David Bowie: The Jean Genie, San Francisco, October 28, 1972.

[speak easy]

IMO, David would have had more success on that tour if he and the band were wearing more down to earth clothes..

Still looks good to my eyes, though.

[ProfessorGAC]

1. Pretty Cool

1972 was the Ziggy tour. I so wanted to see the Aladin Sane tour but that didn't come to Chicago. IIRC, the Ziggy visit was shortly before I had a driving license. Didn't see him until the Heroes tour at The Arie Crown Theater in 1977 (I think).
This video is interesting. There's not a lot of footage of David playing electric guitar.
I enjoyed that.
Was the line about the clothes a joke?

[highplainsdem]

3. I think the glam rock musicians may have been hurt as much as helped by the costumes. I also think

Bowie switching between different personas probably hurt him more than it helped him creatively, and made addiction and that breakdown in LA more likely.

Honestly think he sounded best and seemed more relaxed on stage in 2002-2004 than at any other time.

Aways liked Bowie in spite of the theatricality, not because of it.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. While In General, I Agree...

...I don't when it comes to his early days. It put him on the map.
As he aged & matured he made the wise decision to go for a more classic look.
That started with Thin White Duke & evolved from there.
But, David in a suit would not have gotten him the attention he commanded as Ziggy. Later, he could do the suit & tie because he didn't need to attract attention. By then, he was David F'n Bowie, a rock superstar.
In addition, the band was the Spiders From Mars. "Down to earth" makes no sense. It is the opposite of the concept. It would be like playing a country solo in Kashmir.

[highplainsdem]

5. Oh, he had to dress the part to be Ziggy. I just think he could have written and had hits with great

rock songs without ever creating Ziggy. And could have had more years working successfully with Mick Ronson if he hadn't been creating and dropping personas, and some of the real people he linked to them.

[ProfessorGAC]

7. Again, We Agree In General...

...but in the late 60s & early 70s, attention was everything.
Being a good song writer was great, but being a good song writer garnering attention was gold.

[highplainsdem]

8. I don't think there's any way Jean Genie would've missed becoming a hit. Look at all the rock stars

who didn't need costumes to have hits. To suggest that the costumes and theatrics were necessary is to ignore all the artists who didn't bother with them. Or at least to suggest that Bowie wasn't quite up to their level and needed the costumes for help.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. We'll Leave It There

There's no law that we have to agree, especially since we're both big fans of his.

[highplainsdem]

13. I'm sorry. I tend to overdo it.

[speak easy]

10. He " could have had more years working ... with Mick Ronson"

ding ding ding ding

Mick was sorely missed on Diamond Dogs

Still, by the time David recorded Young Americans it was time to move on. Carlos Alomar was the right guitarist for him then.

[ihaveaquestion]

2. Nope... the clothes were a definite plus to my 17 yr old eyes at the time!

I promise you they sold more records because of them.

[BigmanPigman]

6. Dedicated to Cyrinda Foxe, RIP

?si=5uTjk56cPYIeWVU_

She is the blonde who David wrote this song for.

[speak easy]

11. Not Jimmy Osterberg,

aka Iggy Pop?

[BigmanPigman]

12. Nope, he wrote it for Cyrinda Foxe.

"She was also the inspiration for the song "The Jean Genie" by glam rock musician David Bowie".
It was not for David Johansen or Iggy. It was for her!

"English musician David Bowie and his wife, Angela Bowie, became infatuated with Foxie when they arrived in New York to start their first American tour. While working under Tony Defries as a publicist for MainMan, Foxe appeared in the music video for Bowie's 1972 single, "The Jean Genie". Bowie wanted the video to depict "Ziggy as a kind of Hollywood street-rat" with a "consort of the Marilyn brand". This led to Foxe's casting, and she flew from New York to San Francisco especially for the shoot. Bowie said of the song "I wrote it for her amusement in her apartment. Sexy girl." Foxe records in her memoir that Bowie said to her "I want to write you a song. What do you want?", to which Foxe replied "something like the Yardbirds".

She was married to David Johanson (New York Dolls) then Steven Tyler (Aerosmith).

She died of a brain tumor in 2002. Bowie and Steven gave some of their memorabilia to the fund to help her when she was dying and was completely broke with no health insurance (some things never change) or a place to live until she finally died.
*******************************
"She had an affair with musician David Bowie in the early 1970s. Foxe in later years maintained a fondness for Bowie, referring to him as a "great lover" and stating that she "really cherish[ed her] time" with him."

"Foxe was involved with guitarist James Williamson of The Stooges while living in Hollywood."

"Foxe met David Johansen, lead singer of the New York Dolls, in the back room at Max's Kansas City in New York. They began dating, they married in 1977."

"After less than a year of marriage to Johansen, she began dating Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. In 1978, Foxe and Tyler married and had a daughter, Mia. The couple divorced in 1987."

"When Foxe became ill in later years, Tyler agreed to pay for a room for her at the Gramercy Park Hotel where she married musician Keith Waa on August 28, 2002."