Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

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sunglasses indoors. I have a cigarette dangling out of my mouth. My hair is short. I wear a short-sleeve black shirt and an iridescent green tie. My head is tilted to the left and touches hers as we pose, as thought we’ve known each other for fifteen years. It was the first time we’d ever met in person. That should tell you something about Angie Bowie’s energy. I’ve asked other people who’ve known her whether or not they felt the same thing upon meeting her in person: a sense of hyperfamiliarity and comfort, as if she’s never stopped being a hostess, coordinator and leader of some kind of ever-flowing outsider scene. I’ve known people like her. The politically incorrect term for some of them is “fag hag,” I suppose, and doing theater in New York, I’ve certainly had my share of association with this type. But there’s something different about Angie, and it’s entirely possible that her place in the larger Bowie myth is that difference. In a way, she is a great artist in her own right, only her art is socialization. I had never thrown a party for anyone in my life and, as I said, was already over thirty when I threw a party for Angie Bowie. I feted her. Invited friends in the music and publishing industry, took care of the music, the cocktails, took care to make sure she was comfortable, as this type of thing seemed somehow more important than I’d ever thought it could or should be. This photo is a document, in its way, of Angie Bowie’s often unsung but no less great talent.
I also wish to mention that Randy Jones, the cowboy from the Village People, attended this party. I just want that on the record, since I have no Polaroid of him.
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Introduction T he idea was not even
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photo book, David Bowie has not wri
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that I do own and am currently tryi
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‘David, David, David,’ I do ove
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apartment building and the Modern G
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unlikely was it that someone as sup
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Prologue I T WAS THE SECOND NIGHT o
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darker end of Simon & Garfunkel or
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energized in a way that Fashion Roc
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World War II, this home is static.
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more likely to develop the disease.
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claim the baby but was rebuffed by
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with him,” Hilda Sullivan said,
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early ’46. Once his legal papers
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all accounts, he became the greates
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2. T HE HIGH STREET in the southern
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West Indian immigrants settled and
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imagination and, eventually, by ste
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ads rounds the panel out). Dinah in
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Terry may have been the one who pro
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he finds a patch of yellow marigold
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white tube, with its small screen a
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British space program mission heade
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mother’s generation, once again,
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technically living? Do you age? Do
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other skulking around a small town,
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Studying other people. [Russian act
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jockey Alan Freed (who has a great
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the thirties and the forties becaus
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you can look sharp and still be a b
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dancing and fighting.” Oral contr
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fame or creative expression. “The
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was twelve … I had the bowl cut.
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Mulligan. He was the next best thin
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Burns, the senior Frampton was a
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his classroom and even encouraged h
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got slugged for it. “When I was f
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knowing the details of why he had t
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and American pop history (from Prud
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ecords.” By 1960, the blues had r
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like heroes when they flew to Londo
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Pink Moon album) and author (White
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paintings and was almost never with
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ands for fetes and functions, they
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would spend the rest of the 1960s t
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gigs, then went on to something els
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acting as if he and his combo were
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usiness heights, including … tale
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noted nowadays, remains every inch
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By thirteen Marc too had his first
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penchant for boasting to the eager
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’cause I write great things and I
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other with braggadoccio, David’s
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happy playing the blues, gulping sp
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The Manish Boys promoted the single
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The band still had no real money an
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then a white Russian-peasant-type s
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another marriage of convenience for
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traffic jam. The band rode in the b
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trusting your instincts worked well
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different from the gruff white blue
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thought that he’d made it. It was
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felt they should do, they did it an
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horticultural terraced cottages tha
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laid groundwork for the empowered r
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“A lot of the inspiration started
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unknown new group the Velvet Underg
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intense stage presence were unlike
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little mod racing up-hill along War
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“dreadful.” As he elaborated fo
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Cockney’s prison break. Bowie far
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1600s. During World War I they’d
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care. Bowie was devastated to be in
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In 1967 Tony Visconti, then a twent
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According to Visconti, after leavin
Page 160 and 161: survival. I amazed and dazzled them
Page 162 and 163: Pitt at the time.” Kemp says, “
Page 164 and 165: the young David Bowie. Kemp and Bir
Page 166 and 167: omantic to starve with these artist
Page 168 and 169: Bowie-ism. I displayed his compact
Page 170: at! But I am also struck by how bra
Page 173 and 174: There’s a point in most people’
Page 175 and 176: production of “The Pistol Shot,
Page 177 and 178: Hermione, along with a local rock g
Page 179 and 180: “I’d become more interested in
Page 181 and 182: “In Feathers, he was happy,” Hu
Page 183 and 184: own private life,” Pitt writes to
Page 185 and 186: eauty, creativity and intelligence.
Page 187 and 188: having released a self-titled album
Page 189 and 190: Five,” Bowie attempts to project
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Page 193 and 194: ig. With them as role models, we di
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Page 199: something discussed by the Mercury
Page 202 and 203: and early twenties. Taking jobs at
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Page 208 and 209: and dress in sharper relief. The Ar
Page 213 and 214: 9. M ARY ANGELA BARNETT was born on
Page 215 and 216: She studied all the major subjects
Page 217 and 218: College, then a women’s school. T
Page 219 and 220: an inch.” The fact that Angie off
Page 221 and 222: elished having his own space to lea
Page 223 and 224: flashes me back years and I’m rig
Page 225 and 226: There were several incidents around
Page 227 and 228: eally like me, and having to share
Page 230 and 231: 10. T HE GREATEST CONCENTRATION of
Page 232 and 233: Records. Wyper increased the market
Page 234 and 235: “Letter to Hermione,” based on
Page 236 and 237: the tape. Laughable when you think
Page 238 and 239: 1969 together and early in the new
Page 240 and 241: did not love her. There are at leas
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Page 244 and 245: just stay home and rent The Wizard
Page 246 and 247: 1993, once said. “I’d just sit
Page 248 and 249: yeas to pay this lot off?’” Ron
Page 250 and 251: over the salon, typically as hostes
Page 252 and 253: all hype, isn’t it?” Something
Page 254 and 255: Beatlemania-like pandemonium dubbed
Page 256 and 257: friendly shoulder to cry on,” say
Page 258 and 259: with David Bowie. Then an accountan
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on May 7, 1970. While Defries spoke
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induced paranoia.” Much of the ly
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Bowies claimed to be shocked when t
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wife is pregnant …” These devel
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11. W HEN THE IRISH LITERARY AESTHE
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later, Oberman was relieved. “I s
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androgynous flamboyance with a gian
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Bingenheimer’s enthusiasm for Bow
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Fowley, cannily sober. “It was hi
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motels! What’s his name? Tom Wait
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something he could use to drum up i
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versions of “Hang On to Yourself
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Only by ear. It was quiet in there.
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Mars?”), madness (“The Bewlay B
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parents’ suspicions of his still
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Man” and “Like a Rolling Stone
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expensive London hotel with an unch
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pudding) and generally perverse gal
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Bowies as well. They had much in co
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“He definitely had musicianship.
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Bowie may have been inspired by the
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heads, saying, ‘How do we do this
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he’d been pursuing since his earl
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“Lou was going through an incredi
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think there was a poll of artists w
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“Bowie’s manager was fishing,
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“Everybody we knew, this guy is t
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13. T HE OLD-STYLE PHONE BOX in whi
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carries his guitar and exposes his
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embodiment of the dead sixties drea
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…?,” “where young people have
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He was already transforming, in par
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a man’s dress, and more generally
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performed a three-song Bowie medley
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the contemporaries of people who ha
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conquered British pop. One thinks T
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14. R ELEASED BY RCA on June 6, 197
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would elaborate on this to William
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composed narrator, a jaded hipster
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thing. As a rock duo, I thought we
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have witnessed the end of his remar
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trademark denim. [Vocalist/lead gui
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interested in. He had his aesthetic
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and literature. Deranged poets that
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The members of Mott were not pretty
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Kemp and his troupe performed onsta
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persona ascended, or the fact that
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don’t for a minute understand it.
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agged, I was naïve, it was a heave
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like KSAN in San Francisco. He and
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would tell me, “so these mixtures
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everyone who had been working on it
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spirituality with him. Garson was,
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“Life on Mars?” soar. Bowie him
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they had all become spacemen for th
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might think but certainly a hell of
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partners. In their study Open Marri
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school-educated geniuses in Roxy Mu
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houses for free, you have to be on,
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one striking.” “Watch That Man
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othel piano before Bowie again invo
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The short was fed to UK and America
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‘Yeah, go, you can have him.’
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Word came from London: the Stooges
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ice for three decades. By the time
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tour. But the truth of it was, the
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player, was stealing their gear out
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Bowie makes a devil sign as he sere
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Angeles eccentric named Black Randy
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“But you get a good high with cok
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confirmation that he’d made it. I
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circulate around this time. Once he
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were coming due for limousines, stu
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(whose lyrics were among those comp
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Ziggy flaming-rooster haircut) atop
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clear in his vision for the set,”
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Flowers, Garson, drummer Tony Newma
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Hamlet-style, and “Panic in De tr
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moved on to something new. “After
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17. T HE STRIPPED-DOWN and funked-u
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etween the Diamond Dogs and Philly
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not neglect paying real respect to
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dangerously enthused in a way that
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camera man driving through L.A. and
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viewing audiences would get a taste
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Bowie is clearly thinking too long
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finally waking up to his own sense
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lifestyle,” former Defries partne
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new personal assistant Corinne “C
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With regard to his personal life, D
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years I had really worn out my welc
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otherhood, and as a result he comes
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as he would tell Cameron Crowe the
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germ killers. It’s the Black Dahl
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awareness of the illusion of calm i
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18. U PON HIS ARRIVAL in Los Angele
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survival. But when that starts to b
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People down on the streets knew Bow
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ecorded a spoken-word album with Ki
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Mayersberg, pack in layers of tragi
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ehearsal period. “We wanted to ge
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The last line of the film, after he
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Rod used to party a lot. David was
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mountains / And once there were sun
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(the entire interview is archived o
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“Albeit quite different from Diam
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have been Dean Martin and Sammy Dav
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e proud of it. The timing was poor
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einvent Iggy and Iggy would reenerg
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European high culture as a kind of
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like he’s crooning through a belc
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heard American rock ’n’ roll mu
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structured song-writing thrown into
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glamorous hippie-style living. For
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amounts to a strange pride, or at l
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all up. So Iggy going from ‘Loose
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uncompromising Low, isn’t the sam
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Bowie, as he sings on the title tra
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Breaks” among them—are iconic i
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musical options. What makes “Hero
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his friend’s career. “David was
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finally emits a cry of Ooooh” and
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was left recycling his old glitter
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Christmastime?” Bowie makes a bad
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apparent to her that she was not go
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was very talented and when he met m
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also housed in the bowels of the bu
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21. N INETEEN SEVENTY-NINE began wi
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uilding and B, have me taken off th
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invention to the form before it bec
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ands come on SNL and simply play th
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time the economy goes south, art gr
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guys,’” Destri, then at Bowie
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the black hair.” Bowie ran throug
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eplaced his entire body—with a pu
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22. A LTHOUGH HE WOULD END the deca
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National Front members to the clubs
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punk, from the Clash’s Mick Jones
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Bowie was there on a mission. As St
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video for “Ashes to Ashes” was
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Lindsay Kemp’s traveling show Pie
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Gary Numan, who took in a performan
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ass line aside, it’s one of the m
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idols.” The Hunger is a cult hit
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23. T HE FORCE WITH WHICH MTV took
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what’s important. Everything’s
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twenty-first-century city.” Blade
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on MTV or white radio as an artist
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Boss) by the end of the decade. Dav
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flower”). I interviewed the singe
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Ziggy rooster cut a decade earlier.
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more records, and yes, the Police c
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people it was a betrayal. You can
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lues. When we got back, I emptied a
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24. N INETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR, the year
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ack. Bowie was, after all, still in
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wasn’t much of my writing on it,
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forty-seven, was in serious decline
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the magnitude of it. It was so enor
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this. Britain is a very small islan
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actually is goblin abducted, Connel
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1997’s Earthling; fallen in love
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devoured its prey it would drape th
Page 598 and 599:
from every phase of his career, ove
Page 600 and 601:
chromosomes to stay eternally young
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25. B OWIE WAS BEHIND THE TIMES in
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me, “to work on songs together. S
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himself, said, ‘Remember we made
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eat, Bowie shouts, “C’mon and g
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Released in May of 1989, the album
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dance troupe, La La La Human Steps.
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prom dress, filled in for the absen
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26. F OR MUCH OF THE late eighties,
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in 1969. They lived modestly in exi
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Florence at the St. James Episcopal
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Bowie model must have been a little
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Mercury, Tina Turner and John Lenno
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lead guitarist for that band was Mi
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Perhaps Bowie’s finest album of t
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Continue,’ and he started in with
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called Art Crime or Art Murder has
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of nights of him putting his arm ar
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over. What living legend ever gets
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Bowie when you become involved.”
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wasn’t worth it? A half dozen tim
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All the bonds had been bought prean
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avery fully returned, and was rewar
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power ballad “Glycerine”) but t
Page 651 and 652:
Newley-besotted youth. “That’s
Page 653 and 654:
since “Loving the Alien” a deca
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goatee, brocade coat, mess o’ eye
Page 657 and 658:
Corgan, Placebo’s Molko and Frank
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accounts) more often than not find
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pop culture. Bowie was coming up wi
Page 663 and 664:
As Bowie spent the sixties trying t
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28. “I LOVE Velvet Goldmine,” s
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for his ambitions. Bale plays Arthu
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more gracefully. While the soundtra
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Bale and McGregor, and Toni Collett
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“No beats, no technology, just na
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literally features Bowie hanging on
Page 678 and 679:
took the stage, bowed calmly and wa
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somewhat blocked in the city and ha
Page 682 and 683:
awkward situation of being stuck up
Page 684 and 685:
It’s Bowie who opens the entire c
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oller skates,” he quipped upon an
Page 689 and 690:
29. I T IS HARD to listen to Realit
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time with his daughter, taking care
Page 693 and 694:
Mick Rock. “He’d officially sto
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Bowie, Iman and their family closed
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Gervais says. “For some reason, j
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developed a machine that turns ordi
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Labryinth-era Bowie, appearing to a
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that when word got around that Bowi
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Side of Manhattan was populated wit
Page 707 and 708:
I am now the same age Bowie was whe
Page 709 and 710:
Joads and their fellow travelers wi
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Bibliography
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and Giroux, 1990. Edwards, Henry, a
Page 717:
in a New Town. London: Jawbone Pres
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Time Out London, August 23-30, 1995
Page 723 and 724:
Acknowledgments I ’d only read ab
Page 725 and 726:
order to behave badly all the time
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Thanks to David Buckley, Peter and
Page 729:
eISBN: 978-0-307-46239-8 v3.0
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Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

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