David Bowie at the Hammersmith Odeon, 1973 – part 3
(This is the final part of a three-part story. Part one is here.)
When we got to the Hammersmith Odeon for the David Bowie gig on July 2nd 1973, there were a lot of glam kids wandering about. But they looked like a bunch of David Cassidy fans! Tho’ there were a few Zig-a-likes, mostly girls
Unlicenced merchandise ran even more unchecked than it does nowadays. There were lots of cheap Bowie scarves, posters and mags. Of course, wish I’d bought a bunch of it now, it’d look great next to my official Ziggy program and ticket, and the signed (albeit in 2000) unpublished Ziggy pic.
On the hoarding of the Odeon, it said “FROM 8P.M., WE’RE ALL WORKING TOGETHER WITH DAVID BOWIE” which intrigued me enormously. Like we’d be invited to some grand party, a huge team.
Our seats were in the circle, and cost £1.50, but we weren’t too high in the “Gods”, and had an excellent view of the stage.
As far as I remember, prior to Mike Garson coming on and doing his solo medley on piano, I believe the music coming from the p.a. was excerpts from the Walter Carlos soundtrack to “A Clockwork Orange”. Perhaps the theme? Can anyone verify that?
Clockwork Orange was released in 1971, but its influence was still evident – it certainly influenced Bowie’s style, as Ziggy. I went to a party at Bob Mardon’s house, at Christmas ‘72, and among the freaks and occasional hippy, several guys were dressed like droogs, complete with one eyelash, bowler hats, white boiler suits, and DM’s (Dr Martin’s) boots. I thought they looked totally cool, tho’ they drew some protestations from the “peace, maaan” types.
Mike Garson sounded like some lounge style piano player given a free hand with Bowie’s then recent back catalogue!
After Garson had finished his piece, the march from Clockwork Orange blasted out (Ninth symphony, fourth movement, not second movement – archivers, use your ears!!!). It wasn’t the theme, as is often reported – this mistake could easily be rectified by a quick earful of “His Master’s Voice”.
As the man in teddy boy gear finished the announcements, the band literally thrashed into “Hang onto yourself”.
The sound, I recall, was pretty dreadful initially – tho’ Mick Ronson’s guitar was loud and proud, and good enough for me! Ronno looked kind of “Little Lord Fauntleroy” round the edges – white or silver (I can’t remember) long socks going up to what looked like black pantaloons. Shiny black “highwayman” type shoes, and a frilly white shirt. He had a little catwalk in front of him, that took him into the edge of the front of the crowd.
I can recall once he’d stepped out on the catwalk he pretty much stopped playing guitar, and just let the crowd paw at his white Les Paul for a while rather than play it. I was horrified! He wasn’t playing, just hamming it up! And in the meantime, the crowd went wild……
I can remember the three lightning flashes in big white circles behind the band, and when I listen to the soundtrack to the Ziggy movie I recall the songs and, of course, the marvellous costumes Bowie was wearing. But I think it’s fairly pointless for me to repeat things you can find on other web sites.
Again, this must’ve been a school trip. As I wearily plodded back to the coach, what should be playing on the radio, but “Drive in Saturday”?! I have to be honest tho’, while I can look back on the gig and say I witnessed a major event in the history of rock’n'roll, I was terribly dissapointed at the time.
With the exception of John Lennon, Bowie was probably my biggest hero at the time. And the whole event smacked of teeny bop, which I loathed, because it was so false and plastic. And, although the sound improved, it left a lot to be desired, compared to other gigs I’d been to that year.
I was at the Rainbow theatre in Finsbury park, a few weeks later, for the Traffic “On the Road” tour, and the sound was phenomenal.
I met a chap there that had been at both the last Bowie gigs, as a St. Johns ambulance brigade man – apparently a great ruse for getting into gigs for free. He said that aside from the fact that he’d been appalled, cos the floor of the Odeon had apparently been awash with pee downstairs (a standard feature at most teeny bop gigs he assured me, from the boppers wetting themselves!), he reckoned Bowie had “sold out”.
“Sold out” was a term used when an “underground” band signed to a major label, and were no longer the exclusive property of a few hip minded individuals.
I won’t say that was Bowie’s intention entirely, because I think his art has always come first. (Okay, I like “Let’s Dance”, don’t give me a hard time!) But obviously he wanted to be popular with the masses. However, I suppose I couldn’t equate Bowie with major popularity at the time.
I wanted him to be the outsider, for us outsiders! No sell out! And the gig just seemed like the carnival that was the Osmonds, the Partridge family et all. So I bitched and moaned to Veronica and Hil majorly, so much so that by the time we got back to the coach I think they both hated me! Which was a shame, cos as a teenage boy I loved them both dearly………
If you’d like to find music by the groups mentioned in this article, you can buy it on CD and vinyl from netsoundmusic.com. They’ve got plenty of records and CDs by David Bowie
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Thanks for reminding me about the St John’s ambulance man. What he had to say about hundreds of pairs of wet knickers being thrown at their idols by teeny boppers still amuses me – if only their children knew what tbey got up to when they were teenagers. Still, I’d rather that than being gobbed at by a room of punks.
I loved that gig which, as I remember it, was Traffic’s farewell and the culmination of a wonderful weekend of rock ‘n’ Roll – we’d seen the The Who at Charlton the day before (I also recall Robin Trower, Lou Reed and Lindisfarne playing).
It showed the enormous friendliness and generosity of rock audiences, from the couple of Who fans who shared their cider and vodka with us to the other delights being shared by about three rows of seats in the Rainbow.