Page "David Bowie" Paragraph 14

Bowie met Angela Barnett in April 1969.

They would marry within a year.

Her impact on him was immediate, and her involvement in his career far-reaching, leaving Pitt with limited influence which he found frustrating.

Having established himself as a solo artist with " Space Oddity ", Bowie began to sense a lacking: " a full-time band for gigs and recording — people he could relate to personally ".

The shortcoming was underlined by his artistic rivalry with Marc Bolan, who was at the time acting as his session guitarist.

A band was duly assembled.

John Cambridge, a drummer Bowie met at the Arts Lab, was joined by Tony Visconti on bass and Mick Ronson on electric guitar.

Known as The Hype, the band members created characters for themselves and wore elaborate costumes that prefigured the glam style of The Spiders From Mars.

After a disastrous opening gig at the London Roundhouse, they reverted to a configuration presenting Bowie as a solo artist.

Their initial studio work was marred by a heated disagreement between Bowie and Cambridge over the latter's drumming style ; matters came to a head when Bowie, enraged, accused, " You're fucking up my album.

" Cambridge summarily quit and was replaced by Mick Woodmansey.

Not long after, in a move that would result in years of litigation, at the conclusion of which Bowie would be forced to pay Pitt compensation, the singer fired his manager, replacing him with Tony Defries.