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

6th April 1974

Hello again,

   I hope that everything is well with you and that 1974 is swinging along the way that you would like. I seem to have had a very busy time again recently and have been on the receiving end of quite a few more business awards, both in this country and abroad.

   It's always a thrill, of course, to pick up an award for anything - and it seems that your friend Bowie is reaping more than his fair share at the moment.

   Disc, which I am quite sure you have seen or read at some time or another, came up with their music poll awards for 1974 and I was nominated top in five sections. I still find awards very flattering, and the magazine contacted Angie to see if she would like to go along to the presentation and give out all the trophies. Unfortunately, we had all arranged to go to Holland on that date, as I had another award to collect there - a statuette called The Edison Award. This was presented to me for being the most popular foreign artiste. Having been buried in the recording studios for so long the excuse for a trip to Holland was just what I needed, and so Angie and I and a few friends all travelled over and had ourselves quite a time. I'll tell you more about that next week though.

   For the Disc awards Andra and Fiona from my office went along to collect them on my behalf and keep them safe. I have also received a Swedish trophy, called the Golden Ear award which turns out to be a very macabre looking affair consisting of an ear resting in a coffin - very nice, too.

   I thought I'd also give a quick mention this week to Dana Gillespie, for a long time a good friend of mine and doing very well for herself, too. She's been appearing in The National Theatre Company's version of 'The Tempest', in a new Ken Russell film about the life of Mahler as well as coming up with a very striking album. The single from it 'Weren't Born A Man' seemed to run into a little controversy, which seemed to me unnecessary. But the office has been receiving tons of fan mail on her behalf already, including letters from people in offices who want her pin-up for their office walls, and generally turning Dana into the most sought after sex symbol of recent years. There you are then - and I realised her potential a long time ago.

   Take care.

13th April 1974

   Well, I promised you last week that I would tell you about my recent trip to Amsterdam where I went to collect The Edison Award - a statuette presented to me as outstanding foreign performer. It was all great fun really and, of course, I travelled overland with Angie and little Zowie.

   We stayed at the hotel where the award was being presented, and we all found it very attractive. The dining room of the hotel looked out over one of the canals that make Amsterdam so beautiful, and we spent lots of time just sitting there gazing at the water. The weather was fine and sunny which, of course, made things even better. But, unfortunately, I had a little trouble with my eye which had started watering quite a bit shortly after I arrived.

   By the time of the actual presentation, I had to wear a patch over my eye - which, of course, didn't distract from my natural good looks - and I wore green dungarees and a pair of high brown boots. Angie looked very stunning, really sophisticated in a chic beige dress with a roll neck and a super swirly skirt.

   We spent one morning looking around the shops and we also took a trip on one of the canals which really delighted Zowie. He thinks we should have our own little canal to boat on back at home in London.

   While I was there, some Dutch friends had realised that I am very interested in football and had made me up a special pair of pyjamas in the colours of Ajax - one of their football teams - which are red and white. They were beautifully made, and coming as a complete surprise they made a lovely present.

   Just to finish up with, I also found an excellent recording studio while I was there, and regular readers of this column will know what that means to your friend Bowie. As soon as I saw it I realised the possibilities of doing some recording there as everything about the studios and their situation really appealed to me.

   Anyway, I think that's about all I've time for at the moment so, take care.

20th April 1974

   Hello again,

   Well, I was telling you only a couple of weeks back about the energies Ronson was putting into getting himself into shape for his first concerts at London's Rainbow Theatre. I forgot to mention at the time that MainMan, my company, now has its own film production department and a whole crew of film staff headed by the lovely Cherry Vanilla. Well, they all flew into London to film the concert as part of a documentary film that is being made on Mr. Ronson.

   Angie and I ordered up a couple of bouquets of flowers and sent them through to Ronno's dressing room, to arrive just before the first show. And although I went along, I kept myself very well-hidden as it really was Ronson's night - and I certainly didn't want to distract from that at all.

   I eventually settled myself in the projection room, and watched the concert mainly from there. Ronno really is incredible, and although I knew he was probably going to perform one of my songs I was really knocked out when he suddenly broke into 'Moonage Daydream' - he certainly performed it magnificently, and I found myself jumping up and down just like the people in the audience.

   To get back to the documentary film for a moment after the concerts the film crew took Mick back up to Hull, his home town, and did some shooting there. Apparently it was really great, and Mick was left to wander round all his old haunts - just bumping into people and places that he had grown up with as a child. It's obviously going to make a really interesting film, and after it was all finished everyone came back to London for a celebration dinner at memos. That also was something else, with everyone really celebrating in style.

   Mick and his personal assistant, Suzie, sat at the head of the table, just ordering whatever they fancied, and Cherry ate her way through two enormous tubs of peppermint ice-cream, making everyone feel quite sick. It really is a wonderful feeling after a very busy and important couple of weeks, to suddenly be able to relax and really let yourself go.

27th April 1974

   So much has been going on in my exciting life lately that really I don't know where to start.

   The most important thing as far as I'm concerned is the fact that we've nearly finished recording my new album. At the time of going to press there's no actual title for the LP, but we hope to have it out sometime in May. I really feel good about having this news about the album for you because I feel like I've been going on for so long in my columns about the great amount of recording I've been doing, and now at last you'll be able to hear it for yourself. So hope you like it.

   Angie wants me to tell you about the must incredible dinner party we had at our new London house recently. There were eight and a half people there (including Zowie) and so Angie was busy in the kitchen from early morning. Do you remember when I toured Japan last year? Angie was here, too, and managed to pick up some authentic recipes for the most delicious dishes you've ever tasted. Although she's tried out a few of them on Zowie and myself over the past few months, this was the first opportunity she had of really displaying them to a collection of our closest fiends.

   By the looks on their faces everyone enjoyed the meal tremendously and yet again I was knocked out at her ability to not only make the food, but also to appear at the last moment looking if she'd never been near a kitchen!

   Because of all my recording commitments I haven't had that much time to get out and about to see various films and shows. The other day, though, I managed to get along to the Monty Python stage show which was held at The Drury Lane Theatre. It's one of my very favourite TV programmes, so I couldn't wait to see what the zany group would get up to on stage. Needless to say it was a marvellous evening and it did me a lot of good to sit back, relax and laugh loudly. Next week I'll tell you about a couple of the hilarious incidents that happened in the show.

   Till then be good to yourself.

---

Created: July 1997 © Paul Kinder

Last Updated: 6/5/06