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A WEEKLY DIARY EXCLUSIVELY WRITTEN FOR MIRABELLE MAGAZINE
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1974 January February March April May June July AUGUST September October November December |
A WEEKLY DIARY EXCLUSIVELY WRITTEN FOR MIRABELLE MAGAZINE
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3rd August 1974
This week I'm going to tell you about one of my concerts in July at Madison Square Garden, New York City. The first one was on a Friday night and there was the loveliest red sunset over Central Park and the West Side of Manhattan - and with a nine p.m. show starting time, I got to see it all!
I sat quietly and alone for almost an hour staring out of my hotel window, sort of meditating. I really needed it, too, because I must say that for the very first time in my whole career, I felt what can only be termed as 'scared stiff'. I'm not quite sure why. Certainly I've played in large arenas before and at a time in my career where fright would certainly have seemed to be expected. But on that particular night I got a very bad case of the 'jitters'.
Well, the sun went down behind the Manhattan skyscrapers, and I slipped back into reality when my friend Corinne came to get me. I swallowed hard, had a look in the mirror to make sure I was there(!) and followed her out of the hotel suite. But I forgot all about my nerves when I saw Angie and Dana standing in the hallway waiting for the lift. They looked gorgeous!
Then we went to the hall and the ladies went to their seats, and I went to my dressing room where, once again, I was alone and scared.
Then suddenly I began to hear a trickle of recorded sounds. I was escorted out of the dressing-room and, like a giant tidal wave of sounds, I heard the roar of 15,000 faithful fans.
When I stepped onto the stage, I freaked out! There was absolutely nothing but blackness in front of me - a giant wall of roaring blackness. For some reason, the way Jules had the lights set, I couldn't even see the first row - and me with a rare case of nerves! Well, the roar continued and the music was good - but my voice just wasn't coming out right. So I just danced more than usual, and thank goodness the crowd seemed to be pleased.
I made up my mind that the next show on Saturday night was going to knock 'em dead! I hurried out of the theatre, feeling a bit depressed, changed my clothes and went to a little MainMan family type party at the Plaza. Mick Jagger and Bette Midler arrived, and very soon I was in a relaxed state. I laughed myself silly that I should ever be afraid of anything. Then I took Angie by the hand, threw kisses goodnight and went home to get a good night's sleep and to dream about the nightmare that really wasn't.
I'm just recovering from the most amazing birthday party - and the guest of honour at this party was none other than my loving wife, Angie! That's right - it was Angie's 25th birthday and we've been celebrating up a storm! Angie's always arranged marvellous 'special occasion' celebrations for friends of hers, so this year all of MainMan decided to do something extra-special for Angie!We made it a complete surprise - Angie never suspected that we were planning anything for her. And so when she walked into where the festivities were being held, there was a look of genuine astonishment on her face.
Okay, I'll tell the story right from the beginning. Angie's come out to be with me while I'm doing my dates - quite thoughtful, really 'cos Angie's modelling assignments have been keeping her really busy. Plus, she's been helping her friend, Dana, in her modelling gigs. Dana respects Angie's advice in matters of make-up and fashion and so Angie's been letting Dana in on some of her tricks! Angie's also sending out press releases about Dana's activities and, along with MainMan, is helping to shape Dana's career.
Anyway, I convinced Angie that what she needed was a bit of a holiday and to spend it with me. All the while, I was making preparations for a birthday bash. Zee, the president of MainMan, rented a huge restaurant for the night, planned the menu and invited all the guests. When the night of her birthday came, I told Angie we'd go out for a quiet little dinner. We walked into the restaurant, which at this point was pitch black, started for a table when - all of a sudden - the lights went up and everybody in the room yelled "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANGIE!"
There were people from MainMan specially imported for the occasion; friends of Angie's from Hollywood and another very special guest, Alice Cooper, who turned out to be the life and soul of the party.
Anyway, before we knew it, the champagne was flowing, the music was playing and everyone was having a marvellous time. We talked to Alice for quite a while and discovered that he's not at all like the person you see on stage. He's very sweet, and not at all scary.
Everyone danced and sang the night away, and made a big ritual out of Angie, cutting her birthday cake. Angie was so pleased that we remembered that chocolate with white icing was her favourite. So pleased, in fact, that she managed to eat most of the massive structure all by herself!
I've just received the most exciting news - and I really must share it with you. My album 'Diamond Dogs' has just been certified gold in America! That means that in the States alone I've sold over a million copies - much cause for celebration! And speaking about celebrating - I've been doing quite a bit of that!My designer, Freddie, has been over here getting together a whole new wardrobe for me. When he's not hard at work at the drawing board, he's busy being shown around all the New York hotspots.
The other night we went to Madison Square Garden to see a really wild Latin music festival.
I knew Latin music was popular in New York, but I had no idea just how popular! What started out calmly enough, 20,000 people sitting listening to sambas and swaying with the music, soon turned into the most incredible free-for-all. As the music got faster and hotter the audience got wilder and wilder, and by midshow there wasn't one person left in his seat. Everyone, just everyone, that includes Freddie and me, was in the aisles dancing to that Latin beat. If you think people go a bit mad at rock concerts, you wouldn't believe your eyes or ears at something like this!
Freddie thought it was absolutely fantastic and is now a genuine Latin music fanatic, too! For someone who's usually so super-cool, this is rather a dramatic change. Freddie also couldn't keep his eyes off the costumes that the musicians and singer were wearing. Talk about glitter! By the end of the night we were just about blinded by the sequined jackets the men were wearing. Now I know where the glitter look really started!
I've also acquired a taste for the cultural side of life. I've been to the ballet. Admittedly, I've never been an active ballet fan, but I must say I was really quite impressed with this one. It was Nureyev dancing in 'Sleeping Beauty'.
Of course you all know the fairy tale about the princess who falls asleep for a hundred years and can only be awakened by the kiss of a handsome prince - well, I must say, I was carried away by the romance of it all. I've also never seen anything as beautifully and gracefully performed. And to think that those dancers train for years and actually dedicated their lives to adding beauty to the world. It is really quite a stirring experience. See what a little culture can do to a person?
Well, enough of this, I really must be going now, so until next time -
24th August 1974
I really must tell you about my very favourite city to perform in the whole of the United States of America! It's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - and it's one place that has always been so good to me that I've gained a special kind of attachment for it.
Last time I appeared there instead of playing in a huge arena, I was welcomed back to the Tower Theatre. It's a great old local movie theatre, seating only about 3,000 - and has such wonderful sound quality and vibrations.
And during that particular visit to Philadelphia, I was pleased to find that my very good friend, Ava Cherry, was recording there, too. So I got to see her smiling face and snow white hair every night back-stage, before and after the show.
You may already know that Angie's been spending a lot of time in London just recently. She's working on a 'secret' project - yes it's even secret to me! Angie has also been re-organising all the MainMan fan clubs so that you will be receiving much better attention in the near future - and some very selective and valuable facts on Zowie, Dana, Ronno, Angie and yours truly.
Every time Angie and I are apart I really do miss her, but I also understand that she has to do her own 'thing' - and I think we've found that the key to our happy marriage is the freedom of expression we allow each other.
Although one's natural instinct is often to possess, we must realise that to prevent or deter each other's individual growth is to prevent or deter the growth of the relationship. Many people with old-fashioned ideals and habits may view our marriage as something bizarre - but when I sing the words in 'Space Oddity' (and by the way, I still include this song in my shows) "tell my wife I love her very much..." Well, I mean them as much now as I did when I first wrote that line for Angie, even though she's now often oceans away.
Back on the work scene... I've almost completed work on my next album, and I should soon be starting on part two of my current U.S.A. tour.
During my last tour I really had to keep to a very tight schedule - and that was just another reason why I was so pleased to be in Philadelphia again. Let me explain... I appeared there six nights in a row - and with the kind of schedule I'd been keeping to, staying in the same place for just about a week was like a rest cure!
On that particular tour I lost a few pounds in weight and suffered from a bad sore throat for a while. But apart from that everything went fine.
I also had a short holiday at the gorgeous Cherry Vanilla's beach house on Fire Island, and that break did me a power of good!
GOOD NEWS! I've just finished what I think has to be one of my best albums yet! I still can't talk about it too much - it's bad luck, you know. But everyone who's heard the first tracks thinks it's going to be fantastic!It's not easy recording an album - it takes months really. I've been working on this one since the end of my last tour. First, I had to choose the tracks I wanted on the album. Just finding the right songs to make up an entire album takes a lot of thought and that's only the beginning.
Then I went to all the musicians who would be working on the album to discuss all the arrangements with them. Did you know that each part, the guitar, the bass, the piano, percussion and brass has to be written before you even step into the studio? Well, it's true, and when that's completed you can finally step into the studio for the recording to be done. That's the most complicated process, and it's done piece by piece. One day we'll do just the musicians' part and get that perfect, and then the next day the tape will be played back for me so that I can add the vocal parts to the original tape. This is done a few times and when it's finally completed the brass is added and other various sound effects.
After the record is actually recorded, it's up to the engineer, the producer, and, in this case, me. We all have to see that it's mixed perfectly, that the music sounds good with the vocals and so on. Does all this make sense? It really is quite a satisfying experience when the final product is completed.
When we finished this album, the crew gave me a surprise party at the studio. All the Mainman staff attended, plus a few close friends.
We all wound up toasting each other with champagne, and complimenting each other on what a good job we'd done. Thank goodness that studio was soundproofed! The din we all made would have disturbed the whole neighbourhood otherwise. I must say that it's great fun recording an album - but it's even more fun finishing it. I haven't got all my friends together under one roof for a long time and I really enjoyed it!
What's in the future? Well, a new tour, and new stories to tell, I hope. As I think I've already told you, I hope that before the end of the year is here, I'll be doing a concert in England so all my friends back home can see me. Anyway I'll keep you posted...
| Created: July 1997 © Paul Kinder | Last Updated: 4/5/98 |