Discovering The Cherry Vanilla Tapes: A unique look at David Bowie
Few people have exerted as much influence on modern music as David Bowie. The androgynous icon emerged in the late 1960s before making a significant dent in the musical landscape during the early ’70s, thanks in no small part to his Ziggy Stardust persona. Donning a bright red hairstyle and flamboyant outfits, Bowie channelled his alter ego on stage as much as in his music, making him more than just a musician, but a performer.
Before releasing The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Bowie had been trying to make it for several years, finding little success with his early sound, with his self-titled debut flopping hard. Nevertheless, Bowie possessed enough determination to prevent this failure from deterring him. He studied the dramatic arts and dedicated himself to his craft, which ultimately paid off by the time he released Ziggy Stardust.
Since then, albums he created prior, such as Hunky Dory, have become well-loved records, and Bowie is recognised as one of the most influential musicians of all time. Whether he was exploring new genres or challenging the mainstream’s perception of gender roles and performance, Bowie was constantly changing the cultural landscape with his bold and unrelenting vision.
However, Bowie wasn’t always the confident, outrageous person seen on stage. In a rare interview with his publicist Cherry Vanilla, who shared the audio clip decades later, Bowie appears reserved and friendly as he discusses his writing processes and desires to make movie scores.
On her website, Cherry Vanilla, real name Kathleen Dorritie, wrote: “This is about 11 minutes long and only audio, so it’s only for when you have time … and IF YOU ARE interested. If you are a super Bowie fan, you might be … otherwise, forget it … or pass on the link to anyone you know who may be. It’s me interviewing David in 1973, for my own education, in order to do interviews on his behalf at the time.”
She added: “It’s kind of sweet because you can hear how young and shy we are, especially me … sort of afraid he is going to make me feel like a fool any second. I’ve had it all these years, but am just putting it out there now … like I say, for the super Bowie fans … and there are a lot of them, it seems. Hard for me to believe it’s from 40 years ago!”
Dorritie quizzes Bowie on his preoccupation with the letter ‘Z’, being “very opposed to drugs”, and even if he feels “real” while making love. When asked about how he writes songs, Bowie revealed that “the whole thing comes at once generally, and very quickly.”
He added: “The melody generally comes pre, and the lyrics come as poems, and I join lyrics with different melodies. I tend to stockpile both and fit together where it seems right.”
Check out the full interview below, which contains some fascinating insights into Bowie’s life and career as he entered into the world of music fame.
