Tony DeFries was David Bowie’s manager throughout the 70s and was a hugely influential figure in orchestration of Ziggy Stardust. Surely if anyone knows the identity of Bowie’s Mystery Guest, it’s Tony DeFries.
Marlene Defries – CC BY-SA 4.0
DeFries and Bowie
Bowie and DeFries met in the first half of 1970, but accounts differ as to exactly when. In David Bowie: A Chronology, Kevin Can puts the meeting as Summer 1970, but Laurence Myers’ book Hunky Dory (Who Knew?), he explains that DeFries first mentioned Bowie in April 1970. Bowie signed with GEM (owned by Laurance Myers) on the 1st August 1970 but he became a MainMan artist when DeFries opened the company in August 1972. Following Bowie to MainMan were Mott The Hoople, Dana Gillespie (who DeFries was dating) and Iggy Pop. Together they had a harmonious and profitable relationship and lived happily ever after.
Ha!
By 1975, Bowie & DeFries were finished as a working partnership and agreements were put in place to end certain parts of their business arrangement. That last sentence is a little like saying that the Titanic sailed for New York, but not everyone got there – there is a lot of detail missing. There are many fascinating accounts in print, but these are some (IMHO) of the best.
As already mentioned, Laurence Myers’ book, Hunk Dory (Who Knew?) really details the mindset of DeFries in the early 70s and he explains exactly why he was happy to let DeFries take Bowie away. Another significant source is Tony Zanetta’s book, Stardust. He gives a staggering amount of detail about the legendary management deal which saw MainMan offices pop up around the world, but left Bowie and the Spiders with no cash in their pockets to buy cigarettes. In Bowie and Hutch, John Hutchinson lays out what life was like being part of the Ziggy Stardust band and the facsimiles of MainMan memos in his book read like something out of the Fall of Rome.
DeFries and Ziggy’s Last Supper
On the 3rd of August 1973, Ziggy’s Last Supper was all about mythologising Bowie and stabilizing MainMan. I’ve never seen a photo of DeFries at the Cafe Royal but many sources have confirmed he was there. I was fortunate enough to be put in touch with Tony DeFries and asked him the obvious question: Who is Bowie’s Mystery Guest?
A response came from Tony’s wife, Marlene.
I think it is Tim Buckley – found this clip with his name.
He died young at 28 in 1975 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Buckley
Regards,
Marlene Defries
Oh well. It’s a good call but as we know, it’s certainly not Tim Buckley.
If you want to know more about MainMain, I heartily recommend the MainMain Podcast where Des Shaw interviews various people, including Tony DeFries, Tony Zanetta and Dana Gillespie about the history of this legendary company.
My sincerest thanks to Marlene and Tony DeFries for taking the time to respond.
