I grew up in Huddersfield which is a fairly nondescript place and, in common with most of my mates from school, we had all been big Bowie fans since the famous TOTP 'Starman' appearance in 1972. This ought to be a subject for a book in itself incidentally - I can remember an interview with Ian McCulloch of Echo and the Bunnymen where he said that his life was changed by this appearance. I think Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks was another who said something similar. As you probably know, the early to mid-70s was a dismal time for music - either the Osmonds or Pink Floyd and nothing much in the middle. This all changed in 1977 when the Pistols came along and blew it all away. For us, there was an obvious link from Bowie to punk and we embraced both. The punk scene was heavily geared towards live gigs so on the weekends when there were no live bands we looked for something else to do.
Leeds and Manchester were the two nearest big cities where there was any sort of nightlife so we used to cadge lifts off the older lads who had cars and go to Bowie nights in pubs and clubs there. Manchester had a huge club called 'Pips' which had three floors - one for the usual disco, one for Northern Soul and the top floor for Bowie fans. It was always packed and full of the weirdest people from all over the North of England in their plastic sandals, floppy fringes, fedoras and peg-leg trousers. Some of these were truly radical and even wore make-up - not a sensible thing for a man to do in Manchester on a Saturday night ! The music was always the same - any Bowie (but mainly from Young Americans and Stattion to Station) with Roxy Music, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed and the New York Dolls as well. There was also a place called the 'Ranch Bar' where we used to go in Manchester and I always remember this because the two bouncers used to wear German SS uniforms.
Leeds was slightly different because the Bowie nights were usually in one of two or three pubs where the DJ used to just play the same type of music listed above all night. These were less formal and usually on a Thursday or Sunday night, if I remember correctly. Leeds also used to have a really good Virgin records where you could get all the import Bowie singles in picture sleeves and a market where you could occasionally get bootlegs.
There were several times when we clubbed together - usually for someones 18th or 21st parties - and went to Pips in Manchester by coach. This was always a drunken binge and years later I met a girl from Manchester who was also a big Bowie fan. I told her about Pips and she said "You're not one of those dickheads who used to come in a coach on a Saturday night !". Another childhood illusion shattered ...
1978 Tour
The nearest venue to Huddersfield was Stafford Bingley Hall so off I went. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep for days before or after. Bingley Hall is one of these argicultural showgrounds in the middle of acres of fields and I remember queuing for ages in the cold and wet to get in. The crowd was very civilised which I wasn't used to in those punk days and I remember walking in, going straight to the front and standing about a dozen rows back. I also remember that the audience was quite old compared to me - probably in their mid-20s.
The show was stunning - I had read reviews of all the US tour so I knew the running order and had made up tapes of the songs at home to listen to. It was the first time I had been to a really big rock show and I was impressed by the huge stage and the deafening sound and brilliant lights. I especially remember the flashing white neon lights in 'Star' and the coloured lights sweeping the crowd during 'Sense of Doubt'. With the benefit of hindsight I always think that the 1978 tour was the best because he had such a good band - very clear sound (but distinctive with the violin) and very tight with it. The Ziggy Stardust material was superb as well. The 'Stage' album didn't do it justice but the remastered 2005 version does and you can hear his vocie really clearly.
Probably due to the punk influence, my mates and I always used to dress up to go out to Bowie nights. At that time there were several distinctive Bowie images - the black waistcoat look (from the 1976 tour), the baggy suit (from the Soul Train video) and the check shirt and fringe look (from the Young Americans sleeve). All of these were easily achieved for a couple of quid from the local Oxfam shops but the truly rich and serious had 'proper' clothes. I remember a mate of mine having a 'Pin-Ups' suit made up by a local tailor in turquoise material. Very flash ! There was a shop in Manchester called 'Roxy' and another in Leeds called 'X Clothes' which sold Bowie-style gear. I used to own a pair of very baggy sailor trousers with 32 pleats which I got in Manchester. I remember that the audience at the 1978 shows were very well-dressed in these styles and it was a huge disappointment when I went to see him in 1983 at Milton Keynes and everyone was wearing jeans and t-shirts.
Fortunately for my reputation I do not have any photos of this period but I think that the underlying principle was to a) try and look different and b) try to look like Bowie because he was so cool and good-looking. I'm sure that if he'd looked like Meatloaf we wouldn't have bothered. It is probably all something to do with a search for a teenage identity but I'm not an anthropologist. The only thing I've ever had in common with Bowie is terrible teeth and even these have been fixed now (by him anyway).