1973 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

1st December 1973

   Now that I've told you everything that you could possibly want to know about hair, I'm going to move on to make-up. I've noticed quite a few of you around who seem to be doing a lot of very artistic painting on your faces! The great thing about make-up is that you can have as much fun as you like in the privacy of your own home and then wipe it straight off if you don't like the look of it or if you think it is too daring to go out in. Also you can really use make-up to suit the occasion: if you are going to a wild party then you can have a wild face, but if you are going to tea with your grandmother - well then that's probably not the time to experiment with crazy new colours.

   Most of my make-up comes from a little make-up shop in Rome which imports fantastic intensely coloured powders and creams from India. All are made from natural fruit, root and vegetable dyes. I also use white rice powder from the Tokyo equivalent to our Woolworth's. Sometimes I mix simple water colour paints with white iridescent highlighter (the kind that comes in a tube). I use Indian kohl, the creamy kind, usually in black. I line the very edge of the inside of my eyes, right along the lash line, and sometimes I smudge it a little on the outside. I use a very light liquid base, sometimes white, sometimes very light pink or yellow and I apply it with a damp sponge. Sometimes for stage I use an iridescent base, usually pure white.

   Now for the circle on my forehead... I usually use a German gold base in cake form which I get from a special make-up shop in New York.

   There is just one little point I'd like to make. All the stuff I use may sound incredibly exotic and impractical but there is no reason why you can't be tremendously creative and imaginative just with your own make-up. Why don't you have a look at your friends' make-up and if you see something that catches your fancy ask if you can have a go with it, rather than buying lots of new stuff - a lot of which might not look so good on as in the pot. Then you can get to know what does suit you and spend your precious pennies on that!

8th December 1973

   As I promised, I'm going to tell you about what make-up I wear off stage. Funny how times change, if I made a remark like that a few years ago, everybody would have been very shocked at the idea of a man wearing make-up off stage, but now it seems to be quite common-place. In fact, the whole way that men dress, the clothes they wear and their appearance has really changed considerably over the last few years. I think a lot of men have been quite influenced by the pop scene.

   Back to my make-up... I don't wear any foundation or base, just a light natural moisturiser with a little rice powder dusted on top. Even that is only for special occasions, otherwise I just leave my very light, and luckily clear, English skin bare to the elements.

   The only eye make-up I ever use off-stage is a little red eye shadow dusted on with the powder brush. Once in a while I use grey instead.

   When I go out, I add a touch of mascara and sometimes even black eye liner or kohl, and a little clear lip gloss.

   I always wear nail polish. On stage the glittery kind and off stage just natural or blue or green - only once in a while for the toes.

   I wash and blow dry my hair. For shows, I either do it myself or Susie, good old Susie does it for me, bless her. I used to use setting lotion to make it stand up in the famous Bowie look, only now it seems to have got used to the idea. It's got so well-trained into the Ziggy haircut that most of the time I just need water.

   Now I have to make a little confession. As you can imagine, I know all about make-up by now, but I sometimes get a famous make-up an called Pierre Laroche to do it for me for stage appearances and photographs. In a way it is easier to paint someone else than to paint yourself because you have a more objective view of how it looks.

   So now, finally, I think I've told you just about all there is to tell about my make-up, and next week I'll be moving onto something different.

15th December 1973

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!

29th December 1973

   Today I'm going to tell you about the Midnight Special Show that we filmed a while back at the Marquee in London. The Midnight Special is a TV programme which is on coast to coast in the States - at midnight, of course! It's a really fabulous show, and I just wish you could have seen it over here. In fact, I feel really sad that I haven't done a TV show in Britain yet, but the right opportunity just hasn't arisen.

   There wasn't much room in the Marquee, but the audience included some of you lovely people from my fan club - all you people who have gone to the trouble of joining my fan club. I hope I'll be able to do more for you in future.

   Anyway, back to the show. As well as the audience of about three hundred, I had a few friends and relations along there as well! Angie was there, of course, looking really stunning in a beautiful green chiffon dress.

   The first night that we were filming, the show started an hour late, that's the trouble about these sort of things - you run into so many technical hitches. Anyway, Angie went outside where there were some people waiting to be let in, and explained to them about the delay - but they were more interested in Angie herself than the delay. It's wonderful to see that so many of you love and admire Angie. She's really knocked out about it - and so am I.

   Cherry and Lee were there, as always adding colour and excitement to the whole event. They brought with them Wayne County, who's an incredible person. He'll really be making his mark on the pop world pretty soon.

   Reg Presley and The Troggs were there, and these people from the '60s pop scene really helped get across the atmosphere of 'Pin-Ups'. Marianne Faithfull sang a duet with me - 'I Got You Babe'.

   Ronno (Mick Ronson) was there, of course, and he outshone even himself in a really fabulous performance.

   But you know who really stole the show? Little Zowie, who was being looked after by Freddie. Zowie was really dressed for the occasion in a beige striped trouser suit. Zowie has the most wonderful blond, curly hair. In fact, altogether he's a very wonderful kid - I'm so proud of him.

Created: April 1998 © Paul Kinder

Last Updated: 3/1/99