Vince Taylor (born Brian Maurice Holden; 14 July 1939 – 28 August 1991), He was the inspiration for David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust character, according to Bowie.

Music career

At age 18, impressed by the music of Gene Vincent and Elvis Presley, Taylor began to sing, mostly at amateur gigs. In the summer of 1958, Taylor was in London and went to The 2i's Coffee Bar on Old Compton Street in Soho, where Tommy Steele was playing. There he met drummer Tony Meehan (later of the Shadows) and bass player Tex Makins (born Anthony Paul Makins, 3 July 1940, Wembley, Middlesex). They formed a band called the Playboys. Whilst looking at a packet of Pall Mall cigarettes he noticed the Latin phrase, In hoc signo vinces. He decided on the new stage name of Vince Taylor.

While Taylor was dynamic on stage, his unpredictable personality led to many arguments within the band, who parted company with him in 1961 and changed their name to the Bobbie Clarke Noise. Under that name they were contracted to play at the Olympia in Paris in July 1961. The top of the bill was Wee Willie Harris. Taylor had remained in contact with the band, and he asked if he could rejoin them in Paris. He dressed up for the sound check in his trademark black leather stage gear, and added a chain around his neck with a Joan of Arc medallion, which he had bought on arrival at Calais. One version of the story says Taylor gave such an extraordinary performance at the sound check that the organizers decided to put him at the top of the bill for both shows.

By the end of 1962, Vince Taylor and the Playboys were the top of the bill at the Olympia in Paris. Sylvie Vartan was the opening act.

Despite his on-stage rapport with the Playboys, the off-stage relationship faltered. As a result, the band once more broke up. Taylor played several engagements backed by the English band the Echoes (who also backed Gene Vincent whenever he played the UK), but he still presented the band as the Playboys.

In February 1964, a new single "Memphis Tennessee", backed with "A Shot of Rhythm and Blues", was released on the Barclay label.

After Hallyday was required to do national service in the French Army, Clarke again joined Taylor, as the Bobbie Clarke Noise along with Ralph Danks (guitar), Alain Bugby of the Strangers (bass), Johnny Taylor, ex–lead singer for the Strangers (rhythm guitar), and "Stash de Rola" Prince Stanislas Klossowski de Rola (percussion). Managed by Jean Claude Camus, the band embarked on a triumphant tour of Spain and then co-topped the bill with the Rolling Stones during the Easter week-end of 1965 at the Olympia in Paris.

Decline

The band then disbanded and Taylor, having problems with alcohol and other drugs, joined a religious movement.

Taylor died from lung cancer in August 1991, at age 52. He was buried in Lausanne, Switzerland. He had lived in Switzerland since 1983 with his wife, Nathalie (née Minster), and his step-daughter, Magaly.

Legacy

David Bowie said Taylor was the main inspiration for his character Ziggy Stardust.

The band Golden Earring referred to Taylor in their 1973 album Moontan, with the song "Just Like Vince Taylor", which was the US B-side for their hit "Radar Love".

In 1997, his character was played by the Clash singer Joe Strummer in 's road movie , as an ex–rock star turned private aviator.

Northern Irish singer Van Morrison mentions Taylor in his 1999 song "Goin' Down Geneva: "Vince Taylor used to live here/No one's even heard of him/Just who he was/Just where he fits in". Morrison would later interpolate "Brand New Cadillac" into his concert performances of "Going Down Geneva."

Taylor had a son, Ty Holden, who stated on BBC Radio 4 that Vince Taylor was an absent father. Ty was in the indie band Crown of Thorns, managed by Miles Copeland III. Ty Holden is now a DJ on the London underground dance scene.

On 18 August 2010 BBC Radio 4 broadcast the documentary Ziggy Stardust Came from Isleworth which, in the words of the producer, is a programme that "uncovers the truth about a singer whose wild lifestyle ultimately destroyed him, but in so doing he gave rise to a myth that transcended glam-rock and science fiction".

Adam Ant wrote and recorded "Vince Taylor" (co-written with Boz Boorer) for his 2013 album Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter. The song is partly a tribute to Taylor, and partly concerning a gold-plated chain given by Taylor to his French girlfriend Valerie who later passed it to Adam Ant (Ant has further claimed to having used the chain as a weapon, wrapped around his fist, in a confrontation with Sid Vicious.)

See also

  • British rock and roll

Bibliography

  • Vince Taylor Illustrated Discography, by Phil "Heron" Guidal, Black Leather, 1988
  • Bodast: Spectral Nether Street, Cherry Red Records, CD-Inlay essay by Jon Newey, London, January 2000
  • Besse, Josette and Jean-Loup Jouve. Vince Taylor, Johnny Kidd. Paris: Éditions Horus, 1979 , 75p.

References

  • Mr "Brand New Cadillac" Detailed information available in French and English
  • Vince Taylor – Discography