The Girl With The Mouse In Her Hair

As a long-time Bowie bore, I get mighty pissed off when many so-called fans seem very sketchy on the details of Bowie’s life and career.

So this seemed as good a place as any to correct all the common misconceptions surrounding David Bowie. Please feel free to add any common mistakes, misconceptions or queries of your own and perhaps other fans will try to give you accurate and informed responses.

81 Responses to “The Girl With The Mouse In Her Hair”

  1. space cadet Says:

    Your right I think its coz Bowie never dumbed down that a lot of people dont “get” what he does and when you misuunderstand something you dont pay attention to the details.

  2. Tim_Macine Says:

    I liked the album of Beatles sings that he covered, I think it was called Press-Ups. My sister had a copy when we were at the orphanage. I expect it is rare now.

    • When did David Bowie record an album worth of Beatles songs???
      I belong to several Bowie fansites and believe me I would know.

    • Tim – are you sure you’re not thinking of Bowie’s version of ‘Across The Universe’ which appeared on YOUNG AMERICANS?

    • You are surely referring to the Pin Ups LP with Lulu on the front cover. David Bowie has never sang Beatles songs, why would he when he writes his own material. Bowie must have written 200 songs or more, he has made loads of albums, the first one was called Space Oddities and the latest on is called Heaven I believe. Tim I think you are badly imformed on the Beatles thing

  3. Bowie’s cover versions are usually disappointing (none worse than God Only Knows, though I blame Hugh paddick’s production on that album). The only half decent ones are his covers of the Human league’s Fascination, and on Black Noise, White Heat he does a pretty good cover of Jim Morrison’s I Know it’s Gonna Happen Some Day.

  4. Anonymoususername Says:

    yA was released in 1975. the Human League single wasnt released until 1983.

  5. There are indeed a lot of myths around David Bowie. I shall clear one up for you right now! David was a VERY average poke!!! I remember once seeing Tony Defries badly circumcised penis and Ronno told me it had “a real bad tang” if ever you got cornered in a dressing room with Tony it was really humming, especially in summer…

  6. My father told me that Bowie was a bus conductor before he became famous with Let’s Dance. I find it hard to believe myself but he swears he saw footage of him on the news working on a London bus. I know Bowie made quite a few films in the 60s. The wierdest one was a film called “The Imagined” in which he played a blind boy trapped in a haunted house. I think Lance Percival was also in that film too

  7. I don’t think Angina’s comment is very funny. Does David really deserve this? I like David Bowie’s music and even though I don’t own a lot of it I think his film performances are great. I once heard that Peter O toole was initially offered the role of Ziggy Stardust.

  8. I do not know what you are referring to Bowiemyths, are you suggesting that I am a meths drinker or summat!

  9. Why do people call him a cockney? when he was actually born in Brixham. A lot of folk think he is from Bromley in south London but he moved there as a young boy. I hope this site goes some way into clearing up the many myths surrounding David Bowie. I would like to ask a question that has bugged me for ages.

    Q…Did Princess Margaret’s ex husband Peter Townshend really play guitar on Scary Monsters? it just seems incredible and bizarre to say the least

  10. I have a question for you.

    Did David Bowie’s son Peter Duncan once present Blue Peter?

  11. Someone just tweeted me this site. I want to know if it is true that David Bowie bit Sue Nicholls on her back and shoulders during the Glass Spider Tour? I thought she was Audrey Roberts in Coronation Street. What on earth is Bowie doing dating that owld bag?

  12. I thought he was dating Elizabeth Hurley at the time??

  13. You fucking arseholes with empty lives and nothing better to do than troll. I can see all your IP addresses so I know it’s just the same three people trolling under different identities and spoiling this for everyone else. Why should I bother to put the effort in if you’re just hell-bent on wrecking the site? Grow up and get a life you sad wankers.

    • Ooooooh Admin throwing his toys out of the pram!!!! So presumably you won’t tell us if Joan and Sylvia Sims sang backing vocals on the Serious Moonlight tour???

  14. and Bowie would never have written ‘Queen Bitch’ if he hadn’t been so obsessed with Lew Grade

  15. Dr Froyd Says:

    Bowiemyth dear, are you not a bit up your own ass!

  16. Man this site is friggin hilarious. Bowie wrote a few good songs in the seventies but has been pretty lame since then. He has a hot bass player tho – anyone know her name?

  17. I think Gail Anne Frank was one time bassist for DB.

    Steve Davis used to bang the skins for Bowie in the 70s before he became famous as a billiards player.

  18. Who’s your fave Bowie drummer? Dennis Dunstable, Aynsley Harriott or Stirling Moss?

  19. Ken_Bruce Says:

    I used to think David Bowie was a really tall guy. I saw him at a Tin Machine gig and he was really tiny, he is actually not much bigger than Prince. I did not like Tin Machine much and he did not sing any of his own material. I want to know who wrote that shit that they sang? I think Peter Gabriel on guitar did a good job, but he aint half ballooned since them days, Peter Gabriel that is, not Bowie!

    • I do agree about tin machine. i got tickets because I was hoping to hear the major tom song and the mars song and the red shoes song but it was all so noisy & loud and gave me a headache. the only new song of bowies i like is the one about the bogies with the chorus about sailing over Canvey Island, twinkle twinkle Clement Freud. Its very restful i find.

      • There are lots of lovely tracks on his Heaven record, i like the Clement Freud song too, but i’m not very fond of I Took A Shit In A German Spaceship. it just seemed a bit uncalled for.

      • Restandpeacechild Says:

        I think he was definately influenced by events in Germany. Velvet Landmine and Sense of Kraut say it all really. I was not a big fan of his German phase. It all felt a bit OTT and I was sad when the fella who played Ziggy retired. I kind of compare it with The Avengers versus The New Avengers, it’s more of the same but not the same if you know what I mean. I would compare Cooc to Purdey and Tony Defires to Gambit but the scripts were not up to much.

        I was discussing Bowie Wednesday in the dole office with a builder who was behind me in the queue waiting for flat-screen tv tokens. He told me that his favourite Bowie movie is The Secret of Basmati Rice. I think he may be confusing a Tilda Swinton movie with an advert perhaps. I don’t believe David has advertised rice, maybe i am wrong about that! To my knowledge David has advertised mostly icecream and drinks, them being his favourite things. I did read in Angling Times that he consumes a pint of Linguini and whelks before going on stage.

      • poorlittlegreenie Says:

        @restandpeacechild – you’re right about the whole German thing. Didnt David once dress up as Hitler and goosestep around Victoria Coach Station? I think I remember reading that somewhere. Maybe he was trying to atone for that lapse of taste when he recorded the song “I Took A Shit in a German Spaceship”?

  20. How many Bowie albums did well known actor Anton Rodgers actually produce for David Bowie?

    • I think Anton Rodgers only produced Let’s Dance and Black Noise, White Heat. Personally I prefer the sparser production on Hunky Dory done by Terry Scott.

      • hunky dory is a fave of mine too Dan. i bought the sheet music and learned to play it all on the upright in our back room. Then when i was student in the 80s i would go into town with a 12-string guitar and busk with Kooks, Andy Warhol & Song For Bob Carolgees.

  21. I was in Edinburgh a few years back for my honeymoon, we went to see a Bowie-related show. It was Bowie songs done in a kind of gayness cabaret style. If I remember correctly it was performed by Des Lynam and Russell Grant and the show was called “In Dampness and Miss Grace”. We enjoyed the show and thought the whole thing was very original.

    I have a question about cover versions.

    Was it actress Susan George who recorded a load of Bowie tunes in Portugese for the film “Yellow Submarine”?

  22. Tilly_Mansom Says:

    Was former Crossroads actor and chauffer to Princess Diana Paul Henry only in two films with David Bowie? It does seem a bit odd that they should make the best and worst of their careers together. I love The Man Fell to Earth. The Luingistic Accident was appalling in my opinion.

  23. Because of his career as a rock musician, I think Bowie is/was always going to be far more electifiying on stage than on film. I wish I’d seen him play The Elephant Man on Broadmoor.

  24. ^ wat dan said. ive seen clips from this production off old tv shows, but not the whole thing. does a full cast list exist anywhere? ive tried googling but cant find anything. i’d love to know who played johnny morris.

  25. If only The Elephant Man had been filmed!!! they could have made a great record of the show just with 3 cameras & directed by the same guy who shot the Serious Moonlight tour & David’s best videos – Timmy Mallett.

  26. I am with Dan on this one. I would loved to have seen The Elephant Man in Broadstairs in Kent. Bowie was so hot around 1980, it was such a crime that he did not tour the Hairy Monsters album, I SO wanted to see him sail on stage wearing the silver outfit dressed as Sarah Brightman singing Up Benny Hill Backwards

  27. Lynseyinaction Says:

    Is this a serious site?

  28. lynseyinaction Says:

    @ bowiemyths

    Is that directed at me?

    I would just like to say that I have been a follower of David Bowie on and off since 1968 when I first met him. I have looked at other fan sites but I always end up disappointed as it is more about deluded people than David Bowie. I joined two (well known) sites and they were mostly back stabbing and bitching towards each other, which has little to do with David Bowie. I look regularly for new and interesting sites. This one seems genuine enough and I love the humour of it too. I am not a troll or whatever you want to call me. I am in my 60s and beyond all that infantile behaviour. One site owner even claims to have a direct link to David himself. I hate to get into all this nonsense but I can only imagine David would be laughing at such people. As if he would be sending messages to psychopaths gathered in a dive of a pub drooling over him. I imagine the internet is now a scary monster for David, it has allowed the fan to develop dangerous obsessions, fans on sites have multiple identities to cope with the sheer weight of their obsessions.

    I have a story about David (and Tim Curry)…

    I met David in 1968 when I sat in for rehersals on a production of HAIR. My then flatmate Tim got me a job hairdressing to earn some extra money. London was expensive even back in 68, it was a dear do in the ‘Swinging Sixites’ I can tell you. I remember this gorgeous young thing coming in for a reading, he was with a girl but I cannot remember her name, I have seen pictures of Hermione but I can’t say for sure it was her. David did not take part in the show as I recall. He invited some of us to a concert where he was performing and I have to say he was a breath of fresh air! and a thoroughly nice guy, funny too and generous with his cigarettes.

    Some years later Tim contacted me, we had not seen much of each other after Tim got involved with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And I had a boyfriend and had moved to Manchester to work at the BBC on local news. Tim contacted me in 1978 to ask what I thought of a film role he had been offered in a film called The Shout, it was about a man who could kill people with a high pitched scream. Tim told me he was really busy with a series on Shakespeare and did I think David Bowie would be perfect for it, I think Tim thought David and I would be in touch. I only ever remember David living in America in the most part of the 70s. the next time I saw Tim was in London in 1980 and he had said that David would have loved to do The Shout but was extremely busy touring in 78. Tim eventually took a minor role in the film. I really must try and see it one day.

    • crack-in-the-sky Says:

      I really enjoyed reading your story Lynsey. I have a tale to tale from the 70s. My mother used to work on a series for the BBC called ‘Clunk Click’ with Jimmy Saville. I was fifteen in 1977 when my mother was working with Jimmy on ‘Jim’ll Fix It’. I wanted to meet David Bowie, my mother told me that employees were not allowed ‘Fix Its’ and I was really sad about that. My birthday arrived on the 9th September and my mother told me she had arranged a surprise in Manchester with Jimmy’s help. Off we went to the Granada studios to watch the filming of ‘Marc’ a weekly show that Marc Bolan was presenting. Looking back I can see why it could never have been a ‘Fix It’ it would have meant the BBC promoting a show for ITV/Granada. I was fifteen and got to see my hero sing HEROES and I can remember the end when Marc Bolan slipped off the stage. I always thought it a bit strange they kept the ending. David and Marc spent most of their time giggling. I wish digital cameras and mobile phones existed back then. I never got a photograph because it was promised at the end, but of course it all went wrong.

      I really have enjoyed this site and I hope many more people will share their stories.

    • No Lynsey, my remark about not coming here because of trolls was not directed at you – well, it was directed at you because I’m saying you shouldnt come here any more, but not directed at you because I’m accusing you of being a troll (which I’m not)! Your informative and entertaining stories are always welcome here, but sadly, like most other Bowie sites on the web, this one too has now become dominated by trolls imposing their own agenda.

      • Why are you so uptight? this is a new site and it will take time bowiemyth. The trolls (as you call them) will get bored. Daivd Bowie is here to stay, the trolls are not.

      • Anonymoususername Says:

        ADMIN – IF YOU DONT WANT TROLLS JUST DELETE THEIR MSGS FFS!

      • Admin will never ban or delete any threads – 1) he is one of those anti-censorship liberal assholes, 2) he wants the site to look busy 😀

  29. I love The Shout by Lulu. I think it was rather brave of David to cover her song The Man Who Sold The World.

  30. “It seems only right that the enigmatic singer remains in semi- retirement as he reaches pensionable age,” writes Alexis Petridis of The Guardian.

    “Bowie was an early adopter of the internet, but he didn’t really fit with the notion of a star in the 21st century, an era when the manufacturing of pop music has been laid bare on the TV and where stars are perpetually available on Twitter and Tumblr. Rock music currently exists in a world of 360 degree connectivity that’s supposed to bring the artist and the fan closer and reveal the real person behind the myth. But as the best of his umpteen biographers David Buckley pointed out, with Bowie, revealing the real person behind the myth is missing the point: “the myth has far greater resonance and is far more intriguing than stolid attempts to identify a ‘true’ essence … his appeal has lain in the generation of myths.” Those myths look likely to remain intact forever, which seems perfectly fitting.”

    Don’t miss this short but eloquent case for a legend living gracefully.

    David Bowie: myth-maker turns 65 away from limelight – The Guardian

  31. Mandom4EVER Says:

    ADMINGE…why dont you ban the trollies std numbers or whatever they are called. I read the posts and to be honset they are more funny then annoyings. Cany uoi sett arsdie a place for serious (Moonlight) threads.

    Put the propere ones in thaat plaice and the others ones their.

  32. Grace_Manning Says:

    Let all the children boogie I say, well actually David wrote that but, I agree with him.

    I wish I had some cool stories like Lynsey and crack_in_the_sky.

    Seen Bowie a few times but not in the 70s sadly. The Glass Spider was better live, the dvd does not convey the excitement of a Bowie gig. It makes me wonder if the Diamond Dogs on a dvd would have worked, too theatrical to be compressed into a little space. Concerts are always better on a cinema screen with a great Dolby sound system – just a thought

  33. lucy-18f-usa Says:

    selling nudes to pay for college!!! 100 for $10. any older guys with PayPal hit me up. 😛

  34. LancashireTOTTY Says:

    I am a sturdy blond with whopping great titties an up fer fun. I work out like Rocky Bilboa to avoid mentalness. I can sweat some right f*cky odour with the right guy and I squeal like a pig in a barn fire. I like BIG men, really BIG men.

    I am happy to cyber with anyone willing to go all the way. The old fella is out most nights and is usually pissed up. The webcam is okay considering the budgie shat all ovva it. The old man is blind anyway, he once waited for half an hour near a hanging basket thinking it was his friend Elaine the stoopid twat!

    mail me at Lancstotty@yahoo.co.uk

  35. I HAVE BLOCKED SOME IPs AND THEY WILL NO LONGER BE ABLE TO POST ON HERE. I DO NOT BELIEVE IN CENSORING POSTS.

    I HOPE THOSE WISHING TO DESTROY THIS SITE WILL TAKE NOTE!!!

    CAN WE PLEASE GET BACK TO DAVID BOWIE PLEASE.

  36. Leslie-Phillips Says:

    I say old boy, this is a ball bouncingly top site what! Can anyone tell me about the film Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, was David’s co-star John Conteh?

    It is the only film of his that I ever cared for really. As an artist myself I have had to take the odd gig, well darling I had bills to pay. Amanda Barrymore once said to me “make one for yourself and one for the taxman, that way darling at least half of your output will be remembered” It is super day down here in Brighton.

  37. I’m also a fan of Merry Christmas, Stephen Lawrence. I think John Conteh played Stephen’s father Neville.

  38. Anonymoususername Says:

    ^ You obviously didnt manage to block that arsehole’s IP address then, Admin?

  39. Someone should make a Bowie biopic. I wreckun he is the only dude from that era not to have been done yet innit!

    Who would play Bowie is the big question, his mother George Burns could be played by Robert Vaughan (his sitar player form Serious Moonlight) they kind of look alike is it.

    His father looks a bit like Eric Morecambe is it, nuff respeks to Eric and that means Vic Reeves should get the gig is it.

    laterz

  40. Pandorian_Gay Says:

    Tommy Docherty the singer from Babyshampoo would make a good David Bowie. But if they absolutely have to look like David Bowie I would plop for Julia Davis from Nighty Night. Maybe Glenda Jackson would be good as the older Bowie and Pam Grier as his wife Imran Kahn.

  41. Main_Artery Says:

    Can anyone tell me why David Bowie is not touring anymore? I heard someone threw a Dime Bar at him when he was performing, he surely cannot still be in a funk about that, can he?

    I miss him dearly.

  42. Mr_Geedee Says:

    Wise men talk cos they have something to say, fools talk cos they have to say something…

    take note Main_Artery

    ever wondered why Bowie is quiet?

  43. I see there is 40th anniversary edition of Ziggy Stardust to be released in the summer. I will be nice to have the 180g vinyl. The dvd and the cd will be nice for some but, isn’t it another strange release? Why would anybody want an instrumental version of Moonage Daydream?
    There must be some gems in Bowie’s vault that could be cleaned up for a release, or maybe not!
    I never really liked the way the 30th anniversary edition of the Hammersmith gig was altered, those new backing vocals and guitars added. The Takryl boot is the best souvenir of that gig! the RCA release was knickers!!!

    I would be happy for a straight 180g vinyl of all his albums, forget 5:1 versions etc.

    Is there anybody out there?

    • “Is there anybody out there?” – Tim, I think you’re confusing this with “Is Anybody Up There?”

      • No, you mean “Does Anybody Up There Like Me?” I saw him sing this live at loads of the gigs I went to.

    • A good post Tim.

      I agree with you and other posters who love vinyl. I own EVERY vinyl release of David Bowie’s work. There is not a picture disc or picture sleeve I do not own. I have been told that even Bowie himself does not have a collection like mine. I would say without boasting (just being factual) that I have the largest Bowie vinyl collection in the world.

      My rarest item is a pink 10″ Low Sampler signed by David himself.

      My favourite of all Bowie albums is a first pressing of Pin-Ups in the original gatefold sleeve(sadly it never was) with pictures of all the original singles on the inner cover.

      I say we want more Bowie vinyl.

  44. London_bye_ta_ta Says:

    You know what? I agree with Sean Penn’s views

    ‘Britain is colonialist, ludicrous and archaic’: Sean Penn blasts UK for refusing to hand over Falklands to Argentina

    Read more:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100858/Sean-Penn-blasts-UK-refusing-hand-Falkland-Islands-Argentina.html#ixzz1mMozn0Mo

    This was the owld warmonger Thatchers war and she loved every single moment of her warped view on life. With luck the evil owld bitch will be dead soon! Lucky she doesn’t share the same world view as Paul Dacre the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Mail otherwise I’d look a right cunt for continually quoting from that paper and posting links to its articles.

    • For non-UK readers, here’s a pithy description of The Daily Mail, just referenced above by London_bye_ta_ta:

      “The Daily Mail says the enemy’s among us, taking our women and taking our jobs. Ultra right-wing, populist, nationalistic, xenophobic, homophobic, isolationist, often hysterical and notoriously obsessed with the immigrants, house prices and, lately, campaigns against same-sex marriage and claimants of state benefits.

      Infamously supported fascism in a big way in the 1930s (hence the common “Daily Heil” nickname); prior to World War II, it openly advocated an alliance with Hitler and claimed German Jews seeking refuge in Britain were “exaggerating” the bad treatment they claimed to be getting from Herr Hitler’s sound and firm government. In the Mail’s opinion, they were just economic migrants taking advantage of Britain’s lax generosity and besides “we have far too many Jews in Britain as it is.” The paper currently likes to present itself as the voice of the “silent (moral) majority”. Has an Irish edition that is similarly populist in its editorial policy, leading to scare stories and editorial campaigns printed in different markets that hilariously contradict one another. Notable for having some pretty controversial columnists on its staff – Richard Littlejohn is usually the most commonly cited example. After its flirtation with the British Union of Fascists (until the events of 1939-45 made this unthinkable even for the Mail), it will now always support the Conservatives, although its tone verges into BNP territory a lot, leading to the occasional condemnation of the latter to (unconvincingly) make itself appear moderate. However some journalists – notably the Guardian’s Nick Davies – have pointed out the Daily Mail isn’t right-wing as a rule; it’s just slavishly devoted to it’s huge market, the white 30+ middle class. If this market is resentful towards bankers (most recently) or the Tories etc then the Mail is not afraid to bash bankers and the Tories. So it all comes down to the bottom line in the end. The Mail is very similar to The Sun at its worst, but likes to pretend it’s more upmarket and only escapes being considered ‘gutter press’ due to tradition, but is even losing that battle, with its journalists famously trying to distance themselves from their editor, Paul Dacre.

      Another common theme in the Mail is that just about everything causes cancer, or cures it, possibly both on different days, and actually has a segment on ridiculous health theories, usually involving cancer, fruit, or fruit that gives you cancer.

      The Mail on Sunday is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mail; while still staunchly Conservative, it’s far less alarmist. Tends to be read by conservatives who like reading a newspaper without hysteria (although Peter Hitchens can sometimes seem a little bit out-there; he regularly bashes the Conservative Party for being too left-wing and strongly criticises what he perceives as the modern right’s idolisation of Margaret Thatcher).

      Throughout the Harry Potter books, the Daily Mail is the morning paper read by Vernon Dursley, Harry’s snobby, right-wing and politically reactionary uncle.”

      So as you can see: it’s the obvious daily reading matter for anyone claiming to espouse left-wing views and values.

  45. I prefer the wiews of the gentleman himself. We should get back to discussing David and not bringing down every fansite with politics and such savageryness.

    I love David in Labiarinse and, well any film really but I fantasise about being Jennifer Connolly, my bedroom is a shrine to Labiarinse and I listen to Never Let Me Down or the Labiarinse soundtrack each night as mummy tucks me in

  46. Oh! fuck me you are even over here with your bollocks about ‘the gentleman’

    GET A FUCKING LIFE YOU SCREWED UP DRIED UP OLD HAG.

    I BET YOU ARE LIKE 75 AND LIKE A CUNTY OLD PRUNE!!!

  47. You are so dammned rude hey_man did you know it!

    I guess OBSESSED is entitled to her views like anybody else, your post is neither a view or interesting, it is just darn rude.

    I guess you have too much liquor in the house and have hit the bottle for breakfast.

  48. lying_fat_fuck Says:

    “You are so dammned rude hey_man did you know it!

    I guess OBSESSED is entitled to her views like anybody else, your post is neither a view nor interesting, it is just darn rude.

    I guess you have too much liquor in the house and have hit the bottle for breakfast.”

    Well said lol! 🙂

  49. Jocky_Wilson Says:

    I just read on a fan site that David Bowie is “stricken with altzheimers”

    WOAH!

  50. Sybil_Debbie Says:

    Oh dear! I hope that is not true Jocky.

    I am sad that David does not perform anymore. Sometimes I get to wondering if he is having some mental health issues.

    I wish him well though. lol

  51. Sybil_Vendu Says:

    I agree with you Debbie lol 🙂

  52. bottle_blond_bummer Says:

    David cannot get it up anymore lol 🙂

    • loobylou Says:

      i cannot get it up any more either because i build forts around my penis out of Pringles and get people to eat them but sometimes they bite my dick and crumbs get under my foreskin. 😦

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