her
bill for taxi cabs alone while in Switzerland was $25,000 . Angela told
Robinson to bring the money with him.

Tony Robinson arrived on January the 2nd, 1978. He must have thought of
how fortunate he was to have this. How many times would a reporter ever
get such a chance to have an interview this exclusive? He must have
delighted in the thoughts of what he would see and hear to write about,
the things that no other reporter had. He did not know upon his arrival
that days later his headline would read, "DRAMA AT SNOW CHALET IN
SWITZER LAND." Bowie's home was referred to as  the "cuckoo - clock"
chalet in the article. I do not know how much Robinson paid for this
interview but what I do know is that whatever it was he certainly got
his money's worth.

When he arrived he noticed that Angela seemed "sedated." Heavily
sedated. She was drinking heavily as well. At four o'clock in the
morning Angela locked herself in the bathroom and took an overdose of
sleeping pills.  January 8th is David Bowie's birthday and Tony, Keith
and Angie were still together, however they did not celebrate this happy
occasion.  Angela had other plans. She started off by consuming
"handfulls" of pills while completely inebriated from  non stop
drinking.  Angela had passed out on several occasions, once after
deliberately throwing herself down a flight of stairs. When Keeth Paul
tried to intervene he was hit in the knees with a wooden rolling pin.
The reason he was going to intervene was due to the fact that Angela was
considering stabbing herself with a carving knife. Fortunately she
changed her mind and decided to go on a destructive rampage instead and
once again hurling herself down the stairs, drawing blood this time.
They got her to the hospital where she slipped in and out of
consciousness for three days. Upon her return home she filed for divorce
seeking two million dollars as part of the settlement and sole custody
of Joey.

Angie broke the unwritten rules. First of all, celebrities are NEVER to
air their dirty laundry or family secrets in front of the media.
Secondly, ESPECIALLY ABOUT DAVID BOWIE. If there is one thing in this
world that makes Bowie furious is friends, relatives, acquaintances or
hangers on talking about him to the media. He doesn't just get furious,
he gets downright mean, and if you ever break this rule it is best that
you fucking disappear as fast as you can because he will get revenge.
After, you don't exist anymore, you will never ever be allowed anywhere
near him again. Now, how Angela ever thought that she could win a court
battle fighting someone who had pockets as deep as Bowie's and in a
place where men receive favouritism  in the courts is beyond me. Bowie
happens to be a rather dirty fighter as well and he will do what it
takes to settle things. Imagine the look on Angie's face when David
produced some photographs of her drugged up and engaged in lesbian sex
with a well known heroin dealer. The pictures were obtained from a
former boyfriend named Roy Martin. Angie received $750,000.00 over ten
years. As a last resort to extort money Angie demanded the tidy sum of
one million dollars in return for not writing a tell all book about
Bowie's life. The response was, "Go ahead." She wrote them and I had the
misfortune of wasting a portion of my life praying that the next page
would be better. The prayers went unanswered. The books focus on her and
sex and Bowie and sex. So much could have been learned from those years
that Angie was with David if the sensationalism and the sex was left
where it belongs, in a tabloid. "Bowie slept with Jagger, Bowie and
Angie had a threesome," so fucking what? Who cares? We could have
learned so much about the "REAL" personal side of Bowie, his thoughts,
fears, his goals and his approach to his work. All of this wasted in
favour of sex. If any fan praised her schlock then they are probably
account holders at BOWIEZOIDBANC and have a BOWIESTORE frequent customer
VIP Card with a picture of Bowie holding his kitty cat on the back. The
Rolling Stones had their lawyers send a letter to Angela telling her
that the use of any part of Angie, the song written about her, would be
taken as a copyright violation and she would face legal action for the
infringement of that copyright. Bowie got sole custody of Joey.

Bowie during an interview said in response to a question why he accepted
a role in Just A Gigolo was that he. " believed in the ideas and
issues," the film represented. I saw the film several times because I
could not believe what In saw the first two.  Personally I did not see
any ideas or issues at all in the film. I saw a lot of bravery simply
for the fact that someone actually released the film. I imagine the pig
in the film sued for the fact that his appearance in the movie destroyed
his acting career. Was it supposed to be a comedy? The advertisements
said it was a serious film. Maybe they meant seriously funny. In my
opinion the thing was fucking terrible. I mean terrible.

The film had a budget of five million dollars and it was besieged with a
number of plagues. The positive attraction for the film was the
appearance of actress Marlene Dietrich who had not had a speaking role
in a film for seventeen years. When her time to act came she wouldn't
leave her apartment in Paris because she was busy writing her memoirs.
The tensions were contagious and spread to the cast and crew. There were
several too many pushing and shoving matches between the actresses.
There  were major communication difficulties between the German and
English speaking crew members. Bowie was unaffected, he enjoyed working
on the film with all of its issues and ideas. In an interview during the
filming of the movie Bowie was asked about his feelings for Tony
Defries. He said he was grateful for all he had learned. Thinking about
it I can see how in some twisted way that the statement could really be
the truth.

Apparently Bowie was not a communist anymore or a fascist. He now
described himself as a "Generalist." What this meant was that," it
encompasses anything he wished to do." To understand here is an analogy,
If he wanted to become a painter he just stops fooling around with it
and become one. If he wants to be an actor, an author or an astronaught
then he just becomes one. Isn't that interesting? I think it is really
profound and one day I want to be a Generalist.

On February 20th, 1978 Bowie was in London where he had scheduled a
press conference at the Dorchester Hotel. The reason for the press
conference was just what every Bowie fan wanted to hear. An
announcement, two words that would give you a rush better than any drug
imaginable. The words? "World tour" Asked why by a reporter Bowie said,
"Simple, I need the money." Well put.

I am jumping ahead of myself here but as you know this tour produced
Stage, a double live album recorded over two nights at the Spectrum in
Philadelphia. Bowie is the only musician I know who is capable of mixing
the entire life and energy out of a live recording. He can take any gig
you want, a few twists and turns at the mixing board and presto, you're
bored to death. Bowie 78, Another Stage, Forever Yours, Bremen,
Stockholm and most of the other bootlegs are far superior in the
preservation of a performance compared to Stage. Stage seems lethargic,
and I thought maybe it was just my opinion and there was nothing wrong
with it, but that argument got put to rest a short time back. I read We
Can Be Heroes, a book about the 78 tour written by the piano player on
the tour Shaun Mayes. It is not a terrific book but does offer some
fascinating insights so I recommend reading it for those moments. Mayes
talks about recording Stage and as it turns out he does not like the
album much either, and as far as lethargic goes, well, I was right, it
is not an opinion and there is reasoning behind it. According to Mayes
Bowie makes sure that the audience is not miked very well. Bowie does
not like to have the audience noise on live recordings as he finds it is
in "bad taste." Now, could someone please explain this to me because I
openly admit that I do not understand this statement at all. The whole
ambience of a performance can be felt from the energy coming from the
crowd. A case in point is the Nassau bootleg from 76. Station To Station
opens the show and the song keeps building with this amazing raw energy.
When Bowie walks out just before the first line of the song you can hear
the crowd go crazy. The cheering builds as he comes into the view of
more people in the audience. It is enough to send shivers down your
spine. When he sings, "It's not the side effects of the cocaine," again
the crowd relays the overall mood in the venue, which is that of, "WOW!"
Stage on the other hand has the ambience you would expect to find at the
annual convention of the, "People Who Sit And Watch The Grass Grow
Association." Here's a thought, maybe they listen to Stage while they
watch the grass grow. It could be their official album. Mayes also
reported that during the rehearsals before the recording of Stage, band
leader Carlos Alomar had the tempo of the songs slowed down to mimic the
same speed as the album versions of the songs. Mayes says that songs in
a normal live setting are usually a bit faster due to the energy and
excitement the band feed off of from the audience. Mayes said it was
extremely difficult to "control" himself during these performances and
it required a lot of discipline as his emotions told him to let loose.
He had to keep focused on Alomar's instructions to slow down his playing
and to keep it in check. Now, exactly how much sense does this make?
Slow down everyone we don't want any excitement on this album.

There is no escaping. Should something appear on the tape that Bowie
doesn't want he will take care of it while doing the mix. Stage
apparently still had too much of "those evil crowd noises" after it was
recorded, even though the audience was poorly miked. No problem,  Bowie
just edited the audience out further with a turn of a knob. The Ryko
issue of Station To Station has two bonus tracks on it which are Word on
A Wing and Stay. These tracks are taken from the Nassau Coliseum bootleg
recorded in March of 76. You will notice if you listen to both of them
that the Ryko versions have essentially been destroyed beyond belief
compared to the bootleg. The bootleg is far superior. The bootleg
versions of these songs are nothing short of marvellous, this  is my
favourite 76 bootleg and I have three copies of it for insurance, just
in case. The versions on the bootleg are raw, full of energy, so full
that you feel every note of those tracks and you get a wonderful feel of
what that show must have been like to attend. The Ryko tracks have been
remixed to ensure that the life is gone from them. They have been left
dry and flat like every other official live Bowie album. This is true,
for every live album Bowie has released there are at least six bootlegs
that are far superior in quality. Official live recordings are really
not worth owning if you prefer to know what it was really like to attend
a show on the tour.

The entire tour was organized by Isolar using local promoters to look
after the finer details for each date. MainMan would receive five
percent off of the gross which meant that the majority of the money
landed where it should, with Bowie.

On April 16, 1978 rehearsals began in Dallas, Texas. There were no more
"characters" Bowie would ever play again. The life of constantly wearing
new personalities was over. Ended. Permanently. There would be no more
changes. This was the REAL DAVID BOWIE!

AlaDINsaNE

To be continued...............

*BACK TO THE INDEX <index.htm>*

Last edited by homebrew on 2025-05-10 13:59:05



""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
Report This Post Go to the top of the page
 

<< Prev  1   Next >>

Locked
You are not permitted to post in this forum.

Latest Forum Posts
Latest Topic TitleRepliesViewsAuthorLast Post
Images Vol. 23056homebrewby homebrew
2025-05-10 13:42:40
where are the box sets?9634ayresby professormouse
2025-05-08 23:33:45
Montreux 2002 HDTV video2296Ballhausby Moony
2025-05-04 19:50:29
Images Vol. 220276homebrewby homebrew
2025-05-03 14:39:55
Images Vol. 212453homebrewby Moony
2025-04-30 20:53:01
40th Anniversary Picture Disc Collection - Mixcloud Playlist124348libertine90by professormouse
2025-04-30 09:17:54
Ready Set Go source?10842Besomdaveby professormouse
2025-04-30 09:15:15
Health Issues281253Steveboyby StarmanPhilly
2025-04-30 02:22:27
part 2 radio 2 celebrates0253Diedrichby Diedrich
2025-04-29 19:41:54
Exploring Bowie (1969-1986)71294Rael076by professormouse
2025-04-22 04:16:24
The Collector vinyl3550Rael076by Rael076
2025-04-21 02:02:36
Images Vol. 200572homebrewby homebrew
2025-04-19 14:47:52
Hello!71466daydreamby neilwilkes
2025-04-18 13:40:24
Halloween Jack Is A Real Cool Cat CD/DVD14747gousterby themole
2025-04-17 05:52:28


Online Users

Newest Members
Modified by JanErik |- Page Generated In 0.055653 secs.
-|- RSS Feed -|- Feed Info
Theme Base By: Nikkbu | Modified by: paperdragon | Graphics by: MossGarden
Email: bowiestation(AT)bowiestation.com