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Bowie General > Images Vol. 57 (The Last One?)

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homebrewPosted at 2026-01-17 22:52:33(1 hr ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 57 (The Last One?))


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Well... maybe not. I've got some digging to do in the vast, vast archives of the AFDB Usenet group.

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 57
DAVID BOWIE - THE LUNACY YEARS
By: AlaDINsaNE

How dare
they? The media? Do they have ANY IDEA how much a REAL DAVID BOWIE
costs? Now they want to tarnish it? This was a worst case scenario.

Chesley Milliken and Stevie Ray Vaughn could care less, this was
bullshit, and they called a press conference and spilled it all. Here
was a guy who just pocketed over TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS, and wanted
people to work for him for a few peanuts above minimum wage. It was
true, and the media printed every word. The press conference was not
intended as a bargaining tool either, to try to persuade Bowie to cough
up more cash. The dealings between Bowie and Vaughn were finished, as
far at Vaughn was concerned, as he was so pissed off by the treatment he
received that there was no way he was going on any tour with Bowie. The
press conference was intended for one thing only, and that was to set
the record straight. So, how do you find your way out of this one? I
mean, this couldn't possibly be the REAL DAVID BOWIE, the one they were
talking about in the press? He wouldn't treat people this way. That's
right, he wouldn't, so shift the blame. Feed Carlos Alomar to the
media., he was the "band leader," let him take the heat. First the press
releases. They stated that no one contested the fact that Stevie Ray
Vaughn had played brilliantly on Let's Dance. However, at the rehearsals
there was a "slight tension in the air," that suggested that he was not
entirely suited to be a team player behind a "Superstar" for a world
tour, especially after his "attractive CBS Record deal." Hmmm? Does this
sound like a guy who was willing to put his career, and the full pay out
from an "attractive CBS Record deal" on hold, just to tour with Bowie.
It was a hastily arranged press conference, where a very embarrassed
looking Carlos Alomar equated the situation with Vaughn to "kinda like a
time bomb." Interesting how this all just popped up out of nowhere isn't
it? Even though the CBS contract was signed, there was no mention
earlier of any problems with Vaughn during the Serious Moonlight
rehearsals when the negotiations were taking place. How convenient. This
was all well and good but there was one question which remained
unanswered. The money, what about the money? Was what Vaughn said true,
or was it not true? They asked Alomar directly. "We are looked after
quite well, and get mid and end tour bonuses," he said. So what. Was
Vaugh's story true? Alomar refused to give any specifics. The press
conference was over. Several years later it was Vaughn's version of
events that proved to be correct. The important thing however is that
Bowie escaped.

The paperwork for the Serious Moonlight tour involved the
signing of around four hundred contracts. Vaughn's would not be one of
them. One thing good came out of this however, for Bowie listeners. The
rehearsal sessions, along with every performance on the tour is taped
from the sound board. Band meetings are held on the road in two
sessions, with half the band at each one, to listen to these tapes.
These sessions are designed to critique the performance of each band
member, and not the overall performance itself. It is impossible to
gauge the overall quality of a gig from these tapes, as they lie
according to Alomar. The band listens to the gig on four Aiwa speakers
pushing 1000 watts, and these can't begin to match the true power of the
sound coming from the stage. For example, if you drape a towel over Tony
Thompson's monitor, the sound is so powerful that it will blow the towel
out at a forty five degree angle. Also, tapes made from the board do not
reflect the conditions at outdoor venues, crowd noise, or the ambience
in a closed venue. Carlos Alomar is personally responsible for these
tapes, and they are carefully guarded. "It's my ass if they get lost,"
he said. Now, Bowie may have put on those boxing gloves of his, only to
find Carlos Alomar to be a more menacing opponent than he first thought,
because one of those tapes did get "lost," and Alomar still seems to be
all there. The recording that went astray is a sound board recording of
a rehearsal session for the Serious Moonlight tour, made in Las Colinas,
Dallas on the 27th April 1983. This is not only a SPLENDID bootleg with
regards to quality, but it is also one that is quite historically
significant as well. This is due to the fact that it was recorded during
the salary negotiations between Milliken and Bowie, therefore Vaughn had
yet to depart from the band. This bootleg happens to be the only
recording in existence, outside of the "VAULTS" that is, of Stevie Ray
Vaughn and Bowie live. I am a lover of rehearsal bootlegs, 76, 83, 87
are what I have, and I believe that there are recordings of the
rehearsals for the 74 and 90 tours as well. Now, this is my opinion
here, but the Las Colinas bootleg is a gem, because of all the errors.
Bowie is so professional and mistake free on stage, that I find it to be
a wonderful experience to see him "less." This is one reason that the
video shot of the afternoon rehearsal session on February 2nd, 1976 is
so precious to me. Rehearsal bootlegs can also be rather saddening,
because you get to hear what was left out. The 83 bootleg has Wild Is
The Wind on it, and this is one song that I have yet to hear performed
live at any Bowie concert I have attended. It is also disheartening to
hear 1984, All The Madmen, Because You're Young, and Scream Like A Baby
that were ditched in 87, at any gig I saw anyway.

I am not alone in my
opinion of the 83 rehearsal bootleg either, as it appears that His
Majesty also found it to be quite good.

Question: Have you heard the
bootlegs for the rehearsals of your Serious Moonlight tour with Stevie
Ray Vaughan?

David Bowie: "Yes, you mean the album called the "Hawk And
The Dove?" It came straight from the sound board, the mix is very odd...
but its still a rather fab memento of that period, I think. I bought my
bootleg in Japan in 1990. I will sue ANYbody else who tries to buy
it..."

Now, this is where Bowie can be really stupid. Look, he PAID FOR
THE FUCKING THING. Why? All he had to do was email me, I could have
burned it for him for free. We could have started trading. I have lots
to trade, and he has the studio outakes for the Station To Station and
Young Americans sessions, which I do not just want, but I WILL FUCKING
KILL FOR! So, Dave, if you read this, email me, Let's Trade. For any of
you who are interested, here is the track listing for the 83 rehearsal
boot:

Disc One
01 Star
02 Heroes
03 What In The World
04 Look Back In
Anger
05 Joe The Lion
06 Wild Is The Wind
07 Golden Years
08 Fashion
09
Let's Dance
10 Red Sails
11 Breaking Glass
12 Life On Mars
13 Sorrow
14
Cat People
15 China Girl
16 Scary Monsters
17 Rebel Rebel
18 I Can't
Explain
19 White Light White Heat

Disc Two
01 Station To Station
02
Cracked Actor
03 Ashes To Ashes
04 Space Oddity
05 Young Americans
06
Soul Love
07 Hang Onto Yourself
08 Fame
09 TVC 15
10 Stay
11 The Jean
Genie
12 Modern Love
13 Interview

Pssst! Psssst! Hey. Hey you. Want an
airplane? Cheap. Bowie? Frightened?

Not frightened, the word is
"TERRIFIED." Just getting on an airplane causes him to hyperventilate.
He not only turns pale, but he sweats profusely. He rarely remembers a
takeoff, due to the fact that they literally "put him out," in his words
You see, he faints. This is the reason that Bowie always travelled Trans
Atlantic by ocean liner, it was because of his deeply rooted fear of
flying. His tours were arranged so air travel would never be required,
it was a boat, a train or a limousine. The 83 tour however would be
different. The Alien would finally fly. Now, to hear how he puts it is
nothing short of a riot. When asked why he chose to "bite the bullet"
and fly to the destinations on the tour, instead of travelling by his
normal means, Bowie said this, "I had put myself in a situation where I
might of had to let somebody down." This meant that if he did not fly,
then he could not have done enough performances to satisfy all of his
fans, and some would have missed out. In simple terms, HE DID IT FOR
YOU. Yes he did, David Bowie put himself through the worst Hell
imaginable just for you. What a terrific person to make such a personal
sacrifice on behalf of his fans. Bowie and Jesus seem to have a lot in
common if you go by what he says. Bowie, and the truth however, are
quite a different matter, because the truth is that it all had to do
with the logistics of the tour. Logistics? Okay then, MONEY.

No matter
what THE REAL DAVID BOWIE says, the decision to use a plane had NOTHING
AT ALL to do with pleasing his fans. It all came down to cash. This tour
Bowie and the band had to travel THREE MILLION, SEVEN HUNDRED and EIGHTY
SEVEN THOUSAND MILES with 177 pieces of luggage weighing 7,788 pounds.
Now, that is just the band. A total of 12,245 people were briefly
employed by the 83 tour, and 9,457 hotel rooms were filled. The
equipment that had to be hauled from venue to venue weighed 64,000
pounds. It was explained to Bowie during the planning stages of the tour
that an extremely large amount of cash could be saved if the band flew.
Not only that either, they could play more venues on top of the cost
savings. Bowie by now had been eyeing the massive tours mounted by The
Rolling Stones, and how much they had been raking in. He wanted the
same. If more money could be made by flying, then he would fly, but only
on the right plane. Brent Silver, who used to be employed by The Federal
Aviation Administration, was given the task of finding a suitable
airplane to be used on the tour. To find parties interested in bidding
on the contract, letters were sent out to the major airline charter
companies, inviting them to submit competitive bids. Background checks
were done when the field was narrowed down to twelve companies, and the
records of each company were carefully examined. Next were the planes
themselves. Brent Silver flew out to the location of each of the twelve
bidding companies, to have a look at each of the planes personally.
While he was there he had every engine ripped apart and inspected for
any safety concerns. A Boeing 707 was chosen for the tour, and the only
identifying markings on it were the word "JET," written in black letters
on the tail. The plane came to be referred to by its passengers, as "JET
24." In my opinion Bowie screwed up here too, and I say this because
rather than find a pilot for the plane, Bowie could have learned to fly
it himself. I mean he did learn to play the cello for The Hunger, what's
the difference. Think of all the cash he could have saved.

Earl Slick,
"Slicky," was called in to replace Stevie Ray Vaughn. The rehearsal
sessions lasted two weeks in total, where the band learned thirty five
songs. Slick had four days. Just one more detail to take care of. "I had
seen a musical called Zoot Suit," Bowie explains, "and I was very
impressed by the clothes the actors wore. Then I went to see La Boheme
at the Met, and I was equally impressed by those clothes. And, lo, and
behold, it was the same guy who designed them both, Peter Hall." Anyway,
you can take it from here. Bowie tracked down Peter Hall. The band
probably "got him" after the tour was finished, so I imagine he is
probably deceased by now. Heaven help all of mankind, The Serious
Moonlight tour was almost ready to hit the road.

The Serious Moonlight
tour opened in Brussels, but I want to leave that for now and skip
ahead. Why? Well, because I have a really cool story I think you will
appreciate, and truthfully, I really don't want to fucking wait to tell
it to you, I want to do it now. Are there any objections? Are you
positive? Okay, fine then, off I go. Jet 24 was at thirty thousand feet,
having just left Quebec City, Bowie's first date on the North American
leg of the tour, where he pulled in 14,400 fans, breaking the previously
held house record at the Colisee de Quebec by over three thousand. Bowie
had a book in his hand, and he was reading a portion out of it to the
band that recounted a story of how an entire jury sat through a trial
before admitting they were all deaf. The title of the book was, "The
Book Of Failures" "Heard of the Not Terribly Good Club Of Great
Britain?", asked Bowie laughing. Steve Elson jumped in and said, "You
should do a book of rock and roll failures." To which Bowie replied,
"I'd have to start with The Legendary Stardust Cowboy." Then leaning
forward Bowie sang, "I took a trip on a Gemini space ship, and I thought
about you - oo." Bowie went on, "That guy was incredible. I took the
name Ziggy Stardust from The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. His only venue
was a Burger joint in Lubbock, Texas, and he was virtually ignored as he
stood on the hood of his car and howled. He really did. He recorded two
45 singles for Mercury Records, and the Mercury person who recorded him
was called on the carpet pretty damn quick. But, The Legendary was the
first cosmic rocker."

I remember I told you the name of the company
which manufactured JET 24, that was Boeing. I told you it was a 707,
right? I don't think I told you what model the plane was, did I? No,
come to think of it I didn't.

JET 24 was a Boeing 707 Starship. I
thought that was fucking really cool. I'll get back to Brussels next, I
promise. Yeah, sure Mr. Sane.

AladINsane Yeah, yeah, quit crying,
there's more..........................

*BACK TO THE INDEX <index.htm>*


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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professormouseDonatedPosted at 2026-01-18 00:17:48(8 mins ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 57 (The Last One?))


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