Bowie PDF Book from JFK247

factory-reject china and other oddments. He and his
brother Nicholas soon discovered that an average
brace of duelling pistols could be transformed into a
desirable rarity once packaged in a convincingly
antiqued wooden box; they were selling a fantasy,
and in much the same way, Defries, who left school
at fourteen, would act as a lawyer, and then a
manager.
Tony’s unique life was carved out in a British
society in a state of flux, with the aristocracy trying to
pawn its possessions, and European families trying
to reclaim their own inheritance, looted by the Nazis.
In this chaos, empires could be rebuilt, and Defries
planned to be at the head of one. Even his many
detractors concede he was shrewd; he was also
fearless, and would go straight to the top of whatever
company he was dealing with to cut a deal. Just a
few years older than many of his clients, he was
nonetheless ‘a big daddy figure’, as Dana Gillespie
puts it, who’d look after them and shield them from
all earthly worries. Modelling himself on Colonel
Parker, he told David that he would make his
protegé famous as a ‘one-name star’ like Elvis or
Dylan: a monolithically famous performer, known
simply as ‘Bowie’.
The nature of Defries’ and Bowie’s professional
relationship would often be misunderstood, not least
by David, despite the fact it was legally documented.
Defries did not work for David: David worked for
him. In David’s ten-year contract as a singer and
songwriter, signed on 31 March, 1972, with Defries’
newly established MainMan empire, the artist is