How I Became an Absolute Beginner

I was at the tender age of 14 when I first really 'discovered' David Bowie. 'Absolute Beginners' was in the charts back at the beginning of 1986 and I loved the song. So much that I went out and bought it - my first Bowie record. I followed that with 'Loving the Alien' and 'Let's Dance' both on 7" vinyl and from then on I spent every spare minute in my local record shop, almost becoming part of their furniture. It got to the point that sometimes when I went in, Tim the owner would put a Bowie cd on for me - bless him. Eventually I bought him out of all his Bowie stock. Obviously I'd missed the Serious Moonlight Tour and having got the video, every time I watched it I longed to see David in concert myself. I would sit and watch it for hours on end, rewind it and watch it again. The first twelve months I basically just built up a little collection of records, books and stuff. Anything I saw with David's name on it. When 'Never Let Me Down' was released I bought the album and the cd. I hadn't got a cd player at this point which was a slight inconvenience. So to rectify this I got myself a portable cd player which I would listen to as I walked to college. My fellow students thought I was a real poser!

When the Glass Spider Tour was announced early in 1987 I panicked. My parents tried to get me tickets for the Wembley Stadium gig on 20th June because it was my birthday but for some reason Wembley never received their order. Luckily they booked some for Manchester Maine Road on 15th July instead. I was presented with two tickets for my 16th birthday on 20th June 1987, a spare so I could take a friend. I cried, I screamed. At last I was going to see David Bowie live in concert. I looked at the calendar every day, counting down the hours to that momentous time. My parents drove my friend and I to Manchester early in the morning and we spent the day sitting outside the turnstiles at the Maine Road stadium. We chatted with other fans and waited patiently - it seemed to last for days, never mind hours. You know when you want something to happen and the anticipation seems to make the time drag and drag as if it will never come. But, eventually the gates opened and in we stampeded. I was off like a bullet from a shot gun, turning round quickly and waving so that my friend could keep up (well, she couldn't) or atleast find me. Then that was it. We were in the second row from the front. WOW - the stage was there right in front of me and I couldn't believe it. I had dreaded thoughts of bad weather which meant the show would be cancelled or David losing his voice and not being able to sing. Silly thoughts that you have when the anticipation inside you makes you want to burst.

Alison Moyet and Terence Trent D'Arby started the proceedings, receiving polite cheers from the crowd. This was the first big concert I'd been to, I'd seen shows in small concert halls but never in a stadium environment before. Then the time came, Bowie was about to take the stage. Carlos blazed out from the wings, guitar screeching, Bowie screamed "Shut up". The dancers followed one by one, 'Up the Hill Backwards' being their intro.

"Up until one century ago, there lived in the Zi Duang Province, a glass like spider".

I shouted, yet again I cried and I screamed. David Bowie was about 20 feet in front of me. At last. This was the man I'd watched on video, read about in books and listened to on vinyl. The rest as they say, is history.

Twenty years and 192 shows later (and preparing to see more...), I've travelled the world in pursuit of Bowie concerts, met many great friends and lived a little. Now here I am, producing my own web site dedicated to the man without whom none of this would have been possible.

Thanks David!

Charlie