Dana Gillespie is many things. She’s an actress, singer and songwriter. She was also British water skiing champion, model, pioneer of a Caribbean Blues festival and a follower of the late Indian spiritual guru, Sai Baba. During the era of Ziggy Stardust, she was also a very close friend of David Bowie.
How did Dana Gillespie meet David Bowie?
Dana Gillespie witnessed the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust from very close quarters. Indeed, Bowie was just one of many musicians which Dana kicked about within the frenetic London scene in the late 60s and early 70s. She supported Bob Dylan, played with Jimmy Page and remains great friends with a session pianist called Reg Dwight.
As a talented blues musician, she played at all the (now) legendary venues like The Marquee Club and Crawdaddy Club. The musical camaraderie between Dana Gillespie and David Bowie is a delightful tale of rock ‘n’ roll! Their paths first crossed at the Marquee Club on 6th November 1964. Dana was in the audience to watch Garry Farr and the T-Bones. You may not remember them at all and many don’t even remember their support act, David Jones and the Manish Boys. However, Dana and David met, brushed one another’s hair before vanishing back to her apartment. Bowie claimed to have missed the last train back to Bromley.
Dana and Ziggy
By the time we get to Ziggy’s Last Supper, Dana Gillespie and David Bowie have known one another for almost a decade. Her time as a session musician meant that she’d already worked with the same names which Bowie used in the early days, musicians like guitarist Jim Sullivan, bassist Herbie Flowers and producer Mike Vernon. Bowie wrote ‘Andy Warhol’ for Dana, and their performance with the Spiders on the John Peel Radio show remains a fan favorite nearly fifty years later.
Dana is also a backing vocalist on the Ziggy track “It Ain’t Easy” and became a frequent face at Haddon Hall. She was with Bowie when he first saw Andy Warhol’s Pork at the Roundhouse, whose cast included Tony Zanetta and Cherry Vanilla, who later became part of MainMan management. At one point, Dana was also dating Bowie’s manager Tony DeFries and in time became a MainMan artist with the launch of her 1973 album “Weren’t Born a Man”, produced by Bowie and Mick Ronson.
What I’m trying to emphasise is that Dana Gillespie was about as close as you could get to Bowie without sharing his surname. She was present at every step of him becoming the UK’s hottest act and was part of the inner circle that put Ziggy Stardust together.
Can Dana Gillespie name Bowie’s Mystery Guest?
So, if anyone would know who Bowie’s Mystery Guest was, it would be Dana, right? This is what she told me:
Sorry, I haven’t a clue. Love Dana.
Clearly, if Bowie’s Mystery Guest was a musician, then Dana would know him. If he was part of Bowie’s entourage, Dana would remember him. She doesn’t, which makes us lean towards the possibility that Bowie’s Mystery Guest wasn’t a famous person or a well-known name. If this is true, then tracking them down becomes much more difficult.
More about Dana
Finally, Dana’s autobiography, Weren’t Born a Man, is a fabulous read, perfectly illustrating what life was like to be an ambitious talent within the craziness of London in the late 60s. To say she’s had an interesting life is possibly the world’s greatest understatement. Do treat yourself to a copy or, even better, let Dana read it to you herself on Audible.
