As a child, I was an avid reader of adventure novels, but I never imagined I would write one, much less be the protagonist.
When I was 16, I saw David Bowie on tour when he debuted Ziggy Stardust. There was only about 200 people in the audience. At one point, David sat on Mick Ronson’s shoulders while the guitarist wandered through the sparse crowd. I never imagined then that I’d meet Bowie, much less work for him for nearly 40 years.
The following week the great band The Who came to town and as fate would have it I would be associated with them for the rest of my working life. Fate was sealed and rock and roll was calling loud and clear.
I think the idea to publish a book first came to me while I was on tour in Europe with the Rolling Stones in 1982. I was a publicist and had been hired to manage the media throughout Europe, liaising directly with the band as well as with TV, radio and journalists of all media.
But still, while the band was on tour, I spent a lot of time traveling on trains, boats and planes and just sat around, so I started taking notes.
Occasionally the entries were surreal, like a dentist appointment, a visit to Motörhead, or meeting Marvin Gaye at the theater.
Years later, Prince told me that my handwriting was similar to his because he also wrote in hieroglyphics. Sometimes the notes were surreal and included dentist appointments, visits with Motörhead, and meetings with Marvin Gaye at the theater. I thought these notes might be useful.
I started writing seriously when I started working with David Bowie in the early ’80s and accompanying him on tours of Australia, and I began to realise that I was witnessing a cultural history that people in the future would want to know about.
This book is so diverse that it was a challenge to know how to begin.
We decided to kick off the event with a special final meeting with David Bowie followed by a memorial lunch attended by many people from producer Tony Visconti to Sir Bob Geldof. It made for an atmospheric and moving start and, for me, a timely reminder that I was there.
Alan Edwards is the spokesman. I Was There: Reports from a Life of Rock and Roll
