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Rock biographer Stephen Davis on his life behind the scenes with the stars
On June 8, 2012 10:31 AM


First aired on George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight (04/05/12)


Roman-style orgies. Dwarves carrying bowls of cocaine. Whether those details are exactly accurate or not, one thing's for sure: 1970s rock stars threw some crazy parties. And when those rock stars die (or just get too old to remember their youthful shenanigans), the gossipmongers will be grateful for Stephen Davis, who was the guy backstage writing it all down. Davis was on tour with Led Zeppelin in 1975, and his book about Zeppelin, Hammer of the Gods, is one of the best known rock biographies. Davis also hung out with Bob Marley in Jamaica, and Aerosmith, and he was the ghostwriter of Michael Jackson's memoirs. The legendary rock biographer, who started out as a music journalist for Rolling Stone, spoke with George Stroumboulopoulos earlier this week about his latest book, More Room in a Broken Heart: The True Adventures of Carly Simon, which happens to be his first ever book about the life of a woman.

It proved to be a welcome break from the constant testosterone of travelling with bands like Zeppelin, Guns and Roses, Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones. It was Davis's wife who suggested that he seemed bored of the machismo and should think about writing a book about a woman. Simon seemed the perfect candidate: Davis has known her since they were both teenagers and has followed her career from the beginning. "I thought it would be a great story, all the James Taylor material and that stuff," said Davis. The biography is unauthorized by Simon, but "she did help me out quite a bit," he said. According to Davis, It's an "unusually revealing" book, in part because of his personal relationship with Simon and her family. "[Simon] feels exposed, even a little over-exposed, and I regret that," he said. "But I would much more regret writing a boring book about Carly Simon."

Davis has been privy to many musicians' secrets over the years. As the ghostwriter of Michael Jackson's memoir Moonwalk, Davis spent a year with Jackson and his chimpanzee Bubbles. His favourite story is about the time his family had lunch with Jackson and Davis's daughter asked to meet Bubbles. "Michael pressed a button and Bubbles came out with his handler, and the chimp takes one look at my daughter — the monkey didn't have much interface with children — and he grabs her and starts dragging her out of the room," said Davis. "And Michael goes, 'Hey, Bubbles, where're you going with my girlfriend?'" Jackson and Davis obviously won the tug-of-war over Davis's daughter, and Davis maintains that Jackson was completely innocent of any of the accusations against him. Davis is proud of Moonwalk, and says there are things Jackson told him that he deemed "too personal" to put into the book, such as detailed accounts of his father's abuse.

But books like Davis's might be an endangered species, since the era of the "great rock and roller" seems to be gone. "Thank god for that," he said. "Because we had our gods. Like Jim Morrison — you're not going to find anybody like Jim Morrison because there's already been Jim Morrison." Not only that, but rock mythology is changing because of social media, as present-day rock stars Tweet their lives moment by moment — and they get immediate fan feedback if they do or Tweet something that doesn't go over so well. "Led Zeppelin couldn't do what they did back then because everyone is watching now," said Davis. "And if they aren't watching, the bands are annoyed!”

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Edit:  Click on the link to watch full interview
Last Edit: June 10, 2012, 09:51:41 AM by hesouttamylife
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"Don't stop this child, He's the father of man
Don't cross his way, He's part of the plan
I am that child, but so are you
You've just forgotten, Just lost the clue.”

MJ "Magical Child"
Still Rocking my World…
   and leaving me Speechless!

“True goodbyes are the ones never said

What he says about Michael is very positive.  Kudos to him!   :th_bravo:
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"Don't stop this child, He's the father of man
Don't cross his way, He's part of the plan
I am that child, but so are you
You've just forgotten, Just lost the clue.”

MJ "Magical Child"
Still Rocking my World…
   and leaving me Speechless!

“True goodbyes are the ones never said

*

RK

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What he says about Michael is very positive.  Kudos to him!   :th_bravo:
Yep. He gets a thumbs up for that. I've read that Bubbles story before somewhere over the past couple of years. As for the roman orgies and the dwarves carrying the bowls of cocaine, I'm sure I've seen pics of the parties that Freddie and the boys from Queen had back in the day.... replete with little people serving as cocaine stands......those are the kind of outrageous stories that go down in pop culture history.
Last Edit: June 10, 2012, 09:49:21 AM by RK
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blankie

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What he says about Michael is very positive.  Kudos to him!   :th_bravo:



 :moonwalk_: Michael is pure positive energy   :bearhug: :icon_bounce:
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Andrea

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What he says about Michael is very positive.  Kudos to him!   :th_bravo:
Yep. He gets a thumbs up for that. I've read that Bubbles story before somewhere over the past couple of years. As for the roman orgies and the dwarves carrying the bowls of cocaine, I'm sure I've seen pics of the parties that Freddie and the boys from Queen had back in the day.... replete with little people serving as cocaine stands......those are the kind of outrageous stories that go down in pop culture history.

Lol, I immediately thought of Freddie Mercury too when I read that.

As for the rest of the article, it goes to show that anyone who ever spent some real quality time with Michael has nothing but good things to say about him. 
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AlwaysHeather

 :icon_razz: Neato. I never heard that Bubbles story before. I thought I had heard that someone followed Michael around with a tape recorder and asked him questions and he just answered them. Oh and funny thing, I always thought it was a woman. lol. but Yeah I thought that it said it in Moonwalk actually. Hmmm. Have to go back and look just to make sure so i'm not giving you the wrong info.  :icon_e_smile:
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*Heal the World...Make it a better place*

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AlwaysHeather

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:icon_razz: Neato. I never heard that Bubbles story before. I thought I had heard that someone followed Michael around with a tape recorder and asked him questions and he just answered them. Oh and funny thing, I always thought it was a woman. lol. but Yeah I thought that it said it in Moonwalk actually. Hmmm. Have to go back and look just to make sure so i'm not giving you the wrong info.  :icon_e_smile:
Ok I found it after getting distracted by find something Else out about the front drawing in the book. This is the quote from the book. "I wish I could say he gave the same attention ot his book. While he loved books and carried them with him wherever he went, creating one was just not as exciing as finding the right note or step or guitarist, so the writing of this book took a long time. Still, he wanted Moonwalk to happen or it would not have. He gave me (Shaye Areheart) amazing access. After one writer who was helping him was unable to capture what he wanted, he suggested to Jackie that maybe I could come out to L.A.  and ask him questions, and he would record the answers. The tapes could be transcribed and he could read them and add material or be inspired by one story to tell another. (Shaye Areheart New york City 2009)
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*Heal the World...Make it a better place*

 

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