Bowie PDF Book from JFK247

Underwood, who would prove the most enduring
friends of his life. Together, the three donned
cassocks, surplices and ruffles for church services,
as well as the frequent weddings that would become
the future David Bowie’s first paying gigs as a
singer. ‘Not only were you paid five shillings – a
princely sum in those days,’ says MacCormack, ‘but
if the ceremony took place in the week you got a day
off school.’
George Underwood’s family lived on the other
side of Bromley, so he was enrolled at a different
primary school. Tall for his age, good-looking with an
easy, relaxed but passionate air about him, he would
become the closest friend of David’s youth. Their
relationship would go through some rocky patches,
but would be a formative one in their lives. For the
glue that held their friendship together was rock ‘n’
roll.
For most of David and George’s generation there
was a ‘Eureka!’ moment, the instant when rock ‘n’
roll exploded into their consciousness: an escape
route from their grey world. For both boys, that
moment hit in 1955. Towards the end of that year,
the movie Blackboard Jungle caused a sensation in
the UK, generating widespread outrage as
politicians denounced the baleful influence of the
rock ‘n’ rollers, like Bill Haley, that it celebrated.
Around the same time, Haywood arrived home from
Stepney Causeway one evening with a bag full of
singles which he’d been given. That night, David
played each of the records: Fats Domino, Chuck