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David Bowie · S1 E2
The Eye
A schoolyard fight with his best friend George Underwood over a girl. One punch, a permanently dilated pupil, and the mismatched eyes that will become his most iconic feature
It is a Monday morning in early 1962, and fifteen-year-old David Jones walks into Bromley Technical High School with a secret. He has stolen his best friend's date, and in about four hours, that best friend's fist is going to change his face forever.
David Bowie, Rebel Rebel. Official music video, 1974. Teenage rebellion, raw energy, refusing to fit in. The riff is one of the most recognizable in rock, and the attitude is pure Bromley schoolboy gone supernova.
Inseparable
George Underwood and David Jones are inseparable. They sit together in class, roam Bromley High Street in matching knitted jumpers (their mothers accidentally bought the same pattern), and chase the same girls. They are the kind of teenage best friends who finish each other's sentences and compete over absolutely everything.
TAP TO REVEAL: How did David Jones trick his best friend out of a date?
The Punch
The following Monday at school, Underwood confronts Jones and throws a single punch at his left eye. His fingernail catches the eyeball on impact, scratching the surface and tearing the muscles that control the pupil. Jones is taken to the school nurse and, to his credit, tells the teachers he fell over, keeping his friend out of trouble.
Bromley Technical High School
Now called Ravens Wood School, Bromley, Kent. The school where Jones, Underwood, and a young Peter Frampton all studied under art teacher Owen Frampton. The hallways where a single punch rewrote rock history.
The Prettiest Star, David Bowie
A love song with a hidden layer of male friendship running through it. The original 1970 single featured guitar from Marc Bolan, Bowie's great rival and close friend. Two intense creative friendships define early Bowie: Underwood, the schoolmate who punched him and then painted his most famous album covers, and Bolan, the competitor who played on his records.
What is the medical term for Bowie's eye condition (unequal pupil sizes)?
Rebel Rebel, David Bowie (1974)
"Rebel Rebel" was the last great single from Bowie's glam era, released on the Diamond Dogs album. He played the iconic guitar riff himself, one of the few times he handled lead guitar on a major single. There is no Mick Ronson here. It is Bowie alone with that riff, a drum groove, and an attitude that says he does not need anyone's permission.
Between 1962 and 1966, David Jones tears through five different bands, changing his name, his sound, and his ambitions with each one. Five dead ends, five lessons, and every single failure brings him closer to becoming David Bowie.
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