David bowie andy warhol video biography
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Given the nature of Bowie's song, which portrays Warhol in a somewhat enigmatic and complex light, it's possible that Warhol might have found it intriguing or even flattering.
But he didn’t.
By 1971, Bowie had befriended the actor Tony Zanetta. Afterwards they all went to the Yours And Mine nightclub where Bowie was fascinated by their flamboyant personas.
My yellow shoes broke the ice with Andy Warhol.
I adore what he was doing. For ‘Andy Warhol’ he wrote: “A man of media and anti-message, with a kind of cute style.”
In June 1970, Bowie’s then-manager Kenneth Pitt had considered asking Andy Warhol to provide cover artwork for The Man Who Sold The World.
The cast included Leee Black Childers, Tony Zanetta, and Cherry Vanilla, all of whom would later work for Bowie.
On 11 August members of the Pork cast watched Bowie and Mick Ronson perform at the Country Club on Haverstock Hill, London. You could tell because their eyeballs twitched more slowly.
At the time I ascribed Andy’s abrupt sea change to some sort of accelerated movement along the biochemical continuum or other random cortical event, but I misjudged the man.
Where is it from?” When I told him the truth, he laughed and admitted, “What? Bowie attended the London shows, having already written his songs “Andy Warhol” (!) and “Queen Bitch,” a reference to The Velvet Underground. “Which didn’t help the meeting. Absent physical evidence on campus, for arts and humanities students, Warhol was still a presence at Carnegie Mellon University, his alma mater (class of 1949) and mine (class of 1981).
Apparently it is a real experience to behold him in the daylight.
David Bowie
Rolling Stone, 28 February 1974
Angie Bowie recalled the encounter with Warhol in her 1993 memoir:
I remember a space done in aluminum foil and a bunch of incredibly pale people lounging around in various states approaching coma, squeezing out the occasional nihilistic statement or existentialist non sequitur or meaningless triviality (the closer to coma and meaninglessness, the hipper).That kind of broke the ice. He absolutely adored them."
“Andy had been a shoe illustrator,” Zanetta would say, “which David knew so they began talking about shoes.”
Reflecting on Warhol's persona, Bowie noted his insecurities and suggested that he was often misunderstood as "malicious." When Bowie portrayed Warhol in Julian Schnabel’s "Basquiat" in 1996, he aimed to capture the artist's vulnerability, describing him as having "almost a little boy lost quality" beneath his iconic image.
A year after their encounter, Bowie would release Ziggy Stardust, and his trajectory from slight anonymity to cultural icon would truly begin its exponential ascent.
Had he met Warhol then, who knows what might have transpired.
Andy noticed David’s shoes – bright yellow patent-leather, as I recall, one of my image-enhancing fashion finds – and evidently that spurred a sequence of neurological reactions resulting in, of all things, volubility. Don’t you know that Andy has such a thing about how he looks? He was known for his innovative approach to music, his distinctive voice, and his ever-changing visual style, often characterized by elaborate costumes, makeup, and alter egos.
Bowie passed away on January 10, 2016 at the age of 69, after battling liver cancer.
At once he became just as chatty as could be.
Things were fine from that point. He was an odd guy.
David Bowie
Performing Songwriter, September 2003In 1974 Bowie was interviewed with author William Burroughs for Rolling Stone magazine. Bob Dylan, The Velvet Underground, and Andy Warhol.
These three tracks would ultimately be tucked comfortably and consecutively onto the B-side of Bowie’s 1971 album Hunky Dory.
"The meeting was kind of tense because Warhol was not a great talker. The stars arrived: Jeffrey Wright, Dennis Hopper, Parker Posey, Gary Oldman, Willem Dafoe, and others. Later in 1971—through his agent at RCA, Martin Last—Bowie sent Warhol an advance reference recording copy of the Hunky Dory album vinyl pressing (as well as the “Andy Warhol” single), with song titles Bowie wrote by hand.
When David Met Andy
In September that year, Bowie visited Warhol’s Factory for the first and only time, and performed a strange mime routine; then-Factory staff member Glenn O’Brien (beginning his long career in journalism, working on Warhol’s Interview magazine) recalls that Bowie also performed his “Andy Warhol” song, although that is missing from the video recording of the event, which is in the museum’s collection.
The brilliant, dark wisecrack demonstrated his knowledge of art history, particularly of an artist who was of great importance for Warhol (and, I’m delighted that he’s yet among us).
Bowie walked to his makeup room; I followed, carrying my treasures, hoping that he and the film crew would follow our written instructions on properly caring for the wig and jacket.
I was left there."
According to Far Out Magazine, “Bowie’s star power was lost on Warhol, who thought he was just another obsessive fan that had wrangled his way into The Factory.”
Zanetta’s recollection of the initial meeting follows suit: “Warhol didn’t say anything but absolutely hated it,” he recalled.
