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Timeline

David Bowie

Alien Phenomena

"Who says the Space People have got no eyes?

You have - you've got one in every living room in the world..."

 

February 1974 - 'Rebel Rebel' single.

Conversation with William Burroughs is printed in Rolling Stone.

David Bowie, on Andy Warhol: "..I met this man who was the living dead. Yellow in complexion, a wig on that was the wrong colour, little glasses. I extended my hand and the guy retired, so I thought, 'The guy doesn't like flesh, obviously he's reptilian.'..."

William Burroughs: "I don't think that there is any person there. It's a very alien thing, completely and totally unemotional. He's really a science fiction character. He's got a strange green colour."

Andy Warhol -

Self-Portait.

David Bowie: "That's what struck me. He's the wrong colour, this man is the wrong colour to be a human being. Especially under the stark neon lighting in The Factory. Apparently it is a real experience to behold him in the daylight."

William Burroughs: "I've seen him in the light and still have no idea as to what is going on, except that it is something quite purposeful. It's not energetic, but quite insidious, completely asexual..."

March/April 1974 - Mick Ronson's LP 'Slaughter On Tenth Avenue' is released, and he tours Britain.

'Rock 'n' Roll Suicide' single.

Moves to U.S.A.

'Diamond Dogs' LP released in Britain. The cover artwork is by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert.

Outside of the gatefold sleeve.

Roy Stockdill: "But Bowie was convinced their latest home was haunted too, and consulted a white witch. The witch told him - 'You are a walk-in. You have come from another planet or galaxy. A human being has given you permission to inhabit his body.
'Walk-ins have a divine mission to bring enlightenment. Usually, a walk-in survives no more than five years before he is destroyed.'...

...It was after watching a TV newscast in Los Angeles about UFOs that he began to believe he was an alien being.
'I can't go out in the sun because I'll melt,' he announced.
During one 15-hour cocaine binge with his friend and road manager Tony Zanetta, he confessed -
'Every day I wake up to face a nightmare I don't understand.' "

June/July 1974 - 'Diamond Dogs' single.

Tour of Canada and North America. Two Philadelphia concerts are recorded for a live LP, and the New York shows videotaped.

August/September 1974 - Recording for new LP.

U.S. tour resumes. BBC filming for 'Omnibus' TV documentary.

'Knock On Wood' U.K. single.

October/November 1974 - U.S. concerts continue without 'Diamond Dogs' set.

Alan Yentob, while filming David Bowie in Detroit, for the 'Omnibus' documentary, videotapes television news broadcasts concerning the crash of an alien spacecraft.

Alan Yentob - recorded two TV news

broadcasts about crash of an alien craft.

'David Live' double LP is released.

Front cover 'David Live.'

Accompanied by Ava Cherry, David Bowie talks about UFOs with John Lennon, in New York. Also present is May Pang.
In August, John Lennon and May Pang had seen a UFO.

Interview with Bruno Stein.

David Bowie: "I used to work for two guys who put out a UFO magazine in England. About six years ago. And I made sightings six, seven times a night for about a year, when I was in the observatory. We had regular cruises that came over. We knew the 6.15 was coming in and would meet up with another one. And they would be stationary for about half an hour, and then after verifying what they'd been doing that day, they'd shoot off.

But, I mean, it's what you do with the information. We never used to tell anybody. It was beautifully dissipated when it got to the media. Media control is still based in the main on cultural manipulation. It's just so easy to do. When you set up one set of objectives toward the public and you've given them a certain definition for each code word, you hit them with the various code words and they're not going to believe anything if you don't want them to..."

December 1974 - Appearance on Dick Cavett 'Wide World Of Entertainment,' NBC TV. Asked about his unwillingness to fly, he compares the take-off of an aeroplane unfavourably to the vertical take-off of a flying saucer.

David Bowie's 'My World' diary series running in Mirabelle, ghostwritten by Cherry Vanilla, mentions the alien spacecraft crash incident. She does, however, report - apparently wrongly - that it was a radio broadcast involved, and only refers to one.

Cherry Vanilla.

Cherry Vanilla, pretending to be David Bowie: "..Suddenly, the newsman interrupted the regular programme with the news that a spaceship had been found in the desert - an alien spaceship about six feet wide and thirty feet long - and inside were three alien beings. The three creatures were killed on impact when the spaceship plummeted to earth, but they were taken to a hospital to be examined, anyway. These people looked like human beings but were much smaller and when they were examined it was discovered that their vital organs were like human beings too! The catch is that their brains were found to be much farther advanced! Wow!

As soon as the newscast was over I got all the band and my back-up singers together, and had them ring up radio and TV stations all over the country to see if they had all got the report. About half the stations said they had and half denied it - so, it really is quite a mystery. No one knows what's happened to the spaceship or the spacemen at this point, and it seems that someone is trying to cover up the whole matter completely!

I asked the audience at the concert that night if they had heard about the spaceship landing, and just about all of them had, so I definitely wasn't hearing things!
I'd really like to know more about it, though!..."

1974 - An early biography, 'The David Bowie Story' by George Tremlett is published during this year.

Cover of original edition.

January/February 1975 - 'Young Americans' single.

The 'Cracked Actor' TV documentary, directed by Alan Yentob, is broadcast in Britain.

Bruno Stein's article/interview is printed in Creem (U.S.A.) and then NME (U.K.).

March 1975 - 'Young Americans' LP comes out.

Cover of 'Young Americans.'

July-September 1975 - Filming for 'The Man Who Fell To Earth.'

Rob Leggatt: "Tabloid rumours of rock star weirdness emerged almost as soon as the six-week New Mexico shoot began.. Bowie it was said, spent his spare time locked in a trailer scouring his library of 1,500 mystical books, consorting both with then wife Angie and heiress Sabrina Guinness and listening to 'Young Americans' played backward on a special turntable which made the recording sound like a Tibetan chant. The film's New Mexico location, a hot spot for UFO activity, fuelled the madness. 'You could look up into the sky,' remembers the film's writer Paul Mayersburg, 'and see strange things every day.' Bowie, still a year away from his extended detox in Berlin, claimed several sightings."

At Alamagordo, New Mexico, U.S.A., on August 13th, Air Force Sergeant Charles L.Moody is abducted by aliens.

In their August 23rd issue, NME re-print an interview with Anthony O'Grady, from the American magazine RAM.

David Bowie: "It's like a kaleidoscope. No matter how many little colours you put in it, that kaleidoscope will make those colours have a pattern... and that's what happens with TV, by the end of the year there's a whole format that the TV put together. The TV puts over its own plan.
Who says the space people have got no eyes? You have - you've got one in every living room in the world. That's theoretical of course..."

'Fame' single reaches No.1 in America.

September/October 1975 - 'Space Oddity' is re-issued in Britain, and reaches No.1.

November 1975 - Travis Walton is abducted by aliens from Sitgreaves National Forest, Arizona, USA.

'Golden Years' single release.

Russell Harty U.K. TV interview is recorded by satellite on a thursday morning, and the edited broadcast airs friday night in the London and Anglia viewing areas of Britain.

David Hancock, Record Mirror: "Before the movie clip is shown, Bowie makes a point about the guy he plays, Sussex. It's a flash of the old mystery, of the old Ziggy - 'It's assumed that I'm an alien from outer space, it's not necessarily true.' Great stuff!...
And then comes the first of two questions Bowie refuses to answer because he says there's not enough time to give a full explanation.. It's about extraterrestrial forces, a subject Bowie's touted for years. The conversation moves off that shaky ground..."

New Musical Express: "..Instead such subjects as Bowie's interest in the extra-terrestrial did not develop as conversation pieces.
'What kind of eclectic manifestation do you have of this?' Harty asks.
'A mountain. Or, a tree. Is the manifestation. The forces that we are not capable of dealing with.' "

1975 - Books published this year include Uri Geller's 'My Story,' Ion Hobana & Julien Weverbergh's 'UFOs from Behind the Iron Curtain,' and Laura Mundo's 'Flying Saucer Up-Day!'

circa-1975 - Rick Wakeman (who had played on 'Space Oddity'; 'Life On Mars,' and other David Bowie recordings) sees a UFO while writing his LP 'No Earthly Connection.'

Rick Wakeman in concert c.1975.

Dan Wooding (biographer): "The incident took place at 3 a.m. while Rick was writing on the veranda of a beach house in Florida, overlooking the triangle of water which has apparently been gulping up planes for years..."

Rick Wakeman: "It did a zigzag across the sky, shot up and vanished. Even now I hesitate to mention the incident because I don't know if anyone will believe me. But a local Miami paper next day confirmed what we saw. They carried news of the UFO sighting by other people.
I knew at the time everyone would explain it away by saying that the pressure of writing the album was getting me down; making me imagine things. When I first noticed it, I thought it was a shooting star. But no shooting star falls across the sky, stays still for an hour and then shoots off in the other direction."

January/February 1976 - 'Station To Station' LP.

Original cover of the LP.

World tour begins in Vancouver, Canada; followed by concerts in America.

After the L.A. show, he is introduced to David Hockney by Christopher Isherwood, who is, himself, a close friend of Gerald Heard.

March 1976 - Leicester Square, London premiere of 'The Man Who Fell To Earth.'

Film still 'The Man Who Fell To Earth.'

The famous science-fiction writer Philip K.Dick goes to see the film, with friends Tim Powers and K.W.Jeter, and he loves it. Since February 1974, Philip K.Dick has been (according to his own accounts) in contact with an alien intelligence, which transmits information to him. He listens to David Bowie albums for a while, along with K.W.Jeter, hoping to discern a sign from the alien realm.

Philip K.Dick - listened for

alien signs in David Bowie LPs.

May 1976 - Much-publicised arrival at Victoria station, London; Wembley concerts.

Compilation LP 'Changesonebowie' is successful.


October 1976 - Moves to West Berlin.

1976 - 'Supersonic Annual 1977' has 'What will the stars be up to? a Supersonic look at 1987!' feature, that includes:

"BOWIE'S SPACED OUT! 'This is Major Tom to ground control...'
Yeah, we couldn't get to see Bowie. He was ten million light years away, heading for Mars, in his very own spaceship! But we spoke to him over the inter-space phone...
'Cor, you want to see the view from up here. I'm touching down on Mars in three days. Just me and my crew - and a ship load of holiday makers!'
'I'll send you a postcard in a couple of million light years time!' "

David Downing's book 'Future Rock' is published. Chapter five focuses on David Bowie. Spanning 17 pages, it's titled 'BOWIE; RED MUTANT EYES GAZING DOWN':

"If change cannot come from within, then perhaps it will arrive from without. A favourite science-fiction theme, which Bowie has hinted at in a number of songs, notably the imaginary Venusian saucer in 'Memory Of A Free Festival', the 'strangers' who arrive in 'Oh You Pretty Things', and the galactic DJ in 'Starman.' And if no one comes, well, perhaps there's 'Life On Mars', because there certainly isn't any on Earth."

Published this year are: Ray Stanford's 'Socorro "Saucer" in a Pentagon Pantry,' James M.McCampbell's 'UFOlogy: New Insights from Science and Common Sense,' Brad Steiger's 'Gods of Aquarius: UFOs and the Transformation of Man,' and Robert K.G.Temple's 'The Sirius Mystery.'

January/February 1977 - 'Low' LP release.

'Low.'

'Sound and Vision' single.

March/April 1977 - Plays keyboards on Iggy Pop's tour of U.K./Canada/U.S.A.

'The Idiot' LP by Iggy Pop released.

September/October 1977 - Iggy Pop's 'Lust For Life' released.

'Heroes' single issued.

'Heroes' LP.

'Heroes.'

December 1977 - Europe 1 interview with Jean Michel Desjeunes.

Question: Let's suppose we've got a magician and he can do two things. First one is that you can become the biggest movie star in the world, and the second one is that you can choose a journey to the moon. What would you do?

David Bowie: Just my choice? The moon wins.

Q: Why?

David Bowie: Because I would never want to be a movie actor. I want to direct. If I was asked that maybe it would be different. Then I could have earned enough money to enable me to go to the moon and film it. In England that's called having your cake and eating it.

1977 - A U.K. paperback edition of Warren Smith's book 'UFO Trek' is published this year, by Sphere Books. Chapter six details an apparent alien encounter experienced one night in April 1970, recalled by a man given the pseudonym Raymond Shearer - the 32-year-old attorney reportedly had visited a psychiatrist, who then administered hypnosis to find out what had happened.

Cover of book -

artwork signed 'Taj77.'

Raymond Shearer: "I think that each of us are being used as messengers. Bits and pieces of the puzzle are given to each of us. When enough of these pieces are assembled, an answer to the UFO mystery will be uncovered. I don't know why they're doing things this way - I just feel they're doing it... For several months after my contact I did some crazy, irrational things. At least they were irrational when compared to my former conduct. I think they were programmed into me by the UFO people. They're after some goal here on earth - whatever it may be. I break out into a cold sweat when I think of being a possible agent or spy for these people."

March 1978 - 65-city world tour begins in San Diego, California.

September 1978 - 'Stage' double LP issued, from recordings made on the tour.

1978 - David Haisell's 'The Missing Seven Hours' and George H. Leonard's 'Somebody Else Is On The Moon' are published.

Dan Wooding's biography 'Rick Wakeman: Caped Crusader' is published. This book has, in a chapter entitled 'On The Trail of a Spaceman,' details of the UFO seen by Rick Wakeman while writing his 'No Earthly Connection' LP, as well as information concerning both the themes he dealt with on the record, and the 'missing time' experience while the LP was actually being recorded:

"During the recording of the album at the Chateau de Herouville in France - where Elton John made his famous 'Honky Chateau' album - Rick found himself sitting on a wall in a tiny French village miles from the Chateau, crying his eyes out. 'I still don't know how I got there or why I was crying,' he said. 'It was as if my mind had blown a fuse.' "

April/May 1979 - 'Boys Keep Swinging' single.

'Lodger' LP released.

'Lodger' -

One side of the outer gatefold sleeve.

1979 - Alvin E.Moore's 'Mystery Of The Skymen' is published, as are 'UFO Contact from the Pleiades Vol.1' by Lee Elders, [?] Welch and Wendelle Stevens, and 'The Andreasson Affair' by Raymond E.Fowler.

January 1980 - MUFON publishes 'The UFO Crash/Retrieval Syndrome: Status Report II: New Sources, New Data' by Leonard H.Stringfield:

"I, or any of my contemporaries, may never live to see the day when all the facts are bared to either verify or completely quash the story of UFO crashes, retrievals, and of the little nondescript bipeds that are kept under official wraps in cryogenic catacombs. The whole truth is beyond my meager range of inquiry. The data I present here are hardly sufficient to change the hard crust of our scientific community. And if everything I know is true, then perhaps it is also true that other information unknown to me would 'blow the mind,' as the former C.I.A. employee once commented on tape. If, then, the real facts are so unsettling, is it socially wise to hide the truth until the day may come when disaster strikes or a docile segment of our humanity is converted to fear or worship a fetish that doesn't even exist?"

February 1980 - Divorces Angela; receives custody of their son, Zowie.

July/August 1980 - Appears as John Merrick in the play of 'The Elephant Man,' in Denver (one week) and Chicago (three weeks).

'Ashes To Ashes' single release, makes No.1 in Britain.

September/October 1980 - 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)' LP, follows single to the top in U.K.

'Scary Monsters.'

'The Elephant Man' runs on Broadway.

'Fashion' single release.

1980 - Among books published this year are: Winfield S.Brownell 'UFOs: Key To Earth's Destiny,' William Moore & Charles Berlitz 'The Roswell Incident,' Frank Johnson 'The Janos People,' and Margaret Sachs 'The UFO Encyclopedia.'

January 1981 - 'Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)' is third U.K. hit single from the LP.

November 1981 - 'Under Pressure' released, and makes No.1: song recorded with Queen, in July.

1981 - Books this year include: Jenny Randles & Paul Whetnall 'Alien Contact,' Budd Hopkins 'Missing Time,' and Fred Steckling 'We Discovered Alien Bases On The Moon.'

March 1982 - BBC1 broadcast 'Baal' TV play, that had been filmed in August 1981.

'Cat People (Putting Out Fire)' single.

November 1982 - 'Peace On Earth/Little Drummer Boy' television duet with Bing Crosby becomes a big hit single.

1982 - Christopher Sandford: "Visitors to Switzerland in the latter half of 1982 were treated to long screeds about RCA and the conviction, eerily reminiscent of 1975, that 'agents' were out to get him."

Books published this year include: Raymond E.Fowler 'The Andreasson Affair Phase Two,' and Laura Mundo 'The Mundo UFO Report.'

January 1983 - 'George Adamski: The Untold Story' is published by CETI Publications, who are located in Beckenham High Street, London.

March/April 1983 - Press conference held at Claridges Hotel, London.

'Let's Dance' single release makes No.1 in Britain.

Followed by 'Let's Dance' LP , which goes on to sell six million copies.

'Let's Dance.'

May-December 1983 - 'Serious Moonlight' world tour comprises 98 concerts, with an estimated 21/2 million tickets sold.

'China Girl' and 'Modern Love' hit singles.

Co-stars with Catherine Deneuve and Susan Sarandon in 'The Hunger.'
It is directed by Tony Scott, based on a novel by Whitley Strieber.

January 1984 - German magazine 'Cinema,' includes an item about a planned UFO film documentary:

"Stressed... Nina Hagen (28), Rockstar and mother (daughter Cosma Shiva is almost three years old) and since meeting an angel deeply religious, is moving into stressful times. With her new manager Juliane Gregorova she has established the Entertainment Enterprise Zigzag, which should be producing a film this year. The subject? UFOs of course, because the eccentric Rock lady went on a galactic trip. Possibilities for the other parts include Lene Lovich, David Bowie and Klaus Kinski. It remains to be seen whether the project will get off the ground."

September 1984 - 'Tonight' LP and 'Blue Jean' single (with extended promo video) come out.

Before performing the song on the MTV Music Awards, he introduces himself as "David Bowie" and his backing group as "The Aliens."

1984 - Among books published this year are: Lawrence Fawcett & Barry J.Greenwood 'Clear Intent - The Government Coverup of The UFO Experience,' and Brenda Butler, Dot Street & Jenny Randles 'Sky Crash.'

May 1985 - 'Loving The Alien' single.

While singing in the promotional video, directed by David Mallet, David Bowie's nose starts bleeding for no apparent reason. However, two years later, Whitley Strieber reveals to millions of readers of his book 'Communion' that nosebleeds are prevalent among alien abductees. These nosebleeds are thought to be symptomatic of 'nasal probes' by aliens.

Whitley Strieber: "I then asked Budd Hopkins for information, from his cases, of reports of intrusions into the head. Of his hundred cases, four including me reported intrusions in or behind the ear, three under the eye, and eleven, again including me, up the nose. By far the largest number of intrusions were into the nostril, right into the olfactory nerve with its connection to the deepest core of the brain - and behind that nerve, the temporal lobe."

July 1985 - 'Live Aid' event takes place.

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