Friday, November 30, 2012

Nik Schreck, David Bowie, Manson and the occult

It is very difficult now to find any information about how and when the young Nikolas Schreck started playing for David Bowie. This was back in the early 80's before Radio Werewolf. Here is a period photo of Nikolas:


Is it possible that he is one of the "uncredited" musicians on Bowie's "Baal" EP?  Baal, in 17th Century goetic occult writings, is one of the seven princes of Hell. The name is drawn from the Canaanite deity Baal, who is mentioned in the Bible as the primary god of the Phoenicians.

Bowie was very interested in the occult back in the day. He once bought a home that belonged to Aleister Crowley, and reminisced in an interview in the 1990's that it was the Manson murders that first caused him to be fascinated with the occult.

Why doesn't anyone ever bring this up? Possibly because Bowie has money and power, and his mainstream image is no longer compatible with the occult, which has become woefully out of fashion compared to its heyday in the sixties and seventies.





42 comments:

  1. Just looking at Schreck, I'd say somebody somebody came up with a knife and cut off a piece of his ear.

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  2. Blogger orwhut said...

    Just looking at Schreck, I'd say somebody somebody came up with a knife and cut off a piece of his ear.
    -------------------------------------
    Nice Johnny Cash reference.

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  3. Another nice job Patty. Do you know if the Crowley house that Bowie bought is the same house that Jimmy Page bought and lived in in the 70s?

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  4. I asked that in a previous thread but nobody seemed to know the answer. One site says a gay guy cut it off. Another says some black guys did and yet another says he cut it off himself "in a VanGogh-like move intended to symbolize his allegiance to Satan".

    I'm kinda rooting for the gay guy story. Ever hear that song, "I Got My Butt Kicked by a Fairy"? LOL.

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  5. 3 of Panamint Patty's favorites-
    Manson, Bowie and the occult. w00t

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  6. Invite Schreck along on the 2013 Tour. I want to party with this guy!

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  7. Susie,
    I haven't heard that song. Was it a fairy named Sue?

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  8. Very odd that a tate-labianca blog continues to obsess over Nikolas Schreck.

    Must be his hypnotic, charismatic fascist werewolf powers.

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  9. Hii doc. Yes, Jimmy Page once owned the house, too. Bowie and Page were once close, back in the day. It may be in "Hammer of the Gods" about how one time in LA, they locked themselves in a hotel room with a huge pile of cocaine and watched the film "Un Chien Andalou" over and over and over. That was likely 1975 or so.

    BTW, ever seen it? I think it is on netflix. Less than 15 minutes long and very much worth the time.

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  10. Got me a movie, whoawoawoawoa. Slicin up eyeballs, whoawoawoa.

    -The Pixies

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  11. Well, it was Gatlinburg in mid-July
    And I just hit town and my throat was dry,
    I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew.
    At an old saloon on a street of mud,
    There at a table, dealing stud,
    Sat the dirty, mangy dog that named me "Sue."

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  12. Bowie, Pixies and Johnny Cash all in the same post! WOOT

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  13. Speaking of Cash...

    I saw a great show the other night based on a true story...

    Million Dollar Quartet

    Carl Perkins
    Johnny Cash
    Elvis
    Jerry Lee Lewis

    all in sun Studios on same night in 1956- and did a jam session together... they made a show about it and I highly recommend it...

    you can google an old black and white photo they took together sitting around a piano- at the end of the show they play an old recording they actually made that night... very cool stuff

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  15. If you want to hear a cool reference to Elvis and Roger Miller check out a song called Highway Junkie by Chris Knight (not the Brady Bunch guy). It's one of my favorite songs. I highly recommend it.

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  16. Hey Saint-I actually have a cd of the million dollar quartet session.
    Its really great stuff.
    I got it as a bootleg at a record convention Years ago but I think it might have been officially released since then.

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  17. That is not Schreck playing with Bowie. That gentleman is Sean Mayes.
    However, Bowie was indeed heavily into the occult during the 70s. His songs. photos, and performance gestures from that time are filled with references.
    A good source for information is "Bowie In Berlin" by Thomas Jerome Seabrook.

    Also, thanks for providing a great blog!

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  18. Thank you JC, for the complement and information. Patty will update the post.

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  19. Heres the whole album.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZrtRiBdgMQ

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  20. You can probably download it from Mediafire as well

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  21. Last time I was in Gatlinburg I looked for a street of mud and couldn't find one. The main drag was asphalt and traffic was so heavy there was no place to fight. Sue must have gone through there a long time ago.

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  22. St.
    Where did you see the Million Dollar Quartet?

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  23. Broward Performing Arts Center

    Fort Lauderdale

    But it travels around...

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  24. I saw them at Peace Center in Greenville, S.C. . For a minute there I thought we were in the same theater.

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  25. orwhut said...

    Last time I was in Gatlinburg I looked for a street of mud and couldn't find one. The main drag was asphalt and traffic was so heavy there was no place to fight. Sue must have gone through there a long time ago.
    --------------------------------
    Were you there in mid July?

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  26. It's been a while and I'm not sure. I do remember a motorcycle doing a burnout in the street.

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  27. From what I understand Bowie's interest in the occult didn't extend much further than research/fascination/lyrical name-dropping, he was never really a practitioner. Contemporaries from the 70s say that it was something he was scared of much more so than something he was 'into', particularly in that 70s period where he was continually soaking in cocaine and fuelled by paranoia. i.e. A music journalist who interviewed him during that time reported he had covered his apartment with 'occult symbols' because he was terrified of witches or something equally bizarre.

    Had no idea there was a connection between him and Schreck, though. Somewhat disappointed, big Bowie fan here.

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  28. You can actually see Nikolas in the background of some of the older David Bowie concerts, when he appeared on TV. This is during the "Ziggy Stardust" days.

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  29. "Very odd that a tate-labianca blog continues to obsess over Nikolas Schreck.

    Must be his hypnotic, charismatic fascist werewolf powers."

    Naw, it's mainstream Christians' fascination with "the Occult", because their leaders forbid it. They think it's all glamorous and fascinating and stuff, LOL.

    If they actually know how boring "the Occult" is, they'd not bother.

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  30. Ole JC is right, that's NOT Mr. Schreck, it's someone else.

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  31. It's interesting too that Bowie flirted with fascism (at least with fascistic symbols) in the 70s. And Schreck is a werewolf/Nazi who always dresses in a BLACK SHIRT!! HOW DEEP DOES THIS RABBIT-HOLE GO!?!? :p

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  32. i am listeing to schreck's interview, he's now a humanist. i remembered an interview i heard in the 90's hosted by born again christian bob larson with guests james mason, michael moynihan, and boyd rice. larson titled it "manson maniacs." another guest is doris tate. these guys are extremely cruel to her but she continues with class and taste. these guys were friends of schreck's at the time. their little nazi group fell apart and they became enemies. give it a listen just go to youtube and put the following the search: james mason, michael moynihan, and boyd rice vs. bob larson. these guys including larson are real sweethearts.

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  33. p.s. i don't have any problems with schreck we all have pasts (hopefully not many have a nazi past). i hope his change is sincere and i will leave it at that.

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  34. There was a lot of flirting with fascist imagery in the 70s; I have always referred to it as "Nazi Chic"
    It was particularly prevalent in rock and roll...Ron Asheton's Nazi uniforms, Lou Reed's shaving iron crosses into his hair, some of Bryan Ferry's stagewear, Jimmy Page's Luftwaffe hat, The Dictators, Blue Oyster Cult's quasi-fascist imagery and lyrical references, Bowie's comments, Sid Vicious' swastika T-shirts, etc...
    That was also the era of the softcore Nazi exploitation flicks...Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, Salon Kitty, Love Camp 69, The Night Porter, etc...

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  35. don't forget siouxsie sioux and the swastika on her shirt and arm band. on siouxsie siioux did you guys know siouxsie and the banshees did a great cover of "helter skelter?" they used to play it live and dedicate it to roman polanski. gotta miss 70's punk. it's on youtube to those interested.

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  37. Patty will go look that up...thanks Beauders!

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  38. Don't forget the fascist imagery in "The Wall" by Pink Floyd.

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