Today I tracked down Phil Palmer, on the phone, via an old Guitar Magazine contact. Phil played guitar on The Idiot - uncredited, as were all the musicians. The recording of The Idiot is pretty obscure, even Iggy himself doesn’t recall the names of the musicians who played on it, so tracking him down and getting his story was a triumph for me (when you’re stuck by yourself with 120,000 words to write these kinds of things are important!). With Phil I tried something that I’ve never done before, namely playing him The Idiot down the phone, and asking what he remembered of each song. It was the first time he’d heard the album in 20 years or so, he told me. For me, this was a terrific interview, purely because of the way Phil was parachuted into this bizarre session, then parachuted out again a few days later. It gave a great insight into Bowie’s working methods - principally, his genius at somehow locating the right musicians, and unlocking their creativity. Here’s a brief extract.
How did you get the call to play on The Idiot?
It was fascinating actually. For me it was a major step forward ‘cos I was very young, so young I was still living with my parents. And at 2 o’clock in the morning the phone rang, and my mum answered it and came upstairs and said, There’s a Mr Bowie on the phone for you, and I thought it was someone messing around, as you do, and he was calling from Munich, Berlin rather, no it was Munich [at Moroder’s Musicland studio, circa July 1976], that’s where it was, yeah get over here as soon as you can and it will all be taken care of and it was. I just threw a few things in a bag, and a guitar, and off I went.
(about the recording)
It was very new. I’d been used to doing bits and pieces sessions, it was just total free rein. There were no parts. For example when we did Nightclubbing which became a massive song, [Bowie] said, I just want you to imagine you’re walking down Wardour Street and as you’re walking past each club you’re inspired to play what’s coming out of it. And that was the only instruction there was, apart from work out the chords for yourself, and just do what you feel. And that.. went on through the whole vibe of the ablum. And things like China Girl.. [it was a] brilliant exercise…
So that doomy, gothic fuzz guitar on Nightclubbing is you?
That’s me, yeah. And you’re walking down Wardour St, and these are the sounds coming out of the door as you walk by.
Were the backing tracks pretty much complete but for the guitar and vocals?
Yeah, backing tracks already in place, pretty complete, there were guide vocals on there already, the lyrics all seemed to be pretty finished, it was.. just a very enjoyable experience.
Was Tony Visconti present at any point?
No, but he was responsible for the call.. I’d worked with him just prior to that. And we’d got on pretty good, but you never really know… how these things come about.
Tell me about the atmosphere in the studio, how it felt.
David and Iggy were working the night shift. Because Thin Lizzy were in there during the day. And all their equipment was just left where they’d finished the last song. There were all kinds of.. [Phil Lynott’s] shiny bass guitar [was there].. it was .. there was more than one use for that! And that was left on a stool in the middle of the room! It was wondrous, a bit like the Marie Celeste, walking into a room of still-warm instruments and amplifiers, on my own, and feeling the atmosphere, it was quite odd. And then the pair of them.. just being... experimental really. Fascinating…
How did Iggy and David seem?
Obviously I was a bit in awe, having come from working with Claire Hammill, which was a nice little gig... and then probably David Essex, something as big as this was like a massive leap for me. I think I did alright! They seem to have used everything I did?
Is all the guitar work yours? Any Carlos Alomar as well?
Very hard to know. It went by in a flash. I remember playing on a lot of stuff, I was there five days.. if they hadn’t needed the stuff I was doing I would have been home before that.
Was there any guitar on already?
Maybe rough splashing.. maybe played by David? [It seems that the stoner rock broken chord part on Dum Dum Boys was written by David, and probably re-played by Phil.]
(plays Sister Midnight)
That was me.
So you played that stuttering intro, which then turns into whole riff? Was that all improvised?
I believe I did.
It’s genius! [NB, after further questioning of both Phil and Carlos Alomar, it’s quite possible Phil replayed or reinterpreted Carlos’s original guitar riff]
The guitar sound is quite extreme, very processed, very similar to how bands like Siouxsie and the Banshees or Magazine would sound later. How did you get those textures?
I remember they got me plugging in to all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff. I’m sure there was a Leslie in there as well.. pretty much whatever was lying around from the Lizzie session, we’d borrow it and say I don’t know what this does, plug it in and see.
Bowie was the musical director. How did he seem as a person?
Very friendly. He was... very gentle.. but. Odd. He said. We were going to order in some food one night. Do you like sheep brains? That was the choice. [It was] Experimental on pretty much every level including what they were eating and whatever else they were up to.
And Iggy?
Again.. they were just making a great record, and having fun doing it. Try this, what happens if we plug this into that? You know? And put this chord against that chord and find some unusual stuff. They were into the unusual, didn’t want anything stock. That was difficult for me ‘cos, having come from where I’d come from, stock was where it was at.
So they were consciously stretching you?
Er. Yeah. I must have been stretched because it was all new territory really. It was a long time ago.
This was really Iggy’s comeback, he’d been washed up, and it was a big leap for both of them, both personally and musically. Did you get any sense of that?
That ties in. Everything you say is possible. They were very supportive of each other, and just having fun. And they were... obviously experienced in some pretty weird stuff. I wasn’t actually aware what they were taking if anything, but their minds were a little… odd. The food they were eating, and the way they were working from midnight till 7, 8 in the morning, it was quite wacky...
Vampire like?
Yes. Vampire–like is perfect.