The Man Who Sold the World (49 page)

Bowie committed the song cycle to tape, typed up and signed its lyrics, and then apparently forgot all about
Ernie Johnson
, aside from an occasional musical motif finding its way onto
Hunky Dory
and
Ziggy Stardust
. Even he must have realized that this was not the route to public acceptance. Dark though the scenario of a suicide party might have appeared, however, it was still arguably more commercial than the libretto of
Tommy
, Pete Townshend's 1968 rock opera about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who is abused by his uncle and his cousin.

 

[A52] LONDON BYE TA-TA

(Bowie)

Recorded March–April 1968;
David Bowie Deluxe Edition
CD

In the proud tradition of the Beatles' “If I Needed Someone,” several songs by the Byrds, and the “remedy” section of the Who's mini-rock opera “A Quick One While He's Away,” “London Bye Ta-Ta” was written around guitar variations on a D major chord,
*
the first Bowie tune to betray its instrumental origins so blatantly. The Byrds' link may not have been accidental: Bowie's “strange young town” recalled the “rain gray town” in the American group's “Eight Miles High.” If the dense blend of strings and rhythm section was reminiscent of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, and there was a flash of Dylanesque surrealism in the lyrics, the track now seems to resemble nothing more than Bowie's future self. Certainly the “I love her” section could have fitted into the mouth of a more romantically inclined Ziggy Stardust.

The conversational chorus, based around a phrase Bowie overheard from a Caribbean woman in South London, was commercial enough to suggest the song had potential as a single. Bowie certainly thought so: when he rounded up the best of his Decca recordings for
The World of David Bowie
LP, he omitted “London Bye Ta-Ta,” which he had just re-recorded [12] as a putative follow-up to “Space Oddity” [1].

 

[A53] WHEN I'M FIVE

(Bowie)

Recorded May 1968; BBC radio session

Nothing that Bowie wrote in the year after his debut album was released came closer to reproducing the spirit of that album than “When I'm Five.” It was clearly designed for
performance
, requiring the narrator to take on the persona of an inquisitive four-year-old without—an almost impossible task—slipping into coyness. He effectively sabotaged that hope with what was clearly intended to be the song's most poignant moment, as the narrator saw a picture of Jesus. Note also the reference to “Grandfather Jones,” Bowie's only acknowledgment of his true identity on record,
*
and on the May 1968 BBC rendition to which he mimed in his 1969 TV special, the absolute precision of his vocal.

Equally assured was the melodic construction, with no hint of the stumbling transitions that had dogged many earlier songs. Opening, like “London Bye Ta-Ta,” with some D major variants, it supported the narrator's four-year-old determination with major chord transitions, before the strings added a more whimsical tone, pursuing a rising diatonic figure in G and then A, before leading elegantly back into the verse.

 

[A54] A SOCIAL KIND OF GIRL

(Bowie)

Recorded ca. April 1968; unreleased

As a reflection, perhaps, of his reduced commercial prospects, 1968 was one of the most fallow periods of Bowie's creative life. “A Summer Kind of Love” [see A45] having failed to attract a buyer, he rewrote the lyrics, taping a multivoiced rendition that sounded as if it had been tailored for the already-waning teen sensations the Monkees (it is certainly easy to imagine Micky Dolenz recording the song). At a moment when the Beatles had abandoned the pure pop of their early fame, “A Social Kind of Girl” leaned heavily on the relationship between lead and backing vocals found on songs such as “I'm a Loser,” “Help!,” and “Another Girl.” There were also hints of the chorus from a more recent hit by the Lovin' Spoonful, “She Is Still a Mystery.” With the aid of an experienced co-writer or arranger, Bowie might have enjoyed a lucrative 1960s career as a composer of mainstream pop for artists unable to confect their own.

It's a sign of his artistic confusion during this period that at the same time he was writing pop tunes for the teenage market, Bowie was contemplating an entirely different approach to his career. Twice in 1968, he and Kenneth Pitt prepared elaborate set lists for a cabaret act, with Pitt even scripting dialogue to link the songs. There was no hint here of Bowie's previous enthusiasms for rock'n'roll, R&B, Frank Zappa, or the Velvet Underground, beyond the suggestion that he might extend the sonic potential of his performances by using sound effects tapes between songs.

The first set included two Anthony Newley songs, three from the repertoire of Sammy Davis Jr., jazzy swing tunes popularized in 1963 by Tony Bennett and Oscar Brown Jr. (whose “Dat Dere” would surely have required Bowie to perform in blackface), and a few nods toward the more sophisticated margins of pop, via hits borrowed from Gene Pitney, Dusty Springfield, Dionne Warwick, and Bobby Hebb. Only Bowie's own “I Dig Everything” (already two years old) hinted at a personal stamp. Six months later, the pair tried again, adding the Beatles' “All You Need Is Love,” “Yellow Submarine,” and “When I'm Sixty-Four,” Eartha Kitt's
*
“The Day That the Circus Left Town” (which demanded to be sung in the guise of a child, like Bowie's own “When I'm Five”), Bowie's translation of “Comme d'Habitude,” and several original songs, including “The Laughing Gnome” (for which sound effects would surely have been a prerequisite). He might conceivably have carried off either of these repertoires with a degree of panache, but even the mere attempt would probably have made it impossible for him to pursue a viable career in rock during the seventies.

 

[A55] CHING-A-LING

(Bowie)

Recorded by Turquoise, October 1968; unreleased. Vocals overdubbed by Feathers, November 1968;
Love You Till Tuesday
film

The folk/mime/poetry trio Turquoise—rapidly renamed Feathers to avoid confusion with an existing psychedelic-pop group of the same name—dragged Bowie out of seclusion after a long period in which he had effectively been estranged from the music business. The project also allowed Bowie to work with Hermione Farthingale, who had been his girlfriend since their shared cameo in a BBC-TV drama titled
The Pistol Shot
earlier in the year. They were joined briefly by guitarist Tony Hill, who soon opted for the more visceral landscape of the rock band High Tide. His replacement was John Hutchinson, who would become Bowie's musical collaborator for the next few months.

Each incarnation of the group played three gigs with Bowie; the latter also appeared in the TV special showcasing Bowie's talents that Kenneth Pitt produced in the early weeks of 1969. So did this song, which was every bit as coy and childish (not childlike, as Bowie might have hoped) as its title. Its folksy/folkie feel was perhaps intended to mimic the deliberate naïveté of the Incredible String Band, but instead might have served for an “improving” BBC-TV show aimed at the preschool audience. As a vehicle for Turquoise-cum-Feathers, it was unflattering, placing too much responsibility on Farthingale's stilted, flimsy voice. Much more significant, in retrospect, were the wordless backing vocals offering a counterpoint to the inane chorus. Their melody reappeared on “Saviour Machine” [24], and their approach (strangely reminiscent of the soldiers' choruses from Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi documentary,
Triumph of the Will
) would find a more sympathetic home on “Time.”

The main melody of “Ching-A-Ling” was supposedly written when Bowie played an earlier demo tape backward through his home recorder. Its country-rock-flavored introduction was in the same vein as “Darlin' Companion” by the Lovin' Spoonful, though the Americans would never have dragged a song through such a clumsy set of key changes as those concocted by Bowie in a desperate bid to grab the listener's attention.

In keeping with the trio's purportedly democratic nature, Hill's song “Back to Where You've Never Been” was taped at the same session.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The idea for this book emerged from conversations with my tireless agent, Rupert Heath, and Will Sulkin, the eminent editorial chief of The Bodley Head in London. For the original UK edition, I owe many thanks to the rest of The Bodley Head team: Jörg Hensgen, who shepherded the book to its completion, and to Kay Peddle and Hannah Ross.

This revised US edition could not have been achieved without the help and support of my editors in New York, Jennifer Barth and Jason Sack. I would also like to acknowledge the hard work of copy editor Tom Pitoniak, cover designer Archie Ferguson, and interior designer Leah Carlson-Stanisic. Many thanks also to my US agent, Dan Conaway at Writers House.

Thanks are also due to the continued generosity of Andrew Sclanders (www.beatbooks.com) and Clinton Heylin; the invaluable technical advice of Mick Downs and Jon Astley; and the contributions of Johnny Rogan, Spencer Leigh, Katherine Williams, John Reed, and Mark Paytress. I gained much insight into the life and character of the young David Bowie from my previous interviews with George Underwood, David Hadfield (of the Kon-Rads), Bob Solly (of the Manish Boys), and Dana Gillespie. All opinions and judgments are mine alone, however, as are any factual or musicological errors.

Once again, my most heartfelt thanks go to my wife, Rachel Baylis, who has supported me throughout the long and sometimes painful gestation of this book, without losing her patience, her remarkable sense of humor, or (even more remarkably, after so much exposure in recent months) her enjoyment of Bowie's music. Much love, as always, to her, Catrin, Becca, and the elusive Fred.

NOTES

The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search function of your e-book reader.

 

INTRODUCTION

1  “People look to me”: Burroughs,
Burroughs Live 1960–1997
, p. 229.

5  “It consisted”: Quoted in Ariel,
Kabbalah
, p. 2.

6  “This is a mad planet”: To P. S. Salvo,
Sounds,
December 1, 1972.

6  “abandon all nations”: quoted in
IT
, September 1967.

6  “Collective nightmares”: Quoted in
RS
, February 18, 1971.

9  “Declinism was an established”: Beckett,
When the Lights Went Out
, p. 177.

10  “We are passing”:
RS
, February 18, 1971.

11  “Next day, all hell”: Almond,
Tainted Life
, p. 29.

13  “The new alchemical dream”: Quoted in Kaufman,
American Culture in the 1970s
, p. 6.

13  “the narcissistic preoccupation”: Ibid., p. 7.

13  “Our therapies become”: Quoted in
NME
, November 1, 1975.

14  “In the 70s”: To Timothy White,
Musician
, July 1990.

15  “I change my mind”: Burroughs,
Burroughs Live 1960–1997
, p. 229.

 

THE MAKING OF DAVID BOWIE: 1947–1968

17  “The past loads us”: Conrad,
Modern Times
,
Modern Places
, p. 712.

19  “absolutely mesmerized”: To David Cavanagh,
Q
, February 1997.

23  “a man, handsome”: Gillman and Gillman,
Alias David Bowie
, p. 65.

23  “It was Terry”: Tremlett,
David Bowie
, pp. 19–20.

24  “I tried passionately”: To Timothy White,
Musician
, July 1990.

25  “I spent my days”: Ibid.

25  “He was a very charming”: To author.

27  “He cried an awful lot”: To Timothy White,
Crawdaddy
, February 1978.

27  “People who break down”:
IT
, July 4–17, 1969.

28  “a biochemical, neurophysical”: Laing and Esterson,
Sanity, Madness and the Family
, p. 12.

28  “a social event”: Ibid., p. 17.

28  “each person does not occupy”: Ibid., p. 19.

29  “we were leaving confusion”: Kerouac,
On the Road
, p. 111.

29  “the one and only holy”: Ibid., p. 6.

29  “you've got to stick to it”: Ibid., p. 7.

29  “going like mad”: Ibid., p. 14.

29  “the only people for me”: Ibid., p. 9.

30  “It was diabolical”: To Richard Cromelin,
Phonograph Record
, January 1972.

30  “I've been in the media”: To Bruno Stein,
NME
, February 22, 1975.

31  “creative imagination”: Thomas,
The Visible Persuaders
, p. 42.

31  “The basic purpose”: Dunn,
Advertising
, p. 339.

32  “see us as bundles”: Quoted in ibid., p. 6.

32  “Find some common desire”: Huxley,
Brave New World Revisited
, p. 77.

32  “The techniques of persuasion”: Dunn,
Advertising
, p. 5.

32  “His main contribution”: To author.

33  “David wasn't really”: To author.

34  “a handsome six-footer”: Press release.

34  “all it takes”: Press release.

35  “Anyone who has the courage”: To Leslie Thomas,
Evening News & Star
, November 2, 1964.

36  “the spirit of extravagance”: Sontag,
Against Interpretation
, pp. 283, 279, 281.

37  “mixed up”: Pitt to Steve Turner,
NME
, May 18, 1974.

38  “long back and sides”:
Kentish Times
, August 20, 1965.

38  “If anything, David was a poet”: To author.

38  “It took me a long time”: To Paul Du Noyer,
Mojo
, July 2002.

39  “I envisage a scenario”: To Martin Hayman,
Sounds
, August 4, 1973.

39  “I'd like to get into cabaret”: Radio London interview, August 1966.

39  “Nobody at that time knew”: To Steve Turner,
NME
, May 18, 1974.

40  “There must be a hole”: Quoted in Bardsley,
Stop the World
, p. 98.

41  “Never cared for his performances”:
NME
, November 29, 1975.

41  “I was Anthony Newley”: To C. S. Murray,
NME
, February 24, 1973.

43  “To begin with”: Tremlett,
David Bowie
, pp. 62–63.

44  “fumblings about how to bring”: MTV interview, 1990.

44  “When I wanted David”: To Steve Turner,
NME
, May 18, 1974.

45  “As far as I'm concerned”:
MM
, November 1966.

45  “I'd like to take a holiday”: Ibid.

45  “[Zen] climbs”: Humphreys,
Zen Buddhism
, p. 1.

45  “Zen is not a new thing”: Ibid., p. 68.

46  “One puts oneself”: BBC Radio interview, 1993.

47  “I was convinced”: To David Cavanagh,
Q
, February 1997.

47  “David Bowie has no great voice”:
Disc
, June 10, 1967.

48  “I want to act”:
MM
, November 1966.

49  “I used to work”: To Bruno Stein,
NME
, February 22, 1975.

49  “I was a terribly earnest”: To George Tremlett,
Jackie
, May 10, 1970.

49  “About two weeks before”: Burroughs,
Burroughs Live 1960–1997
, p. 236.

50  “I decided that”: To George Tremlett,
Jackie
, May 10, 1970.

50  “I knew we shared”: To Angie Errigo,
NME
, July 17, 1977.

51  “Lindsay Kemp was a living”: To Richard Cromelin,
Phonograph Record
, January 1972.

51  “[Genet] has come”:
IT
, November 28–December 11, 1966.

51  “I enabled him to free”: Quoted in Buckley,
Strange Fascination
, p. 42.

52  “What interested me in the first place”: To Penny Valentine,
Sounds
, December 9, 1972.

 

THE SONGS OF DAVID BOWIE: 1969–1980

57  “Imagine the 1990 version”: To Mary Finnigan,
IT
, August 15–21, 1969.

57  “I want it to be”: Ibid.

57  “Some event is awaited”:
IT
, January 30–February 12, 1967.

58  “If we die, we want people”: TV interview, 1966.

58  “the people running”:
IT
, July 18–31, 1969.

58  “The publicity image”: To Mary Finnigan,
IT
, August 15–21, 1969.

59  “It's only a pop song”: To Kate Simpson,
Music Now
, December 20, 1969.

59  “The question for us”: Peter Stansill,
IT
, January 1–16, 1969.

60  “a very special piece”: Pitt,
Bowie
, p. 130.

60  “I wrote part of”: To Spencer Leigh, Radio Merseyside, 1977.

60  “ ‘Space Oddity' was a Bee Gees”: Gillman and Gillman,
Alias David Bowie
, p. 160.

63  “With a guitar and memories”: Quoted in Buckley,
Strange Fascination
, p. 67.

64  “was convincing in his act”:
Croydon Advertiser
, February 21, 1969.

64  “Janine,” Bowie announced: tape of demo.

64  “It's how I
thought
”: To Penny Valentine,
Disc
, October 25, 1969.

68  “I'm not at ease”: Burroughs,
Burroughs Live 1960–1997
, p. 232.

68  “was an awful experience”: To Cameron Crowe,
Playboy
, September 1976.

71  “an ‘energy centre' ”:
IT
, October 10–23, 1969.

71  “The plan is to turn on”:
IT
, May 23–June 5, 1969.

71  “I feel almost middle-aged”: To Gordon Coxhill,
NME
, November 15, 1969.

71  “Everything the boy says”: To Penny Valentine,
Disc
, October 25, 1969.

72  “I always felt I was”: To Timothy White,
Musician
, July 1990.

72  “I heard a Wagnerian orchestra”: Visconti,
Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy
, p. 139.

72  “Never have I been so flipped”: Quoted in Cann,
Any Day Now
, p. 155.

73  “David's career would have turned”: Tremlett,
David Bowie
, p. 53.

73  “Here we are in Beckenham”: To Mary Finnigan,
IT
, August 15–21, 1969.

73  “I run an Arts Lab”: To Chris Welch,
MM
, September 1969.

74  “materialistic and selfish”: Tremlett,
David Bowie
, p. 106.

74  “These people”: To Kate Simpson,
Music Now
, December 20, 1969.

74  “I basically wanted”: To P. S. Salvo,
Sounds
, December 2, 1972.

75  “in a completely catatonic state”: Mary Finnigan to Gillman, in Gillman and Gillman,
Alias David Bowie
, p. 178.

76  “a barbecue, exotic tea stall”:
IT
, August 15–21, 1969.

76  “vile”: Mary Finnigan to Gillman, in Gillman and Gillman,
Alias David Bowie
, p. 178.

76  “We go out on an air”: To Penny Valentine,
Disc
, October 25, 1969.

79  “about a boy whose girlfriend”: Ibid.

79  “describes how I felt”: Tremlett,
David Bowie
, p. 105.

81  “We found that the mass”: To Richard Cromelin,
Phonograph Record
, January 1972.

81  “The money I'm making”: Quoted in in
Croydon Advertiser
, June 30, 1972.

81  “I never plan ahead”: To George Tremlett,
Jackie
, May 10, 1970.

81  “He's a good bloke”:
IT
, December 5–17, 1969.

83  “I think a lot of people”: To Raymond Telford,
MM
, March 28, 1970.

83  “wrote the middle bit”: To Spencer Leigh, Radio Merseyside, 1977.

83  “She's an American citizen”: Tremlett,
David Bowie
, p. 101.

86  “I don't want to be one”: To Gordon Coxhill,
NME
, November 15, 1969.

86  “I throw myself on the mercy”: Ibid.

86  “I'm determined to be”: Ibid.

87  “It seems to me that”: Ibid.

87  “What the underground has got”: To Miles,
IT
, February 27, 1970.

87  “It's not that they
want
”: To Kate Simpson,
Music Now
, December 20, 1969.

87  “All my songs are very personal”: To Raymond Telford,
MM
, March 28, 1970.

88  “I was in silver lame”: Quoted in Hoskyns,
Glam!
, pp. 22–23.

89  “We had been playing [it] live”: Visconti,
Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy
, p. 150.

89  “A lot of my compositions”: To Raymond Telford,
MM
, March 28, 1970.

90  “I very much doubt”: To Richard Cromelin,
Phonograph Record
, January 1972.

90  “is a man with legal knowledge”: To Steve Turner,
NME
, May 18, 1974.

90  “[Defries] absolutely
believed
”: Gillman and Gillman,
Alias David Bowie
, p. 210.

91  “We came up with outrageous”: Buckley,
Strange Fascination
, p. 87.

92  “It's a shame”: To Steve Peacock,
Sounds,
September 16, 1972.