It was a relationship which lacked polarity, we were the same thing.” So says Hermione Farthingale, David Bowie’s former girlfriend and Feathers bandmate. Few people knew Bowie better in the late 60s than Hermione and this issue she grants Long Live Vinyl an extremely rare interview. She’s one of several of Bowie’s inner circle to speak to John Earls as we delve deep into the events leading up to 1969 – the year he became the Starman. Bowie had endured a number of false starts to his showbiz career and there were so many ‘what if’ moments in 1968 and ’69.
Farthingale and Bowie split up as she let the country in December ’68 for a part in the musical Song Of Norway; the break-up would prove to be a catalyst for the volley of demos that Bowie and Hutch Hutchinson recorded – released this spring as a trio of revealing boxsets. Hutch in turn exited stage let, moving back to Scarborough with his wife and child, crucially leaving Bowie as a solo act. How differently that scenario could have played out. then there was the occasion Marc Bolan gifted Bowie with the Stylophone that would be key to the recording of Space Oddity; and casting further back, Bowie’s childhood friend George Underwood recalls drawing Joey the starman for young David in the steam on a kitchen window, potentially planting an indelible seed in his best mate’s head. All of these essential twists of fate unfold in our cover feature this issue; it’s the complete story of an artist about to take a giant leap into pop culture immortality. And if you’re a Bowie fan who hasn’t yet listened to the three boxsets that shine a light on the beginning of his transformation – Clareville Grove Demos, Spying through A Keyhole and he ‘Mercury’ Demos, we suggest you get down to your local record shop forthwith. Also out this month is another staggering retrospective release, this time from Prince. His Originals album provides further evidence, as if any more should be needed, of the Purple prodigy’s supernatural songwriting talent. Turn to p100 for our review. Spoiler alert: it’s a 10.