![]() 'Everyone who attended the Rainbow on that weekend came because they knew that David Bowie was the one. But it was alright, the band was altogether doing all it should as the rock n' roll Zarathustra sang his song of darkness and disgrace. Closet queens wept openly, mature women achieved mellow orgasm on the spot while red-blooded men gritted their teeth and looked to their hormones. 'People stared at the make-up on his face' - each syllable wired together to form a metallic chain. He struts gracefully to the microphone and his voice cuts through the fantasy-like atmosphere. Just then, Beethoven is phased out and an invisible piano fingers some pensive chords, as out from the shadows walks forth an oh-so slender breathtakingly beautiful figure endowed with ethereal grace as if he had appeared from a Nietzschean wet dream. The guitarist with gaunt sharp features and blonde rinse follows. Eliot's ape-necked Sweeney in superstar drag and ice-blue mutton chop whiskers appears. Then the bass-player, a dead ringer for T.S. ![]() ![]() The drummer, looking rather like the Mr Adonis of Bournemouth takes his place behind the kit and sits dormant in silent anticipation. Three strange rococo-like figures take their places on the upper platform while Beethoven's 9th, better known as the theme to 'Clockwork Orange' blares forth at manic volume. 'Once inside, one is confronted by an awesomely designed stage split into a series of squares and platforms, all connected with ladders. but wait I hear the opening chords - the show is about to begin. Saints forbid, but it's Michael Philip Jagger positively bursting with health and after that gruelling American tour - sometimes I worry about Mick, but can you blame me? They say that everyone from Iggy Pop to Donny Osmond (really!) is to be found somewhere in the building, and all because of. And who is that strange neurotic looking fellow all dressed in black wearing shades stumbling around? Oh I see - he used to play with a group called the Velvet Underground - and he's a good friend of David's. My, and how Roger Daltrey is getting fat over there in the corner. 'Why isn't that Rod Stewart, looking even more like a jackdaw on morphine than ever, standing with Elton John - or should I say Reg Dwight. ![]() God knows, any self-respecting groupie would gladly have given up the offer of a life-size Alice Cooper doll ( complete with rubber masks and detachable sequinned dildo), a £750 cheque to spend exclusively at Biba and a night out with Steve Took in order to just be able to stand amid all the glam and glitter as the big boys and their respective entourages did carouse to the sound of breaking cocktail shakers and violent wretching. 'Saturday night was starnight down at the Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park - and how! I mean, my dear, you just wouldn't believe all those big names - all those somebody people - to be seen mixing in the confines of the various bars dotted throughout the main hall. It gives a good feel for how Bowie was seen and judged at the time when the music was fresh and new. Here is his take on Bowie: 'The Wild Mutation As A Rock 'N' Roll Star. We published the early work of Nick Kent. Back in the day (1972) we were working on an underground newspaper called Frendz and a young guy came in keen to write about music and I commissioned him to do some reviews.
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