As readers of this blog most probably know by now, I’m a massive, massive Bowie head and have been for over 35 years. Although I tend to think I’ve seen and heard about 99.9% of everything relating to the man’s life and career, I’ve been finding that the .1% of the stuff I’ve never come across before is almost always pure gold and that there is also a seemingly bottomless pit of it. Maybe I should revise my total down to 95%? (Let’s hope the real number is actually closer to 50%).

Like I was saying, there is still a lot to discover, such as this, my new top favorite photograph ever taken of David Bowie. What’s more, he’s probably never seen it himself, either.

The photograph above was taken on the evening of Bowie’s first arrival in the United States. It’s on the Flickr account of Michael Olberman, a writer who covered pop music at the time. His brother happened to work for Bowie’s then record label, Mercury Records. This would have been in Jan-Feb of 1971, when Bowie was in America promoting The Man Who Sold the World (Apparently that’s a card or something that he’s holding and not a joint). Here’s the caption Michael wrote:

This was David Bowie’s first night (ever) in the United States. I am the one waving in the photo. David was great. He went to dinner with me, my brother and my parents. This photo was taken in my parent’s living room in Silver Spring, MD. Later that night he came to my house and spent the evening. Incredible memories for me. David, if you flickr—hello again!

Click here to see a larger version of the photo.

Below, Bowie sings “Space Oddity” in a German TV appearance from 1969 and wadda ya know, I’ve never seen this clip before either!
 

I met Mike Olberman (or was it his brother) via Jeff Krulik of Heavy Metal Parking Lot fame.  Long Live Washington, DC’s hidden rock history.

Actually, I just assumed Bowie was on an iPhone making a call…the impossibility of that didn’t occur to me until the “that’s not a joint” comment…

I too was a humungous Bowie fan until Let’s Dance (which I didn’t mind but it was the last Bowie album I bought for something like 15 years…)

That’s perfectly charming, and maybe accurately titled (whether “ever” is true, time will tell).

You remind me of my other favorite Bowie find: Letters of Note has something he wrote to a fan in 1967 on his manager’s letterhead here: http://www.lettersofnote.com/2009/12/my-real-name-is-david-jones.html

He looks like Kate Moss

He looks like my sister with that hair.

These glimpses into the “real life” of pop history generally make my day. Thanks!

cool shot, if not a bit unsettling. I think he’s an incredible gentleman, because i would have been incredibly uncomfortable sitting in a strangers house eating dinner with his parents at a restaurant (being a rock star).

great photo and fucking brilliant clip! Well executed appearance. Also love what appear to be the origins of the “Mike Brady Perm” http://fishtown.us/node/8934

Major Tom’s first day in America {{{glowing with nostalgia}}}

pix mix>

http://oi56.tinypic.com/23ue7ww.jpg

Did he jam with Pentagram on that visit? Something I need to hear…

Huge fan and youve never seen that photo. I think it surfaced probably about 5 years ago. I always wondered about the story behind it.

Interesting to see all the comments.  I posted the picture on my flickr account and am on the left in the photo.  My mother took the snapshot.  I visited my mother today in the same living room David Bowie spent his first evening in.  Over a six year period I interviewed over 300 musicians/bands…from Bowie to The Doors to James Brown, Janis Joplin, The Byrds, The Who…etc., etc.  It (to say the least) was a fascinating period of my life.

Forget Bowie—what’s Lou Barlow doing in that photo, and when did he become a time traveler?

The photo is in the June issue of Great Britain’s MOJO Magazine.  Bowie was incredibly nice.  In one of the many books about Bowie, he is quoted calling my mother his “adoptive American mum.”

That’s not Lou Barlow. That’s Jamie Gillis.