OK, not really a red letter day for Rock but on this day in 1991 Tin Machine played the Corn Exchange in Cambridge, UK.

It was part of the It’s My Life tour and was the second version of Tin Machine (Eric Schermerhorn joined the band on guitar). Tin Machine was a strange animal. Fronted by Bowie it was a pretty decent rock outfit. Bowie had formed the band, actually he says that he did not form the band it sort of just coalesced. Bowie wanted time off from his solo career, which he felt had become too mainstream (some of us would say boring).

TM released 2 albums with some critical and commercial success. The highlight of the albums was glorious version of Working Class hero on the first album. OK, this whole post is my excuse for posting this clip……

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On this day, in 1975, Bowie made it to US network TV for the first time! (Just why did it take so long for the yanks to catch up?)

Anyway, the album that made it for him was “Young Americans” not one of his greatest (in my opinion) and one that marked another of his reinventions of himself. The song was Fame and he appeared on the cher show.

In many ways “Young Americans” was a stepping stone to his next big persona, the Thin White Duke. The Thin White Duke was an extension of Thomas Jerome Newton (at least visually) the character from “The Man Who Fell to Earth”. The album “Station to Station” released a year later marks one of the highlights of Bowie’s career, of which there have been many.

“Young Americans” was recorded against a background of legal battles and torment as Bowie had sacked his manager Defries and was engaged in a bitter, and costly, legal battle to break the contract.

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Can you believe that it is 41 years, to the day that Space Oddity was released by Bowie?

Neither can I, the rest as they say is history.

Oh yes, this is the original version…………..

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On this day in 1976 Bowie gave an interview in which he said that Britain would benefit from having a dictator and that he would be good at it. He also said that Hitler was the first rock star and that Hitler drew more fans than Jagger. Then there were the stories about his Nazi salute, the detention of Bowie’s train (yes he had a train) as it crossed between Russia and Poland. Lots of Nazi memorabilia, books, etc. were confiscated.

So what was it with Bowie at the time?

Bowie had been interested in Buddhism for some time (yes, this is relevant, honest). From there he moved (descended?) into an interest in the Occult, accompanied by an ever growing consumption of cocaine.

From a general interest in the occult came painting mystic symbols on the walls of his house, burning candles, and reciting rites to protect him from the evil ones who were trying to get to him. He also began to retain his hair and nail clippings and urine in bottles in the fridge so that they could not be used in magic rituals against him. In other words serious chemical induced paranoia.

From there he became aware that the Nazis were heavily involved in the occult. (The idea that they hunted the Ark of the Covenant is not just an invention of the Indiana Jones film’s writer). It is this interest in the occult that drew him towards the Nazi symbolism. It is even possible that he got to Nazi symbols via an interest in the Kabala.

The quotes ? Not quite as they were reported at the time, it would seem, Yes he said that Britain would benefit from a dictator, a socialist none not a fascist one, he also said that he thought that he would be quite good at the job………. Hitler the first rock star? If you think of Hitler in the terms of the public rallies and adoration of the crowds, then yes, you could make some sort of comparison. However, you really have to be off your head on something to think that comparing Hitler with anything other than the spawn of the devil is a good idea.

So there you have it, paranoia, caused by ingesting the whole of Columbia’s export trade on his own, and spiralling interest in the occult, combined to encourage Bowie to make some outrageous comments and act as a cretin.

Mind you there were some upsides for Bowie. It would seem that the comments broke just before the Bowie tour reached England. Ticket sales were poor before the comments, sold out afterwards. Remember, he had previous for playing the media. There was the Hunky Dory tour, poor sales up until the “I’m Gay” interview in the music press and, hey presto!, tickets sales soar.

So, what is the truth? Probably, drugs and a descent into paranoia. If you do not inhabit your brain for a length of time you are likely to do some strange stuff.

As for the Nazi salute. I saw the clip some time ago and went to look at it again but it has been taken down on YouTube. However, there is an equally shocking clip featuring a Nazi salute by Ringo! (Or he may just be waving to his fan).

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Jan 8th was a significant day for Elvis, he was born on this day in 1935, Jan 8th 1945 he was given his first guitar, Jan 8th 1955 he released his 3rd single. Not too shabby.

So January 8th was not a bad day for Elvis, or for us music lovers as it also saw the birth of Bowie (1947), Shirley Bassey (1937), (the Dame is 10 years younger than the Dame?) and Bill Graham in 1931.

ON the other hjand January 8th has provide some lows as well. Yoko Ono released “Approximately Infinite University” in 1973.

‘Nuff Said (One for the older readers)

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]]> http://www.realrockandblues.com/on-this-day/on-this-day-elvis-lives/feed/ 0 http://www.realrockandblues.com/on-this-day/on-this-day-bowie-makes-it-to-us-tv/ http://www.realrockandblues.com/on-this-day/on-this-day-bowie-makes-it-to-us-tv/#comments Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:49:20 +0000 Phil http://www.realrockandblues.com/?p=723

It seems strange now to think that it was not until this day in 1975 that Bowie made it to national US TV. He appeared on The Cher Show singing ‘Fame’.

Looking back it is easy for us to think that Bowie’s rise to fame was easy and virtually instant but that is far from the truth. He started his first band in 1962, the Konrads. He then played in various bands and as a solo artist (using his real name of Davie Jones) until 1966 when he changed his stage name. Incredibly now, he was worried that sharing his name with one of the Monkees would harm his career. There were also at least 7 singles released under his name or with bands like The Lower Third that all sank like a stone until he released ‘The laughing Gnome’. Some kind people call this a novelty song, the rest of us call it crap.

In spite of this single, or because of it – it did reach number 6 in the UK, Bowie was signed by Deram and released a self titled album in 1967. It did not chart. Two years later he released the album ‘Space Oddity’ which reached number 16 in the US. This was to be a higher rating album in the US than The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, Aladdin Sane, and Pinups. It was not until 1974’s Diamond Dogs that Bowie broke the US market.

So an instant and trouble free rise to mega-stardom? Nah, but cream always rises to the top in the end.

The first performance on US national TV.

This is from national UK TV 2 years earlier;

And this is supposed to be his first TV appearance (it isn’t) but I just love the flares – not even Bowie could make pink flares cool.

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