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David Bowie: I Was There
During his lifetime, his record sales, estimated at 140 million worldwide, made David Bowie one of the world’s bestselling music artists. This book provides a fan’s-eye account from over 400 fans with their stories and experiences of seeing David Bowie live in concert. As well as fan’s accounts, the book features contributions from musicians who worked with Bowie live (Mike Garson, Earl Slick, Peter Frampton) and in the studio, soundmen, roadies, photographers and lifelong Bowie fans such as Mark Radcliffe, Marc Riley and Bob Harris. During his early years from 1962 until 1970 Bowie played over 600 shows around the UK as a solo artist, (as Davie Jones) and as a member of The Konrads, The King Bees, The Manish Boys, The Lower Third and The Buzz. From the 70’s, Bowie played 12 major world tours, which saw him playing over 1,000 shows in total.
- GenresMusic
443 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 14, 2023
my dad's in it
November 25, 2017
It wasn’t just that I contributed to this: I was a contributor because I, along with all the other contributors, feel blessed to have seen David Bowie, especially during his Ziggy Stardust period, and only regret that I never had a chance encounter or an opportunity to meet the man in person as some of my luckier fellow contributors had.
Some of my favourite anecdotes were often to be found in the longer or quirkier entries where there was some sort of longer story than just recalling the night’s playlist. For instance, Carinthia West’s and the story of how Bowie nearly played at the Elephant Fayre in Cornwall (p216) or Barry Cain’s introduction to Bowie via his girlfriend. I could relate to Jasmine Storm’s besottedness (p231) as well as Jenny Knowles (p304) who summed up the difference between Ziggy concerts (although she never actually went) and her experience of his concert in 1990 at Man City’s Maine Road: ‘...it was like being slapped with a wet, smelly fish, it was so impersonal...I should have known any magic that I felt as a young girl couldn’t be recaptured by a massive stadium where your idol is a pin-prick…’ And DJ Pete Mitchell’s (p317) first encounters as a paperboy and then doing an interview with Bowie many years later and the misunderstanding with the rare copy of one of his original singles by Davy Jones and The Lower Third – back luck Pete, but I’m sure it couldn’t have gone to a better owner! Matt Sims (p 321) the ordinary guy among a load of VIPs who Bowie stopped to chat with. Tifany Milosevic ((p340) describing that Bowie love – she got backstage and he even signed his name for her on a bit of paper, leaning on her back to do his signature. ‘I didn’t let myself really fall in love with anyone for a long time, and even when I did it never worked out, my love life was a mess for years (yes, David, I blame you. Damn you for setting such high standards)….’ Curtis McFee (p354) who thought he was there at the Phoenix Festival 1997, but only for a short time, only to discover that he was there for the whole set after all (except the encore)!, Neil Cossar (the editor of the book and whose idea for the book it was), Mark Reed’s account of Bowie at Glastonbury in 2000: ‘By the end of the night, Bowie had silenced his doubters and won over the critics and the naysayers...it was amongst his defining performances: Michael Eavis still describes his performance as his best Glastonbury moment of all time.’ and Mark Radcliffe’s chance encounter (p401) along with Marc Riley.
Filled with pictures, playlists and other memorabilia, I learned even more about the great man through many of these wonderful anecdotes, showing just how many lives he touched. From (extra)ordinary fans to personal friends, young and old, spanning the generations, they all describe his warmth, his down to earth humour and personable nature.
My own contribution was what I’d written on my blog as a tribute to Mr Bowie after his death. In hindsight, I should have chosen the words to be lifted from my blog more carefully as my entry is cut short rather abruptly in the book. This is how I ended it on the blog:
“You have always been there in our lives, doing something, pushing the boundaries. But still we could not predict you. You knew when you made Blackstar and Lazarus. You knew the effect it would have on us. Mysterious, enigmatic and one step ahead in death as in life. Always full of surprises. And you kept one more for your departure. We should have predicted you would use death as another art form. It seems obvious with hindsight, only most of us don't have the foresight. But it is one thing to enact death, when it is distant and far-off, quite another when it is happening. How brave, how poignant.
We thought you were immortal. But time takes a cigarette, his trick is you and me, boy. In the end, we are all stardust. Ashes to ashes. Planet earth is blue, mourning you. Part of my past, our collective past, has died with you. Your passing has made us all too aware of our own mortality.
Yet part of you will always be immortal. Isn't that why we bequeath our art? You always will be a legend. Your music, your legacy, it will always be. You were more that a rock star: you were an innovator, a musician, a poet, a philospher, a style icon, a trailblazer, a risk-taker, a visionary, not quite of this earth.
Goodnight Starman.”
And strangely, after finishing the draft for this, there were some drunks outside singing ‘Starman’, of all things!
Some of my favourite anecdotes were often to be found in the longer or quirkier entries where there was some sort of longer story than just recalling the night’s playlist. For instance, Carinthia West’s and the story of how Bowie nearly played at the Elephant Fayre in Cornwall (p216) or Barry Cain’s introduction to Bowie via his girlfriend. I could relate to Jasmine Storm’s besottedness (p231) as well as Jenny Knowles (p304) who summed up the difference between Ziggy concerts (although she never actually went) and her experience of his concert in 1990 at Man City’s Maine Road: ‘...it was like being slapped with a wet, smelly fish, it was so impersonal...I should have known any magic that I felt as a young girl couldn’t be recaptured by a massive stadium where your idol is a pin-prick…’ And DJ Pete Mitchell’s (p317) first encounters as a paperboy and then doing an interview with Bowie many years later and the misunderstanding with the rare copy of one of his original singles by Davy Jones and The Lower Third – back luck Pete, but I’m sure it couldn’t have gone to a better owner! Matt Sims (p 321) the ordinary guy among a load of VIPs who Bowie stopped to chat with. Tifany Milosevic ((p340) describing that Bowie love – she got backstage and he even signed his name for her on a bit of paper, leaning on her back to do his signature. ‘I didn’t let myself really fall in love with anyone for a long time, and even when I did it never worked out, my love life was a mess for years (yes, David, I blame you. Damn you for setting such high standards)….’ Curtis McFee (p354) who thought he was there at the Phoenix Festival 1997, but only for a short time, only to discover that he was there for the whole set after all (except the encore)!, Neil Cossar (the editor of the book and whose idea for the book it was), Mark Reed’s account of Bowie at Glastonbury in 2000: ‘By the end of the night, Bowie had silenced his doubters and won over the critics and the naysayers...it was amongst his defining performances: Michael Eavis still describes his performance as his best Glastonbury moment of all time.’ and Mark Radcliffe’s chance encounter (p401) along with Marc Riley.
Filled with pictures, playlists and other memorabilia, I learned even more about the great man through many of these wonderful anecdotes, showing just how many lives he touched. From (extra)ordinary fans to personal friends, young and old, spanning the generations, they all describe his warmth, his down to earth humour and personable nature.
My own contribution was what I’d written on my blog as a tribute to Mr Bowie after his death. In hindsight, I should have chosen the words to be lifted from my blog more carefully as my entry is cut short rather abruptly in the book. This is how I ended it on the blog:
“You have always been there in our lives, doing something, pushing the boundaries. But still we could not predict you. You knew when you made Blackstar and Lazarus. You knew the effect it would have on us. Mysterious, enigmatic and one step ahead in death as in life. Always full of surprises. And you kept one more for your departure. We should have predicted you would use death as another art form. It seems obvious with hindsight, only most of us don't have the foresight. But it is one thing to enact death, when it is distant and far-off, quite another when it is happening. How brave, how poignant.
We thought you were immortal. But time takes a cigarette, his trick is you and me, boy. In the end, we are all stardust. Ashes to ashes. Planet earth is blue, mourning you. Part of my past, our collective past, has died with you. Your passing has made us all too aware of our own mortality.
Yet part of you will always be immortal. Isn't that why we bequeath our art? You always will be a legend. Your music, your legacy, it will always be. You were more that a rock star: you were an innovator, a musician, a poet, a philospher, a style icon, a trailblazer, a risk-taker, a visionary, not quite of this earth.
Goodnight Starman.”
And strangely, after finishing the draft for this, there were some drunks outside singing ‘Starman’, of all things!
December 20, 2017
Disclaimer: I am one of the contributors to this book with a David Bowie story.
It's difficult to review a book that features you as a contributor, even if it's only one page out of hundreds. The book offers anecdotes, stories, and tales of people's dealings with David Bowie, even though many were like mine - from the audience. The stories range from "eh" to "fantastic" and the book does meet its goal - you learn the impact Bowie had on a wide variety of people and you learn about Bowie. It's a great book if you're a fan of Bowie or of rock music. You definitely get a feel for what it's like to be a rock star from reading all of the stories.
It's difficult to review a book that features you as a contributor, even if it's only one page out of hundreds. The book offers anecdotes, stories, and tales of people's dealings with David Bowie, even though many were like mine - from the audience. The stories range from "eh" to "fantastic" and the book does meet its goal - you learn the impact Bowie had on a wide variety of people and you learn about Bowie. It's a great book if you're a fan of Bowie or of rock music. You definitely get a feel for what it's like to be a rock star from reading all of the stories.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews