In a recent appearance on Rockonteurs with Gary Kemp and Guy Pratt, Glenn Hughes recalled how a certain rock star squatted his house, promised they’ll work on Hughes’ solo album, and then bailed off before any studio time took place.
Before getting to the story, he first talked about how they found Tommy Bolin as the new guitarist after Richie Blackmore’s departure; then the singer’s story drifted to how David Bowie used to live with him, saying:
“Great story. He [Tommy Bolin] came down, and [David] Bowie was living in my house.”
When the hosts interrupted him, objecting that he couldn’t just say Bowie was living in his house, the rocker continued:
“Bowie was living in my house while he was making ‘Station to Station.’ He was at my house for a couple of months. He came from New York, and I picked him up at the train station.”
One of the interviewers again asked if he had already known the ‘Starman’ singer at the time, to which Glenn replied:
“Yeah, we met in 1974 at a party at Beverly Wilshire Hotel. He walked in, and he never left, really. We were very, very, very good friends.”
Then, the hosts wanted to learn what Bowie was like and if he was writing around Hughes. The vocalist responded:
“Remember guys, in 1974; he was like [working on] ‘Young Americans’ in Philadelphia. He was into blue-eyed soul movement. He had seen me in the California Jam. He was fascinated by this English guy with long hair and snakeskin boots and genuine love for R&B. We had a lot of things to talk about.”
When asked whether it was the same time he did his first solo album, Glenn said:
“He [Bowie] was gonna produce it. I was writing it. He ran off with Iggy instead.”
In an interview with Planet Rock Magazine several years ago, Hughes had also revealed that Bowie wanted him to contribute vocals to ‘Young Americans’ during their time together, but Blackmore prevented his appearance on the album as he thought it would damage Deep Purple.
You can listen to the full conversation below.
