"If you record another one of my songs boy, you can keep the jacket!"
The Legendary Ziggy Stardust Cowboys get together in San Francisco.
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go...
Some of you may have already spied this story from Tony Philputt which BowieNetter Regina found and posted on the MBs yesterday. Tony is The Man when it comes to all things concerned with The Ledge, and he's also a charming and very generous person to boot.
Tony is responsible for the very first, and probably the last (there won't be a need for another) documentary on The Ledge, 'Cotton Pickin' Smash! The Story of the Legendary Stardust Cowboy', and he thought a meeting between The Ledge and David Bowie would be the perfect ending for his film.
That perfect ending happened on Wednesday, August 14th, (not the 18th as reported elsewhere) backstage at David Bowie's San Francisco show at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Tony tells the story perfectly over at
"About halfway thru the show, Bowie's road manager came up to the table, shook our hands and told us how excited David was that we were there. He instructed us to stay where we were and he would come get us after the show. When he returned, we followed him to the front of a line of folks who were waiting for the ol' "Meet 'n' Greet" with David. You could hear some grumbling about why we got placed ahead of them in line since they had been there longer. But mostly I think they were just trying to figure out who the hell we were.
They didn't wait long. Bowie came around the corner -- and his face lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree. "LEDGE!!!!!" came out of his mouth as he rushed up to Norm and gave him a big squeeze. The look on both their faces was priceless. Then he turned to me and said (I swear): "Hey, you're the bloke who made the movie!" He leaned in and said (again I swear), "Make sure I have your phone number and email address 'cause I think I can help you."
"There she is son...an honest to goodness Gemini Spaceship"
"Wow! That thing really moves, you're actually going home in it?"
"Dumbfounded that he even knew who I was, we gave him the various gifts we'd brought (he's wearing one of them in the photos) and stood around and gabbed for a bit, much to the amazement and befuddlement of the other folks waiting in line. As we left, he pulled me aside again and reiterated how much he enjoyed the film, how he thought my idea for redoing it with a different ending was a great idea, and made sure he had my phone number!"
Here's a bit Tony didn't include in his account about the jacket that David is wearing:
"It was VERY difficult for me to part with as it was a gift from Norman to me. But I wanted to thank DB for the kindness and respect that he showed "The Ledge" (Something that as you know is the exception and not the rule) and that made it somewhat easier. It was made for Norman by a fan of his back in 1986."
I've experienced Tony's generosity first hand too. You may remember he gave me a bugle that belonged to The Ledge (06/16/02 NEWS: LAST NIGHT AT MELTDOWN) that had also been a gift from Norman. What a diamond geezer he is.
On a final note, look out for the latest Legendary Stardust Cowboy release, that includes a "favour returned" in the shape of a completely insane version of 'Space Oddity'. "I Got The Corn Crib Blues" indeed.