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homebrew

Posted at 2024-11-22 19:21:07(1 wk ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 02)

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Way back in the beginnings of the internet what could possibly be called the first social network was known as Newsgroups or Usenet. Message boards arranged in groups that attracted folks who would join and discuss everything from agriculture to zen Buddhism. One such group was alt.fan.david-bowie.

In that group you would have run into a user named Jamie Soule aka aladInsaNE. Jamie wrote a series of articles that he called "Images" about our hero, David Bowie. I found them fascinating, sometimes infuriating, occasionally confusing and ultimately interesting enough to have saved them all (at least all that I could track down). I have made no attempt to alter the formatting or edit in any way.

This is Images Vol. 02

--------

Unlike Instant Karma there is no "instant salvation," especially if one
is attempting to resurrect a career that was in the state that Bowie's
was shortly after the release of Hunky Dory. This state is best
described as dismal. One of the problems that occurred between Kenneth
Pitt and Bowie was that neither could agree on what direction Bowie
should go with his music and therefore lacked a plan. Without the know
how it is easy to see why Bowie was in the position he was in. He had
not had a hit in years and it didn't take long to realize that Hunky
Dory was not about to give them one either. Bowie was out of the media
spotlight as there was nothing worth writing about where he was
concerned and being out of the press results in certain death for the
career of a celebrity. Defries had a major problem problem on his hands
in January of 1972. Between February and March a fourteen date tour of
the UK had been lined up to promote Hunky Dory and the was it looked at
the time it would have to be cancelled. The problem was that there were
not enough tickets selling to even cover expenses. It was time to face
the cold hard fact that David Bowie had no audience. Defries had no
choice, he had to get rid of this David Bowie. It was the only way out.

Tony Defries, unlike the previous manager, had a plan. Since there was
little interest in thus David Bowie a new one would have to be invented
that would attract an audience. Defries knew that are gullible, they
believe what they see, even if what they see is staged. Perception was
far more important than truth. The idea that Defries had to market Bowie
was brilliantly simple. There is an infatuation people have about
celebrities, the public adores them and will easily part with their
money to have a piece of them. They will buy their music, see their
films and attend their performances. The media will fuel this
infatuation by elevating them to the status of Deities. People believe
what the media tells them and all Defries reasoned he had to do was get
the media to announce that David Bowie was indeed star. If Bowie was
proclaimed to be a star by the press then the audiences will come. Easy.

Perception. Perception is everything and this is why the old Bowie must
die, and so he did. The death was a swift. The character which
eventually replaced the former Bowie did not develop overnight, it was
more like a metamorphosis, it developed over time. Every aspect
concerning the image of this creature was manufactured, with not one
detail overlooked, and like any theatre production, the players must
have costumes. It was known as "Unisex" in the early seventies and it
was a fashion trend of androgyny. Gone were the "his" and "hers."
Clothes could be worn by both men and women and hair could be short or
long on either sex. To the average person this trend was outrageous
enough and to get the attention Defries wanted it would be necessary to
go even further. They would have to create a character that would be
even more outrageous. They had to shock even the Unisex Generation. This
character would eventually grow to become known as Ziggy Stardust. Many
believe that Ziggy was Bowie's own creation and this is not the case at
all. Of course Bowie does nothing to dispel this myth and takes all the
credit. Bowie may have conjured up the idea of the persona of Ziggy, but
in reality he had little to do with the actual physical development of
him. The Ziggy look was not Bowie's idea.

Unlike Pitt, who would often succumb to David's wishes, Defries was
firmly in control. The "man's" dress Angie procured for David came from
Mr. Fish, who also designed the dress Mick Jagger wore at the tribute
concert for Brian Jones at Hyde Park. There would be no more store
bought clothes because David must be an original. David must have his
clothing custom made and so Defries put clothing designer Freddi Buretti
on the payroll. Sometime later designer Kansai Yamamoto was also added
to the payroll on Bowie's insistence. Bowie was extremely interested in
Japanese Kabuki theatre where all of the acting roles are portrayed by
men. Many of Bowie's stage costumes that Yamamoto designed were based on
the costumes from Kabuki theatre. One of Defries rules, which was
strictly enforced, was that Bowie was not to be seen in public wearing
anything other than one of his costumes. It was not sufficient either to
just outfit Bowie. To enhance appearances Defries had clothes made for
those who were likely to be seen in public with David. Defries'
trademark apparel, was a full length coat made from racoon pelts which
he was seen wearing in the summer as well as winter.

There was one person who was around Bowie at this time who had no
boundaries when it comes to the outrageous, and was Angie. She had a
great deal of input and her ideas contributed far more to the physical
appearance than most are willing to admit. Bowie was still sporting the
Greta Garbo look with the long wavy hair that adorns the front cover of
Hunky Dory. Angie decided that this style had to be upgraded. Bowie was
not in favour of having his hair cut, especially short, which is what
Angie's hairstylist recommended because she said that long hair was
boring since everyone had it. The "Ziggy" cut was a combination of three
different styles that Angie and her stylist chose out of some French
editions of Vogue magazine. When she was finished it was still not quite
radical enough in Angie's opinion and when the thought came to dye it a
luminous colour the stylist remembered a German brand which went by the
name Red Hot Red. When Defries saw this new look he was quite pleased
and referred to it as "marketable." As drastic as these changes may have
been though they still fell far short of anything that the press would
find interesting enough to write about. There was nothing about David
Bowie that was worth reporting which brought him another day close to
anonymity.

Everyone knew that the press had to be fed something that would get
David noticed and his music wasn't doing it. An interview had been
scheduled with Melody Maker magazine for Bowie to discuss Hunky Dory as
well as the upcoming tour. Bowie, Defries and Angie sat down together
shortly before the interview discussing how it should be handled to get
the best coverage. They shared ideas with each other and there was one
particular idea that Angie had which caught the attention of Defries.
"Tell them you're gay," she said. Defries loved it, the same could not
be said for David. Bowie aqueoused in the end and during the interview
he dropped the bombshell with these words, "I'm gay and I always have
been, even when I was David Jones." This lie would effect Bowie for the
rest of his life, and it is a lie. I am not going to start on a debate
about Bowie's sexuality because as far as I am concerned too much time
has already been devoted to it. I am interested in Bowie because of his
talent and his sexuality really has no bearing on his work. I will admit
however that I do not like to see things printed on Bowie that claim to
be the truth, yet fail to provide anything in the way of evidence to
support the claims made in the article. This topic is one of them.

What I will say however is in the three decades that I have been
following the career of David Bowie I have not seen one bit of credible
evidence to support the claim that what he said to Melody Maker is the
truth. I repeat, not one single piece of credible evidence. Now, some
may argue that because Bowie said it then that is enough to say the
statement is true. I respond to that by saying that Bowie is not
credible. I can say that with impunity because if you believe what Bowie
says is credible then I hope you enjoyed the last concert he ever did in
July of 1972. I imagine you voted for him to be Prime Minister of
England when he ran as a Fascist, attended his marriage to Melissa
Hurley and attended the play he wrote on the life of Goebbels. If you
still maintain that he is credible then you may wish to know that he
admitted in an interview in 1983 that the gay statement to Melody Maker
was a lie, and he went on to say that it was the biggest mistake he ever
made. So, if you believe Bowie then you have to believe that statement
is true as well. Backstage Passes was authored by Angela and claims to
be an "inside look" at the life of Bowie. I have read it and it is
better described as a self serving attempt to make a buck with a hard
cover edition of something akin to The National Enquirer or The Daily
Mirror. Let loose on her own Angie is best described as a "wing nut"
and that is one of the reasons that Bowie had a seven year gag order
placed on her as one of the terms in their divorce settlement. Any fool
can figure out that once someone writes a book they have to sell it. For
Angela what better way is there than to run around and appear on any
talk show desperate enough to have her as a guest and tell people that
Bowie and Mick Jagger slept together. Of course she is the only witness
to this event. One read of her "inside look" at the life of Bowie will
put a swift end to any notion that she is credible.

Bowie has been in the public eye since the late sixties and in those
forty years I find it rather odd that not one photograph exists to
support the gay/bisexual assertion. Not one photo in forty years. THe
photos that do exist happen to show Bowie with rather attractive
females. I was contacted by an individual once after an article I posted
on this subject who said that I was incorrect and went on to say that he
had photos of Bowie and his male "companion." These pictures were
allegedly taken at an intimate gathering of friends at a small house
party. Now, there is so much garbage written about Bowie that is as
about as accurate as what could be termed "collateral damage" and I try
my best not to contribute to it. I do my best to write what is accurate
and if I can be proven to be incorrect I will write a retraction. Now, I
know that this person, for obvious reasons that I agree with, would not
send me copies of these pictures so I did not ask. Since however he
lived in the States just south of Toronto, and I originally came from
that area, I asked if I could send a friend down to see him. What I
wanted him to do was to show my friend a copy of one of these pictures
and my friend could tell me if indeed the photos proved me to be wrong.
Isn't it interesting that when confronted to provide evidence some
people disappear rather abruptly. This person did not reply to the four
requests that I sent him. One should also know that Bowie's first
manager Kenneth Pitt is a homosexual and used to get frustrated that his
advances were spurned by Bowie. He got quite jealous at the stream of
girls Bowie used to bring home. Those close to Bowie have often scoffed
at the suggestion he is gay or bisexual. From my perspective I am going
to have to maintain my stance on this topic until someone can prove me
wrong and after the passage of thirty years I can't see that happening
any time soon. Believe what you want but, I go by the evidence.

The gay statement made to the writer from Melody Maker could not have
worked better even if Defries himself wrote it. The next issue of the
magazine was adorned with a photo of Bowie and a lengthy article
appeared inside that was titled, "Oh You Pretty Thing." There are no
qualifications required to become a celebrity in the public eye. The
stature is open to everyone from mass murderers to musicians and that
includes "weirdoes." Melody Maker announced in the article that this
"weirdo" was going on tour. Since the public can't miss this tickets
became hot property. This new character now had an audience.

I feel sorry for Bowie sometimes because of what was happening to him at
this time. I know some of you reading this will think that statement is
a very foolish one. Let me explain. Look at what he was thrust into in a
very short period of time and some of these things he was made to do
that he did not want to. I believe that there must have been periods
that he was quite lonely and felt rather helpless. Bowie was rather
naive back then and now he basically had no guidance. His father was
gone and so was Pitt who had become a surrogate father to David. One
thing about Pitt that is honourable is that he really did care about
David as a person and genuinely looked out for what he thought were in
David's best interests. I can't say this about Defries or anyone else
who surrounded Bowie at this time, save Angie. Bowie had no control on
his life or on his work. He was quite helpless as he was expected to do
what Defries told him to do. The transition from pauper to star
overnight could not have been easy for him.

aladInsaNE

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

Last edited by homebrew on 2024-11-22 21:41:35

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

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