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says Kris Needs, a Bowie fan who’d designed the
flyers for the night. The set was a primitive version of
what would become a well-honed set, starting out
with acoustic songs, including Brel’s ‘Port of
Amsterdam’, with the band only joining in halfway
through. But as Ronson cranked up his Les Paul and
the energy levels increased, David’s announcements
grew shorter and the applause in the half-empty club
grew in intensity. After closing the set with a ruthless
version of ‘Waiting for the Man’, Bowie walked into
the dressing room, exultant. ‘That was great,’ he
announced to Needs. ‘And when I come back I’m
going to be completely different.’
Few people, outside David’s immediate circle,
realised how soon he’d come back, or how different
he’d be. But within the tiny coterie of people – David,
Angie and the band, Defries and a small crew of
roadies – the activity was feverish, with David and
musicians spending most of October crammed in
Greenwich’s Underhill studio – the polystyrene-lined
basement of a down-at-heel Georgian building that
also contained a car parts showroom and an escort
agency. Hunky Dory was not yet released, and
David was burning to record its successor. Already,
he had eight or nine songs that they’d run through
each day, playing each tune just a few times before
moving on to the next, to keep the feel loose, unstudied.
It felt democratic, ‘a band thing’, says
Bolder.
Several key songs they rehearsed – notably
‘Moonage Daydream’ and ‘Lady Stardust’ – dated
from David’s last bout of songwriting in the spring,