Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

different from the gruff white blues singer archetype.
The theatricality of a Newley or a Sammy Davis Jr.
or even the middle-aged Judy Garland (who would
soon become another touchstone for her ability to
attack and wring every drop of emotion out of a
song) was what struck him. There was no subtlety to
Newley, and the lyrical innuendo in sexed-up,
raunchy blues numbers had gotten David Jones
nowhere.
“It was the right time to be doing that kind of music
because blues is really happening in England, but I
think he just wanted to be a bit more theatrical. And
of course Anthony Newley was around, and for some
reason he really adored Anthony Newley–type
songs,” agrees Dana Gillespie. “Anthony Newley is
kind of corny, but he seemed to think at that time that
was kind of the thing to like. But he went through
phases, you know; depending who he met he’d
absorb their culture or whatever he wanted, then he’d
kind of move on. But Anthony Newley was an odd
thing. It’s like saying I’m crazy about Dick Van Dyke.”
David’s Newley fixation also made him wonder if
being a bandleader was his destiny after all. Maybe
he was a triple threat too and a one-man show. By
the end of the year, he would gain representation
from a man who would support this instinctive
decision, his first truly powerful talent manager. He
would cease to pursue success via the modernist
blues. He would also cease to be David Jones.