Saturday, February 1, 1975
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
Outrageous David Bowie
changes his
musical iage
David IBoiie
1j,
By MARY CAMPBELL I
AP Newsfeature Writer
An audience expects a thea-
trical, outrageously androgy-v
nous show from David Bowie.
On his last tour, people who
went saw Bowie standing ont
stage like a young Frank Si-f
natra, dressed in a man's suit,
nearly as thin as a mike stand.-
Behind him were his band andc
a group of background rhythmf
n' blues singers.-
What did it mean? Had Bow-
ie given up on theatricality ort
had he decided that theatrical
rock 'n' roll shows had run1
their course?t
Neither, apparently. Bowie,
who wears a jumpsuit and hat:
for an interview in his hotel
suite, explains that he just
wanted a change.
AP Photo There had been the LP, "The
Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust
and the Spiders from Mars,"
1972, in which he was a space
rock protagonist; "Aladdin
Sane," 1973, a nightmarish vi-
sion of American cities Bowie
had visited on his previous,
very theatrical, tour; "Dia-
mond Dogs," January 1974, the
:breakdown of an over-.
ract mechanized society.
"We started the Diamondf
TL === Dogs tour in June, with Jules
Fisher doing sets and lights,
from Montreal to the West
Coast. I hadn't anticipated tak-{
ing the tour back across Amer-
ica. When I found out, that'sr
when I decided not to go back1
with the same thing. I'd get3
bored.c
"We've been having fun, the
xt North musicians and me. It's notc
ss 1NT grand or anything." The next
ass 4S album on RCA will be like the:
ass second half of the tour. "II
o of hearts. thought it might be a bit self-(
indulgent but having heardI
heart, East tracks back, I'm quite happy
eturned the with it. I've been writing a lotf
arer ruffed of rhythm 'n' blues these days.3
pades, and "I started off with an r and b
h his king. band when I was a saxophone1
small dia- player a number of years ago.I
ace of dia- I was deciding whether I want-I
ed with a ed to play jazp or r and b. It
lost three ended up with r and b because
"I do things to find out about myself ani
drop them like hot cakes when I prove I
can I believe t hat's why people find
empathy with myn Usic. We are all clung-
ing our opinions almost overnight ,.,.."
I could make more money; I
suppose that's when I devel-
oped a love for it.
"I write different when I
write r and b because the sub-
ject matter is a lot more sub-
jective. I write far more emo-
tionally when I'm writing that
form. It pleases me to find I
can still reveal something of
myself. I was getting worried
about whether I was becoming
far too objective about every-
thing; becoming a brick wall.
"That's what I do all the
time; I do things to find out
about myself and drop them
like hot cakes when I prove I
can. I think we all do. Apart
"Bowie Live," a two-record
set, is the most recent album in
the stores right now. It was
recorded at the Tower Theater
in Philadelphia, during the first
half of his 1974 American tour.
Bowie's next project, after a
dozen performances in Brazil
and vacation with his wife and
son, Zowie, 3%, in Venezuela,
will be a film. "It won't be
about rock 'n' roll - nothing to
do with rock 'n' roll." It may
be a fantasy, he says, or it may
be "simplistic and straight-
forward. If it is, then my shows
later will probably be lavish.
"It's always a question of ex-
tremes. If I do something fun-
BRIDGE:
Fatal overruff
lets declarer
score his cont
by FRANK BE
In today's game, East dealt;
and opened one heart. Too
strong for a simple overcall,
South doubled, and West passed.
North responded one notrump,
showing some mild strength
and a heart stopper. East rebid
his good heart suit, South
jumped to three spades, show-
ing a strong hand with spades,
and North raised to game.
EW NVul.
NS Vul.
SOUTH
A A Q J 10
V 6
* K Q J
. Q J 10
The bidding:
East
1H
2H
Pass
South
DBL
3S
Pass
We
Pas
P
PG
Opening lead: Tw(
from the obvious trappings of
theatricality, I believe that's
why people find empathy with
my music. We are all changing
our opinions almost overnight
about every conceivable sub-
ject. I do that publicly."
Bowie says that the album to
come out in February will be
self-contained, but the last few
were a continued story. "I real-
ize I write a bit like an author.
One album wasn't enough.
Maybe I've written a book,
each album being a different
aspect of whatever I was sup-
posed to be talking about in the
first place - something to do
with nasty futures.
"I think they'll nationalize
this country or have a dictator.
I'm not changing my opinion.
I'm going on to lighter subjects
but if I go back to heavier sub-
jects I'm sure it'll come out the
same. I have in mind the West
generally but one always looks
to America because it pulls a
lot of strings. It certainly af-
fects England, my country."
damental, then I want to get,
into something lavish to bal-
ance it. That keeps me sane. I;
might direct; I don't neces-!
sarily want to act in a film. I
have a great, impossibly, un-
bearably strong belief in myself
as a director, based on that I
can handle things and look at'
things from a distance and re-
late them to whatever thev're
trying to portray. And I like
precision and meticulousness
and craft."
There have been reports that
Elizabeth Taylor wants Bowie
to star opposite her in a movie,
Variety says he'll play Ophelia
to Elton John's Iamlet in a
rock version on the London
stage.
Bowie announced his retire-
ment from stage performing in
July 1973, started touring again
a little less than a year later.
The retirement, he says, came
from momentary boredom, end-
ed when he got a new obsession
and new spate of writing.
He's a symbol of androgyny,
Bowie says, but not a leader of
it and not part of the glitter.
scene at all. "I've never glit-
tered in my life."
But weren't most of the stage
costumes meant to make him
look like both a man and a
woman? "Exactly the opposite.
I tried to look neither. Ziggy
was very much based on that;
he should be an all-encompass-
ing kind of figure. It is a throw-
up from mime. White face is
characterless. Then any par-
ticular expression will become
marked and exaggerated. It is
just like a canvas. Doesn't that
sound arty?"
About his thinness, Bowie
calls himself a word he made
up, a malnutrite. "They're the
kind of people who are enor-
mously hyperactive, have lots
of energy, are very thin and die
about 35. I don't get hungry
and I don't eat."
Zowie sometimes watches his
father's show from the au-
dience and sings along. "He
gives me notes at the end. The
other day he wanted to do the
show because he thought I felt
tired. He knows all the songs.
"I haven't been looking at the
music scene in general lately.
l've spent the last eight months
looking for David Bowie. I
think I found him, you see. I'm
getting happy. He is getting out
of rock 'n' roll for a start. I'm
really trying to retain my own
identity for myself so I can
start writing again. If you get
too lost in your subject, that is
the end of you as a writer. So
I'd like to change into some-
thing like films.
"I don't have a great atten-
tion span. In school I wandered
off into my own world a bit.
"I couldn't stay in any one
thing. I'm a grasshopper, baby.
Wouldn't that make a good
heavy metal lyric?"
hii
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West led his stiffl
won his jack and r
king of hearts. Decl
with his queen of s
West overruffed wit
West returned a
mond, East won his
8 monds and continu
small heart. Having
EAST
A 9
VAKJ 109
f A96
4532
Violence
divides.
God
unites.
The
community,
of God.
Make it
your way.
RIA
" AN Ste'wvx 0 lw bIpp £ iTw A~4w'gCwu
tricks, South ruffed with the
ten of spades, pulled the out-
* standing trump in two rounds,
and claimed his contract. r
West blew the defense at
trick two when he overruffed
the queen of spades. There
was no hurry to score the
spade king. Instead of overruff-
ing, he should have sluffed a
club or a diamond.
Then, when declarer attempt-
ed to' draw trump, he could win
his spade king, lead a diamond
to his partner's ace, and get a
heart returned through South's
remaining high trump for a
trump promotion. Thus, the de-
fense would get one heart, one
diamond, and two spade tricks
to set the contract one trick.
As a rule it is generally right
not to overruff in a situation
where a trump promotion is
possible. It can rarely cost and
often yields unexpected divi-
dends.
A
R
T
MOVIETIME at HILLEL
SATURDAY, FEB. 1 st AT 8 P.M.
'I LOVE YOU ROSA"
ADMISSION $1.25
AFTER THE MOVIE
ISRAELI COFFEE HOUSE
FREE COKE--FREE FALAFEL
all at HILLEL
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SOMETH ING
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BURSLEY HALL ENTERPRISES
presents
American
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Sat., Feb. 1-9:00 p.m.
Bursley West Cafe.
Adm. ONLY $1.00
Must Present U-M I.D. for Admission
SUNDAY at HILLEL
BRUNCH
11:00 A.M. SUNDAY, FEB. 2
Our Speaker: MARTIN GOLD,
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"Some Reflections on Jewish Thought
in the Stewardship of American Jewery'
BAGEL & LOX-75c
5:30-6:30-DELI
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Michigan Union
SPRING BREAK TRIP TO UTAH
712 days of skiing at:I
ALTA: the dowager queen of powder skiing.
SNOWBIRD: the ultramodern counterpart to Alta with a 125-passen-
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N.B.: the above areas average twice the snowfall of Colorado resorts
such as Aspen.
., f n 1 / +YV rr . i 1 Ir r i- -r-I
Bjob
earroll
iddler
on the Roof
Based on &s0oomn A*,ems stores
By Specal Permission of Anod Pert
M, Robbns.O rDiwoo
Reproduce.d by
RKHARD ALTMAN
Mr. NobWns ciChwograpih
Ropro~duxod by
DM NABAFFA
RYBJOSEPH ST INI
,,, ' JERRY BOCK