Live: David Bowie and the Buzz, Marquee Club, London

David Bowie and the Buzz performed at London’s Marquee Club on Sunday 21 August 1966.

It was their seventeenth show at the central London venue.

Bowie’s manager Kenneth Pitt brought film producer Maurice Hatton and composer Carl Davis, from Mithras Films, to the show. They were planning a film musical and were looking for a band to feature.

‘I Dig Everything’ had failed, but David was trying hard not to be discouraged and I looked around for something else to keep him busy and hopeful. He was to appear at the Marquee on the 21st and I asked Maurice Hatton and Carl Davis of Mithras Films to come and see him. I had visions of David one day starring in films made by the big producers, but for the time being we had to be content with nibbling away at the small companies.

David sufficiently impressed Hatton for discussions to commence on a project for David and the Buzz to appear in a short film musical. Hatton was to write an original treatment, Davis to write most of the music with David writing the lyrics and additional material. While Hatton was raising finance, David wasted no time in writing the required lyrics and with his usual enthusiasm for a new cause he completed seven in four days. In fact, I had to ask him to slow down as he was overtaking the negotiations and a contract had not yet been signed. When the suggested agreement arrived I found that David had been named throughout as Dave Berry, which was sufficient warning that all was not well at Mithras, the company named after a Persian sun god.

For his services David was offered a small percentage of the profits, but as escalating costs tend to neutralise profitability, I asked that his interests be protected by a minimum guaranteed payment of £1000, £500 of which should be paid on the signing of the contract. This was agreed upon, but Maurice Hatton wrote to me on October 21 to say that the contract would be drawn up when the finance had been raised and that he expected to make the film in December or January, but those two months came and went without a sign of finance or contract.