Surely a contender the handsomest mugshot of all time.
  • Surely a contender the handsomest mugshot of all time.
My eyes have been redder than normal this week, and it has nothing to do with cannabis. I've been very affected by the passing of David Bowie, one of my guiding lights through my tumultuous high school years (and beyond)—a truly brilliant artist. Better writers than me have expounded on all that we lost, but I thought it was worth recalling an incident that could have sharply curtailed the life and career of our own Major Tom.

I speak of the time David Bowie got busted with a half pound of pot by four members of the vice squad.

In a hotel room.

With Iggy Pop.

No, I'm not so DTFO that I am imagining things—surely you've seen the famous mugshot by now. This all actually happened, way, way, long ago on March 21, 1976, in the fine city of Rochester, New York.
When asked about his treatment, Bowie replied: "They [city police] were very courteous and very gentle. They've been just super."

Bowie was never charged, nor did he ever go back to Rochester. Here's a link to a couple articles written at the time it all went down.

MORE DAVID BOWIE...

"David Bowie Was: The Lives and Deaths of David Bowie," by Ned Lannamann

"Portland's Big-Screen Tributes to David Bowie," by Erik Henriksen

"David Bowie's Dead, and It Sucks," by Ned Lannamann

"Beyond Labyrinth: David Bowie on Film," by Erik Henriksen