MICK’S BACK!

How an old friend came to cameo on the Serious Moonlight Tour…

One of the unexpected treats of 1983’s serious moonlight tour was a guest appearance by Bowie’s former guitarist mick Ronson. the one-time spider From mars was working as a session player and producer, overseeing a new project by canadian singer Lisa Dalbello, when the tour played toronto’s cne grandstand on september 3. Ronson decided to pay Bowie a visit at his hotel, where Bowie – who hadn’t seen the guitarist in eight years – asked him to join him on stage the following night. “i think he was a little nervous,” bassist carmine Rojas recalls. “he was three sheets to the wind!”

after an ecstatic reception from the 60,000-deep crowd, Ronson borrowed earl slick’s blue stratocaster and proceeded to attack “the Jean genie” with gusto. “i really thrashed the guitar,” Ronson said later. “i was waving the guitar above my head and all sorts of things. it was funny afterwards, because David said, ‘you should have seen [Earl’s] face…’, meaning he looked petrified. i had his prize guitar.”

Ronson became so involved in his own showmanship that he nearly fell off the stage. “as i was watching, i started getting flashbacks from the live footage of hammersmith ’73,” Rojas marvels. “even though he was in that condition, my appreciation for his past triumphs will never waver.”