Tuesday, January 31, 2023
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Contact Us
Go Travel Mate
  • Travel News
  • Travel Ideas
  • Resorts
  • Destination
    • Beaches
  • More
    • Food & Drink
    • Airplane
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Cruises
    • Camping
    • Home Improvement
No Result
View All Result
Go Travel Mate
  • Travel News
  • Travel Ideas
  • Resorts
  • Destination
    • Beaches
  • More
    • Food & Drink
    • Airplane
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Cruises
    • Camping
    • Home Improvement
No Result
View All Result
Go Travel Mate
No Result
View All Result

What happened when a young traveler ran into David Bowie?

Admin by Admin
July 19, 2022
in News
0 0
0

[ad_1]

220719123133 david bowie 1987 hp video What happened when a young traveler ran into David Bowie?

(CNN) — American teenager Brad Miele spent the summer of 1984 touring Europe by train with his Sony Walkman in his ears.

Days of browsing through Parisian record stores and evenings sampling Berlin’s nightlife were sampled by Miele’s favorite albums.

Miele’s mother also traveled through Europe that summer, but while she opted for five-star hotels and tours of famous city landmarks, Miele and his brother stayed in hostels and spent their days on side streets, searching for the locations where their favorite artists laid tracks.

For Miele, who grew up in New Jersey, the pinnacle of music was David Bowie, the British cult singer. His walls were covered with Bowie posters. He took style cues from the man sometimes known as Ziggy Stardust. Bowie was Miele’s hero — and being in Europe made Bowie’s music resonate even more.

“I remember just walking through random European small towns, listening to David Bowie and looking through record bins,” says Miele, now 53. CNN Travel Today.

One evening, while staying in the UK, Miele and his brother met his mother for dinner. She stayed at the luxurious Savoy Hotel on the Strand, a busy London thoroughfare with theaters and bars.

Miele was in Bowie mode that night: a gray wide-brimmed hat to complement a double-breasted blazer, wide trousers, suspenders and a bow tie. On his feet he wore a snazzy pair of red Oxfords, in honor of Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” lyric: “Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.”

“I was definitely looking for that David Bowie, London vibe,” says Miele.

After dinner, Miele went into the night alone. His attention was immediately drawn to an alley next to the Savoy, where a group of people had gathered.

Mielle says it’s weird that he remembers now, but he remembers thinking, “Obviously that’s David Bowie down there.”

He walked down the street toward the Victorian Savoy Theatre.

“It almost manifested itself to me as it happened,” Miele says now. ‘It cannot be otherwise. And suddenly I see David Bowie climbing a drainpipe, above the crowd.’

It felt as if Miele had roamed all over Europe with Bowie’s tunes in his ears. Now the man behind the music was only a few feet in front of him.

Step into the frame

Bowie was in the process of filming a music video, “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean,” an extended 21-minute movie showcasing the upcoming single “Blue Jean.” In it, Bowie plays two characters: the wimpy Vic, who is trying to impress a girl, and Screaming Lord Byron, a Bowie-esque rock star.

Miele recalls that a few barricades were set up to prevent passers-by from entering the bulkhead, but the ten or so people who watched the footage were allowed to do so, as long as they didn’t cause a nuisance.

In “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean” there is a moment when Bowie, as Vic, slides up a drainpipe and tries to break into a nightclub.

“I came across the footage of that particular scene, which they did over and over with… [Bowie’s] double,” says Miele.

Occasionally, the director traded in the real Bowie. Miele looked incredulous.

Things got even more surreal when one of the crew members approached Miele and asked if he would like to be an extra for the rest of the shoot.

“I almost died,” a teenage Miele wrote in his diary the next day.

He was ordered to walk behind Bowie in one of the shots outside the club. In the videohe can be seen when Bowie buys tickets from a scalper – he says he is the man in the hat who walks behind Bowie between 10:54 and 10:56.

“I think I was the only one of the crowd who grabbed them and dragged them in and selected them,” Miele says today.

He attributes this to his clothing, suggesting that his Bowie-esque style was a perfect match for the film’s aesthetic.

Miele was there for the next several hours, filming, observing and casting glances at his music idol.

Meeting a hero

At the end of “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean” the fourth wall is broken. The viewer can see the film crew and Bowie breaks character and doubts the end of the film.

Writing in Empire Magazine in 2016, the video’s director, Julien Temple, said this conclusion came about spontaneously on the last night of filming. The team realized it was already getting light, so they came up with the meta ending on the spot.

Miele can’t remember seeing that discussion play out, so he wonders if he was there on the penultimate night of filming, rather than the last day. The last scenes he saw took place at the Savoy Theatre, which replaced the fictional Bosphrous Rooms, where Bowie’s Screaming Lord Byron character appears in the video.

When the shooting for that night was finished, the cast and crew opened up beers and chatted around for a bit. It was then that Miele gathered the courage to talk to Bowie.

“I probably could have done it sooner, but I was clearly in shock,” he says now. “I think I may have said twenty words to him.”

Miele thinks some of those words may have been about Bowie’s 1977 album “Low”, which was one of Miele’s favorites, but the moment remains a bit hazy.

Miele also remembers getting Bowie’s autograph, but in the nearly four decades since, he’s lost track of it.

Miele returned to his hostel at 6:30 am. Later that day, he wrote with blurry eyes about meeting his idol in his diary.

“He’s just a normal boy,” Miele wrote.

“He was a nice person in the interactions I saw of him,” Miele says today. “And he was nice to me, and I think that was great.”

“I think it definitely showed me the side of him that you don’t just see in musicians, right? Just to see someone interact with the world over the course of six or seven hours. It’s an interesting perspective.”

Later that year, the video “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean” premiered on MTV. Miele’s European adventure was long over and he first watched the film at his best friend’s house in New Jersey. He later bought the video on Betamax, a sort of early video format, so he could watch it whenever he wanted.

In 1985, “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean” won a Grammy for Best Music Video.

Step into the unknown

Today, Miele remains a Bowie fan, even though he didn’t dress like him a few decades ago.

When Bowie passed away in 2016, Miele surprised himself by how emotional he was when he heard the news.

“I really felt it,” he says.

In the immediate aftermath of Bowie’s death, and in the years since, Miele had to reflect on his European adventure, meeting his idol, and everything that has transpired in his life since.

For Miele, the story symbolizes the importance of venturing into the unknown every now and then during your travels and in everyday life, because you never know what awaits you.

“A lot of people don’t do that and keep their heads up, looking ahead or whatever,” he says. “But if you don’t go into space, things like this will never happen.”

[ad_2]

Source link

Tags: He traveled through Europe and met David Bowie - CNNtrip
ShareTweet
Admin

Admin

Related Posts

News

Top tourism trends for 2023 – including ‘hidden gems’ in the UK

November 17, 2022
News

Everything you need to know about Lord Byron from Riviera Travels

November 16, 2022
News

‘Hard’ expats explain the ‘difficulty’ of living in Norway

November 16, 2022
News

Manchester crowned as one of the world’s best destinations

November 16, 2022
Next Post

Chaos at Heathrow: Strikes will hit UK's busiest airport this week - 'serious disruption'

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Fun Outdoor Games for Teenagers

9 Fun Outdoor Games for Teenagers | Great Outdoor Activities for Teens

July 29, 2021
American Airlines online check-in

American Airlines online check-in and boarding pass

June 29, 2021

Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance ship found in Antarctica after 107 years

March 9, 2022
Savage Captions for instagram 100 Savage Captions for Instagram for Boys and Girls

100 Savage Captions for Instagram for Boys and Girls

August 19, 2021

Top tourism trends for 2023 – including ‘hidden gems’ in the UK

0
top 10 Places To Visit In India

10 Awesome & Best Places To Visit In India 2021

0
best Dog Friendly Beaches in Florida

10 Best Dog Friendly Beaches in Florida 2021

0
How to Travel on a Budget?

How to Travel on a Budget in 2021?

0

Top tourism trends for 2023 – including ‘hidden gems’ in the UK

November 17, 2022

Everything you need to know about Lord Byron from Riviera Travels

November 16, 2022

‘Hard’ expats explain the ‘difficulty’ of living in Norway

November 16, 2022

Manchester crowned as one of the world’s best destinations

November 16, 2022
Go Travel Mate

Go Travel Mate is one of the coolest places on the internet to get information about Travel Plans, Places, Hotels, resorts, Food and Drink, beaches and many more. We will bring you exciting and enjoyable news whenever you visit us. We aim to make this website the most friendly and relevant Travel Blog in the world.

Contact: [email protected]

Categories

  • Adventure
  • Airplane
  • Beaches
  • Camping
  • Destination
  • Food & Drink
  • kitchen
  • Lifestyle
  • News
  • Photography
  • Quotes
  • Resorts
  • Travel Ideas

Recent Posts

  • Top tourism trends for 2023 – including ‘hidden gems’ in the UK
  • Everything you need to know about Lord Byron from Riviera Travels
  • ‘Hard’ expats explain the ‘difficulty’ of living in Norway
  • Manchester crowned as one of the world’s best destinations
  • The Canary Islands in Spain are introducing new strict tourist fines

Contact Us

    © 2021 gotravelmate.com . All rights reserved.

    No Result
    View All Result
    • Travel News
    • Travel Ideas
    • Resorts
    • Destination
      • Beaches
    • More
      • Food & Drink
      • Airplane
      • Lifestyle
      • Health
      • Cruises
      • Camping
      • Home Improvement

    © 2021 gotravelmate.com . All rights reserved.

    Welcome Back!

    Login to your account below

    Forgotten Password?

    Create New Account!

    Fill the forms below to register

    All fields are required. Log In

    Retrieve your password

    Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

    Log In