Starman

Alternative title: - "Guitars to The Stars (The other side of the Screwdriver)"

"Starman" (David Bowie) Excerpt from the unfinished book: - "Guitars to the Stars" ...

1971 - I'd "dropped out" to be a rock star (which of course never happened) ~ and it was a period of the almost inevitable soft drugs and shoulder-rubbing with Beckenham locals David Bowie and Arthur Brown of 1968's "Fire!" fame - ( Arthur came to live with me for six months during 1972 at the infamous 84 Overbury Avenue flat). Those early 70's Beckenham days led to my first demo recordings.

David Bowie had by then scored with "Space Oddity" and a couple of million-selling albums had also been released; he had become a huge star with an enormous international "cult" following. At that time he was living with Angela (and I was living with David's ex, Mary Finnegan, a then well-known rock music business journalist) so I had the opportunity to play him my demo recordings. He listened to the results of the first session at his huge mansion in Beckenham.

After careful listening, he told me that he very much liked the material and performance and also, that in his opinion, properly produced commercial recordings of the songs would have the potential to be major hit records. He said he was also convinced that I was very talented and at that point he asked me, "So what do you intend to do with all of these talents?"

Here, I should explain that, apart from guitar making and playing, songwriting and painting from my very eary teens, my other main interest was directed towards interstellar travel and the development of alternative means of propulsion for space travel and exploration (after all, there was then and had been for some years, much recorded evidence for "Flying Saucers" and similar phenomena. It was my belief then (and still is), that it was Mankind's destiny to eventually spread across the Galaxy to new Earth-type inhabitable planets. This had been the case with me since my early childhood. At that time, it was very un-scientific to express any such belief or interest in the possibility of anything other than conventional rocket science - to do so was to considered cranky or, at least worthy of ridicule.

My reply was that, "I didn't see myself as a star but would like perhaps to work in Childrens' TV as a presenter".

(If I ever made any money from music I would put it into antigravity research having always been a UFO nut).

David replied that it was very wrong of me to be afraid of success by stating my views, no matter how unpopular I might think they might be but rather, I should always aim for the very highest fame and top-most shining stardom and not to consider in the least what shock or offence I might thus cause. Angela agreed. We shared tea (and ice-cream) and I left, thanking them both and deep in thought, as you might guess...

A week later David called me to say he'd written a song specifically for and about me and the subject matter was the very content of the conversation we'd had just the week before. My presence was requested at "The Bowie Residence" and David sat at the big old grand piano in his music room and, right then and there, he played and sang the song to me:~

"There's a Starman, Waiting in the Skies; He'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds ~ He told me:~ Let The Children Boogie; Let The Children Boogie, Let The Children Boogie;"... (etc.,)

- and so now you know where that particular song came from...

Alternative title: - "Guitars to The Stars (The other side of the Screwdriver)"

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