In New York city, I didn't get much time to skip through clubs, but the old familiars (that one hopes will never fade away) are still around. Fortunately I did get to see David Bowie play John Merrick, "The Elephant Man" at the Booth Theatre. And was it ever true Theatre. His portrayal of the character is compassionate and striking: I loved him in it.

The character Merrick, who existed in the nineteenth century, was a sensitive and intelligent though physically deformed man. Funnily, when he is treated as an equal and not a freak, he opens up as a wonderful warm human being: so innocent, creative, and optimistic. David Bowie does it so well!

  It is the unravelling of the Eighties. We are in shock - John Lennon has just died. There is an uncanny sense of loss in the air, even days afterward. Where do we go from here? Things appear very unbalanced. John's spirit has lifted - no more glimpses of that ever familiar face, no more witticisms to be spoken from this man who always seemed to have a firm grip on 'reality'.