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Bowie General > Images Vol. 56

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homebrewPosted at 2026-01-10 20:27:11(11 hrs ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 56)


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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 56
BOWIE - THE LUNACY YEARS
By: AlaDINsaNE


Vaughn was in Texas rehearsing. At the same time his insane manager was
trying to defraud Bowie, attempting to con him for more than minimum
wage.

It was all smiles however over at EMI America. I have often wondered
what the mood was like over at RCA Records And Tapes about now. If you
try you can just imagine the delight. All those years. Hundred thousand
dollar unauthorized hotel bills, unauthorized advertising bills of a
half a million, paid all of MainMan debts, gave Bowie $300,000.00, and
all for 8,941,704 records sold in America, over the course of ELEVEN
YEARS. To further add to their woes, Iggy, Low, Heroes, Metal Machine
Music, and Tony Defries were still fairly recent memories. Then there's
Bowie's bullshit to top it all off. To then sit there and watch Let's
Dance rise up the charts like a thermometer in Hell? Lovely. It was
faster than a thermometer in Hell actually, it was as fast as I can grab
a can of insecticide,  at the mere mention of the word "spider."  This
is only rumour, but apparently Jesus hit the record store half an hour
after it opened, and all he got was his name on a backorder list.  It
took two weeks before he got a copy of Let's Dance. Oh, I hear he paid
scalper price for his ticket to boot.

EMI hadn't seen anything like it since The Beatles, and the day they
released Sgt. Pepper. Nothing on that label even came close to the
numbers that started to accumulate on April 11th, 1983. Let's Dance,
number one in Britain, and five in the States. A hit in Europe,
Australia, Asia, Canada, Venus, Mars, Antarctica, Scandinavia, Heaven,
Hell, and on several billion life sustaining planets in the far reaches
of outer space. Bowie wanted to break into the American market, and he
made a ripple with Young Americans, at near a million, and a little
splash with Changesone at 1.3 million. Let's Dance was a tsunami, a
tidal wave, OVER FIVE AND A HALF MILLION in album sales. God only knows
what the combined singles sold, China Girl, Modern Love, Let's Dance and
Cat People. Did I forget any? I have tried to get those sales figures
for the past eighteen years, and have come up empty handed, no luck,
none. Anyway, the whole thing had gone absolutely crazy, album sales,
singles, the videos splashed all over the despicable MTV, your watch the
music channel. Did this cause Rogers And Cowan to ease off a bit on the
publicity, or EMI on the promotion?  Are you out of your mind, they were
just starting. The tour was coming up, so the real assault was about to
be launched, all of this was only phase one, the first wave. Time to
assemble and train the "Special Forces," or  "Advance Teams," as they
called them. They would be sent in before Bowie.

All was well in the world, with the minor exception of a tiny piece of
windswept ground in Texas, where there was a nuclear war in progress.
The war wasn't really confined to that one location actually, minor
crises sprung up all over the place. Now, I know a lot about mental
disorders, because I come in contact with people. However, this time you
can come up with the diagnosis, and decide who is insane,  Bowie, or THE
MANAGER FROM HADES. Now, do you remember that inept, "comic book"
manager of Vaughn's, that Bowie referred to. Remember, how "shocked"
Bowie was by this man's ghastly behaviour? If you recall, Bowie just
"couldn't believe" this guy, especially when the tactics he used were
akin to "BLACKMAIL."  That was when Bowie said he put his foot down, he
wasn't going to have any of that, implying that this manager abused his
good will. How many sides does a coin have? Two? Good. We have just
heard tales, so let's flip it over and hear the other side. If you ever
need a manager, I have heard that one of the best places to look for one
is in a comic book, apparently that is where Stevie Ray Vaughn's manager
came from. This wasn't the first time this man  had used his negotiating
skills. The man Bowie had gone on about in great lengths, to describe as
basically a back woods hillbilly , and a poor excuse for a manager.

Well now, I'm going to let you in on a little something.  This supposed
two bit shyster of a manager Vaughn apparently had, was one smart
hillbilly. Bowie was right however, when he said that the guy was
"unbelievable," as he had just negotiated an extremely lucrative deal
for Stevie Ray Vaughn with CBS Records. Unfortunately, the fair minded
David Bowie is not like CBS Records. The negotiations were stressful,
long hours, bickering, all the legal jargon, offers made, countered,
more stipulations, refusals, acceptance, stalemates, too much, too
little, no way, lawyers, accountants, advisors, and  BULLSHIT! STRESS!
STRESS! STRESS! Stevie's manager was firm on one point. Vaughn would not
accept minimum wage to tour with Bowie. The second point was negotiable,
and that was to allow Vaughn and his band Double Trouble, to  open some
of the dates on the US leg of the tour. Bowie said yes at first , and
then a firm no, Vaughn and his band were no longer on the table. Now,
the MONEY. Vaughn's manager was much more successful in getting Bowie to
raise his offer of money, than he was in getting Vaughn's band in as
back up. This, I believe, is where Bowie felt he was getting
blackmailed, in the salary negotiations.  Now, this may  be difficult
for you to follow, as I am going to go into a lot of detail concerning
these meetings. I am doing this so you can see first hand what a
bargaining session is like, when dealing with David Bowie.  I  will be
using some difficult language, the sort that is used in sensitive
negotiations of this sort. Please try to follow me if you can. I am
sorry if you get lost, but I wanted to be accurate. This is a rare treat
for you, as you will get an insiders perspective of David Bowie actually
working a business deal.

Let me set the stage here.
Bowie has made Vaughn's manager an offer of compensation for Vaughn to
tour. The offer consists of the following:

1) A salary that is equal to minimum wage on the union scale. This comes
out to roughly $1,000.00 per week

2) Living expenses paid.

3) Travel expenses paid

4) A daily cash allowance for "pocket" money

5) Mid tour bonus

6) End of tour bonus

Are we okay so far?

Vaughn's manager responded on behalf of his client, agreeing in
principle to points two through six  The stumbling block was point one.
Stevie Ray Vaughn would not move past the rehearsal stage for a salary
this low. If you carefully consider the situation here,  you will
realize something. Vaughn did NOT need to go on this tour to survive,
the CBS contract  had made him financially secure for the present time,
very secure, so this was not a "need work for the essentials of life"
situation.. The Bowie angle was, "We are giving Vaughn a great
opportunity" Oh, damn it! I AM SO SORRY! I do apologize, how rude can I
be? Vaughn's manager has a name. It's  Chesley Milliken. Okay, check
this out. "That album wound up on Epic Records, but the label hadn't
even pressed it when David Bowie, hoping the Texan's fiery leads would
help revive his career, asked Vaughan to play guitar on Let's Dance.
Sure enough, the record rocketed up the charts, and Vaughan was
catapulted into the spotlight ? and out of his natural
element. Still, the crowd back home loved to see one of their own
succeed. Hell, we were jumping up and down, skipping down the street.
That WAS NOT Chesley Milliken. speaking, in fact it was Jimmie Vaughn,
Stevie Ray's older brother.  There was my little brother on
a number one hit, playing just as loud as shit all over the record. It
was an exciting time. Tommy Shannon, who was the bass player in
Vaughn's band Double Trouble  adds, He and David Bowie were good
friends,  and he really respected Bowie and his music. After being
pressured to join the touring band, he finally said he'd do it." This is
not a matter of record, it comes from knowing Bowie's character, and his
demeanour. I would like to add that Stevie Ray might have considered
Bowie and himself to be "good friends," and it may have appeared that
way to others, but the chances are that was all it really was,
appearances. "It's just the power to charm," is a line from Modern Love,
and it provides a very  accurate description of one of David Bowie's
greatest personality traits. He has charisma, and it comes from his
"power to charm." David Bowie is charming. The attention you receive
when talking to him is perceived as concern, as though he has a "genuine
interest" in what you have to say. Polite, soft spoken, gentle, and you
will never feel as though you are inferior, or being "talked down" to.
When you are around Bowie, YOU are made to feel IMPORTANT. The names on
the list of those who have MISTAKEN this "charm" for actual friendship,
numbers in the thousands. Bowie makes people "feel close," or "let in"
is a better phrase, however the truth is that they are not. Bowie guards
himself, and in all of these years only a handful have ever gained the
status of "Friend." Bowie trusts only a handful of people, and this is
proven by the number which actually manage to stay in his life for any
length of time. Robert Goodall? Is this name familiar? Probably not, and
if it has surfaced in any "Bowie Biographies," I unaware of them.
Business wise, no person is closer to Bowie than Goodall. More on him
later. Iggy, Coco, Eric Idle, the late Marc Bolan and John Lennon, Mick
Jagger, Tony Visconti, Lou Reed, Iman and a few others are the closest.
I know that Liz Taylor and Bette Middler were close, and may still be, I
don't know if they still are. Oona Chaplin, Charlie's wife, as well. It
is doubtful that Stevie Ray Vaughn was considered a "real" friend by
Bowie, as he too was probably one of the "charmed."

One name that was absent on the list was Chesley Milliken, as he was not
among those who were "charmed" by David Bowie. He was instead becoming
quite AGGRAVATED. Bowie's representatives appeared "shocked" at his
request for Vaughn to receive more than minimum wage as a salary.  It
was an uncompromising state of affairs by now. Time to push, pull, give,
threaten, shove, relent, soothe, hit, and apply all the other wonderful
tactics needed to win in a "successful" negotiating campaign. First
however you attack, then retreat, and you wait. You wait to see what
retaliation there is levelled at you in return. Milliken attacked. He
said "no" to the offer, based on the money offered. That was it. Offer
more, or fuck off basically, and he left. It was now Bowie's team
holding the ball.

Silence. Nothing. Make Milliken wait. Did he blow it? Was another offer
coming? What is happening? What? Let Milliken sweat. Will there be a
telephone call?

Finally.

Ring! Ring! Can we talk? Milliken's reply, "Let me see. I'll get back to
you."

A returned call. Another meeting.

Vaughn did not need the money, but he needed the money. Was that a typo?
Nope.  Vaughn would gain NOTHING financially either way from going on
the Serious Moonlight tour, as he was not going to earn any money for
himself, he was going to do it for others. Remember? Stevie Ray Vaughn
had his own band, Double Trouble. If Vaughn toured with Bowie, what
about them? Well, this little story should tell you a lot about Stevie
Ray Vaughn.  So his band would not be adversely effected financially by
him being away, Vaughn was going to keep THE ENTIRE BAND ON SALARY WHILE
HE TOURED WITH BOWIE, and pick up where they left off upon his return.

Bowie's corner had thought about things a bit. Minimum wage? Well,
having taken a serious look, plus all things considered, Bowie told his
representatives that this offer may not be enough after all.  To show a
real desire to settle, and to demonstrate good faith, David Bowie was
now willing to offer a lot more money to Stevie Ray Vaughn. This
however, would be their final offer. It was a lot, and  MORE than fair,
but since it was Stevie, they'd be willing to go this far. The offer hit
the table.

It is impossible to imagine the complete and total look of disbelief
that must have swept across the face of Chesley Milliken, as he sat
stunned, his mouth agape, and in total silence. Too amazed to even shake
his head, too overwhelmed to speak as he gazed at the offer. The numbers
that he saw in the new proposal must have been beyond comprehension to
him. He would have wrestled with himself in an attempt to sort out what
he saw. What did it say? Three hundred dollars per show? Hundred? Per
show? No. No way, not a chance. Three thousand per show? Three thousand
per week? A hundred what?

Three hundred.
Three and two Zero's
3 - 0 - 0
Dollars?
You mean, $?
Three hundred dollars a show.
Chesley Milliken looking across that table saw  no one was laughing. I
can see him being completely fascinated at how Bowie's people could
fucking keep a straight face. Surely no one could ever in a million
years expect him to take any of this seriously. I mean, c'mon, get real,
and all this time Bowie's people are perplexed, trying to understand
this strange behaviour they are witnessing. It is, after all,  an odd
way to respond to such a genuine display of generosity. Is there
something wrong? What is there that Chesley Milliken doesn't understand?
Speak for goodness sake. You want Stevie Ray Vaughn to work for $300.00
a show? They wanted Stevie Ray Vaughn to work for $300.00 a show? Right?
Gee? Well, FUCK YOU, were the basic sentiments expressed by  Milliken as
he departed for a more hospitable environment, like Nagasaki was
perhaps, the day it was nuked. Those fucking idiots were serious. What a
Godamn insult. This man had just signed a lucrative personal recording
contract with CBS Records. The Serious Moonlight tour required a solid
commitment. Now, even though he did not have to, Stevie Ray Vaughn WAS
WILLING TO MAKE THAT COMMITMENT, and this meant PUTTING HIS OWN CAREER
ON HOLD FOR OVER ONE FULL YEAR, and for being prepared to make that
sacrifice, Bowie would reward him with a whole $300.00 per show. What's
more, when Milliken and Vaughn refused the whole $300.00, Bowie accused
them of trying to BLACKMAIL HIM! Then the unthinkable happened, the
worst thing imaginable, and the makings of a  public relations nightmare
started to unfold. Vaughn and his management went to the media.


More Blah, Blah later.............................


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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