Iggy Pop, Steve Winwood, Ron Wood and Bowie Revisit Their Hits in NYC: Book Excerpt
In this excerpt from the book New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make NYC Rock, David Bowie takes a break from recording and pulls together an all-star lineup of rockers to jam at China Club.
Michael Barrett and Danny Fried opened China Club in the basement of the Beacon Hotel on the Upper West Side at 2130 Broadway in mid-1985. The club became a music industry hangout where Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Sting, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Elton John, and Rick James would jam. Its reputation for impromptu performances began on Nov. 19, 1985.
That year David Bowie and Iggy Pop toured together and collaborated on each other’s albums. The two were in a New York studio recording material in November for the Labyrinth film soundtrack.
Session drummer Steve Ferrone, a member of Average White Band, reportedly mentioned that it was his birthday and he was sitting in that night with a local band at a new venue, China Club. Ferrone was filling in as a favor for a sick friend, the drummer of the group Ipso Facto.
To celebrate Ferrone’s birthday — the real date has been disputed — Bowie showed up at China Club with Iggy Pop, Steve Winwood, bass player Carmine Rojas, and guitarist Carlos Alomar. Bowie saw the opportunity to jam after Ipso Facto finished their set and called Rolling Stones’ guitarist Ron Wood, who arrived 20 minutes later.
“The whole music thing was just an accident,” Barrett told New York magazine. “It was total luck. So Bowie’s group starts up and they played for an hour and a half. Everybody stopped working. There were about 200 people in the place and I locked the doors. I said, whoever’s here is here and will witness this.
"And they start pumping out the hits, ‘China Girl,’ ‘Reeling In the Years,’ ‘Gimme Some Lovin’.’ When Stevie Winwood started doing ‘Gimme Some Lovin’,’ I had like shivers going down my spine. It was just a monster night.”
In 1997 China Club moved from the Beacon Hotel basement to 268 West 47th Street in Times Square. The club closed in 2010.
Mastropolo is the author of New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make New York Rock, one of Best Classic Bands’ Best Music Books of 2022, and Fillmore East: The Venue That Changed Rock Music Forever.
New York Groove: An Inside Look at the Stars, Shows, and Songs That Make NYC Rock
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