Bowie PDF Book from JFK247

couple of them had lived in a squat there – and
noticed the streets of Brixton were quiet, all the
residents glued to their TVs. As he squeezed into
Noel Edmonds’ helicopter, David’s hands were
shaking, cigarettes constantly on the go – the pilots
complained the smoke was obscuring the instrument
panel. Otherwise, there was no sign of nerves.
Queen, according to posterity, stole the show, but
on the day no one knew or cared. David had chosen
one of the youngest, most under-rehearsed bands of
his entire career and treated them as if they were
doing him a favour, joshing them along, especially
Seligman, whom David had nicknamed ‘Brenda’ in
revenge for the bassist mentioning that ‘Blue Jean’
was boring. Before they hit the stage, the band
heard him shout, ‘Remember, no monitors for
Brenda!’
There were flurries of nerves: David fluffed a line,
introducing singer Tessa Niles as ‘Theresa’; sax
player Clare Hirst stood holding her hand out at the
scheduled moment, like a lemon, as David danced
around on the other end of the stage; Kevin
Armstrong started ‘Rebel Rebel’ way too fast. Yet
throughout, David’s joy was infectious, pushing
forward the band who were totally focused on
remembering the songs they’d rehearsed exactly
three times. Somehow, it was perfect, says Thomas
Dolby. ‘To my astonishment, I felt like I was on a
magic carpet ride. These songs were like our
teenage anthems – my fingers were just wafted
along.’
Of every artist, Bowie was the most focused on