David Bowie: The Golden Years

Copyright

1970

JANUARY

SUNDAY 4

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

Bowie had started the Beckenham Arts Lab at The Three Tuns pub in May 1969 with a friend Mary Finnigan.

They organised it – like the others springing up at the time – as a collective of local artists working with various media. By 1970, input from other artists was dwindling and it had become more like a residency for Bowie. He later expressed his frustration to John Peel.

Bowie (1970)

It’s impossible to call it an Arts Lab because of the simple fact that most people won’t participate. They prefer to have things fashioned for them. [340]

Tony Visconti (1976)

It never happened because everyone was in awe of David. It turned out as David’s appreciation society. All the local Beckenham kids would come to the Arts Lab every week just to see David’s set and talk to him and be close to him after the set was over, because he’d just had that hit record. But as soon as he saw that, it took him about four months to realise that it was a complete bust and he gave it all up. [332]

THURSDAY 8 JANUARY

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘The Prettiest Star’

Tony Visconti: Producer

David Bowie: Vocals/Guitar

Marc Bolan: Lead Guitar

Delisle Harper: Bass

Godfrey McLean: Drums

Bowie had written ‘The Prettiest Star’ the previous month for Angie, who was with her parents in Cyprus for Christmas. He played her a demo over the phone. As I heard David’s voice sing those tender, loving words I just cried, she later recalled.

In 1967 Bowie was recording for Decca subsidiary Deram with little success. His publisher David Platz introduced him to producer Tony Visconti. They clicked immediately and since then Visconti had produced several Bowie recordings including the 1969 David Bowie album, though not the single ‘Space Oddity’.

For this session, held in the early hours of Bowie’s birthday, Visconti brought in Delisle Harper and Godfrey McLean, both from the soul band Gass. He also invited Marc Bolan (whom he had been producing) to play lead guitar. Bolan was keen to show off his newly acquired guitar skills, inspired by his visit to Eric Clapton’s house where he’d watched the master at work.

Tony Visconti (2010)

All I wanted to do was promote Marc as an electric guitarist; I thought it would have been a great coup to have him play on David’s record. David was extremely happy to have Marc play on the record and he was always happy for Marc’s success. [195]

Bowie’s manager Ken Pitt dropped in to watch the session and met Bolan’s wife June in the control room. You’re David’s Mr Ten Percent, aren’t you? sheasked him. Pitt replied, I don’t work that cheaply. [044]

Bowie (1976)

Marc was just going through the stumbling with learning to play lead guitar and I liked some of the mistakes he was making and asked him if he’d like to come along and play lead guitar on it… and he produced a beautiful solo. [332]

Tony Visconti (2010)

But after Marc had played this brilliant solo – and he also played on another track too called ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ – June just sniped at David, He’s too good for you! He shouldn’t play on your music! and she dragged Marc out. It was one of the few times that I saw him at a loss for words. [195]

RECORDING

‘London Bye Ta-Ta’

Tony Visconti: Producer/Bass

David Bowie: Vocals/Guitar

Marc Bolan: Lead Guitar

Godfrey McLean: Drums/Congas

Rick Wakeman: Piano

Lesley Duncan/Sue/Sunny: Backing Vocals

Visconti brought in session pianist Rick Wakeman, who had played on ‘Space Oddity’, which Gus Dudgeon had produced after Visconti passed on it.

Rick Wakeman (1976)

I’d done a few sessions for Tony Visconti, for Strawbs – that’s before I joined them – and for one or two other people, the band called Junior’s Eyes. Gus didn’t know anybody that played Mellotron. [332]

Gus Dudgeon (1974)

Someone said, I know a great one who plays at the Top Rank Ballroom… so we brought him in… and he looked kind of nervous. For some reason we didn’t have the chords we wanted written out so I just told him I wanted a melancholy Mellotron sound, not the quality sound, but the sad sound. He got halfway through, made one mistake, started again and did it straight through. Amazing. That was Rick Wakeman. [263]

Bowie had first recorded ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ (also with Tony Visconti) in March 1968 for Decca. Frustrated after Decca had rejected several proposed singles, Bowie had decided to write some ‘pop rubbish’. It was submitted as a B-side with ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’ as a proposed single. After Decca rejected both songs Bowie left the label and signed to Philips.

Following the success of ‘Space Oddity’, Decca and Ken Pitt met to discuss a compilation of Bowie’s recordings for the label, which would include some unreleased songs. However, as the ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ master tape had since been lost, Pitt and Philips A&R executive Ralph Mace decided it should be re-recorded as the A-side of a proposed single with ‘The Prettiest Star’.

By March, Angie’s affection for her tribute, ‘The Prettiest Star’, would prevail over Pitt’s preference as the new single. ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ was again shelved, remaining unreleased until 1989.

Released: Sound+Vision (Ryko 1989)/David Bowie (EMI 2009).

LIVE

The Speakeasy

48 Margaret Street

Covent Garden

London, England

David Bowie: Guitar/Vocals

Tony Visconti: Bass

Tim Renwick: Guitar

John Cambridge: Drums

Bowie’s birthday night appearance at the club was somewhat thrown together as it had been booked initially as a solo performance, but Bowie asked Visconti to accompany him on bass. He then called Tim Renwick, a guitarist from Junior’s Eyes, most of whom had played on the 1969 David Bowie album.

Their drummer John Cambridge was in the club having a drink with Roger Fry, an Australian roadie who used to work for Cambridge’s old band in Hull, The Rats. Bowie spotted him and asked if he happened to have his drums with him. They were in his car outside, so he set up and joined in the gig. Afterwards Bowie asked Cambridge to join the permanent band he was putting together.

Tim Hughes was at the club, reporting on Bowie for Jeremy magazine:

This is the Speakeasy, the club for Top Pop People. David is doing the late night spot. Perched precariously on two boxes – a luminous elfin face surrounded by an aureole of blonde curls – he looks very vulnerable. He works hard. Numbers from the LP… Jacques Brel, some bawdy poems by Mason Williams, ‘Buzz The Fuzz’.

Throughout the act there is a smattering of blasé applause. The reaction is disturbingly muted. It’s all over and David joins us at the bar. The elfin face looks puzzled. I can’t believe it. The manager says I got a good reception. If that’s what happens when they like you – what happens when they hate you? [156]

FRIDAY 9 JANUARY

PRESS

Tim Hughes visited Haddon Hall with Johnnie Clamp, who photographed Bowie for the Jeremy article:

The house is a monstrous folly of a place in deepest Beckenham. Light on. Door open. No sign of David. He’s just popped down to the shops for paraffin and meat for the night’s stew. David takes us on a conducted tour of his mansion – ramshackle, yet strangely beautiful in its decay. Sweeping staircases, stained-glass windows, moulded ceilings, carved and tiled fireplaces. Liberty print blocks, art deco lamps, William Morris screens. There is an almost childlike excitement about the way he pounces on each new treasure. It’s infectious. We have only been here for a month, and we’ve hardly started yet. There is so much to do and it’s the wrong time of the year. We wonder if he doesn’t get professional help. No, it’s my first real place and I want to do it by myself. [156]

Published: Jeremy, March.

SUNDAY 11 JANUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

TUESDAY 13 JANUARY

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘The Prettiest Star’

‘London Bye Ta-Ta’

WEDNESDAY 14 JANUARY

LIVE

Old Tiger’s Head

Lewisham

London, England

THURSDAY 15 JANUARY

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘The Prettiest Star’

‘London Bye Ta-Ta’

SUNDAY 18 JANUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

THURSDAY 22 JANUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

SATURDAY 24 JANUARY

AWARDS

1969 ‘NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS’ READERS’ POP POLL

British Male Singer #11

World Male Singer #12

New Disc Singer #4

Best British Disc #10

WEDNESDAY 28 JANUARY

TRAVELLING

Bowie travelled up to Scotland with Angie, Tony Visconti and percussionist Tex Johnson for his appearance on Grampian Television, stopping overnight in Glasgow. Johnson had played with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends and had met Visconti through their mutual dealings with Denny Cordell. He went on to play for Eric Clapton and Joe Cocker.

THURSDAY 29 JANUARY

TELEVISION

Grampian Television

Queens Cross

Aberdeen, Scotland

‘CAIRNGORM SKI NIGHT’

‘London Bye Ta-Ta’

Jimmy Spankie: Presenter

Bowie performed ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ – still planned to be the next single – accompanied by the in-house Alex Sutherland Band, which comprised vibes, Cordovox, acoustic guitar, drums and a string section.

Broadcast: February 27 (Grampian Television).

FRIDAY 30 JANUARY

LIVE

Johnston Halls

Aberdeen University

Aberdeen, Scotland

With Junior’s Eyes unavailable, Bowie played the annual formal ball accompanied by Tony Visconti on bass and Tex Johnson on congas.

SATURDAY 31 JANUARY

THEATRE

Gateway Theatre

Leith Walk

Edinburgh, Scotland

‘THE LOOKING GLASS MURDERS’

Bowie arrived in Edinburgh with Angie to join rehearsals with Bowie’s old mime teacher Lindsay Kemp. In 1968 Bowie had worked with Kemp on a production of Pierrot In Turquoise. Kemp was working on a new adaptation in Edinburgh and, hearing that Bowie was headed his way, had contacted Ken Pitt to ask if Bowie would be available.

For the production Bowie reprised the role of Cloud and wrote two new tracks, ‘Harlequin’ and ‘Columbine’, as well as a new lyric for ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’, which became ‘Threepenny Pierrot’. These were recorded as a backing track along with Bowie’s ‘When I Live My Dream’. Kemp’s pianist Michael Garrett played organ.

Still on a shoestring budget, Bowie and Angie accepted Kemp’s invitation to sleep on his floor for the night.

FEBRUARY

SUNDAY 1

THEATRE

Gateway Theatre

Leith Walk

Edinburgh, Scotland

‘THE LOOKING GLASS MURDERS’

Brian Mahoney filmed the production for the Scottish Television avant-garde arts series Another World, renamed Gateway after the theatre.

Broadcast: July 8 on Gateway (Scottish TV).

Released: Love You Till Tuesday DVD (Universal 2004).

TUESDAY 3 FEBRUARY

LIVE

The Marquee Club

90 Wardour Street, Soho

London, England

David Bowie: Vocals/Guitar

Tim Renwick: Guitar

Tony Visconti: Bass

John Cambridge: Drums

Junior’s Eyes: Support Act

Supporting Bowie at The Marquee was Junior’s Eyes, playing their final gig, due to singer Mick Wayne’s drug problems. With Cambridge already on board, Bowie asked Tim Renwick to join his new band, but he declined.

Tim Renwick (1987)

It was a very hard decision to make, but while I enjoyed working with David, there were certain things I couldn’t relate to. I never doubted he would make it, though; I knew it was just a matter of time before he found his feet. [177]

For some time, Cambridge had been raving to Bowie and Visconti about a guitarist he’d played with in The Rats back in Hull – Mick Ronson. Now in need of a strong guitarist, Bowie told Cambridge, All right, bring him down.

Back in Hull, Cambridge heard that Ronson was working for the council and found him on a rugby pitch, marking out the lines in creosote. Ronson was initially reluctant to throw in a steady job but was swayed by the prospect of advancing his musical career. Ronson was still playing locally with The Rats at the time.

Mick Ronson (1987)

It was a pretty frustrating sort of period, trying to become popular outside the local scene. It was really enjoyable playing gigs, but there was always that frustration – we want to be a big band. [043]

Cambridge persuaded Ronson to come down to London to check out Bowie’s act at The Marquee. After the show, he introduced Bowie to Ronson. The party adjourned to La Chasse, a private members club in Wardour Street for music industry folk, and ended up at Haddon Hall.

Mick Ronson (1984)

We just sat around in David’s flat. I picked up a guitar and jammed with him. Bowie said, Hey, do you wanna come down to this radio show and play with me? [077]

Bowie (1995)

When I first heard him play, I thought Ooh, that’s my Jeff Beck. He is fantastic, this kid is great, and so I sort of hoodwinked him into working with me. [354]

WEDNESDAY 4 FEBRUARY

PRESS

There was no time to rehearse for the radio show as Bowie had a meeting with film executive Rex Sheldon about the possibility of writing the theme music for Silver Lady, a film about Rolls and Royce, the founders of the famous company. Although the film was never made, Sheldon asked Bowie to perform at an upcoming concert for the Mencap charity.

That was followed in the afternoon by an interview at Pitt’s flat with Penny Valentine for a feature on the Disc awards. Editor Ray Coleman had informed Ken Pitt in January that Bowie would receive the award for Brightest Hope at the ceremony on February 13 and the article would run in Disc the following day. Penny Valentine asked Bowie if he felt established after his recent success and the upcoming award.

I suppose I want success, but not for the reason that people would think. I want to establish myself so that I can fulfil other desires by using success as a springboard and then swiftly dis-establish myself. I suppose people think I am an escapist, but I getdrunk with the things I want to do – and my own ambitions come before any career as such. Of course I’m pleased about the award. It’s probably based more on ‘Space Oddity’ than anything, because that single stuck in people’s minds… The next album will be more solid. As the first side will be completely augmented it means specially writing a whole set of new material. The second side will be just me with guitar. [299]

Published: Disc, February 14.

THURSDAY 5 FEBRUARY

PRESS

Prior to the performance, Bowie was interviewed by George Tremlett, a journalist friend who later wrote The David Bowie Story in 1974. Afterwards Ronson returned to Hull to finish up at his council job.

RADIO

BBC Paris Studio

Lower Regent Street

London, England

BBC RADIO 1

‘THE SUNDAY SHOW’

Introduced by John Peel.

SOLO ACOUSTIC

‘Amsterdam’ (Brel/Shuman)/‘God Knows I’m Good’/‘Buzz The Fuzz’ (Rose)/‘Karma Man’

WITH VISCONTI/CAMBRIDGE

‘London Bye Ta-Ta’/‘An Occasional Dream’

FULL BAND

‘The Width Of A Circle’/‘Janine’/‘Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud’/‘Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed’/‘Fill Your Heart’ (Rose/Williams)/‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ (Reed)/‘The Prettiest Star’/‘Cygnet Committee’/‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

Jeff Griffin: Producer

David Bowie: Vocals/Guitar/Keyboards

The Tony Visconti Trio:

Mick Ronson: Guitar

Tony Visconti: Bass

John Cambridge: Drums

Producer Jeff Griffin had been commissioned to produce a new series of one-hour concert programmes. Impressed with Bowie’s performance at the Purcell Room the previous November, Griffin was confident Bowie had the talent to carry a whole show in the longer format. Following a morning rehearsal at Haddon Hall, the group left for an afternoon soundcheck at the BBC studio – another opportunity to rehearse – to prepare for Ronson’s debut appearance with Bowie.

Mick Ronson (1984)

So, we went down to this radio show and I played along with him. I didn’t know anything, none of the material. I just sat and watched his fingers. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but everybody seemed to like it. I don’t know if it was treated as an audition or not, I never really thought of it like that, I was just playing, it was a normal thing for me. After that he said, Well, how about coming along and playing with me all the time? So I agreed. That was pretty much straight after the show. [077]

Tony Visconti (2006)

David suggested he play the radio show with us – we were very under-rehearsed which was plain for all to hear. [047]

Bowie (2000)

We rehearsed in the morning and did the show very badly. [170]

Peel asked Bowie, Are you going to be doing gigs with this band?, to which he joked, Well, looking at them… no. Bowie went on to explain he’d met Ronson only two days before through Cambridge and they would indeed be doing gigs together.

Broadcast: February 8 without ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ as the radio session ran over time.

Released: Bowie At The Beeb (Virgin/BBC 2000)

The BBC was originally unable to include this performance on the Bowie At The Beeb compilation as the master tape was missing. Due to the BBC’s tight budget, tapes were often wiped and reused after their broadcast. However, Bowie was able to lend the BBC a copy from his personal collection.

SUNDAY 8 FEBRUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

RADIO

The Sunday Show broadcast (BBC Radio 1).

THURSDAY 12 FEBRUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

FRIDAY 13 FEBRUARY

AWARDS

Café Royal

Regent Street

London, England

‘DISC & MUSIC ECHO’ AWARDS

Bowie was voted Brightest Hope and accepted the award from presenter (and fellow recipient) DJ Tony Blackburn. He then went over to Ken Pitt and gave him the trophy – a gold disc in a leather case – saying, This is for you.

SATURDAY 14 FEBRUARY

TRAVELLING

Bowie, Angie, Visconti and Liz Hartley took a quick trip to Hull to visit Ronson, who had left his job and was preparing to move into Haddon Hall with them.

During the week Ronson had told Hull Daily Mail: I’ve been offered jobs in London before, but nothing as secure as this. I didn’t want to go back there and find myself in debt with my equipment again, and the money from this job means I shall be able to live properly. The Hype has a record, ‘Prettiest Star’, for release shortly and after that we shall be off on bookings up and down the country. The main thing for me now, what I’m really after, is just to get myself known. [157]

Bowie had told Ken Pitt that he wanted to introduce a strong element of hype into the launch of the band, to which Pitt replied, Then why not call it The Hype?

In Hull, Ronson introduced Bowie to Stuart George, who had been working with The Rats. Stuey George – as he was known – later became Bowie’s bodyguard.

Penny Valentine’s article ‘A New Star Shoots Upwards’ was published in Disc, sparking a new wave of interest from the media.

SUNDAY 15 FEBRUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

MONDAY 16 FEBRUARY

PRESS

Anne Nightingale’s Daily Sketch column reported that Bowie could be the giant heartthrob that Scott Walker was and that Bowie’s next single release would be ‘The Prettiest Star’. This was news to Ken Pitt.

Ken Pitt (1976)

I discovered there had been a lot of pressure put on behind my back to get ‘The Prettiest Star’ put out. I had a vested interest in ‘The Prettiest Star’ in that David, by way of a present, had given me the publishing rights to it, so I would have been delighted to see it released but I was not concerned with the publishing but getting a hit record and I thought that ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ was by far and away the best. [332]

Ken Pitt (1983)

Ralph Mace explained that the tape of ‘The Prettiest Star’ was the one that had been delivered to him by Tony Visconti and the choice had been David and Angela’s. The labels had been printed and the records were being pressed with ‘Conversation Piece’ as the B-side. [034]

THURSDAY 19 FEBRUARY

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY

LIVE

Implosion

The Roundhouse

Chalk Farm

London, England

DAVID BOWIE & HYPE

David Bowie and Hype (billed as David Bowie) supported Caravan, The Groundhogs and Bachdenkel at the regular Sunday night event, Implosion.

Prior to this, Bowie and Angie had suggested to the others at Haddon Hall (where most of the band were now living) that some sort of stage wear was needed to spice up the act. As the band rehearsed, Angie browsed the Charing Cross Road shops with neighbour and friend Mark Pritchett, buying costumes for the band based on different characters they had dreamt up.

Visconti’s girlfriend Liz Hartley, a creative seamstress, added the finishing touches. Visconti became Hypeman, John Cambridge was Cowboy Man, Ronson was Gangster Man, while Bowie was, according to him, no one in particular but he got out the silver catsuit he used to promote ‘Space Oddity’.

Bowie (1989)

Bolan was there, and he was open-mouthed that we had the balls to camp it up so much. I think that was the first glam-rock performance. It was all jeans and long hair at that time, and we got booed all the way through the show. People hated it. They absolutely loathed what we were doing. It was great! [323]

Tony Visconti (2006)

Musically it was a great gig, although we were heckled initially, and called a variety of homosexual epithets. [047]

FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY

TELEVISION

Cairngorm Ski Night broadcast on Grampian Television, including Bowie’s performance of ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’. Advertising read: Join the party of skiers as they relax to the best of Scottish après-ski entertainment provided by the resident team.

SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY

LIVE

Basildon Arts Lab

Basildon

Essex, England

Hype, described as David Bowie’s New Electric Band, shared top billing with High Tide and was supported by Iron Maiden (not the later, more successful heavy metal band).

High Tide included two of Bowie’s collaborators from the past and the future – Tony Hill from Turquoise (1968) and Simon House, who later joined Hawkwind and played violin on Bowie’s 1978 tour.

He was open-mouthed that we had the balls to camp it up.

Bowie on Marc Bolan’s reaction to the gig at the Roundhouse

MARCH

SUNDAY 1

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

TUESDAY 3 MARCH

LIVE

White Bear

Hounslow

London, England

THURSDAY 5 MARCH

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

Bowie’s last appearance as part of the Beckenham Arts Lab.

FRIDAY 6 MARCH

LIVE

University of Hull

West Refectory

Hull, Yorkshire, England

A homecoming concert for Ronson and Cambridge. Another ex-Rat, Benny Marshall, joined them on ‘Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed’, reprising his harmonica part from the David Bowie album.

SINGLE RELEASED

‘The Prettiest Star’ (3:11)/‘Conversation Piece’ (3:05)

UK (Mercury 1135)

‘The Prettiest Star’

Reissued: Sound+Vision (Ryko 1989) (mono single version).

Reissued: Best Of David Bowie 1969/1974 (EMI 1997) (stereo version).

Reissued: David Bowie (EMI 2009) (stereo version)

‘Conversation Piece’

Tony Visconti: Producer

David Bowie: Vocals/Guitar

Mick Wayne: Guitar

John Lodge: Bass

John Cambridge: Drums

Recorded during the David Bowie (1969) album sessions.

Reissued: Space Oddity (Ryko 1990) (mono single version).

Reissued: David Bowie (EMI 2009) (stereo version).

True to Ken Pitt’s predictions, the single sold poorly and received a lukewarm response from radio although the music press was supportive:

Derek Johnson (NME)

A rather unexpected follow-up in that this is a complete contrast to ‘Space Oddity’… a thoroughly charming and wholly fascinating little song.

Peter Jones (Record Mirror)

David comes near to croaking in his emotionless voice but it’s still very effective. Chart cert.

Penny Valentine (Disc)

David Bowie has been very clever by not trying to repeat ‘Space Oddity’ – an impossible task anyway – and yet managing to steer clear of his album material, which would have been far too heavy for a single… This has the most compact, catchy melody I’ve ever heard. A hit indeed.

ALBUM RELEASED

‘THE WORLD OF DAVID BOWIE’ COMPILATION

UK (Decca SPA 58)

SIDE ONE

1. ‘Uncle Arthur’ (2:05)

2. ‘Love You Till Tuesday’ (3:08)

3. ‘There Is A Happy Land’ (3:05)

4. ‘Little Bombardier’ (3:22)

5. ‘Sell Me A Coat’ (2:57)

6. ‘Silly Boy Blue’ (3:47)

7. ‘The London Boys’ (3:19)

SIDE TWO

1. ‘Karma Man’ (3:02)

2. ‘Rubber Band’ (2:16)

3. ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’ (3:23)

4. ‘Come And Buy My Toys’ (2:07)

5. ‘She’s Got Medals’ (2:23)

6. ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’ (2:57)

7. ‘When I Live My Dream’ (3:22)

Ken Pitt and Bowie drew up a track list for this collection of Bowie’s earlier recordings for Decca. The compilation drew largely from the 1967 debut album David Bowie (produced by Mike Vernon), with four tracks dropped to make way for ‘The London Boys’, a 1966 B-side, and three previously unreleased tracks that reflected his development and current direction – ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’, ‘Karma Man’ and ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’.

Recorded in 1967 and 1968, they were Tony Visconti’s first productions for Bowie.

Bowie had dismissed the songs at the time as ‘pop rubbish’, but in October 1969 Bowie played ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’ on the Dave Lee Travis Show radio session with a new heavier backing from Junior’s Eyes.

Introducing the song on air, Bowie explained to Brian Matthew, We’ve got a number that we’ve dug up today which was written about four years ago and hasn’t been out of the house. It’s the first airing it’s had anywhere.

Asked why it hadn’t been recorded, Bowie replied, My mother thought the lyrics were dirty.

By 1970 Bowie was less dismissive of the songs, as was Decca, which went on to reissue any Bowie product in the vaults to recoup their investment in him. This was the first of several compilations and was reissued in 1973 with a new Ziggy era cover photo.

SATURDAY 7 MARCH

LIVE

Regent Street Polytechnic London, England

DAVID BOWIE & HYPE

Gavin Petrie (Disc)

David Bowie, in ten-league boots and groovy gear, presented his new backing group line-up Hype, at London’s Regent Street Polytechnic on Saturday. He needs an expert on sound balance who should effectively solve the teething problems of the new line-up. David had much more confidence and stage presence with this backing group, and as his songs are suitable for grooving to as well as just listening to, the brightest hope could well change categories.

This show was a disaster. The volume on Mick Ronson’s lead guitar was so high that not only did he block out David’s singing but also completely overpowered John Cambridge’s drums. The volume also cleared the seats in a direct line with his speaker. That magic that makes for greatness is there but suppressed, sometimes even hidden. If my ears ever recover I expect to see David plus Hype in a few months time… shining through. [241]

Published: ‘Bowie’s Bow’, Disc and Music Echo, March 12

My mother thought the lyrics were dirty.

Bowie on ‘Let Me Sleep Beside You’

WEDNESDAY 11 MARCH

LIVE

Atomic Sunrise

The Roundhouse

Chalk Farm

London, England

Sharing the bill with Genesis, this performance was part of the week-long Atomic Sunrise festival. For the event, Angie and Bowie further developed his stage attire, on this occasion with a metal choker necklace, a satin cape and buccaneer- style thigh-length leather boots.

The set included ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’, ‘The Supermen’, ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ and Lennon’s ‘Instant Karma’.

Atomic Sunrise, the concert film, was screened at The Roundhouse on March 11 and 12, 2013.

PRESS

Raymond Telford interviewed Bowie during the day for Melody Maker:

I think a lot of people are expecting another ‘Space Oddity’, and ‘Prettiest Star’ is nothing like it. I’m sure this is why the BBC isn’t plugging it. Everyone wanted another song with the same feel as ‘Space Oddity’ but as I’d done it, I didn’t see the point of doing it again.

I’m very happy with the band. Although we’re all happy with the set-up, I can’t see it becoming a really permanent thing. I want to retain Hype and myself as two separate working units whereby we can retain our own identities.

The gigs we’ve done so far have gone better than I expected. We played the Roundhouse recently and it was great. The Roundhouse audiences seem to be something apart from the usual blasé London audiences. The best audiences I know are up north where they really appreciate you. In London the audiences are very aware that they are living in the place where it’s all supposed to be happening, so inevitably they have this cool attitude. [290]

Published: ‘Hype and David Bowie’s Future’, Melody Maker, March 28.

THURSDAY 12 MARCH

LIVE

Royal Albert Hall

London, England

SOLO SHOW

Bowie had promised film producer Rex Sheldon to appear on the show organised by Irish philanthropist Michael Sugrue for Mencap charity. Bowie played a 20-minute set, which was well received, despite most of the crowd being there to see the main act, Irish tenor Josef Locke. Also on the bill were The Faces.

After the show Pitt, Bowie and Angie strolled from the Royal Albert Hall to Piccadilly, where Bowie told Pitt of their plans to get married.

FRIDAY 13 MARCH

LIVE

Locarno Ballroom

Sunderland

Northumberland

England

HYPE

Hype performed a one-hour set, again dressed in character costumes.

SATURDAY 14 MARCH

LIVE

University of Surrey

Guildford

Surrey, England

SOLO SHOW

THURSDAY 19 MARCH

LIVE

Beckenham Arts Lab

The Three Tuns

Beckenham, Kent, England

SOLO SHOW

Bowie and Angie spent the afternoon at Kensington Antique Market, choosing Angie’s wedding dress for the following day. Bowie opted for black satin trousers.

After Bowie’s set at The Three Tuns, where artist/actress friend Clare Shenstone also played a solo acoustic set, they all spent the evening at Haddon Hall.

FRIDAY 20 MARCH

SOCIALISING

Bromley Registry Office

Beckenham Lane

Bromley, Kent, England

BOWIES’ MARRIAGE CEREMONY

They arrived half an hour late after oversleeping and found Bowie’s mother Peggy Jones already there. Bowie hadn’t told her about the ceremony but she’d heard a rumour and followed it up with Ken Pitt, who told her, If he wants me to go to his wedding, he’ll invite me.

Bowie had invited only the Haddon Hall crowd. Tony Visconti would have been best man but had a Strawbs recording session that day. Those who attended included Liz Hartley, John Cambridge, Roger Fry and Clare Shenstone. Bowie had asked Cambridge to be a witness but Mrs Jones pushed forward to sign the register herself. Clare Shenstone was the second witness and signatory.

To their surprise, the local press greeted them outside – Bowie’s mother had alerted both the Bromley papers.

In lieu of a reception the party went to the Swan & Mitre pub across the street, where Bowie told The Bromley Times that there would be no honeymoon. Unfortunately, I’m far too busy working.

SATURDAY 21 MARCH

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

Following the commercial failure of ‘The Prettiest Star’, Mercury’s Robin McBride had requested a new version of ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’, which he felt had more chart potential as the next single. The song would be split over two sides with the A-side fading early on the ‘sun machine’ chorus. He suggested to Visconti that this could be achieved by picking up the tempo to reach the chorus earlier.

Bowie and Angie also visited Ralph Mace, who had left Philips and was working for Soho-based music publisher Famous Music.

SUNDAY 22 MARCH

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

MONDAY 23 MARCH

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

‘The Supermen’

The band also began work on a new song, ‘The Supermen’, but Bowie and Ronson became increasingly frustrated with John Cambridge’s difficulty with the rhythm.

John Cambridge (1986)

I just couldn’t get it right and even Mick was saying, Come on, it’s easy, which makes you feel worse. [013]

The song traced back to 1965 when Bowie was in The Manish Boys. Working on their single ‘I Pity The Fool’ was a young session guitarist, Jimmy Page.

Bowie (1997)

He just got a fuzz box and he used that for the solo. He was wildly excited about it and he was quite generous that day and he said, Look, I’ve got this riff but I’m not using it for anything so why don’t you learn it and see if you can do anything with it. [331]

WEDNESDAY 25 MARCH

RADIO

Playhouse Theatre Studios

Northumberland Avenue

London, England

BBC RADIO 1

‘SOUNDS OF THE 70s’

ANDY FERRIS

‘I’m Waiting For The Man’/‘The Width Of A Circle’/‘The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud’/‘The Supermen’

Bernie Andrews: Producer

Broadcast: April 6 (BBC Radio 1) except ‘The Supermen’.

Released: ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ on BBC Sessions 1969–1972 (Sampler) (NMC 1996).

Released: ‘The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud’ on Bowie At The Beeb (Virgin/BBC 2000).

MONDAY 30 MARCH

LIVE

Croydon Star Hotel

Croydon

Surrey, England

TUESDAY 31 MARCH

BUSINESS

Frustrated with his lack of success after several years under Pitt’s management, Bowie told him he was thinking of going it alone. Although Bowie was surviving on live work, he was keen to devote more time to recording. Pitt reassured him by scaling back live engagements and advanced Bowie £200.

APRIL

WEDNESDAY 1

BUSINESS

Pitt and Visconti met to discuss the schedule for recording the new album, with Tony Visconti producing. Memory Of A Free Festival was floated as a title to tie in with the new single. As the budget was tight, recording time would be booked in downtime at the Trident and Advision studios.

THURSDAY 2 APRIL

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

FRIDAY 3 APRIL

RECORDING

Advision Sound Studios

23 Gosfield Street

West London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

Visconti hired a Moog synthesiser from George Martin’s Air Studios. It was installed by Martin’s engineer Chris Thomas, who had worked on The Beatles’ White Album.

Ralph Mace dropped in at the session and saw Ronson was having difficulty with the instrument. An accomplished keyboard player himself, Mace told Ronson, I can save you a lot of time if you let me do that.

SATURDAY 4 APRIL

MIXING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

Bowie and Visconti began mixing the new single.

MONDAY 6 APRIL

BUSINESS

After the friction during ‘The Supermen’ sessions, Bowie (with Ronson and Angie’s encouragement) reluctantly told John Cambridge that they were looking for a new drummer. He explained it was not dissatisfaction with his drumming, but a need for a drummer with arrangement skills.

TUESDAY 7 APRIL

BUSINESS

Following Cambridge’s early morning departure for Hull, Ronson suggested another ex-Rat, Mick ‘Woody’ Woodmansey. Bowie phoned to invite him down to Haddon Hall for an audition, which he passed. Like Ronson, Woodmansey threw in his Hull job and moved in.

Together with Ronson and Visconti, Woodmansey signed a new separate record contract for Hype with Philips. Hype was paid an advance of £4000, which they put towards a new PA system and new tyres for the van.

Photographer Pete Sanders took some publicity pictures of Ronson, Woodmansey and Visconti, who had begun soundproofing the basement at Haddon Hall to create an in-house rehearsal space.

Tony Visconti (1982)

We’d just go into the basement and make a lot of noise, and David would drift down every now and then for 15 minutes and say, Hey! What’s going on? when we could get him away from Angie, so we had a lot of sketchy songs that we’d written in the basement. [015]

SUNDAY 12 APRIL

LIVE

Harrogate Theatre

Harrogate

North Yorkshire, England

2 SOLO SHOWS

On Ronson’s recommendation, bassist Trevor Bolder came down from Hull to see Bowie’s show.

TUESDAY 14 WEDNESDAY 15 APRIL

MIXING

Advision Sound Studios

23 Gosfield Street

West London, England

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

Mixing of the single completed.

FRIDAY 17 APRIL

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

‘All The Madmen’

Tony Visconti: Producer

Recording of the new album began with a four-hour session starting at 1am. With little in the way of prepared material, it fell to the band to work up Bowie’s song ideas in the studio.

Bowie (1971)

I used to have periods, weeks on end, when I just couldn’t cope any more. I’d slump into myself… I felt so depressed, and I really felt so aimless, and this torrential feeling of ‘what’s it all for anyway?’ A lot of it [the album] went through that period, ‘Width Of A Circle’ was definitely that – I went to the depths of myself in that. I tried to analogise the period of my life from when I left school to that time – to the making of that LP. Just for my own benefit, not really for any listener’s benefit. [096]

Tony Visconti (1982)

David had ‘Space Oddity’ under his belt, and he was living off those royalties and had become very complacent – this man would not get out of bed and write a song, and he had a commitment to make an album! [015]

Tony Visconti (1974)

I have a pretty positive approach to work so I was very unhappy about the situation. With a lot of persuasion I managed to get David to give us some chord changes to work on and we ended up with the ridiculous situation where the entire production for the whole album was set – except for the melody and words. [126]

Tony Visconti (1985)

Mick Ronson, Woody Woodmansey and myself would be making up backing tracks, having got a brief from David – it was E chord for 16 bars, then an A chord for four bars and a B chord for two bars – and we were just banging out these backing tracks, and David would come into the studio and say whether he liked it or not. [019]

Tony Visconti (1982)

It’s hard to say how much you do when you write a song with someone else, and even though we weren’t credited as writers, Mick and I were getting the chord changes together. ‘Width Of A Circle’ was the only track that was written, and that was only the first part of the song that was written. The second part, where it goes into a boogie, was written in the studio, and Mick and I definitely wrote all that, and David just threw all his words and melody on top.

‘All The Madmen’, for instance, originally had a working title of ‘The Man Who Sold The World’. Later, we just laid down the chords, the arrangements, the guitar solos, the synthesisers, the recorders, and David would be out in the lobby of Advision, holding hands with Angie. [015]

Ralph Mace (1986)

It was creation in the studio. They began with a basic idea from one instrument or one vocal line. They would start adding and then they would change according to their whims. They got a core of the sound and then they started overdubbing and if it worked they kept it and if it didn’t they would do it again, and it was a creative build-up, a synthesis. David would bounce ideas off people. There was a lot of creative interplay with all the people there. [13]

BUSINESS

Still concerned about Ken Pitt’s management, Bowie met with Olav Wyper, who suggested three lawyers. He chose the first on the list – Tony Defries, who had worked with producer Mickie Most. Defries told Bowie he would get him out of Pitt’s management contract.

Bowie (1976)

He said, I’m Tony Defries and I’m going to make you a star! [laughs] I said Oh yeah? And he did… so they say – I’ve read about it. Yeah, that’s when Tony Defries entered my life – and me wallet! [332]

FRIDAY 24 APRIL

BUSINESS

Bowie and Angie wrote to Ken Pitt advising him that he would no longer be considered Bowie’s personal manager.

SATURDAY 25 SUNDAY 26 APRIL

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

MONDAY 27 APRIL

LIVE

Poco-a-Poco Club

Stockport

Cheshire, England

SOLO SHOW

Bowie took the stage alone as Woodmansey had injured his finger the week before. He invited The Purple Gang (another band on the evening’s bill) to back him but they lost their nerve and declined.

WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL

BUSINESS

Pitt’s response to Bowie’s letter rejected claims of mismanagement and suggested they discuss ways of ending their professional relationship.

THURSDAY 30 APRIL

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

MAY

RECORDING

Haddon Hall

42 Southend Road

Beckenham, Kent, England

‘Tired Of My Life’ (acoustic demo)

The song, originally written when Bowie was 16, was considered for the album but was dropped without being recorded. Bowie used the melody as the basis of ‘It’s No Game’ in 1980 and also kept some lyrics in the middle eight. The demo was bootlegged widely and remains unreleased.

FRIDAY 1

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

‘She Shook Me Cold’

(working title ‘Suck’)

MONDAY 4 MAY

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

‘Running Gun Blues’

‘Saviour Machine’

Ralph Mace, who had worked on ‘Memory Of A Free Festival’, again played Moog on ‘Saviour Machine’.

PRESS

A visiting Swedish journalist, Bosse Hansson, interviewed Bowie upstairs at Trident. Hansson told Bowie, You are going to be the Bob Dylan of the Seventies. Bowie dismissed the comparison, saying, His songs are boring and he has a bad voice. [007] Bowie expressed his disappointment (shared by many) with Dylan’s semi-retirement more eloquently the following year on ‘Song For Bob Dylan’.

TUESDAY 5 WEDNESDAY 6 MAY

RECORDING

Trident Studios

17 St Anne’s Court, Soho

London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

THURSDAY 7 MAY

BUSINESS

Bowie and Defries met Ken Pitt at his flat to discuss a settlement of his management contract. Having invested significant amounts of money and time in Bowie, Pitt asked to be compensated for loss of future earnings. Defries stalled for time to consider the situation and the matter was settled later.

SUNDAY 10 MAY

AWARDS

LIVE

TELEVISION

Talk Of The Town

Charing Cross Road

Westminster

London, England

‘IVOR NOVELLO’ AWARDS

‘Space Oddity’

Joint winner with Peter Sarstedt, Bowie picked up the award for Most Original Song for ‘Space Oddity’, which he performed solo with guitar, accompanied by an orchestra conducted by Les Reed. Bowie and Angie attended the celebration dinner following the event.

Telecast live to Australia, USA and Europe and broadcast on BBC Radio 1.

TUESDAY 12 WEDNESDAY 13 SUNDAY 17 MAY

RECORDING

Advision Sound Studios

23 Gosfield Street

West London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

Recording moved to Advision, with three sessions from 2pm to midnight.

THURSDAY 21 MAY

LIVE

The Penthouse

Scarborough

Yorkshire, England

Mark Pritchett made a guest appearance on guitar for Woodmansey’s first live appearance with Bowie.

FRIDAY 22 MAY

RECORDING

Advision Sound Studios

23 Gosfield Street

West London, England

‘THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ ALBUM

‘The Man Who Sold The World’

‘The Man Who Sold The World’ was the last song recorded for the album, with Bowie writing the lyrics on the spot at the last minute, which had been the pattern throughout the recording period. On later albums Visconti became accustomed to Bowie’s approach, but at the time found it frustrating.

Tony Visconti (1985)

By the last week, I didn’t have a vocal on two of the tracks and this is where it actually began – David writing on microphone. He’d start singing spontaneously. It was really wonderful. When he was hot, he was hot, but for me the whole thing was not so good. I had two big conflicts – getting this done technically, which I was struggling with, and also managing to get a good performance out of David. I had a record company screaming for final mixes, not even sure that they wanted this album. As far as they were concerned, this was the last they had to do with David Bowie and I wasn’t delivering the goods. [019]

With the vocals recorded and the mixes done, the album was complete. Later, outside Defries’ office on Regent Street, Visconti told Bowie he’d had enough. On top of his frustration with Bowie, Visconti was distrustful of Defries, and wary of the blind faith Bowie had in his new manager.

Tony Visconti (1986)

David was also assigning his personal power to other people… when he meets someone, and he falls in love – forget it. The person’s the one until he’s severely hurt. I said to David, If you go with Tony Defries, I’m not going to go with you. [013]

Tony Visconti (2006)

As I turned to walk away from David, the look on his face just seemed to say Why oh why? I felt terrible but Marc [Bolan] was about to become almost a full-time job for the next two years of my life. [047]

SATURDAY 23 MAY

TRAVELLING

With the album complete, Bowie and Angie headed off to Scotland for a belated honeymoon.

JUNE

TUESDAY 16

LIVE

Cambridge University May Ball

Jesus College

Cambridge, England

Coming on after Deep Purple at 4am, Bowie and Hype played an acoustic set with Woodmansey on bongos and Mark Pritchett, who later recalled their performance as being haphazard.

FRIDAY 26 JUNE

SINGLE RELEASED

‘Memory Of A Free Festival Pt 1’ (3:59)/‘Memory Of A Free Festival Pt 2’ (3:31)

UK (Mercury 6052 026)

Reissued: Space Oddity (Ryko 1990) and David Bowie (EMI 2009).

JULY

SATURDAY 4

LIVE

Queens Mead

Recreation Ground

Bromley

Kent, England

The all-day outdoor concert was organised by Fleetwood Mac’s Peter Green and included Mark Pritchett’s band Rungk, who would form the basis of Arnold Corns the following year. The name Hype was dropped from the billing and Bowie would be advertised as ‘David Bowie’ from this point, whether solo or with backing group.

SUNDAY 5 JULY

LIVE

Implosion

The Roundhouse

Chalk Farm Road

London, England

MID JULY

TELEVISION

‘EDDY READY GO!’

‘Memory Of A Free Festival’

Eddy Becker: Presenter

Bowie appeared on the Netherlands show, performing solo on the keyboard. According to Ruud Altenburg, Eddy Ready Go! was recorded to Ampex tapes, which have all been wiped.

Broadcast: July 18 (NCRV)

SATURDAY 18 JULY

LIVE

Fickle Pickle Club

Cricketers Inn

Southend-on-Sea

Essex, England

AUGUST

SATURDAY 1

LIVE

Rock With Shelter

Southend-on-Sea

Essex, England

Bowie, accompanied by Ronson on bass, appeared at this festival staged to raise funds for Shelter, a housing charity.

TUESDAY 4 AUGUST

RECORDING

With Tony Visconti producing, Hype recorded four songs without Bowie for a proposed album. The project was abandoned at that point – the tracks were left unmixed with no vocals.

With live work drying up and no wage being offered, Ronson and Woodmansey moved out of Haddon Hall and returned disillusioned to Hull. They reformed The Rats with Benny Marshall and Trevor Bolder under a new name, Ronno.

Visconti and Liz Hartley had already moved out to set up home in Penge, as communal living was wearing a bit thin with arguments about mundane things like grocery shopping. [047]

Tony Visconti (2006)

Haddon Hall had also become overcrowded with not just us, Angela and David, Mick Ronson, Woody Woodmansey, and Roger the Lodger, but also a constant stream of visitors staying late into the night. [047]

SEPTEMBER

With his band gone and no work on the horizon, Bowie became despondent and frustrated with Defries, who had promised much but delivered little. Angie stepped into the breach, chasing up work and suggesting new approaches.

Four months after its completion, The Man Who Sold The World was in limbo. Philips had internal problems since the departure of ousted general manager Olav Wyper. He told Ken Pitt in 1982, I left Philips and went to RCA and it seemed to me that it all went quiet for David.

With him went Bowie’s support at the label, and post-production of the album stalled.

Tony Visconti (1986)

There were only four