Public relations officer Alan Edwards, who worked with David Bowie in the 80s, gave an interview to “NME†where he explained how the musician disguised himself in order to go out on the street in that decade.
“I met him after filming ‘Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence,’†he said. “They treated him like a movie star. But he had just been fired by his publisher because ‘Low’ and ‘Heroes’ hadn’t sold as much as the Bay City Rollersâ€.
“It was when I went on tour with him that I realized how down-to-earth he was. He would come into our offices and get coffees for everyone.
Bowie’s secret to walking the streets unnoticed, Edwards continued, was simple: “he wore a beret and carried a Greek newspaper under his arm. If anyone wondered if it was him, they looked closely and thought: ‘it can’t be, it’s Greek’†.
“I did the same when we were giving interviews. We often went by train, and we didn’t go first class. People didn’t believe he could be on the same train to Manchester as them,’ he revealed.
On one occasion, Bowie gave an interview to a radio station, where he also ended up giving traffic information. he “Sat down telling people there was a traffic jam on the M25. To this day, I don’t think anyone realized it was him,†said Edwards. “He was an extraordinary creative genius, but also a pure gentleman.†.
