I find this so amazing -- here he is at 17 and already thumbing his nose at the "norm". David Bowie was most assuredly one-of-a-kind. We'll miss you, David!
You get a sense of the old world in juxtaposition right at the end of this piece with that jaunty, violin 1950s romantic film-type music that must have been doing young peoples' heads in by 1964.
I'm from Bromley originally and this is how I first heard of the man who became David Bowie. I grew up with him always being there, playing music everywhere you went. Was one of the Ziggy fans, my boyfriend at the time, a photographic assistant who emulated him was often mistaken for him. What a time to have lived through. :(
+Cristina K - We are of the generation, in our 60s and 70s, to mourn and grieve the death of the pioneer rockers of the '60s and '70s who exploded electric rock on the world and who happily reached retirement age. So many didn't. Thank you for sharing the memory. It is a close connection for you. Well, Chuck Berry is 89 and still performing.
+Cristina K i am also from Bromley and was always a fan i remember this time very well and as you said his music was everywhere, my family also lived in Cannon road for while four doors away from where David lived & I attended the same school in Oakley road ,what a time indeed.
Nice to hear from other Bromley people. I'm in my early 20s and when I was younger I lived in the house right next door to Bowie's childhood homes on Cannon Road. Still live nearby, but its fascinating as well since so much of David's history is related to the area, I know a few older people that either went to Burnt Ash school with him or saw some of his early gigs. I still feel like the borough hasn't given him his proper dues, especially considering he's been our most famous resident, HG Wells aside.
Part of the reason he changed his last name from Jones to Bowie was because of Davey Jones of the Monkees. He didn't want to be confused for his fellow countryman. And the thing of the matter is while the world knew him as David Bowie Iman didn't. She never saw him as the rock legend, The Starman, The Thin White Duke, Pierrot, The Man Who Fell to Earth, or even Just a Singer with Tinman. She met him when he was going through his Tinman phase of trying to reinvent himself and married him in 92. What came about because of her was an album that helped revive his career and celebrated their love for each other. She saw him through his outside phase and gave him a second child that David said literally saved him from himself and his destructive life when Lexi was born during the Elder Statesman years of his career. Iman has said it time and time again to her the man we all knew as David Bowie was simply another character to play like Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Slane. The man she knew and loved was simply David Robert Jones from Brixton, London, England who lived out his final days in Manhattan, New York City, New York with his wife and daughter.
+Chibihalo2 Lovely post :) I remember when Bowie and Iman married, my roommate referred to it as "the union of the two most gorgeous people on the planet", lol - I concurred, heh heh :)
One of the most distinctive and most notable clues that foreshadow forms of rebellion as early as 1964!!! I love this so much!! The 1960's will forever be favorite decade.
My hair was shorter than his as a seven year old in 1964. I remember because it was like the Beatle's hair. Rock the Cosmos, Bowie. A beautiful life, thank you.
I was bullied endlessly for my long hair, and have been keeping it from reaching my shoulders for the last few years because everyone bothers me if I don't. Bowie's the best, standing up for us! =]
+CapAnson12345 That sounds more like the look he had going in 1997. And why go to the 80's? He already had pretty short hair around 1976 with Station to Station. In the 80's on the other hand, there was Labyrinth... ;)
Too true! David Bowie's voice and pronunciation of certain words is so distinctive, it can be no other man. In addition, he was the master of reinvention, before Madonna was out of Kindergarten. Year after year, he had a new album and a totally different look each time.
"And these children that you spit on As they try to change their worlds Are immune to your consultations They're quite aware of what they're going throug" I can see this fits well on that interview.
Lol tv was so daggy back then, in that breath... god I wish I was alive back then!!!! Can hardly see the face, but as soon as he talks there’s no question who’s talking.
David Jones (bowie) was a rebel from the start. Long hair became fashionable and most teenagers wore it from the 70's through the 80's and the reason for long hair was to rebel against the older generation . Well move forward and the children of the long hair generation parents rebel and shave there heads so bald is in ? I have been noticing some younger kids wearing there hair long because they don't like their parents short hair? every generation try's to be different.
Keep in mind that this was just a publicity stunt. There was no Society of long hairs. He was already an aspiring actor, model and musician with an agent and he would have done anything to get on TV.
+welles Sorry I am not the foremost authority on publicity stunts perpetrated by musicians from the past. Like the Beatles claiming Paul is Dead and the rumor that Alice Cooper was Wally actor Tony Dow from Leave it To Beaver fame and numerous others.
I remember reading about this, but I had never actually seen it. It was just a publicity stunt on the part of a young aspiring actor. There was no real society of long haired men. A shameless little ploy to get on TV. He was a go-getter from a very early age.
Bowie did have some beautiful hair, didn't he? And after all the dye jobs, bleaching, and perms it withstood, for it to not fall out (and for how well it grew back after his chemo even if it was white), or to not look like straw at any point ever is amazing. And he was obviously good at improv, or he would've been if it were a thing in the UK back then. I'm sure his bit wasn't scripted. "Yes, and"-ing all over the place. Maybe that was his secret, that he said, "Yes, and..." to whatever came his way in life.
+thisisfrenchtouch That's right. It was a research facility for atomic weapons and was the focus for protest marches by CND (the campaign for nuclear disarmament). The CND marches are mentioned earlier in the interview.
I love that Bowie actually started this organization and there is a good point behind it...all these videos of him with long hair are just awesome. I wish I could meet him.
If you were given a second chance, how fearless would you be? I would be full of fear but facing it with a smile I am this way constantly I feel like being blue is the only way to wait forever
+Rona Topaz 'what it represented', what was that? Is it the same today, do you think? What should I tell a 17 year old 'A grade' student currently persecuted for feeling that the long Celtic red hair he enjoys need not be cut?
+lieh8er -I was thinking it represented individual expression, as well as a hint of androgyny, and of course I don't think someone being persecuted for having long hair should be pressured into cutting it for any reason if they don't want to!
It was a publicity stunt cooked up by his manager. They wanted people to think that the BBC was going to make them cut their hair. They were having a laugh because they knew people would take this so seriously. It's still working.
Wow, a young Cliff Michelmore, from the consumer program -Holiday '73. That tough old goat is 96 years old now! He sounds totally bemused with baby Bowie and his 'long haired' mob here ;)
Only seventeen. Mature way for a teen to deal w/ such questions. The old dude was very professional. Questioning about hair length to an artist. Glad I was born in the seventies ;)
Lots of girls didn't like Bowie's hair back then. now, if he were set in my time with the same interests in music and art, HE WOULD BE MY BOYFRIEND IN A HEARTBEAT. God, we're so much alike, it's unbelievable!! :)
