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 March 1974

Hello again,

   I'm going to tell you this week a little bit about my involvement with Lulu, who at the moment is exciting us all very much. Honestly she's such a great little artiste - I can still remember being in love with her performance of 'Shout', a record she made at the very beginning of her career when she was only about sixteen, and sang with a group called The Luvvers. She has such a raw, earthy voice and I soon became very keen to hear how she would turn out singing one of my songs.

   I met up with Lulu at the beginning of last summer, when she came to a party in London that was being held for me. We started talking, and I told her how much I admired her voice and we discussed the possibilities of doing some recording together. I was leaving for a recording studio in France - The Chateau, to begin work on 'Pin Ups' and Lulu said that she would come down there as soon as she had a weekend free. The work was extremely rewarding and we eventually recorded Lu singing two of my songs, 'The Man Who Sold The World' and 'Watch That Man'. Ronno was, of course, at the sessions working on 'Pin Ups', and he soon became very involved in the Lulu tracks, adding all the guitar phrases and musical ideas at which he is so masterful.

   We're all very, very pleased to see the single get Lulu the great success she deserves. Her record company threw a reception for her at the Les Ambassadeurs in London to celebrate its release. Due to my recording commitments I was unable to get there, but Ronno and Suzie went along with Corinne from my office. Lu was dressed in a beautiful white suit.

   Ronno is going through a very exciting time at the moment, as so many things are happening for him at the same time. He has just acquired a fabulous mansion in the country, complete with swimming pool and tennis courts, and is planning to move into it as soon as possible. He has also released his first solo album and single, and has been spending a lot of time recently working on them. Ronno's sister, Maggie, has also been in London and you can hear her singing back-ups on some of the tracks for his album.

   I think that that's about all I have space for this week.

30th March 1974 - (David Bowie Special)

'I'm A Rebel!'

   Now I've written the title down, I don't really know how to follow it up. I suppose I got the idea for this piece from the title of my latest single release 'Rebel Rebel', which I'm pleased to see you like.

   There's quite a special story attached to the song and I'm going to tell you a bit about it now. It's only the second song I've written specifically as a single over the last couple of years. The other one was 'Jean Genie'. That may sound a bit strange, but at the time of 'Jean Genie' I was in the States, on which turned out to be my last tour there. Then the song happened. The inspiration came to me from various situations I was experiencing in New York and I wanted so much to put them all into a song.

   Getting back to 'Rebel Rebel' it was all completed in three days. Some time at the end of last December, I came up with the song, idea and arrangement for it and I felt that I had to get it recorded immediately. That's the kind of way I work. I must do things as soon as they occur to me otherwise a great deal of the fire and originality gets completely lost. Unlike 'Pin Ups', which we had a terrific time recording in the Chateau in France, 'Rebel Rebel' was cut in Trident Studios in good old London town.

   There's something about the record I'd like to ask you. Has the thought occurred to you that the song is slightly Stones-ish? A few people have come up to me and said that they think it has the same kind of feeling as some of the glorious singles that Mick and his gang got together. I think that's a tribute, because to me Mick and the Stones are still tops.

   Even during The Stones' last appearance here I just had to follow the band around as much as possible.

   Getting back to me talking about being a rebel - and that's what this piece is supposed to be about, your parents probably regard me as some sort of crazy fella so they find great difficulty in understanding. I can fully accept their feelings, so let's hope that given time they will come to understand the beauty and depth of feeling that goes into everything I do. Believe it or not, I do get get letters regularly from middle-aged mums and dads who seem to understand and fully appreciate the theatrics that go to make up the complete David Bowie.

   But really there are certain faces of your good friend Bowie that aren't at all rebellious. I have got a super family life not only with Angie and Zowie, who, of course, are the closest people to me, but also with everyone who works in the Bowie organisation because they're all considered as being part of my family.

   Now flashing back nearly three years, I suppose I was thought of as some kind of rebel when I came out with 'Hunky Dory', which is still one of my favourite albums. That was the first time I was able to get across ideas and conceptions to you, the public, which I had been working hard on for a long time. It was tremendous to be able to release them on you, but at the same time it was also worrying to a certain extent because I was one hundred per cent sure that you would accept them. When I first started wearing dresses there was a big outcry about them, which I really couldn't understand. There doesn't seem anything wrong to me in any guy wearing something which is both fashionable and comfortable. And if you cast your mind back in time you'll see that frocks or dresses were commonly accepted on men many hundreds of years ago.

   Likewise with make-up. Stage make-up had been used widely by performers long before I had a chance to display it, but I guess I took the idea a little further by wearing my make-up where and when I pleased.

   Now I've spoken about why I might be considered a rebel as far as my looks are concerned, I'd better say a few words about certain mental attitudes I deeply believe in.

   Whatever I've been quoted as saying in the past, and I really don't want to go into all that now, I believe in most sincerely. If that's considered being rebellious, then I suppose I am. It's just that I'm the kind of person who doesn't believe in hiding what they really think behind a mask. It's not that I particularly want to influence you all to my way of thinking - but it is important to know that you all accept me for being me.

   I suppose my attitudes to life can be summed up best by my approach to flying. Although this is obviously considered the quickest and most efficient way of travelling, I personally find that it is not worth the mental stresses to me and, therefore, although still achieving the same destination, I will find an alternative route and carry it out in my own good time. This basically, is the simplest way of explaining the Bowie code and lifestyle. I feel that I can always achieve exactly what I want in life, but it will be in my own way.

   Well, there you are! You can call me a born rebel if you want, but I'll go on loving you all in the same way for ever.