Bowie: A Biography - JFK247

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place of my own. Having said that, I wouldn’t know how to interpret the lyric of this song other than suggesting that there are layers of ghosts within it.” B y the time you read this, there will be no Virgin Megastore on Broadway off Union Square, but I was recently browsing in the Virgin Megastore on Broadway off Union Square and happened to see Hunky Dory stocked along a wall marked “Lost Classics.” This seemed strange to me, as it’s been such an important record in my collection and the collection of just about anyone I’ve ever known or trusted. Classic, sure, but “lost”? The fact that The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars followed so closely after the original release of Hunky Dory (a minor commercial hit but a solid critical one) might have something to do with it. Or maybe it’s that “Changes,” the album’s best-known song, has since appeared on so many singles compilations. Hunky’s legacy suffers from timing. I have never seen it included in any of those “458 albums you need to hear before you die” lists that men’s magazines sometimes put out in an effort to convince their readers that they need to step up on that resolution to figure out who Vic Chesnutt is and really listen to Sketches of Spain. Ziggy Stardust is always on these lists. Deservedly so. But if you don’t own Hunky Dory, you must, because one day you too will die (or worse, find yourself in a too
expensive London hotel with an uncharged iPod, like I did about ten months ago) and not be able to hear it whenever you want to. An album that sends you into a panic attack because you cannot immediately put your ears on it should be upgraded to simply Classic, if you ask me.
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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
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survival. I amazed and dazzled them
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Pitt at the time.” Kemp says, “
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the young David Bowie. Kemp and Bir
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omantic to starve with these artist
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Bowie-ism. I displayed his compact
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at! But I am also struck by how bra
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There’s a point in most people’
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production of “The Pistol Shot,
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Hermione, along with a local rock g
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“I’d become more interested in
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“In Feathers, he was happy,” Hu
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own private life,” Pitt writes to
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eauty, creativity and intelligence.
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having released a self-titled album
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Five,” Bowie attempts to project
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Dream,” in which he sings of the
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ig. With them as role models, we di
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ather partnered with a UK label, Ph
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Charlie Parker than Elvis. ‘Space
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something discussed by the Mercury
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and early twenties. Taking jobs at
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Buddhist spirituality via the Lab a
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Oddity” made its unofficial debut
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and dress in sharper relief. The Ar
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sunglasses indoors. I have a cigare
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9. M ARY ANGELA BARNETT was born on
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She studied all the major subjects
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College, then a women’s school. T
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an inch.” The fact that Angie off
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elished having his own space to lea
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flashes me back years and I’m rig
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There were several incidents around
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eally like me, and having to share
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10. T HE GREATEST CONCENTRATION of
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Records. Wyper increased the market
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“Letter to Hermione,” based on
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the tape. Laughable when you think
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1969 together and early in the new
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did not love her. There are at leas
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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
Page 260 and 261: on May 7, 1970. While Defries spoke
Page 262 and 263: induced paranoia.” Much of the ly
Page 264 and 265: Bowies claimed to be shocked when t
Page 266 and 267: wife is pregnant …” These devel
Page 269 and 270: 11. W HEN THE IRISH LITERARY AESTHE
Page 271 and 272: later, Oberman was relieved. “I s
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Page 277 and 278: Fowley, cannily sober. “It was hi
Page 279 and 280: motels! What’s his name? Tom Wait
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Page 283 and 284: versions of “Hang On to Yourself
Page 285 and 286: Only by ear. It was quiet in there.
Page 287 and 288: Mars?”), madness (“The Bewlay B
Page 289 and 290: parents’ suspicions of his still
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Page 295 and 296: pudding) and generally perverse gal
Page 297 and 298: Bowies as well. They had much in co
Page 299 and 300: “He definitely had musicianship.
Page 301 and 302: Bowie may have been inspired by the
Page 303 and 304: heads, saying, ‘How do we do this
Page 305 and 306: he’d been pursuing since his earl
Page 307 and 308: “Lou was going through an incredi
Page 309 and 310: think there was a poll of artists w
Page 311 and 312: “Bowie’s manager was fishing,
Page 313 and 314: “Everybody we knew, this guy is t
Page 316 and 317: 13. T HE OLD-STYLE PHONE BOX in whi
Page 318 and 319: carries his guitar and exposes his
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Page 324 and 325: He was already transforming, in par
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Page 328 and 329: performed a three-song Bowie medley
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Page 332 and 333: conquered British pop. One thinks T
Page 335 and 336: 14. R ELEASED BY RCA on June 6, 197
Page 337 and 338: would elaborate on this to William
Page 339 and 340: composed narrator, a jaded hipster
Page 341 and 342: 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
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from every phase of his career, ove
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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
Page 626 and 627:
Mercury, Tina Turner and John Lenno
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lead guitarist for that band was Mi
Page 630 and 631:
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
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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
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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
Page 691 and 692:
time with his daughter, taking care
Page 693 and 694:
Mick Rock. “He’d officially sto
Page 695 and 696:
Bowie, Iman and their family closed
Page 697 and 698:
Gervais says. “For some reason, j
Page 699 and 700:
developed a machine that turns ordi
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Labryinth-era Bowie, appearing to a
Page 703 and 704:
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
Page 712:
Bibliography
Page 715 and 716:
and Giroux, 1990. Edwards, Henry, a
Page 717:
in a New Town. London: Jawbone Pres
Page 720 and 721:
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
Page 727 and 728:
Thanks to David Buckley, Peter and
Page 729:
eISBN: 978-0-307-46239-8 v3.0
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