Music PR legend Alan Edwards has spilled some delightful secrets to NME about how David Bowie used to dodge the limelight during the height of his fame. Edwards, the mastermind behind The Outside Organisation, has worked with a galaxy of stars, including The Rolling Stones, Prince, and Britney Spears. Now, with the release of his memoir, "I Was There: Dispatches from a Life in Rock and Roll", Edwards shares anecdotes that shine a light on Bowie’s down-to-earth charm and crafty disguises.
“I met Bowie just after he finished filming Nagisa Oshima’s "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence" in 1983,” Edwards reminisces. "He was being treated like a movie star — but also he had just been dropped by his label because "Low" and "Heroes" weren’t being deemed as good commercially as stuff like Bay City Rollers!”
Touring with Bowie, Edwards quickly realized just how grounded and charming the rock legend was. "He’d turn up at our office in Tottenham Court Road and make coffee for everyone.” Edwards recalls.
But the real gem? Bowie’s ingenious method to go incognito. “He told me his secret to not being recognised was to wear a cloth cap and have a Greek newspaper under his arm. That way if anyone ever questioned whether it was him, they’d look closer and think, ‘Well it can’t be… he’s obviously Greek’.”
This strategy extended to interviews too. “We’d get the train a lot of the time, no first-class or anything" Edwards continues. "You’d be amazed how many people would do a double take, then think: ‘Can’t be him, he’s just a guy sat with us going to Manchester’."
One particularly amusing tale from the book recounts how, after a radio interview, Bowie had some time to kill and decided to present the station’s traffic reports. "He sat there telling people there were delays on the M25… and even to this day I don’t think anyone knew it was David Bowie. He was this extraordinary creative genius, but also a pure, disarming, nice gentleman.”
Edwards’ memoir is brimming with these behind-the-scenes stories that reveal the human side of rock’s greatest legends, offering fans a glimpse into the lives of the stars who shaped the music world.
If you’re a Bowie fan or just love a good rock ‘n’ roll tale, "I Was There" is a must-read, packed with wit, wisdom, and the kind of charm that only someone like Bowie could inspire.
Photo: Armando Gallo/Getty Images
