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The David Bowie Community of Australia and New Zealand

 


Vibrator Town

 

 

While recording Tin Machine II in Sydney, Tin Machine guitarist Reeves Gabrels infamously acquired a new accouterment for his sonic arsenal.

After asking his guitar tech for a variable speed drill he could use to manipulate his guitar strings, the pair ended up at a local sex shop.

"My tech guy didn’t have a drill in his tech bench, but he said, ‘Well there’s a sex shop down the street and they’ll have vibrators with motors you can change the speed on’. I didn’t ask him how he knew there was a sex shop at the end of the street, but he and I just walked down there. It was around closing time in the evening and we got in as they were locking the door. I said to them, ‘I won’t be long – I just need two variable speed vibrators!’.

I would have thought that the gentleman running the shop would have seen it all, but I was putting the vibrators up to my ear to listen to the motor speed."

With practice, Gabrels was able to manipulate his vibrator to vibrate his guitar strings like a bow on a cello.

The infamous practice made it to Tin Machine’s live performances, as well as wilful and disconcerting TV appearances such as the BBC’s staid chat show Wogan.

While Tin Machine were ultimately dissolved by the end of 1992, Gabrels sounds wistful as he thinks back to his moment in a New South Wales sex shop 30 years ago:

"I guess, in my mind, Sydney will always be synonymous with my vibrator…"..

 

Sydney 1989


David had a place in Sydney which was a lovely place to stay.

The Sales brothers stayed in a hotel just off Kings Cross and a bunch of bands were staying there at the time – Bon Jovi, Charlie Sexton and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. There were lots of bands around the Kings Cross neighbourhood.

The brothers came over for about two weeks and we did the basic tracks before they flew back to LA.

David and I stayed for about another two months and continued working… and enjoying Sydney at the same time.

U2 was here [on the Lovetown Tour with BB King] and they had to reschedule a number of Sydney shows as Bono had lost his voice.

Every night they played we hung out – if not at their shows then at the hotel afterwards.

I remember one night sitting there at a table of BB King, Bono and David and it was at a time when James Brown was in jail.

A fair amount of alcohol had been consumed and the three of them decided to write a letter to James. I was the one whose penmanship was still intact so I was the ‘court stenographer’ – I was the one making sure that everyone’s sentiments were clearly stated and that the letter made sense!

So was David Bowie a good Sydney flatmate?

Yes, says his houseguest, save for the occasional theft of undergarments.

“One morning as the sun was coming up I wake up to a shadowy figure in my room and I see that it’s David.

He’s got the dresser open and he’s going through the drawer where my underpants and socks were. He pulls a pair of socks out and says, ‘All of my socks are dirty’ and then just leaves the room with them! We had that kind of relationship.

On a Sunday afternoon, we’d maybe have a bottle of wine and then he’d put on Little Richard. He’d say that all he ever really wanted to be was Little Richard’s saxophone player. We would listen to Little Richard’s greatest hits and in my memory, he played all the saxophone solos note for note.

When I first met him [on the Glass Spider Tour in 1987] I had always lived in band houses – you’d rent a place with six other musician guys where you could rehearse. David just reminded me of someone who could have been one of those guys, except for the fact he had been a rock star for 25 years…

As showcased on Tin Machine’s output - as well as ‘90s Bowie/Gabrels collaborations such as “I’m Afraid Of Americans”, “Little Wonder” and “The Hearts Filthy Lesson” - Gabrels has shown a professorial commitment to pushing his guitar sounds in new directions.

 


The Music
"[Sydney, Australia] had a big impact on how the record sounds.

One of the nice things about working there was that we could go out and have a cappuccino at a sidewalk cafe. The Australian attitude is really cool. No one would ever think to hassle anyone in the band. And that definitely affected our approach - there wasn't as much pent-up energy, not as much of a mad-at-the-whole-world feeling.

There's a more introspective attitude and also a lot more acoustic guitar. ''

~ Reeves Gabrels (lead guitar)
"We opted to go someplace that most of the band had never been to before, I've always found that incredibly stimulating.

If you can tap into all these initial feelings when you go to a foreign place, then I think it can often produce something that is very worthwhile"

~ David Bowie
It may sound like a chicle, but a lot of tracks have an openness to them.

'You Belong in Rock n Roll' and even 'Shopping For Girls' to a certain degree, have a bigger horizon to them sonically, and I think Australia had something to do with that. It's a place that moves slower and it's so wide open, almost like Texas".

Lyrically, especially, David really responds to what is going on around him. Making this album was more of a journey inside, thinking about relationships, the romantic side, instead of trying to point out the problems in the world"

~ Reeves Gabrels (lead guitar)

 

EMI Studio 301, Sydney, 1989

Guy Grey: Engineer and Mixer for Tin Machine at Studio 301 in Sydney

 

In 1989, the location of the EMI Studios was at 301 Castlereigh Street - where it had been since 1954.

The studios have served a long and illustrious music down under - some of which is covered on this page.

At the time of Tin Machine, Guy Gray (left) was the music engineer at Studio 301.

Guy had already been working there for 8 years (he started as an assistant in 1981) and he still works at EMI studios to this day.

 

 

Guy Gray

Studio 301 in 1989 (pic by Bruce Lydamore).

More recently, Guy Gray was interviewed by Studio 301 about his time working with Bowie and Tin Machine ...

"A great personal time in my career.

One of the most important things I learnt from working with David, was appreciating how he would listen to what everyone had to say about the music they were making.

I remember thinking, here’s David Bowie, an incredibly successful artist and he’s just ready to listen to you. It wasn’t just David controlling the session. They were a real band. For David, at the end of the day, it was all about the music. Always creative. Always innovative.

He always asked politely if we could stay back late to record or edit stuff. Sometimes, he wanted to sing late at night. He was very respectful of everybody. All round nice guy.

Here’s a good example – occasionally he’d invite people he had only just met up to the studio to listen to our work, but he’d also invite all the studio staff up too.

During the recording he asked if the 301 staff to come and sing on the album. And they did! They did a big yell or something and we recorded it and it’s on the album.

Inside Studio 301 with David Bowie, Reeves Gabrels and reporter Fiona Wingett. (pic by David Hancock)

 

 

 

Moby Dicks - November 4, 1989

In a turn around from mere recording, Tin Machine burst on to the local Sydney pub scene with an impromptu appearance.


More about that here.




 

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