1974 January FEBRUARY March April May June July August September October November December

MY WORLD by David Bowie A WEEKLY DIARY EXCLUSIVELY WRITTEN FOR MIRABELLE MAGAZINE

2nd February 1974

Hello again,

   Well, a couple of weeks ago I promised to tell you some more about my very good friend, Ava Cherry from The Astronettes - or rather a little bit more about the group in general. As you can all probably tell your good friend, David Bowie, is very excited about them and we've got quite a few exciting projects lined up for the future.

   I first met Ava Cherry in New York last February (on Valentine's Day) when I was playing a concert at Radio City. Somebody introduced us and I was knocked out by her. Ava has beautiful black skin and startling white hair. We talked for a long time and a couple of days later while I was still in New York, we met up again, and I discovered that she is a unique and very exciting dancer.

   Some months later, I came back to London, Ava was in Paris - she was doing ballet dancing in a show there, and also some modelling. It was at this time that I left for France myself to start working on 'Pin Ups' at The Chateau and Ava came by to see us. We made another discovery - she could really sing. Her voice is beautiful - as intriguing as her dancing - and I promised her that as soon as it was possible I would write some material for her, and record an album.

   After the sessions in France I came back to London to start work on my 'Midnight Special' show for television and realised that it would be a great opportunity to get Ava into a small group format to do some singing and dancing, and fit her into the programme. Ava called a friend of hers, Jason from New York, and I added a good and very talented friend of mine Geoff MacCormack, and The Astronettes were born.

   For the television special they were really great. Ava dancing about wildly and Geoff and Jason throwing out some great harmonies behind her. The Astronettes were in action and they impressed us all. My most immediate plan is to record an album with them. I can't tell you too much about it at the moment as we have a lot of ideas to sort out and I'm hoping to get some new songs finished for them. We're all looking forward to it!

9th February 1974

   There is one thing I really want to tell you about today... I've just bought myself a house in Kensington - that's exciting enough, but for me this house is really a dream come true. I saw it first when I was at art school, and fell in love with it. I promised myself then that if ever I became successful and rich enough, I would buy that house, and I have! It's wonderful to be able to fulfil a wish that one has had for so long. I just can't wait to move in.

   Angie loves the house too - even little Zowie gave his approval, though I'm not sure if he really knows what it's all about! He's so used to moving about that he takes it all in his stride.

   Really it's been a very exciting time lately, not just for me but for Angie, too. Have you ever heard of Jipp Jones? Well, you may think you haven't but, in fact, you know her quite well by now. That is the name that Angie is intending to use for her professional work. She is going to be doing some acting in the near future. It's something that she has wanted to do for quite a while, and suddenly everything is beginning to fall into place. She has been going over to the States and talking to various people there and now is all set for some guest appearances on television serials. She says that she isn't really intending to be a very serious actress because she won't be doing that sort of acting. But one thing I can vouch for is that she is going to be very good, on top of the fact that though I say it myself - she is going to stun everybody with her beauty. Angie studied classical ballet for quite a few years, which accounts for the beautiful way she walks and holds herself. She was thinking for a while of becoming a dancer, but then decided that there were other things she wanted to do more.

   I have so many plans for the future that I often wonder how I am going to find time to fit them all in. At the moment I am working on two musicals. One is called 'The Ziggy Stardust Show' and the other is called '1984'. I'm not quite sure what we are going to do with them. They would both make very good TV shows or stage shows and '1984' could even make a film.

16th February 1974

   I just thought I would like to tell you today about the way that I chose to finish off 1973. Well, 1973 was a really good year for your friend Mr. Bowie, and so I decided to try and thank some of the people that helped to make it so good.

   On New Year's Eve I gave a little lunch party with the help of my record company for some of the journalists who I have made friends with and worked with over the last year. I say small lunch party, but, in fact, it turned out to be rather big! I think there were about thirty people there, and even that meant missing out a lot of people who I would have loved to see.

   We met in a little restaurant in the Covent Garden area of London. Angie was abroad and unable to come, so I brought Daniella along, and also a friend of hers, Afra.

   By the time we got to the restaurant, there were already quite a few people waiting for us. We had a quick drink and then sat down for lunch at about one-thirty. I must admit - your feature writer, Candy Rose, was pretty quick off the mark finding herself a seat at the table! As soon as she saw me sit down with Daniella and Afra on my right, she installed herself next to Daniella - and thus not so far from me! In fact for some reason Afra, Daniella and Candy were the only girls present. Down the other end of the table it was more like a stag party than a mixed lunch party!

   The lunch was really delicious. Consommé followed followed by thick steaks and broccoli, and ending up with ice cream and pears.

   Everybody wanted to know about my trip to Russia, and so I told them about the impressions we had and little funny incidents that occurred. Then to go with the coffee, I had a surprise present from my record company! A plaque to commemorate having had six albums in the charts during 1973. That really was a nice New Year gift!

23rd February 1974

   The New Year seems to be well under way and your old friend Bowie has plunged into it with his usual flair. There isn't actually an awful lot for me to tell you about at the moment, as I've been working hard at the recording studios and haven't had a lot of time for much else.

   The power and energy crisis certainly seems to have been having its effects on things, and during some of the recording sessions I've had for The Astronettes everybody's been freezing. The studios have been having restrictions on heating and we've all ended up at the sessions with our winter coats, scarves and gloves on - not exactly the most inspiring of outfits for playing hot soul music, but I guess we'll manage some how.

   Talking of winter clothes prompts me to tell you about the amazing coat Freddie has designed for me in beautiful green mohair. It's full length with a big stand-up collar and I've even taking to wearing it at home I love it so much.

   Lots of funny little things seemed to have happened at home recently, not the least being one morning last week while yours truly was still fast asleep. Daniella and Ava decided between them to take up the Chinese carpet from the upstairs hall, carry it down to the garden and shampoo it. I was suddenly awoken to loud howls from poor Daniella who, having got the carpet completely jammed in the centre of the staircase, had pulled backwards sharply and ended up on her back in the hall with most of the carpet unfolding on top of her. It turned out that she wasn't hurt very much and eventually we all ended up laughing about it.

   Similarly, our entry phone at home seems to have a mind of its own and people visiting us have been experiencing many a difficulty at our doorstep. It seems that we can communicate over the speaker system with those in the street, but can't open the door to let them in. This was proved yesterday when a friend of Angie's arrived and I buzzed straight away to let her up. Ten minutes later I realised that something was wrong, and there she was still busy pushing against the downstairs door!

   Well, it looks like I've run out of space again, so I'd just like to close by thanking all of you who sent me the beautiful cards and presents for my birthday last month. I managed to put up all the cards that came to me, and as there's no twelfth night superstitions to intervene, I'm able to leave them as long as I like.

Created: July 1997 © Paul Kinder

Last Updated: 17/6/06