When David Bowie met Marc Bolan in 1964 , the two were teenaged pappa wannabe , class away from full - fledged rock stardom . They satisfy through their manager after he offer the boys some hard cash in central for painting his London office . The two sell way point ( " I ’m King Mod . Your shoe are crap , " Bolan suppose , as Bowie after echo inNicholas Pegg’sThe Complete David Bowie ) , and they became friends .
“ Bolan was more or less younger but much less introverted than David , yield him the influence of an older sibling , ” wrote Marc Spitz inBowie : A Biography . Bowie neurotically applied Bolan ’s suggestions to his other songs . While Bowie ruffle in and out of unsuccessful band , Bolan establish a career with John ’s minor and later T. Rex , booking gig across the UK and engender airplay from famed BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel .
Bolan invited Bowie to open up for T. Rex on the band’s1969 tour . At Bolan ’s imperativeness , Bowie performed his one - piece pantomimist routinedepicting China ’s intrusion of Tibet . Bowie was an experient pantomime , having trained under choreographer ( and Marcel Marceau protégé)Lindsay Kemp .
Throughout the turn , Bowie get a negative reception ( even for a mime ) . The audiences for T. Rex ’s psychedelic folk - rock run to be harmonic to Formosan Communist revolutionary Mao Zedong . Many nighttime , Bowie ’s routine was “ ruined by hatchel of left - offstage students and hipster irate over his damning portrayal of China ’s Red Guard , ” write Simon Goddard inZiggyology : A abbreviated History of Ziggy Stardust . Bolan “ could n’t help but express mirth . ”
While the mime routine was a bankruptcy , Bowie ’s big break was just around the recess . “ Space Oddity ” was released in the summertime of 1969 ( coinciding with theApollo 11mission ) , and it became an insistent hit .
For a 1999 tribute to John Peel , David Bowierecalled his prison term afford for T. Rex , and the advice he receive from the BBC DJ :
As their career come along , Bowie and Bolan ’s friendly relationship strained and , for a period , the two became rivals . " I do n’t consider David to be even remotely virtually big enough to give me any competition,“Bolan told Cameron Crowein a 1973 consultation forCreem .
Bowie and Bolan were able to move past the animosity , and the two rebuild their friendly relationship . Nine day prior to Bolan ’s destruction in a car crash in 1977 , Bowie performed on Bolan ’s TV show , Marc . He did not perform as a mime .
