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homebrew

Posted at 2025-03-16 18:45:28(8 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 16)

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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.

Personal note: Open heart surgery went well. Still very fatigued but I feel well enough to post another installment of Images today.

Images: Part 16

Things got strange. Real strange.

Bowie had a little stuffed animal that was in the shape of a monkey and
it had a name. The monkey's name was, "Asshole." Now, Asshole was
David's companion, his tag along so to speak, when he went and did
interviews. Bowie extended the interviewer the courtesy of being
personally introduced to Asshole. Sometimes Bowie would halt the
interview to speak to the monkey and sometimes the monkey answered
questions meant for Bowie. Bowie provided the voice. Often the
interviewer left with nothing to write about, save the insanity that you
could not report to the public. Like they would believe you anyway.
Interviews are scarce for 76 because he gave few of them, much to the
delight of RCA I imagine, but the ones he did give were memorable. Some
too memorable, but more on those later.

Bowie was fucked up during the whole tour, on-stage and off. His
condition was obvious to the audience. The Neo-expressionism bootleg was
recorded in Cleveland on February, 28th and it was reported by many who
were at the show that in addition to being whacked on cocaine Bowie was
visibly drunk on stage as well. What the amazing part is that it did not
matter, the performances were flawless during the performance of the
songs. So perfect in fact, you could never tell just by listening that
he was smashed, unless he speaks or you happened to have been there to
catch a glimpse. In addition to the lighting effects and the music there
was sometimes lots of other interesting things to see as well. Bizarre
things at that.

TVC15 is stopped and started three times in Cleveland over the course of
the show. These antics were to become quite common. At one performance,
two verses into Five Years, Bowie announces that he didn't feel like
singing that song and he promptly quit. One fan threw a tour program on
stage at one performance which Bowie thought this to be fantastic
reading material. He sat down on stage and leafed through it not
worrying that there should have been vocals to the music that the band
was playing. "You have a very nice hospital here," he commented to one
audience, and then added, "We will see you all again in ten days." The
interest that he took in the crowd that attended his performance in
Rotterdam was rather unusual. "How many of you out there speak English?
We're very rude, we don't speak your language, but we do speak
English." He then informed the audience, "The band tonight is very ill,
with bronchitis." The harsh voice, unusually rough, is a common side
effect from cocaine and what it does to the nasal passages. The singing
voice however seemed surprisingly unaffected. Bowie did whatever he
wanted. He commented one time to an audience that Dennis Davis gets all
the girls, this stemmed from an incident where a woman turning Bowie
down one evening in favour of his drummer. One show was two hours late
starting as Bowie did not feel like leaving the city he had played the
previous evening. He had to be coaxed. When there were lengthy
instrumental segments in songs Bowie would leave the stage. One guess
why. The concerts were relatively short and Bowie absent a good portion
of the time which left one hungry for more after. It just wasn't enough.
The same can be said for only having six tracks on Station To Station.
At one press conference Bowie threatened to "break every camera" if
someone tried to snap a photo. Hmmm, cameras at a press conference? How
unexpected. No one tried either.

The press started it all and they lit a fire that would become an
inferno. They began to describe Bowie as some sort of an Aryan. Big
fucking mistake. It gave Bowie ideas and by mid 76 he was crazy enough
to do or say just about anything. Some facilities on the tour were used
as venues for his political rants after the show, or during, it didn't
matter. There were three particular interviews he gave in 76 that are
most famous. One to writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. which appeared in the
September issue of Playboy, the Cameron Crowe interview in Rolling
Stone, also in September and a radio interview he gave to a reporter in
Sweden. I want to spend a considerable amount of time and devote a lot
of space in this article to these interviews. Why? Well, for one major
reason, and that is in order to really give you a really good
understanding of the character. These quotes will essentially give you a
clear picture of just how bizarre the character was. You will also soon
realize that there were no boundaries he would not cross. I regret if
this segment of Images causes boredom in some of you. I will take the
responsibility, and the criticism I may receive, for rambling on about
this period of Bowie's life. It would not be the first time. I admit the
self indulgence that I am wallowing in, as I relish any chance to talk
to anyone insane enough to listen to me about this period. Please either
bear with me, or kill me. Sorry.

Bowie had this response to a question about how he viewed members of the
press, "Oh they're absolute idiots." As one can see this is the way one
should deal with a reporter to get a favourable article written on them.
He fell short of threatening to smash their pens, as he did with the
photographers and their cameras.

In Rochester New York on March 21, 1976 David Bowie and Iggy Pop, who
was with Bowie for a good portion of the tour, were arrested at a
friends apartment and charged, with all things, possession of marijuana.
Bail was granted four days later to both of them. First of all, I want
to make it perfectly clear that I am NOT a lawyer. My OPINION is
however, that it would not be wise to openly talk about drugs while one
is awaiting to be tried on charges for possessing them. This is
especially true if one is speaking to members of the media who are
going to print your comments where everyone can read them. Again, my
opinion, but I believe it to be quite foolish if one openly admits to
using drugs while out on bail after being arrested and charged for a
drug offence. I consider it insanity to be arrested for "soft drugs" and
then tell the media that they were not yours for the simple reason you
like "hard drugs" a lot better. What is that you say? No one would be
that crazy? Oh, yes they would. A good example is David Bowie. Once you
read this just imagine how his lawyers felt having such an "informative"
client. This is not all that was said in this interview. I have just
taken certain quotes which pertain to the topic of his drug use. In an
interview, surprisingly in Rochester one day before his arrest Bowie
stated, "I had 800,000
units of penicillin the other day, and then I've been taking doses of
400,000 a day, and that and brandy really puts you out. The doctor said
it was cool to drink with penicillin." Six months after his arrest
Bowie had these words of wisdom. Playboy magazine inquired about drugs
to which Bowie responded , "What year is it now? 'Seventy-six? I suppose
I've been knocking on heaven's door for about 11 years now, with one
sort of high or another. The only kinds of drugs I use, though, are ones
that keep me working for longer periods of time. I haven't gotten
involved in anything heavy since '68. I had a silly flirtation with
smack then, but it was only for the mystery and enigma of trying it. I
never really enjoyed it at all. I like fast drugs." He was then asked
about the first time he got stoned to which he said," I had done
cocaine before but never grass. I don't know why it should have happened
in that order." Bowie was quite specific on the topic if drugs
influenced his music. He said his music is really an extension of him so
the question is rephrased by Bowie to ask what have drugs done to him.
He wasted no time in getting right to the point saying, " What have
drugs done to me? They've fucked me up, I think. Fucked me up nicely and
I've quite enjoyed seeing what it was like being fucked up." The arrest
incident was brought up and Bowie defended himself, " Rest assured the
stuff was not mine. I can't say much more, but it did belong to the
others in the room that we were busted in. Bloody pot heads. What a
dreadful irony--me popped for grass. The stuff sickens me. I haven't
touched it in a decade." His lawyers must have thought that their client
was working for the prosecution.

It became quite clear to this new character that the press would believe
and print anything that you wanted to tell them. It did not matter how
unbelievable or impossible the claims were, you could rest assured that
your quotes would make it to print unaltered. I mean, far be it from any
responsible writers to actually check out the validity of anything
before they print it as a fact. This was a dangerous mix having this
kind of journalistic responsibility, or lack thereof, around a creature
starving for media attention. How ANYONE could swallow some of the
things that came out of his mouth during some interviews is beyond me.
Take for example this statement he made when asked how he met Angela, "
Angela and I knew each other because we were both going out with the
same man. Another one of her boyfriends, a talent scout for Mercury
Records, took her to a show at The Roundhouse, where I happened to be
playing. He hated me. She thought I was great. Ultimately, she
threatened to leave him if he didn't sign me. So he signed me." Yep, and
he said it all with a straight face, and looking serious enough that the
idiot holding the pen opposite him actually wrote it down as fact. He
also had this to say, "When I was 14, sex suddenly became all-important
to me. It didn't really matter who or what it was with, as long as it
was a sexual
experience. So it was some very pretty boy in class in some school or
other that I took home and
neatly fucked on my bed upstairs. And that was it. My first thought was,
Well, if I ever get sent to prison, I'll know how to keep happy." It
wouldn't surprise me if he did go to prison one day and the evidence to
put him there will probably come from incriminating evidence he gave
about himself in interviews on national TV.

There were moments of truth. Like this bit of reminiscing, ...."I was
never at MainMan," Bowie said with a wicked gleam in his eye. "And I
couldn't afford new teeth, I was so busy paying for everybody else's."
There was this also," I'm getting used to suing people." Some were
revealingly candid," I wanted my audience to know a little bit more
about me as a person. Hence, another reason why I'm doing this
interview: to make it understood that a lot of my past personae have
been characters. About 100 per cent of my past personae have been
characters." This quote regarding his fans is one of my favourites as it
is awash with sincerity and reveals the humble side of Bowie, "So the
ones who've stuck with me up till now, I think, have understood that.
And they're the ones that I've made Station To Station for. The ones who
accept me as a person who can't make up his mind. Which is basically
what I am."

This next quote from 76 is not an observation, this quote is a prophecy
that comes true. Back then he could never have even begun to envision
how this would happen for him and he would be named one year, Britain's
richest rock star. Listen to this," I dream of one day of buying
companies and television stations, owning and controlling them."

One day the shit hit the fan. Now, I as many of you, do not get offended
at anything Bowie says. However I do get offended at what he tries to
pass off as "music" on occasion. Over all of these years I am well aware
of what is truth and what is another pile of Bowie media bait. The bait
he uses to attract attention is "old news" to me. I shake my head and I
laugh at those gullible enough to lap it all up. It proves that some
things in life never change. Now, I was adopted at the age of three
weeks some forty four years ago, and even though I can't be absolutely
certain, I have no reason to believe that I am Jewish. One thing I do
know for certain is that I was not living in a subway tunnel under the
city of London while Hitler's Third Reich rained down V2 Rockets, bombs
and all sorts of nastiness on the city. I also have never been subjected
to "rationing," and as an "excessive" person I probably would not have
survived. I understand Bowie and so it is easy for me to see how those
who are not really familiar with his antics may get the wrong impression
of him at times from some of the things he says. He can be bewildering
at times,

"As I see it I am the only alternative for the premier in England. I
believe Britain could benefit from a fascist leader. After all, fascism
is really nationalism." That started it. The whole fucking mess came
from that one statement he gave to a Swedish radio reporter in an
interview. I have heard the interview on tape and he is fucked right up,
and fucked up good. He sounds high, drunk and sounds like the last time
he slept was a week ago. He mumbles and his thoughts wander as he seems
to fade in and out of coherency. It was all broadcast. The British press
was far from amused and neither were the public. He was also off the
list as a sought after entertainer for Bar Mithvas. Personally, knowing
Bowie's behaviour I find this whole episode that I am about to explain
hilarious. I say this because I firmly believe that there was no
intended malice and he made these statements without thinking that he
could really offend a few people. Bowie has displayed some real callous
behaviour at times that I do not condone. However, I do not believe that
this, or the other political ramblings that followed were done on
purpose to hurt anyone. What they were was an exercise in bad
judgement. If I do have one major criticism it is the fact that he
should have apologized instead of trying to wrangle out of it with a lot
of bullshit explanations. My cat wouldn't believe him, that's how lame
the lies to defend himself were.

That wasn't a one armed Nazi Salute he gave to the crowd standing up in
the back of his car at Victoria Station several days after his
statements to the Swedish reporter. No sir, the photographer caught him
in "mid wave" and it just looked like a Nazi Salute. That is what Bowie
said to the press years later in his defense. Now, READ MY LIPS. Bowie
is LYING. He stood up in the back of his convertible and raised his arm
in the same fashion as one would give a salutation to The Fuhrer. This
salutation was instead to the crowd of fans and reporters who had
gathered at Victoria Station to welcome home David Bowie. The problem
was that David Bowie was not there, and instead they were giving a nice
warm welcome to The Thin White Duke, Was I there? No. Have I seen the
pictures? Yes. Take one look at the expression on his face and the
position of that arm and tell me he was waving happily to the crowd. If
you think that after seeing that photo then America was testing fourth
of July fireworks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Oh, and Never Let me Down,
Tonight and Just A Gigolo are known as, "The Genius Trilogy." One more
thing, I hope there is a sequel to that kick ass album David Live. It
was a Nazi Salute, read my lips.

The fact remains that if for some reason you do not agree about the
Victoria Station incident then you still have to explain the goose
stepping and Nazi Salutes he did at the Wembley gigs. More on that
later. This character bordered on the obnoxious at times. Rather than
let the comments in Sweden fade away he had to play it up for all it is
worth. Why? Publicity and he had to fill Wembley for six nights and
remember the tour was not sold out. Dates were cancelled in Paris due to
poor ticket sales. Bowie will fix things, "Listen, I mean it. I'll
bloody lead this country, make it a great fucking nation. I can't
exist happily and make records and be safe because, man, it's
depressing... Everyone whimpering about the state of things. So what do
I do? Just sit by and wait for someone else to sort it all out? No way.
The masses are silly." In another interview, the famous one from Playboy
he went on, "I will one day. I'd adore to be Prime Minister. And, yes, I
believe very strongly in fascism. The only way we can speed up the sort
of liberalism that's hanging foul in the air at the moment is to speed
up the progress of a right-wing, totally dictatorial tyranny and get it
over as fast as possible. People have always responded with greater
efficiency under a regimental leadership. A liberal wastes time saying,
"Well, now, what ideas have you got?" Show them what to do, for God's
sake. If you don't, nothing will get done. I can't stand people just
hanging about."

As you can well imagine these comments about Hitler did not go over too
well. "Rock stars are fascists, too. Adolf Hitler was one of the first
rock stars. Think about it. Look at some of his films and see how he
moved. I think he was quite as good as Jagger. It's astounding. And,
boy, when he hit that stage, he worked an audience. Good God! He was no
politician. He was a media artist himself. He used politics and
theatrics and created this thing that governed and controlled the show
for those 12 years. The world will never see his like. He staged a
country."

He had these observations about two of his favourite bands. " There are
two bands now who come close to a neo-Nazi kind of thing? Roxy Music and
Kraftwerk. It's not Nazism so much as nationalism. I think it, may be
too cliched to use the Nazi thing; it's more nationalistic."

While he was returning from a trip to Moscow, Bowie had some
books dealing with the Nazi's confiscated at the border between Russia
and Poland. He gave the following explanation after telling customs
officers that the books were "research material. "I'm working on a film
on Goebbels and this is my reference material."

His behaviour at an interview done for Rolling Stone magazine with
Cameron Crowe tells it all. I have copied this word for word from my
copy of Rolling Stone with this interview. It goes as follows:

...Suddenly-always suddenly-David is on his feet and rushing to a nearby
picture window. He thinks
he's seen a body fall from the sky. "I've got to do this," he says,
pulling a shade down on the
window. A ballpoint-penned star has been crudely drawn on the inside.
Below it is the word "Aum." Bowie lights a black candle on his dresser
and immediately blows it out to leave a thin trail of smoke floating
upward. "Don't let me scare the pants off you. It's only protective.
I've been getting a little trouble from the neighbours."

At the last gig of the Station To Station tour at Wembley Bowie gave
four Nazi Salutes to the crowd at the end of the show. He then flashed a
"peace" sign and ran off the stage.

The end of an era had come to pass.

AladInsaNe

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

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

neilwilkes	Posted at 2025-03-18 11:58:27(8 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 16)
Uploaded: 762.30 GB Downloaded: 638.25 GB Posts: 756 Ratio: 1.19 Location: United Kingdom	Again, many thanks for all these - extremely fascinating

professormouse	Posted at 2025-03-18 20:58:31(8 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 16)
Uploaded: 211.04 GB Downloaded: 123.36 GB Posts: 356 Ratio: 1.71 Location: United Kingdom	it's up to you and me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqPI151WP_A&lc=Ugze5KP8dAk6yhXkHSh4AaABAg are some shops really calling coffee's called Canadianos ?

stuartreed	Posted at 2025-03-19 11:49:16(8 wks ago) (Bowie General / Images Vol. 16)
Uploaded: 623.38 GB Downloaded: 312.63 GB Posts: 110 Ratio: 1.99 Location: United Kingdom	Glad to hear the surgery went well. Take it easy.

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