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Bowie General > Images Vol. 24

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homebrewPosted at 2025-05-17 23:36:00(2 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 24)


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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 24


That is exactly how it was billed. THE REAL DAVID BOWIE. No more
gimmicks. No characters, personalities, ego's, aliens, magicians,
Kabbalists, actors, painters, Buddhist monks, politicians, rock stars,
writers, generalists, just no more. David Bowie. Only David Bowie.

This new "character" Bowie had invented was unique compared to the rest
as it was one that actually had a name. This new creature was called
David Bowie, and as true to the billing it appeared to be a normal
person. He may have used the same line I use on people I know, or don't
know, and it goes like this. See how good I am, I can fake sanity well
enough that they actually believe it. Bowie should be commended for the
job he did. Up front he was personable and out going, but in reality he
was withdrawing from everyone into isolation. He was leaving his past
behind and was attempting to sever all ties. Again it was time to
rewrite history. His past would be erased and the people in it. Angela
was already gone. He would do his best to get RCA as well.


While touring in the States Bowie would be registered in hotels under
the name of a player for Arsenal, a Premier League English Football
(soccer) club. I have a Brit who works with me and that is his favourite
team, The Gunners as he refers to them, and when he's drunk he keeps
whining about going and standing under the clock at Arsenal's football
grounds. I know, he sounds mental and he's British so what would you
expect? I bet him twenty pounds every year that a real team like the one
I like,  Manchester United, will finish higher in the division standings
at the end of the season. Maybe not this year but I have a lot more of
his money than he has mine. Maybe that clock fell on his fucking head,
that would explain it all, wouldn't it? Anyway, when Bowie arrived in
England there were no more hotels as he decided to disappear. He still
continued to do as many interviews,  guest spots on TV and radio shows,
as he possibly could, but no one knew where he went after. Bowie was
staying in rented houses or flats paid for,  by who else but RCA. No
addresses were put on the agreements until RCA signed them so the copies
RCA got back still had a blank space where the address was filled in.
This was to prevent them from knowing where Bowie was. Everyone who was
in any way related to Bowie had to sign confidentiality agreements.
These contracts stated that you were never to talk to the media about
Bowie in any fashion and if you did then you would be terminated on the
spot.

The rehearsals for the tour began on March 16 in Dallas, Texas, with the
tour scheduled to open nine days later. The line up for the tour was
Carlos Alomar, who in addition to rhythm guitar, server as the no
nonsense band leader, Sean Mayes on piano, Roger Powell on keyboards,
Simon House on violin, Dennis Davis and George Murray, drums and bass.
Last but not least guitar wizard Adrian Belew on lead. Oh, and some
Bowie guy on vocals and cigarettes. Carlos, Dennis and George were the
only ones left over from the 76  tour and the three had amazingly been
with Bowie a long stretch as musicians were turned over in his band very
frequently. This kept everything new and stopped him from stepping into
the pitfall of having one sound, which can kill an artist if a fad
changes. Sean Mayes had actually toured before with Bowie during the
Ziggy years, playing in the backup band called Fumble.  The book, "We
Can Be Heroes," credited to him about the 78 tour was actually written
after his death. It was made by a few friends piecing the notes together
he wrote while on tour. Sean passed away from AIDS in 1995. Simon House
was formerly of the band Hawkwind and Roger Powell was with Todd
Rundgren's band Utopia. It was out of Frank Zappa's collection of talent
that Adrian Belew emerged from.  It was of course much to early for
anyone to know that in the future there would be a major connection made
between two musicians from this period of Bowie's career. This
connection would be one of the most important ones ever established
because what came out of it was some of the most amazing  music that one
could ever hope to hear.

How the meeting took place I do not know, or even how they met, but
Robert Fripp did invite Adrian Belew to join the band along with Tony
Levin and Bill Bruford in the reforming of King Crimson. Their first
release Discipline was an work even beyond what you would expect from
four of the most skilled musicians to ever put a note on tape. The
subsequent albums just got better. It is highly unfortunate that this
band will go by unnoticed by 99.99% of people because they do not write
material bad enough to get any airplay. To those who are familiar with
progressive music, or follow the work of Peter Gabriel, these names are
well known to you. If you are one who looks for "music" and have not
explored this band then I strongly urge you to. These men are geniuses
in their own right, and combined as a unit produce astounding music
which is beyond the scope of what you are ever likely to hear again. I
will say that even if a person does not favour their "style" of music
they are still worth a listen just to enjoy the level of proficiency
that these musicians have reached. I can't find the words to describe
them live except to say that what you hear on a record they can do live,
without any pre recorded segments or artificial help, and in many
instances faster, hard to fathom, and better. Belew went on to have a
rather successful solo career apart from Crimson and his solo work is
also worth a try.

It is fairly standard practice that a band will rehearse for about a
month before the start of a tour. This leaves enough time to run through
the set lists at a fairly non stressful pace. It is also a reasonable
amount of time to allow the sound and lighting engineers to work out
what they have to as well. There would be no such luxury however when it
came to a Bowie tour. To the definition of a dedicated workaholic two
weeks would be ample time, probably with even hours to spare, to
rehearse and have the other necessities in perfect working order for a
world tour. The rehearsal sessions were rather intense running from ten
in the morning until eight or nine at night. It was almost on a whim
that Bowie suggested doing ALL of the Ziggy album, "to surprise them,"
and the whole album was rehearsed during the sessions.  It was later
decided that six tracks from Ziggy, rather than the whole album would be
incorporated into the set. It was, as far as I am concerned anyway, a
surprise, and a nice one at that.

As previously said the whole affair would have a theme attached to it,
and a simplistic one at that.  "The Real David Bowie."  It was all
fairly sraight forward, all this character did was appear, for all
intents and purposes,  "normal." Outwardly the look had been long
established in Berlin. Cropped undyed hair, mustache at times and most
often so plain as he was unrecognizable as being apart from the crowd.
The set was simple, banks of neon left over from 76 and some colour
added. The backdrop was black, again a remnant of 76. Bowie had
costumes, clothes really, designed by Natasha Korniloff. The original
idea was to have a large wardrobe designed so the look would vary not
only during a performance but from performance to performance as well.
This was a novel approach as it offered the freedom that Bowie could
adopt any look he desired on any given day depending on his "mood."  In
the end however it was decided that a much more simplistic wardrobe be
designed. There was one accessory Bowie wore at all times, small, yet
noticeable enough to warrant questions about it during interviews. It as
gold chain around his neck from which hung a small gold cross. His
shirts it seemed, were always open enough for it to be noticed.

I've never asked, but now that I have reminded myself I am going to post
this question on the news group because I have always been quite curious
what the answers would be.  I do not think that 78 was the Real David
Bowie. I believe that 76 AND 78 were. I have reasons for this opinion
and I will air them out for you to decide if I am making a good case or
not. First of all may I clarify what I mean by "Real." I am not talking
in terms of personality. Personality is the subject of this series an if
you think that the truth about who Bowie is will be solved by the end of
my article then it is best you stop reading now as I can assure you that
no mysteries will be solved by me at this time.  I am using the word
"REAL" to apply only to the personality of the "REAL ARTIST" of Bowie
being revealed in its true form. I believe that this was witnessed on
both of these tours and in his work actually from Dogs through to
Monsters. Now, they contend that artists are free to create but is this
really true? In my opinion not really and I feel this way because of the
"external" pressures which govern artists that we do not take into
consideration. You see artist suffer "creative restrictions" due to
demands placed on them by those who ultimately have some control on
their work. A good example is a film maker. What he is allowed to do
with his ideas are limited to the boundaries set by a ratings system
that determines whether your work will be allowed to be shown to a wide
audience. Anything past an "R" rating and you are pretty much sunk.
There are also the demands to meet certain targets such as budget and
the box office. Films are not cheap and those who finance them will not
continually suffer losses in order that you may have "free expression"
as an artist. Does not this also hold true for musicians, painters,
sculptures and all other forms of artistic expression? How often, except
when they are first discovered because they answer to no one at that
time, can an artist do whatever they want without concern for these
external elements? You do see it the odd time, Metal Machine Music
<LOL>, but not very often.

I am firmly of the belief that this period, Station, Heroes, Low and up
until 1980 if you want to stretch it was "pure" Bowie. I want to
emphasize especially Station, Low and Heroes. All indicators point to
the fact that David Bowie was unfazed by ANY external influences, and if
he was I believe that the effect that they had on his work was
negligible. Bowie  produced what HE WANTED. Period. If you compare that
to previous years his management always had a say in things, What we got
after Defries' departure was an artist who experienced a freedom that he
had never before experienced in terms of answering to authority. Now,
this is not to say that the suppressive elements were not around, they
were, but Bowie had the fortitude to tell them basically to Fuck Off!
What we were fortunate enough to get as listeners was Bowie, pure Bowie.
This is why I insist that the billing was correct when it said that what
we were getting on tour was the "REAL" David Bowie. I watched some 78
footage before writing some of this sort of to "get in the mood," and
hopefully it would allow me to better express this period. I watched
Musikladan and the NHK Tokyo broadcast. One thing that strikes me more
than anything is that things do not appear to be contrived, staged or
planned in anyway.  The same thing can be said for 76, with the
exception of the personal behavior of the "character." Not his actions
on stage so much, as they were not restricted, but the "look" had to be
maintained. The band was free flowing and loose in 76 and 78 and were
noticeable having fun on both tours. Bowie did not appear to be having
fun in 76, but that performance was not to be misconstrued as a "rock n'
roll concert", but more of an "event. The 76 show was designed to effect
you not just musically, but to effect you equally as much on a visual
scale. It was designed to draw you personally into a surreal realm
inhabited by The Thin White Duke. You became a "guest" in his world for
a few short hours.

Relaxed. Bowie was relaxed on this tour. One thing no one talks about is
the degree of confidence he now seemed to have. This character
"believed." I say this for two reasons. First, and I fail to understand
why this goes unnoticed, Bowie had to have a great deal confidence to
open the show as he did. Look, you have an arena full eighteen thousand
or more fans who are charged with an overdose of adrenaline. Add to that
the fact that they have waited two years for this tour and have now been
kept waiting another hour after the time it said the show began on the
ticket. Patience has worn thin on this group because of your lack of
punctuality. What do you imagine they want? They want an outlet to vent
off their energy and their frustration. They want "ROCK." They want, and
expect, some hard driving  music to scream, cheer and dance to. They
want to sing, shout or scream. Hang On To Yourself in 72, 1984 on the
Diamond Dogs tour, Station To Station in 76, and what did they get as a
hard driving energy filled show opener in 78? They got a very nice
rendition of Warszawa. I defy you to show me a better example of
confidence in oneself having the fortitude to do something like this.
Remember, a good number of fans did not react positively towards Low and
side two of Heroes because it was not what they wanted out of Bowie.
That is not a slight on them in any way as even today there is a
substantial group of fans who prefer the albums which have the more
"raunchy" rock sound, as compared to what appeared on Low and Heroes.
Personally, I still believe that they are shorting themselves more than
they know when it comes to a real understanding of Bowie, but they are
content it seems. Also you must realize that a large number, maybe the
majority, I can't say for sure, had never even heard this track. Many
were not only  unfamiliar with Warszawa, they were unfamiliar with Low.
This is due to the fact that many know only the more commercial
material, or the really well known albums such as Ziggy. They have heard
Bowie's more played material, but can't be called people who take a keen
enough interest to actively keep in touch with the work Bowie is doing.
A small contingent just go to concerts. It doesn't matter who is
playing. These people have seen Barry Manilow and Eminem. A bonus if you
happen to be a concert addict is that you never have to wait, some act
is always around and you never have to worry if you like them, or even
know them for that matter. Decide all that after.

It wasn't just Warszawa either. Bowie had no reservations about playing
Weeping Wall, Speed Of Life, Blackout and Beauty And The Beast, which
are not exactly what is played on morning radio, afternoon radio,
evening radio or any radio for that matter. The killer though was Sense
Of Doubt. Personally I was floored when he played it. I looked around at
the audience reactions when the show opened and saw a wide selection of
varied responses. Some, a lot actually, were bewildered. They just sort
of sat there attempting to make some sort of sense out of what they were
hearing. This was something that defied reasoning to them, as this is
definitely not how you open a live performance. You just don't do this.
the thought of, "What the fuck is this," also crossed their minds based
on their expressions. Some were still waiting for Bowie as reasoned that
this could not be him, it was a warm up or something. "Why is he playing
this shit," accompanied by a look of real disappointment from some who
knew this song, but were obviously not playing it this morning.  Some
who were not familiar with it , I know because they were asking people
what it was, liked it, and some inquired but you could tell it was to
make sure they never bought it. Then there were those who were shocked
he played it, and loved every second.  I did not really like it much
back then, but it has grown on me some since and I will say that
compared to Warszawa, It was a different matter when it got played.
Sense Of Doubt was not well received, not at all. Even thought I can't
tout Sense Of Doubt as being up there with Teenage Wildlife or The
Bewlay Brothers I will say that Bowie had "balls" to play it. I remember
that the sound ran speaker to speaker and it caused a "swirling" effect
which as quite interesting I am sure to those in the audience who may
have ingested some "helpers" before the show to further enhance the
festive atmosphere. Of course I would not know about these "helpers"
personally because I don't break the law and take any of those drugs.
You know blow, weed, down, up, rock, cid and all the rest of the vast
repertoire of natural and artificial mood enhancers. I probably don't
have to say this as it would be obvious by reading any of my articles
that I know very little about drugs because I listened to Nancy Reagan.
She said, "Just say no to drugs." This anti drug campaign was so
effective on me that  I took all of my empty beer cases back and donated
the money to America's War On Drugs, even though I am a Canadian. I was
hoping to get a thank you letter from the Drug Enforcement Agency but I
never did. I guess they were all too busy over at the DEA to write in
recognition of a donation amounting to $16.75.

The total confidence this character had was really noticeable.
Noticeable in the darkness actually. To explain this I have to tell you
that this is how the concert began.

AladINsaNE

To be, you know what...................


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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dag97Posted at 2025-05-19 22:44:38(1 wk ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 24)


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Many thanks!

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professormouseDonatedPosted at 2025-05-21 23:22:25(1 wk ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 24)


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Lovely, Great to hear Dennis upfront.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vyHPcXPcVk

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