David Bowie - The Last Five Years

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My Boy Harry said:
I've told this story on here before about him but I'll tell it again.

I know a lad from Chester le Street. He is called Alex Lowes and he has become one of the most famous DJ's musical entrepreneurs in the UK and Croatia. He started off DJ'ing in Newcastle and from being about 17 or so he used to take me along with another crowd, Frankie Lucas et al all around the clubs and bars in the city. We got in everywhere for nowt just because we were with Alex. One of the places we used to go late 70's was Julie's on the Quayside when it first opened up. you had to know someone to get in and it was full of all the beautiful people; the hip and the trendy from the Newcastle University Art places and stuff like that. some cracking lasses.

Bowie played at the City Hall circa 1978 and me and my mates couldnt get tickets for it. Sold out instantly. I therefore got a call from Alex and we ended up in Julie's where he was DJ'ing. Nothing special was gong on that night, maybe 100 people in the place.

The two bouncers on the door were The Ford Brothers from Birtley/Low Fell. Alex knew them well and I got to know them.

Anyway we were sitting in Julie's and two big lads walked in and went over to talk to the Ford's. I distinctly remember one was white, one was black and they were both f***ing giants. All 4 of them walked outside and i thought that there must be trouble outside and the 4 of them were going outside to sort it out.

I didnt anticipate what would happen next.

The four of them walked back in about 5 minutes later and the two lads were minding Bowie. In he walked. He'd been on at the City Hall and as was his custom at that time, think he was living in Berlin at the time, Bowie would hunt out the underground clubs. Bowie walked over and sat not 6 feet from me, ordered a glass of water/orange and just sat for an hour or so unwinding and listening to the music. A couple of people came over and asked for his autograph but of course in those days - no mobile phones - so I dont think any pictures were ever taken of this event. In true NE style no one bothered him and he was allowed to just pass the time unhindered.

After an hour he got up and left.

i have no idea how many people are still alive who witnessed that event. Some might not even remember it unless reminded such is the passage of time.
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As an aside marra, a mate of mine was one of Angie Bowies minders in the 70's.
 
Anyone who missed it first time can catch it here



Superb documentary, first broadcast in the U.K. on January 7th. 2017.

There was nothing predictable about David Bowie. Everything was designed to intrigue, to challenge, to defy all expectations. But perhaps no period in David Bowie’s extraordinary career raised more fascination, more surprise, and more questions than the last five years. This is an intimate portrait of one of the defining artists of the twentieth and early twenty first centuries, told by the people who knew him best – his friends and artistic collaborators.

This film takes a detailed look at Bowie’s last albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, and his play Lazarus. In his final five years, Bowie not only began producing music again, but returned to the core and defining themes of his career. This film explores how Bowie was a far more consistent artist than many interpretations of his career would have us believe. It traces the core themes from his final works and relates them to his incredible back catalogue. His urge to communicate feelings of spirituality, alienation and fame underpin his greatest works from the 1960s to 2016. This is what lies at the heart of his success and appeal – music that deals with what it means to be human in a way that goes far beyond the normal palette of a rock star.

The film is not a comprehensive overview of his entire career, but an in-depth exploration of pivotal moments that show how the themes, the narrative and the approach is consistent – it is simply the palette that changes. The film includes every key member of the Next Day band, the Blackstar band and those who worked with him on the stage play Lazarus. In addition, old friends and colleagues are on hand to explore how the work of the last five years relates to Bowie’s back catalogue. And, as in David Bowie: Five Years, there is a wealth of unseen and rare archive footage.
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