Listening to the Heart’s Filthy Lesson by David Bowie right now. Hard to believe it’s been 30 years since David and I crossed paths. I recall David and his band, playing on David Letterman. The Heart’s Filthy Lesson. The bald black woman was not MeShell Ndegeocello, but actually Gail Ann Dorsey. I was impressed by the performance and bought the cd 1} Outside soon after.
I had a touch-and-go relationship with David Bowie. The cool kids liked him a lot, and I wasn’t cool enough. I liked Elton John and most pop things growing up, and of course, the Beatles. I had ChangesOneBowie, his greatest hits at that point. I may have stolen it from my brother Brian but I do know I eventually bought my own copy.
And I did see David in The Elephant Man on Broadway in 1980. I just wasn’t a major fan. I recognized his talent. It took a while for me to get fully on board. My former roommate William and his brother Charlie were major fans and so was Jet Watley.
I am guessing that David Bowie came to Right Track Recording in October 1996 to work on the Earthling lp.
I’ve told the story numerous times, just sitting around with David in reception and having a pleasant chat. At one point he asked who I thought would be a good DJ to remix some tracks on the upcoming album. I asked Rand who gave me a list of names and I passed them along to David. He was not impressed with those names.
It was a few years later that I realized I could have put myself on the list (and probably would have gotten the gig) but I didn’t believe in myself then and David probably did believe in me, but if I wasn’t putting myself out there why should he? Of course, a number of years had passed, much too late for anyone to do anything.
My brother Frank would have been 75 years old today. He left in 2019 leaving behind his wife Elaine and two daughters, Meghan and Corinne. He never had the opportunity to meet his charming granddaughter Shelby. Frank had a stroke in 2007 and was never the same after that,
Frank and I were similar in a few ways. We both loved music and we sort of looked alike. There were ups and downs, I did look up to him and bitterly disagreed with him on occasion. Sometimes when visiting him, the first five minutes we would be at each other’s throats. Elaine reminded me that he wasn’t the same guy as before and I would ask Bill to take note as to who threw the first punch.
I would look to Frank to see how I wouldn’t or shouldn’t behave. It was heartbreaking to see him go, seeing him in a hospital bed, looking like a baby bird that fell out of the nest. 24 hours later he was gone.
Frank is missed by many. People from WFMU, people from Maxwell’s, people from all over and especially his family.
