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Bowie General > Images Vol. 08

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homebrewPosted at 2025-01-04 15:12:12(2 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 08)


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In the Usenet group alt.fan.david-bowie 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, spelling, grammar or edit in any way.

*Images*: *Part* 8

To excel at one thing as well as fail at the same time seemed to be a
trademark of Defries. It wasn't just the finances either. The marketing
strategies he used to sell Bowie were brilliant, even though much of
what he hailed about the greatness of his "star" was a fabrication. That
does not matter as advertising in all forms often stretches the truth
somewhat. Defries is often credited with originality in his marketing
approach. Having made my living in the sales profession I can say that
the techniques used by Defries were not original and he did not invent
them. Two things come to mind that all salespeople know. First, "If you
build it they will come," and second, "Sell the sizzle, not the steak."
In other words, "Make your product so desirable that people MUST have it
and that is accomplished by showing the customer what it "can" do. It is
the "want" that you create and if you make the package desirable enough
people will line up to buy it. I am not deflating Defries' talents by
saying what he did was not new, I am saying that he took proven sales
techniques and applied them brilliantly. You can't argue with what he
accomplished in a few short years. He used his marketing abilities to
rake in millions and at the same time his marketing strategies left a
legacy of failures.

Looking at the success that Defries enjoyed with Bowie tends to
overshadow the fact that Bowie was not the only entertainer under
contract at MainMan Artistes. There was Iggy Pop however the behaviour
of Iggy could not be blamed on Defries. Once Defries sent someone to
check up on Iggy who was staying on the west coast in MainMan's rented
mansion in Los Angeles. As could be expected the report that came back
was a bit too enlightening. It seemed everyone at the house had eyes
that were "pinned," which is a term used on heroin addicts as heroin
causes the pupils of the eyes to become very tiny. The equipment had
been pawned and there were "rigs," a term for syringes, all over the
house.  Defries was not responsible for this except he should never had
left Iggy unattended. Taking his clothes off and telling the radio
audience he was masturbating during an interview was beyond Defries
control. The failures of Iggy were the fault of Iggy and no one else.
This was true throughout his career until he got his act somewhat
together in 1977. Mick Ronson was signed as a solo artist to MainMan and
Defries could do nothing with him. I want to make this clear that this
is only my opinion about Mick Ronson. He was spectacular with Bowie and
I think a lot of Bowie's work would have suffered if it were not for
him. As a solo artist though I do not think his work is something that
is essential to own. I will admit that I only own Slaughter On Tenth
Avenue and that may be the reason that I do not have more. To me the
album is uneventful at best. Ronson produced a local Vancouver band here
sometime in the mid eighties, if I am not mistaken, called The Payolas.
This album, as well as a single from it did rather well. I admit that I
am no scholar on Ronson's career after Bowie, and there may be some of
his work that I have not heard that may change my opinion. The general
opinion however of the record buying public could not be swayed by
Defries hype, billboards in Times Square, tours and full page magazine
ads. Defries could do nothing for Ronson the way he did for Bowie. As
far as artists are concerned, the same thing could be said for Dana
Gillespie. Defries struck out there as well. To make a long story short,
it is safe to say that of all of the things Defries set about to make
famous he failed with all of them, except Bowie. A memorable one was a
play MainMan financed. It was a comedy about the life of Marilyn Monroe
that closed after one performance at a loss of $250,000.00.

One thing Defries was good at though and never seemed to fail was
trading foreign currency on the international markets using the
company's money. From what I read he did extremely well profit wise. His
biggest failure though was due to stupidity, indifference or arrogance.
Take your pick. How could anyone not insure that their only source of
income, the source that made you a millionaire, was not looked after.
This mistake was as idiotic as killing and roasting the Golden Goose for
dinner. I hope it tasted good. If Tony Defries would have made sure that
every *part* of the fantasy world he created for Bowie was looked after
there would have been no problems, at least not yet. What shocks me is
how he failed to take care of the most obvious thing and of course that
was money.  His actions defy all logic.  I want to take a look at the
events, there aren't many, that lead to Bowie's discoveries about
MainMan and his business agreements with Defries.  It is relatively easy
to see how it all unraveled and in the process learn just how foolish
Defries was in his handling of Bowie.  Although Bowie had yet to see
success in America but he was a star in England.  The Diamond Dogs tour
did do a lot to promote Bowie to a wider audience, and even with the
limited audience he had one thing was certain, he was making money.
Defries had immersed David in a world where everything was handled for
you, you were taken care of and money was no object. Bowie saw the
offices, the limo and the real estate. Bowie knew this lifestyle was
costing a fortune. His room service bill for example was $17,000.00 for
ONE WEEK.  Although MainMan paid for it all, and then billed Bowie,
Defries kept him too dependent. David only got an allowance that had
now been raised from the $75.00 a week to $500.00. This meant Bowie
never had any money in his pocket, most of it going to taxi's,
cigarettes and his recently acquired taste for cocaine. This is where
Defries made a bad mistake. Leaving Bowie without sufficient cash for
himself made him question the reason why he had to beg and borrow when
there was all of this money being spent on other things.  If  Defries
had kept Bowie happy by making sure he had money in his pocket to look
after his day to day needs, then there would be no reason for Bowie to
question where the money was going. Tony Zanetta, the president of
MainMan by title only, was with Bowie one day when the money had run out
again and Bowie had to track down Tony for more.  The degree of neglect
Defries had is illustrated by the fact that when Bowie phoned for money
he often would not take the call. This behaviour prompted Bowie to ask
Zanetta why he was doing without when everyone else, especially Defries,
was not. What further proves my point about Bowie having no control over
his career is strengthened by the fact Bowie complained to Zanetta that
he never had a say in anything.  Zanetta states that the actual quote
was, " Half this company is mine and I have no say in anything. I don't
know what's going out, I don't know what's coming in"  That is the last
thing Defries wanted Bowie to get an answer to.

It is July, 21st. 1974 and this day was about to get real interesting.

Tony Zanetta told Bowie that his deal with Defries was common knowledge,
he got fifty percent of the profits  generated by him after expenses
were deducted. He told Bowie that he owned NO *PART* of MainMan. The next
sentence must have stunned Bowie with disbelief. "MainMan belongs
exclusively to Tony," Zanetta said. Personally I feel very sympathetic
towards David Bowie at this moment. We have all been the victim of
embarrassment, the one where it seems that everyone in the entire world
knew something that appeared to be basic common knowledge. Everyone
except us. Bowie was not an idiot, naive yes, but not an idiot. Even so,
he must have felt like a complete fool.  How could everyone know but him
he must have reasoned. Zanetta further explained that Defries had total
control over him and his money. Bowie did all he could to save himself
from appearing even more foolish by telling Zanetta that Defries was his
"partner" and he knew he owned half of the company.  Zanetta asked David
if he even knew what the terms of the contract were and told Bowie that
surely he must know what deal he had with Tony.  I envision that it must
have seemed like a nightmare that you can't wake up from and the
nightmare grew a lot worse when David Bowie admitted the truth and  said
to Tony Zanetta, "I  never understood it." In a last ditch effort at
redemption Bowie again stated that he KNEW he owned fifty percent of
MainMan. I can't begin to imagine the fear of the future when Zanetta
told Bowie to get a lawyer and an accountant. The lawyer can look at the
terms of all the contracts.  Meanwhile, the accountant can have a look
at the books and tell Bowie where "his" money is going.  Bowie withdrew
from reality at this point and his "character" took over. He was safe
again now. He was  back in the fantasy.  He was a star, and this star
had a tour to finish and an album to make. Besides, he knew he owned
fifty percent of MainMan.

Bowie went back on the road to finish the  Diamond Dogs tour, alone. Yes
he was alone and I use that figuratively. Wind of his discovery
naturally got to Defries who knew it was only a matter of time before
the shit hit the fan.  Now he was "punishing" Bowie as one would
discipline a naughty child. Defries would not speak to him. Bowie still
did not know the legalities of his arrangements with MainMan as he had
not sought advice from any  lawyers or accountants. Why? Simple. Bowie,
even to this day avoids any confrontations at all cost and he always
lets someone else sort out any nastiness. This is really the first time
he did not have a manager taking care of his needs as well as directing
his career. Bowie was never much at taking care of himself in those
days, he was too insulated and looked after by willing admirers. They
were  replaced by Coco who is the person that is responsible for Bowie
making it this far. Making it this far "ALIVE,"  I mean.  Bowie and
Defries probably thought they knew what each other was thinking, so
there was no immediate urgency to joggle for position in a battle that
they knew was unavoidable. It wasn't "if"  the face off was coming, it
was more of a matter of "when."  The distance they created between each
other was similar to prize fighters taking their corners before round
one. If either was concerned about the impending clash they did not show
it. Defries was armed with contracts that were "unbreakable." His
attention was focused on the career of another of his "artists," namely
Dana Gillespie, for the moment.  In the meantime  from August the 11 to
the 18 Bowie was in Philadelphia at Sigma Studios recording his new
album called Dancin'. The name was later changed to Young Americans.
This was enough of a distraction to make him forget about Defries and on
September 2nd. the Diamond Dogs tour resumed and would not finish until
December 1st.

The character was without a script due to the fact Defries was not there
to make all of the decisions. Bowie had the backdrop and some other
expensive accessories dropped for the last leg of the tour to reduce
costs. This was done without consulting Defries and it was viewed as  if
Bowie was  testing his boundaries. Bowie was attempting to look as
though he was taking charge but he was moving cautiously which was smart
on his *part* as you did not want to anger the party that you would
eventually have to negotiate your freedom with. If Defries was furious
enough he could tie things up in court for an eternity. Bowie took to
hanging out with celebrities and becoming involved in the social scene
of the rich and famous. This was a novelty to him. He was hanging out
for awhile with Elizabeth Taylor, of all people, and Bette Middler who
is still a friend today.  He struck up quite a friendship with John
Lennon who was living with May Pang at the time. This social scene was a
haven where drug use was quite acceptable. That meant any drug from weed
to heroin. Bowie did, or does as I do not know if he still uses
anything, not like  what he terms as "slow drugs. He liked drugs that
kept him awake and active so he could continuously work for long periods
of time. He once said that science had to find a cure for two things,
the common cold and sleep. He tried mostly everything including heroin
but his drug of choice was cocaine. He started dabbling in it around the
beginning of 73 but kept it fairly hidden, especially from Defries.
Defries despised any drug use by Bowie and David was worried enough
about the consequences he only used around a few people from MainMan
whom he trusted such as Coco and Zanetta. Things were different now as
he used fairly openly.  He did not do it exactly in Defries' face but
openly enough that Defries would find out. The amount of cocaine he was
using was quite substantial by  mid to late 1974, turning to massive
amounts by 1976. His use was enough at this time however that it alarmed
some of those close to him such as Coco. She was extremely worried as he
was sleeping little and hardly eating. She was close to telling Defries
but her loyalty to Bowie was strong enough that she pledged to care for
him personally rather than cause him any more problems. Defries did make
a surprise appearance, walking into a session at Sigma, and confronted
Bowie on a number of items including his cocaine use. Defries told Bowie
he was throwing away his career by not listening to him and another of
the reasons being the sound of Young Americans, which he did not like.
Bowie wasn't caught red handed.

If you were not an "insider"  who knew better then things  seemed
relatively in control around David, from appearances.  Defries and Bowie
kept mostly apart which created an air of calmness. It was calmness
however that one experiences just before a storm.  The set was about to
change and a new play to begin, one that was not written by Defries.
This character would soon be permanently laid to rest. There would be
another born to take his place, this character was  different and I
don't think that the world was ready.


AladInsaNe

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


""I don't begrudge any artist for finding an audience"
- David Bowie abt. 1987
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gousterPosted at 2025-01-06 23:58:04(2 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 08)


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Thanks for posting these... fascinating stuff!

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