“They pulled in just behind the fridge”
Perhaps it doesn't seem like a huge deal these days, but David Bowie gracing the front cover of a Sunday supplement for the first time in the UK was indeed a big deal, forty five years ago today.
The publishers of The Sunday Times Magazine clearly thought so too, with music press adverts and posters publicising the 20th July 1975 edition of the popular weekend mag.
Titled THE BOWIE ODYSSEY, the cover story was a five-page colour article, including rare pictures and an interview with Tina Brown.
History doesn’t record how popular the edition was with regular readers of the magazine, but for Bowie fans it was an absolute treat.
For a start, that Steve Schapiro cover was the first glimpse fans had of this latest Bowie look, not to mention it being the first Bowie/Schapiro cover anywhere in the world.
Also, the content was stunning. A double page Sukita shot with previously unseen images of The Lower Third and a ticket for DAVID BOWIE AND THE BUZZ at Loughton Youth Centre, on Friday 15th July, 1966.
Then there was the beautifully written article and interview by Tina Brown, giving a snapshot tease of life at manager Michael Lippman’s home on Sunset Strip. Here’s the intro:
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
David Bowie had just breezed into Hollywood with a sidekick called Geoffrey. Bowie is dressed in brown plus-fours and braces, his short red orange hair tucked into a cloth cap. “This,” he explains in rapid cockney, “is my up-all-night look. Please note pallor of skin and trembling of hands.” He strikes a match on his trousers and lights a cigarette. “All right, darlin’. Where shall I begin?”
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
And then there was this fairly inaccurate prediction regarding his own future in music:
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
“Me and rock and roll have parted company,“ he declares after a preliminary swivel on his chair. Lippman, surreptitiously patrolling the passage outside, appears in the doorway, his face creased with anxiety. “Don't worry,“ Bowie reassures, “I'll still make albums with love and with fun, but my effect is finished. I'm very pleased. I think I've caused quite enough rumpus for someone who's not even convinced he's a good musician.” He puts on a pair of giant auburn spectacles. “Now I'm going to be a film director.”
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
Thankfully for us, his effect was far from finished, but in 1975 it was a very scary thought.
We’ll leave you with another distressing observation Tina made in the feature:
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
In the living room (decor - Hollywood Hispanola) a dozen copies of Bowie's latest LP, Young Americans, are stacked. The sleeve features him looking as fresh-faced as a West Point cadet, while a cursory glance at the “Gimme Gimme’s” and “Sho’ nuffs” on the lyric sheet reveal that inside, for the first time, Bowie is giving Soul Music a whirl.
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
Lyric sheet?! What lyric sheet? There was no such thing in the UK edition of Young Americans, though it did appear a few years later, long after fans had struggled with “fridge” versus “bridge” and other conundrums.
#BowieSchapiro #BowieSundayTimesMagazine