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 July 1974

   I almost forgot to tell you about the wonderful party I went to just a few weeks ago. It was Zowie's birthday and Marion (Zows' nanny) and Angie spared no expense in making it a really truly memorable occasion. They invited all of Zows' little friends from his nursery school, and then everyone arrived at our house at about two in the afternoon to being the festivities.

   Angie engaged the services of a clown - Uncle Dandy - who amused the kids with magic tricks. Zowie kept getting eggs pulled out from behind his ears, which, really confused Zows 'cos he knew he didn't have 'em there when he woke up in the morning. Just proves the hand is quicker than the eye, Zowie.

   Anyway, when Uncle Dandy was through with his magic he took out his big bag which was loaded with costumes and hair-pieces and make-up. He let all the kids choose the costumes they liked most, and then put wigs and make-up on them to match the costumes. Zowie looked like an Italian gypsy, very debonair and I pretended that I didn't recognise him, much to his delight.

   After a puppet show it was time to eat. Angie is not only a good cook, she's a good baker, too, and for this special occasion, she baked one knockout of a cake. It was chocolate on the inside and the sides were frosted in vanilla marshmallow icing, but the top was the really wonderful part. Angie, armed with food colouring and that delicious marshmallow icing, had painted a picture of Zowie on the top, long blond ringlets and all. After Zowie blew out all three candles, Zowie's guests had a marvellous time fighting over which one would get the marshmallow eye and nose. Sounds a bit grizzly, doesn't it, but it was all in good fun. At this point it was time to unveil the present. All the kids, mums and dads had got together weeks beforehand to discuss what would be the perfect gift from all of them to Zows. They decided on... a gorgeous bright blue tricycle. Zowie was ever so pleased - he hasn't stopped riding it yet.

   So, that was Zowie's third birthday celebration. Something he'll certainly never forget!

13th July 1974

   I'm happy to say I'm on the road again - seeing new places, new things and best of all meeting new people.

   I've just finished the Canadian part of my 'Year Of The Diamond Dogs' tour and I must say Canadian fans are vey demonstrative! During one show when I was performing one of my most dramatic songs a very pretty girl in the front row grabbed my leg and just wouldn't let go! I was getting a bit frightened at this 'leg-napping', not to mention a little off balance (standing up on one leg and singing at the same time is not one of my greatest talents). Finally the girl let go of my leg and I don't mind telling you I was quite relieved. From then on the show continued with interruptions and everyone in the audience seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit!

   Anyway, Canada is quite beautiful and Montreal is one of my favourite Canadian cities. It's full of beautiful buildings, lovely churches, tree-lined streets and actually it looks quite like a beautiful old French city.

   It happens to have fabulous restaurants, too! I can vouch for that personally.

   After one of the first shows, Angie, the band and a few MainMan people and I went out to celebrate at a quiet midnight supper. Well, that's what it started out as, anyway. I should have known that with this gang nothing stays quiet for too long!

   Everyone was so relieved that the show had been good that we were all acting a bit silly. We all had prawn appetizers - and the prawns came with their shells, heads, eyes and feet still on them, so naturally we all had to dance our prawns around on the table, introducing them to other prawns and wiggle their tentacles at everyone in sight. Of course, we all thought that was hilarious, but the waiters and the host were definitely not smiling. Finally, even we got tired of dancing prawns and decided to eat the little creatures - after cleaning them, of course.

   Anyway, we all ate, drank and had a merry old time long into the night. Now I've got more shows and many more hilarious dinners to look forward to!

20th July 1974

   Most exciting news these days has to do with one lovely lady in my life, Angie! Angie has begun work on a book, the title of which is, 'The Effect Of Inter-Galactic Travellers On Our Awareness'. That means she's writing a book about people from other planets coming to visit earth. She keeps kidding me and saying the reason she knows so much about the subject is that she lived with someone called 'Ziggy Stardust' for so long! Anyway, we're both really excited about this book and Angie is even going to lease a small work studio so she can have a few hours of uninterrupted concentration each and every day for working on this new project. I'll keep you posted on her progress.

   Now, I must tell you about the new toy which I've just acquired. Actually, calling it a toy doesn't really do it justice. It's quite a beautiful musical instrument called a harpsichord. If you don't know a harpsichord is, now is as a good a time as any to learn. The harpsichord looks like a piano, but actually was invented before the piano was invented. It has keys like a piano, but when you strike the keys, quills inside the harpsichord pluck the strings and produce the notes. The tones are shorter and more abrupt than those made by a piano and some people think the notes produced are too tinny.

   I think the harpsichord is wonderful just because of the strange sounding notes it produces, and also because of the time in history it conjures up in my mind. When I play it, I can just picture women in elegant brocade ball gowns dancing with men in powdered wigs at some royal get together.

   Back to earthly things. I've gone and done it once again. I've changed my hair colour. What once was deepest red is now more like a strawberry blond thanks to the dye bottle. I couldn't stop there, though, oh no, not yours truly! I also have a bright, bright blond streak on the right side of my head and I must say, I think it does suit me. I've also taken to wearing a new side parting in my hair for a change. I don't know how long this new look will last, but it will be fun for a while, I'm sure.

27th July 1974

   I saw the most amazing sight just a few weeks ago. I was walking around Times Square, doing a bit of sight-seeing, just like a typical tourist (Times Square is sort of like Piccadilly Circus in London) when what did I spy from the corner of my eye (oh, I'm such a poet) but a huge, and I mean H-U-G-E, billboard displaying a gigantic picture of my old mate Mick Ronson!

   This picture of Mick - actually it was a very large painting - stood six-storeys tall and stretched right round the street corner. Well, the dimensions alone would have been enough to make passers-by stand up and take notice, but what made the sight even more amazing is that Micky-Baby (that's the nickname all his friends really call him) was totally shirtless all 120 feet of him. This I must say was a very daring sight for the middle of New York City. People aren't used to seeing gorgeous, blond-haired, muscle men posing right in the centre of Times Square!

   Of course, I wasn't a bit surprised to see old Micky-Baby up there in all his glory, 'cos I knew that our company, MainMan, was putting up this billboard to advertise Mick's album 'Slaughter On Tenth Avenue'. (The next person to be featured in this special spot is yours truly).

   Anyway, as I promised Mick, I took a pic of this work of art and sent it to him in England.

   I spoke to Mick right after he received my pic and he had to admit he was a bit embarrassed with all the attention this billboard has been getting. What most people don't know is that Mick is really quite shy! People have even accused him of being conceited and stand-offish but the truth is, he's just a little bit bashful until he really gets to know you. Once he does get to know you and like you, he's one of the warmest, most friendly, human beings in the world - and that's a fact!

   Right now, Mick's hard at work in the studio recording a brand new album. He tells me that he's putting all the songs he's done in his solo concerts (that are not included on his first album) on this new one. I've heard him do some of these songs and they're just fabulous! This album should give us all something to look forward to!

   Speaking of concerts, I'm so pleased with the way mine are going that I might even do some of them in England. That's not definite yet, of course, but you'll be the first to know when it is.

Created: July 1997 © Paul Kinder

Last Updated: 18/4/26