Bowie Manager To Spill The Beans
“Tony Defries, the legendary rock manager who launched David Bowie and whose groundbreaking innovations form the bedrock of modern media presentation, is breaking a career-long silence to publish his long-awaited autobiography, Gods And Gangsters.
A key figure behind some of the most crucial events and developments in contemporary music history, Defries was present at the birth of Madonna, the reincarnation of Stevie Wonder, the death of the Beatles and the ignition of Iggy. But he has never been interviewed, never made public declarations, never opened up and revealed his innermost truths.
Told now for the very first time, Gods And Gangsters is the story behind a career spent managing, marketing, and branding superstars - from the fashion idols of the Pop Art 60s to the rock gods of the 70s and 80s. Written with renowned music historian Dave Thompson, the book is projected for publication in 2008.” [Press release on Antimusic]
Nothing on Amazon yet, so this sounds like it’s not even been written. Given DeFries really has kept schtumm about everything that happened during the 70s and been generally reclusive, and given he royally screwed over Mr Bowie, I’ll be very interested to read it. I’ve still to read the Tony Visconti autobiography but I can definitely recommend Paul Trynka’s excellent biography of Iggy Pop, Open Up And Bleed, which provides a fantastic overview of the life and messy death of the Stooges and the whole Bowie/Pop connection, in which Bowie comes off a lot better than usual. Makes you want to go and listen to all the records all over again. Can’t praise it more than that.
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- Strange Fascinaton After seeing some comments …
- David Bowie Gets Nasty
- Aufgehoben revealed
- Mick Rocks
- The Last Word Well, judging from the length of …
