In this article it is revealed that David Bowie was second on a hit list of Mark Chapman the killer of John Lennon:

David Bowie at In The Studio

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Honestly , no matter how thoroughly I prepare for an interview with a musician , I never can be totally certain of what might be revealed . I’ve been rattled more than once by a revelation from a musician for which there had been no previous report , but none more stunning than the one David Bowie gave me when the recording machine was turned off : according to Bowie , New York City police discovered that his name was next on a hitlist of targets of John Lennon’s assassin , Mark David Chapman .

At the time of Lennon’s December 8 , 1980 murder outside of his Manhattan apartment , David Bowie was starring just blocks away on Broadway in the play “The Elephant Man” . “I was second on his list,” Bowie told me in the New York studio we shared near Madison Square Garden .”Chapman had a front-row ticket to ‘ ‘The Elephant Man’ the next night . John and Yoko were supposed to sit front-row for that show , too . So the night after John was killed there were three empty seats in the front row . I can’t tell you how difficult that was to go on . I almost didn’t make it through the performance .”

The irony is that David Bowie’s first #1 hit “Fame” , from the Young Americans album which preceded Station to Station , was co-written with Lennon who also played guitar on the track . And it was indeed their fame as rock stars which drew Mark David Chapman to stalk them , and subsequently , to murder Lennon .

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-Redbeard

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He also attacked James Taylor the night before he killed Lennon:

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On the day before the assassination Chapman accosted singer-songwriter James Taylor at the 72nd Street subway station. According to Taylor, "The guy had sort of pinned me to the wall and was glistening with maniacal sweat and talking some freak speak about what he was going to do and his stuff with how John was interested, and he was going to get in touch with John Lennon."

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Wikipedia: The plan to murder John Lennon

I can't help but think that if Mr. Taylor had reported his assault to the police, then maybe John Lennon would still be here with us....


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A much needed interesting thread for the forum, it's very hard to imagine both a world in which Lennon survived, and a world in which both Bowie and Lennon were murdered in 1980.

Certainly Bowie's legacy would have been even more special with no bad work created up until that point, and the obvious mystique that comes with the territory of any artist who dies too young.

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...but I will prick you!

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. John and Yoko were supposed to sit front-row for that show , too . So the night after John was killed there were three empty seats in the front row .I can’t tell you how difficult that was to go on . I almost didn’t make it through the performance .

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I knew that Bowie was on that demented Chapman's hit list, what I didn't know was that John, Yoko (and Chapman) where meant to attend Bowie's show the following night.

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I can't help but think that if Mr. Taylor had reported his assault to the police, then maybe John Lennon would still be here with us....

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Yes had James Taylor reported the assault to the police, the whole outcome could have been different.
Then again Chapman most probably would have just got a police warning and/or fined for being a nuisance, still leaving him free to stalk and kill Lennon.

Your link to the "Wikipedia: The plan to murder John Lennon" is not working, working link here.

I always wondered why Chapman was charged/convicted of second degree murder instead of first, especially when he planned to kill Lennon months in advance?

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robpongi
{...}none more stunning than the one David Bowie gave me when the recording machine was turned off : according to Bowie , New York City police discovered that his name was next on a hitlist of targets of John Lennon’s assassin , Mark David Chapman

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Oh, to have worn a wire tap during that session to get "off the record" transcripts...

However, isn't this public knowledge already? That MDC had Bowie set up to be next in line, if not first...that Lennon really was the footnote instead? Correct me if I'm wrong... but that's the rumour that's been flying around all these years.

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Jareth's speech: Love Me, Fear Me, Do as I say, and I will be your slave. Heathen track: Show me who you are And I would be your slave
Coincidence? I think not.

This is stunning news !

For me at least it gives new context to why Bowie
changed musical directions after 1980. For the sake
of his own mental and personal health he knew he
needed to find a more "lighthearted" approach (this of
course in addition to NEEDING a HIT and giving a huge
middle finger to his past record company by releasing
the most "commercial" album of his career)

I, like everyone else, used to fantasize that Bowie had
continued to release quirky new wave music during the
80's but context is everything and Bowie also paved
the way for EVERY icon by showing that you CAN
recover from a creative drought and regain the
inspiration......

Thanks alot everyone. I did not know about any of this until the day I posted it here. Unreal.

Cheers!

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