Title: Life on Tour with Bowie – a Genius Remembered
Author: Sean Mayes
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| Source: Goodreads |
★★★★
I’m immediately suspicious of any kind of memoir conveniently published to cash in on a rockstar’s death. Take Mick Wall’s Lou Reed biography ‘The Life’ which appeared shortly after the musician’s passing in 2013 which, although an interesting enough read, felt insincere and rushed. This recent reissue of Fumble frontman and Bowie pianist Sean Mayes’ 1978 touring diary has been accused of the same crime; however, Mayes’ material is distinctly different. Its unbiased, genuine view of life on the road during Bowie’s Isolar II /Stage tour, post-“Heroes” and Low, is insightfully untainted by the icon's recent demise.
Mayes died from AIDs in 1995 and so never witnessed the publication of his writings; described as a “prolific” diarist by pal Kevin Cann, he has attempted to streamline the masses of raw scribbled notes in Sean’s archives into a hopefully true reflection of his time with Bowie. Mayes’ eventual intention to publish his diaries is apparent, and the reader can indulge guilt free, perhaps unlike Kurt Cobain’s private notebooks. What’s more, Mayes’ style is very easy to read – detailed descriptions set the scene without being laborious, yet the mundanities of life on the road are juxtaposed and often coupled with the Messianic figure of Bowie. With an unmistakable human touch, Mayes’ travelogue documents the circus surrounding Bowie and his entourage, to which Mayes belonged and had an unprecedented access. Crucially, there is an overarching sense of Sean as a person; we learn of his individual experiences touring in both the early and late seventies, and interpret the humanity and aloofness of Bowie through his eyes.
As the synopsis on the back cover details, Sean Mayes’ diaries still provide a fascinating insight into touring life even for non-Bowie fans. Each chapter is named after a major stop on the tour, a constant stream of “plastic”, nondescript hotels, gay bars, reporters, limos, groupies, bootlegs “lying in the archives”, lovers that spoke no English and venues that looked like flying saucers. Simple references to ‘DB’ and little anecdotes noted after each show – “subdued” crowd – help to create an observational portrait of a man behind a spectacle of many guises, a true enigma. The occasional name-drop between such antics is to be expected, with appearances from Barbra Streisand and Iggy Pop in New York’s then-cultural hub, Studio 54.
As Mayes rejoins the European leg of the tour, fanatics get an invaluable insight into the recording of Lodger, the final instalment of Bowie’s so-called Berlin trilogy, recorded in Montreux, Switzerland. With this cultural shift from the American Mid-West, Mayes reminisces about days touring Germany with his old band Fumble, creating an almost fly-on-the-wall experience whilst Bowie shoots scenes for Just a Gigolo in Paris. Minor revelations like a clandestine kiss between Sean and the “lordship” himself, with the show heading further east, only add mystique and ambiguity to his relationships, even with his manager Coco. Peppered with rehearsal and travel photos from Sean’s personal film rolls, the tour finishes up in Japan, a favourite place of Bowie’s and the destination of Sean’s final love affair of the tour.
Anyone expecting to read a memoir about David Bowie will be disappointed by ‘Life on Tour with Bowie – a Genius Remembered’. Whilst countless books have been written about the man who fell to earth, Mayes’ diaries avoid being condemned to the dusty shelf of biographies because they provide something much more personal and real. The fact that Mayes and Bowie weren’t inseparable friends brings a whole new dynamic to his writing. Sean shows us Bowie headlining Madison Square Garden, yet also more intimately; as he says after all, “there is more to life than being ‘the guy who played piano for David Bowie’”.
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