C e l e b r a t i n g  

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A week devoted to David Robert Jones (8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016) - aka David Bowie (or maybe Davy Jones or then again Dave Bowie !

This is mostly material I've only discovered recently:

Back in the mid sixties via ads for the Witch Doctor* Club near Hastings I have found that he played with a backing band called The Lower Third and soon after the Buzz. All around the time of 1965/66 and a time when he change his name - was it Davy or Dave - as often as the backing band changed. See link 

Another website has various photos of The Lower Third: here 

And click here for the Buzz. 

Prior to all this, Bowie had made a TV appearance in 1964 representing 'The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Long-haired Men', on the BBC's flagship Tonight Programme, hosted by the legendary Cliff Michelmore. See video and story link here. 

While in early 1965 there was The Manish Boys: see this article and their rejection by the BBC. 

* The Witch Doctor was in Marine Court, St Leonards, and later became The Cobweb. A fire in December 1970 caused serious damage to The Cobweb Ballroom and The Dolphin Ballroom. 

According to DavidBowieWorld.nl - 

In December 1966, Bowie left the Buzz to become a solo act. The Buzz offered to stick with him for a while for no wages when Bowie told them he couldn’t afford them, at which point it came out that the real reason was that he wanted to be on his own. They did, however, back Bowie on early 1967 studio sessions for his first album. 

Far-Out magazine looking back recently on this debut album said

In truth, on the record, we find a 20-year-old Bowie clearly without focus and the album is a serious mess because of it. Upon the release of his self-titled debut album in 1967. The record was received with critical warmth, but thanks in part to label Deram’s lack of promotion, its release saw a cold reception from the public. As such, Bowie was cast aside as yet another folk-pop-adjacent singer who had listened to one too many Beatles albums, having dived headfirst into Vaudeville caricature. 

I was recently lent a 1973 compilation of this debut material called 'Images 1966-1967' > reissued on Decca's Deram label. It is a curious mixture with very little I'd heard previously. 

Here's some MUSIC 

Not on the debut LP but the final track on 'Images' was the Tony Visconti produced 

'In the Heat of the Morning' > an indication of the direction Bowie was heading in 

  

((left) Another one of the ads I found. September 1966. 

FOOTNOTE: 1966 - The other Davy Jones was in The Monkees !!