No musician is more closely associated with London or left more footprints than Bowie, and you can trace its influence on his life and work (and vice versa) through a series of landmarks from the suburbs to the centre. Author and curator Paul Gorman has just published an annotated street-map – David Bowie’s London - listing the places that played a formative role in his world and music, the places he rehearsed, performed, filmed and recorded, the homes of friends and managers, his schools and the addresses where he lived, worked and was photographed, made connections, bought clothes and generally raised the temperature. We talk here about many of those old haunts and the stories attached to them, which include…

 

… mysterious manager Ralph Horton who got him to change his name to Bowie and then vanished from the face of the earth.

 

… the fate of Heddon Street, home of K-West and the Ziggy phone-box. 

 

… Marc Bolan refusing to let him sing at an all-night benefit at Middle Earth.

 

… “the Fairy Godmother of the New Romantics” at the WAG Club.

 

… when Lionel Bart came to Haddon Hall.

 

… Bowie and Steve Marriott auditioning for the Lower Third.

 

… how he levered his way into a Fabulous magazine fashion shoot.

 

… “the end of the age of Showbiz”: performing Chim Chim Cher-ee at the Marquee when at a crossroads between rock and roll and cabaret.

 

… the magical piano at the Trident Studios.

 

… a chance encounter with the otherworldly Vince Taylor whose ‘UFO map’ helped inspire the concept of Ziggy Stardust.

 

… the legend of Mr Fish, creator of the man-dress on the cover of The Man Who Sold The World.

 

… the days when people had a white Rolls Royce and matching Alsatian – and “the Great Sarong Scare of the ‘90s”.

 

… and various fringe figures including his art teacher Owen Frampton, Konrads agents Bob Knight and Eric Easton, muse and heartbreaker Hermione Farthingale, producers Shel Talmy and Tony Hatch (“the original Mr Nasty from Opportunity Knocks”) and slum landlord and racketeer Peter Rackman.

 

Order Paul’s street-map here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/David-Bowies-London-Paul-Gorman/dp/1068523476

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Get bonus content on Patreon

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.