Recording: Rupert The Riley, The Man, How Lucky You Are by Micky King

David Bowie produced a session on 23 April 1971 in which Micky King performed three of his songs.

The songs were ‘Rupert The Riley’, ‘The Man’ (also known as ‘Lightning Frightening’), and ‘How Lucky You Are’ (originally titled ‘Miss Peculiar’).

The session took place at London’s Trident Studios. Bowie sang and played saxophone, Mark Pritchett was on guitar, Herbie Flowers played bass guitar, and Barry Morgan was on drums. The studio engineer was Ken Scott, working with Bowie for the first time.

Lead vocals were by Mickey King, a male escort whom Bowie had met at London nightclub the Sombrero. Also known as Sparky and Nicky King, he was murdered in the mid-Seventies by a client.

He came into Trident one day to produce a single for a friend and because I’d worked with him before, I was put on the session. Around that time, I was getting fed up with just engineering, and in a tea break I happened to say to him, ‘You know what? I’m a bit frustrated. I want to start moving into the production side.’ He said, ‘Well, I’ve just got a new manager, and I’m about to start a new album. I was going to do it myself but I don’t know if I can, how about working with me?’

Also recorded during the session was ‘The Man’ (also known as ‘Lightning Frightening’), with Bowie singing. Another song recorded around this time, with the same musicians and King on vocals, was the Bowie composition ‘How Lucky You Are’ (originally titled ‘Miss Peculiar’).

Although Bowie was writing prolifically in the early months of 1971, his studio sessions in the first half of the year were all for other acts: Arnold Corns, Peter Noone, and Micky King.