In 1983, David Bowie's sojourn began in the far west.
Reversing the situation of 1978, Bowie's down under dates now occurred after Japan - the plan this time being to end the tour in Auckland.
In early November, Bowie reached Perth Airport having boarded in Japan. In the arrival area, regular passengers began filing out a few at a time,
then
came the band members - Carlos, Earl, Frank and George, then Bowie's assistant Coco and then David Bowie himself.
BDU member Stevee was there at the time:
''He came out pushing his own bags on one of those uncontrollable baggage
trolleys,black suit and hat, bright, bright yellow hair, and about 48
hours worth of stubble on his face.
I
had to move to get out of his way - it was very surreal.
As
he passed, I welcomed him to Perth, and he thanked me, desperately trying
to manoeuvre the trolley towards the black limo waiting outside.''
Perth Airport 1983. Images sent in from Stevee. To see his full report, click
here.
On the way to the car, Bowie stopped to
sign autographs and then went off to what he said would be his "first
and only" press conference during the Australia tour.
Press Conference (Early November)
Dressed
in gray trousers, brown shirt and jacket, Bowie
faced 60 media representatives at the Perth Press Conference.
He
spoke about sex, drugs, his son, nuclear war and the fate of the aborigines
and how he would like to revive the idea of the Brotherhood of Man:
"I've achieved some status as a pop artist.
I'd like to be fairly
committed to contributing my viewpoint on what are the immoralities of
the world.
I think it's very fair to say the world is probably in the
most catastrophic period of it's....of our knowledge. I think it's almost
my duty to do something about it in positive terms."
~ David
Bowie, Australian Press Conference, 1983.
Tom
Prior (columnist for The Sun) recalled that his lasting memory
of Bowie was "in drag, with high heels, white stockings and crotch-hugging
tights".
Excerpts
from the press conference and the airport arrival were shown on various
programs including Newsworld, the Morning Show and the Today
Show.
