Though David Bowie was yet to hit the commercial heights of 1983’s “Let’s Dance” in the United States, his 1976 North American tour nevertheless attracted plenty of attention. According to Classic Rockers, the tour, titled “Isolar,” strikingly gave flesh to Bowie’s Thin White Duke era, and blended the new music of Bowie’s plastic soul era, especially that on “Station To Station,” with past hits from albums such as 1972’s “Hunky Dory.”
Performing for tens of thousands of fans every night, Bowie was at the height of his powers, cutting an elegant but imposing figure on stage. But behind the scenes, Bowie and his new friend Jim Osterberg — aka The Stooges’ Iggy Pop — were each dealing with their addictions: cocaine and heroin respectively. As noted by Far Out, it was on this tour that the famously drug-taking musicians were looking for a way to get clean, with Berlin looking like a likely destination for both musicians.
So it was ironic, then, that the pair were busted by Rochester police for possession of marijuana, a drug with which neither was particularly associated. The charges were later dropped. That Bowie got away with what was then a felony is perhaps explained in recently unearthed footage (above), in which the rocker, speaking to the press, is the image of politeness, praising the police as “gentlemen” and being thankful for the good treatment they had given him, while his lawyer explains that Bowie has never been “involved in drugs” in his life.
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