Chapter 61: Heart of Glass (October 1978 - June 1979)

Warning: The following chapter contains content which may be inappropriate for those who are sensitive to subjects such as murder and violence. Reader discretion is advised. Also, in light of recent racial unrest in America, I believe that what you're about to read about in this chapter is relevant to the real world of today. Black Lives Matter.

October 12, 1978

Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen, 1978.

At Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, New York, there was a lot of activity going on. The most recent patient to turn up was a woman with frizzy blond hair, no older than the age of twenty. Her case? A single stab wound to the abdomen to which she narrowly survived. The woman's boyfriend, about a year older than she was, had awoken from a drugged stupor and was suspected to have attempted to murder her. Despite owning the knife that was used in the attack, the man had denied trying to kill her, but he did state that he didn't remember what had happened next. As the woman had survived, her boyfriend was not arrested, nor was he charged for the attempted murder. But there were still a lot of unsolved questions.

If he didn't try to kill his girlfriend, then who did? What was their motivation? What connections did they have with the couple? Those questions were just the tip of the iceberg, and an investigation would take place concerning the actions of the man who called himself Sid Vicious, as well as his girlfriend, "Nauseating" Nancy Spungen.

Nobody knows what was going on in Nancy's mind after she had been admitted to the hospital. The oldest of three children under a middle-class Jewish family living in Philadelphia, ever since she was a baby, Nancy was known for being a problematic child, often exhibiting violent, anti-social behavior, and at the age of fifteen, she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Two years later, she moved to New York City to work as a stripper and prostitute, and then in 1977, she met John Simon Ritchie, who preferred going by Sid Vicious, during a Sex Pistols show and they began relationship. They moved back to New York together, and their relationship could be best described as tumultuous.

And now, here Nancy was in hospital, having nearly died when a knife went through her abdomen. A couple of nights after she was admitted, although it couldn't be proven or disproven, one of the hospital staff (who had long since asked to remain anonymous) could swear that they heard these words coming from Miss Spungen: "The fucking asshole tried to murder me."

November 14, 1978

Diana Ross, 1978.

October had been a busy month for Diana Ross. For a whole week - the fifth through the eleventh - she had taken up performance residence at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City, and The Wiz had just been released in theaters and was trashed by critics.[1] Soon, she would be back in the recording studio for another album and then a series of concerts afterward. But alas, fate often seemed to have other plans in store...

At the time, Diana Ross lived at the Beresford, a pre-war apartment building at 211 Central Park West in New York City, between 81st and 82nd Streets. It was a cool November evening, and she was about to head inside when it happened.

Nobody could really explain how it happened, but one minute, Diana Ross was about to talk up to the front of the Beresford, and the next, a young man and woman both in their early twenties leaped out of nowhere and began attacking her, one of them was holding a knife. One of the doormen on duty quickly rushed inside and reported the attack to the staff of the Beresford, who then quickly phoned the police.

But it was already too late to help Diana Ross out. There were many stab wounds all across her body, and she had quickly lost blood. By the time the police had arrived at the scene of the crime, the attackers were both also deceased. The young man had a stab wound near his neck, and blood was dripping out like a fountain from his mouth. The other woman seemed to have been the last to die; there was a deep gash in her neck, and the knife she was holding lay right beside her. The police had come to the conclusion that the attack was a murder-suicide.

JOHN LENNON: "Maddy, Freddie and I were home at the Dakota when he heard the news of the murder. When we heard that it had been Diana Ross of the Supremes, I felt sick to my stomach. In the mid-60s, they had rivaled the Beatles in worldwide popularity, and the fact that someone as twisted as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen would kill Diana just like that... it-it made me angry, but I didn't show it. I called up Paul, George and Ringo about the attack, and they too were shocked at what had happened." (1997)

The Supremes, 1968. From left to right: Mary Wilson, Diana Ross and Cindy Birdsong.

The murder of Diana Ross had sent shockwaves across the world. Sales for the Supremes' music, even after Ross' departure in 1970 to pursue a solo career, skyrocketed, and The Wiz had suddenly gained positive reviews, with many of them praising Ross' performance as Dorothy Gale. Her co-stars from the film such as Mabel King (Evillene the Wicked Witch of the West) and Richard Pryor (Herman Smith/The Wiz) and former members of the Supremes like Mary Wilson and Betty McGlown delivered short statements dedicated to her.

MICHAEL JACKSON: "When I heard about what had happened to Diana, I locked myself in the bathroom and cried. She was a good friend to me and my siblings, and the fact that someone could be so twisted as to murdering her for no reason... it made me want to throw up. I couldn't speak to anyone for days after that, and I had to go through a lot of therapy in the wake of her death. Not just with therapists, but with many people at Apple." (2011)

As one of the people most affected by the murder of Diana Ross, Michael Jackson would later dedicate his first post-Motown album on Apple Records, Off the Wall, in her memory. Back at Motown, they would put out Diana Ross Sings Songs from The Wiz the following year, as had been the intention following the release of the film's original soundtrack.[2] Plans were nearly cancelled due to the then-negative critical response, but they were quickly reinstated upon her death. In the past few months since the attack, there was still a big question on everyone's mind.

Why would Sid and Nancy want to go after a big name like Diana Ross?

Well, upon further investigation, a journal was discovered belonging to Nancy Spungen, and what was revealed exposed some extremely disturbing thoughts - I shan't repeat them verbatim for your sake, but the short version is that Nancy was plotting for her and Sid to go after someone famous living in New York and after murdering them, they would kill themselves to avoid arrest. What Nancy never did tell Sid, however, was that she would kill him herself, thinking that he tried to murder her that October and wanted to take revenge on him and then kill herself. They had considered killing Cher of Sonny & Cher, who was just about to start a solo career of her own on Casablanca Records, but they opted for Diana Ross instead, as they felt she was the nearest convenient target. (It seemed strange to many that John Lennon was living in New York at the time, and yet Sid and Nancy never thought about attacking himself instead; then again, it's hard to tell what goes on in an insane person's mind.)

Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, 1973.

When Glenn Danzig of the American horror punk band Misfits heard the story, he wrote a song in the perspective of Nancy Spungen, her near-death, the killing of Diana Ross and the murder of her boyfriend Sid before finally killing herself. Titled "Horror Business", it was released as a single on June 26, 1979 but did not chart. Many people in the black community were enraged by the murder of Ross, and this would soon lead to a social movement called Black Lives Matter, advocating against racial discrimination.[3]

Among the many supporters of the movement would include John Lennon and his wife Madeline Kahn, the remaining three Beatles and their families (and John's as well), Freddie Mercury, Brian May, David Bowie, Eric Clapton (in repentance for his racist remarks on stage in 1976), Michael Jackson and Marvin Gaye. After narrowly surviving getting shot at by his father in the midst of a physical altercation in 1984, Gaye was inspired to write the 1985 hit song "Dodging a Silver Bullet" not only about his personal experience and Diana Ross' death, but about how black people have been mistreated for the color of their skin.[4] This would later go on to become the official anthem for Black Lives Matter and hit #1 for several weeks in the United States, being regarded as one of the greatest ever protest songs.

John Lydon - stage name Johnny Rotten - was a friend of Sid Vicious and was disgusted by his actions. By the start of 1979, he had become isolated from the rest of the Sex Pistols and even refused to pick up a microphone, let alone perform live. Despite the assurance from many at Apple that he was not to blame for what Sid and Nancy had done, Lydon ultimately chose to retire from the music scene altogether, marrying German publishing heiress Nora Forster and becoming the step father to Ariane Forster, better known by her stage name Ari Up for her post-punk band, the Slits. As a result of Lydon retiring from the music business, the Sex Pistols had broken up by mid-1979, leaving many wondering what could have happened had Lydon not chose to retire early.

December 15, 1978

Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps

Released: December 15, 1978

Recorded: 1978

Producer: Neil Young, David Briggs and Tim Mulligan

Track listing[5]

Side A

My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)
Thrasher
Cryin' Eyes
The Ways of Love
Sail Away

Side B

Shots
Welfare Mothers
Sedan Delivery
Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)

Neil Young had gone on a lengthy tour, dubbed "Rust Never Sleeps", in which he would perform a wealth of new material in two sets; one being a solo acoustic set, and the other being an electric set with Crazy Horse, no doubt it was influenced by the punk rock zeitgeist at the time. In turn, this would later influence many grunge artists in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The studio album based upon the tour, Rust Never Sleeps (#13 UK, #8 US), would come out in mid-December for the Christmas rush, with the sole single "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)" / "My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)" (#79 US) being released in February 1979.

Rust Never Sleeps would mark Neil Young's final album of the 1970s, as shortly after its release, he announced that he would be taking a hiatus from recording new music to look after his newborn son Ben, born November 28, 1978. Ben was born with cerebral palsy, which would affect his physicality and speech as he grew older. Because of these medical concerns relating to Ben, it would be a while yet before the music world would hear from Neil again.[6]

4 May 1979

David Bowie - Despite Straight Lines

Released: 4 May 1979

Recorded: September 1978, March 1979

Producer: David Bowie and Tony Visconti

Track listing[7]

Side A

Warszawa
Beauty and the Beast
Joe the Lion
Sons of the Silent Age

Side B

Fantastic Voyage
Moss Garden
Neuköln
The Secret Life of Arabia

Side C

DJ
Move On
Yassassin
Red Sails

Side D

African Night Flight
Look Back in Anger
Boys Keep Swinging
Repetition
Red Money

After completing Wish You Were Here, the swan song of Hunky Dory, David Bowie quickly returned to the studio with Tony Visconti to record the songs he had written in Berlin but did not make it on any of the Hunky Dory albums, as well as some new material. The result of his first post-Rolling Stones solo album was Despite Straight Lines (#4 UK, #20 US), sometimes better known as "the Berlin Album". The subtitle also referred to the fact that the flag of Germany was painted on Bowie's face for the cover.

Bowie would spend most of 1979 on his Straight Lines Tour[8], bringing the music of the Berlin Album to about a million people in countries such as the United States, Austria, Norway, Belgium, New Zealand and Japan. Every now and again, he would inject songs he wrote for the Rolling Stones and Hunky Dory into his performances such as "'Heroes'", "Suffragette City" and "Rebel Rebel". By now, Bowie had broken free from his drug addiction and his mental condition was healthy enough for him to make friends. Recordings from the tour would result in the live album Stage, later released in 1979.

Thirty-four years later, Bowie would reuse the cover to Despite Straight Lines for his comeback album The Next Day.

18 May 1979

The Yardbirds - In Through the Out Door

Released: 18 May 1979

Recorded: November - December 1978

Producer: Jimmy Page

Track listing[9]

Side A

In the Evening
South Bound Suarez
Wearing and Tearing
Hot Dog

Side B

Ozone Baby
Darlene
All My Love
I'm Gonna Crawl

JOHN BONHAM: "Things were pretty shitty for all of us after Rob had his car accident in Greece. Achilles' Last Stand sold well, but we didn't go on tour cause Rob was still recuperating. Then shortly after Swan Song Records got sort of taken over by Apple, Peter [Grant] wanted us to go on tour in North America, but none of us were in the right state, mentally and/or physically. Peter Brown and Brian Epstein both talked him out of it, feeling that if we did end up touring for '77, our problems would only get worse. Thank goodness that many of us at Apple, Highway 61 or Swan Song are like one extended family." (1997)

The cancellation of the Yardbirds' 1977 North American tour had positive repercussions for the band members. Robert Plant was able to spend far more time with his family than he would've been able to less than a decade ago, even helping out his son Karac when he was infected by a stomach virus. Karac narrowly survived in hospital, and feeling grateful that his son was still alive, the elder Plant wrote "All My Love", inspired by his relationship with Karac.[10]

Meanwhile, Jimmy Page and John Bonham had entered rehab. The band's guitarist and drummer, respectively, had been dealing with drug and alcohol-related problems for quite some time, and so it was advised that they seek help before they reached the point of no return. At first, both men were reluctant, but by the time the Yardbirds had reunited to rehearse some new material for their next album, Keith Moon had died from Heminevrin overdose, which had sent chills through Page and Bonham's bodies.

JIMMY PAGE: "Rehab turned out to be a good thing for both me and Bonzo. Had Swan Song Records not been bought out by Apple, and if the folks there weren't so understanding, I dread to think what could have happened." (2009)

The Yardbirds, 1979.

With sober minds, the Yardbirds had arrived at Polar Studios in Stockholm, Sweden to record their first album under Apple. Bassist John Paul Jones and Plant had a great influence over the sound for what would become In Through the Out Door, but with Page and Bonham contributing ideas of their own, the album would contain a mix of their hard rock roots as well as some artsy influence. "We were no longer two distinct camps," Jones later recalled. "We were now one whole unit."

In Through the Out Door would soon hit #1 in both the United States and the United Kingdom despite the extended absence from the spotlight and divisive reception among critics upon release. Three months after the album's release, the Yardbirds would begin their tour in North America and Europe in support of both Achilles' Last Stand and In Through the Out Door with two concerts at the Knebworth Festival. (This excluded two warm-up shows at Falkoner Theatre in Copenhaen, Denmark in July.) The tour for both albums would continue into 1980.

ROBERT PLANT: "Going on that tour for both Achilles and Out Door was a whole lot of fun for everyone involved, but goddamn, was it tiring by the time it ended. We all felt five years younger, and the rust had just shaken off of us by the time the 70s came to a close. I dunno how long this will last; we're not young boys anymore. It all depends on how seriously Jimmy and Bonzo take their sobriety." (1981)

15 June 1979

Kim Beacon - Ravenna

Released: 15 June 1979

Recorded: January - March 1979

Producer: Kim Beacon and David Hentschel

Track listing[11]

Side A

My Blues Have Gone (It's a Miracle)
Baltimore
Vancouver
Ooh Child
Imagine

Side B

Ballad of Big
It Takes Time to Find Love
Ravenna
Lonely

Kim Beacon was the first member out of the current Genesis lineup to release a solo album under Swan Song Records. He had initially been uncertain about his own skills as a drummer (Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford believed that he was simply too modest about that), but when it came to recording for Ravenna, Beacon decided to try and put his drumming skills to the test. He had considered asking Phil Collins to play drums on some tracks, but given the latter's duties with the Who, Beacon ended up playing all the drums himself. Among the first tracks recorded with him on drums were "My Blues Have Gone", "Lonely" and a cover version of "Imagine".

Ravenna was released on 15 June 1979 (#5 UK, #14 US) and received positive reviews from critics, citing the album as a strong start to a solo career of Genesis' new front man. The first single released alongside the album was "My Blues Have Gone"/"Ballad of Big" (#8 UK, #7 US), the B-side of which was co-written with Banks, Rutherford and Collins during the sessions for And Then There Were Four. The next subsequent singles - "Vancouver"/"Ravenna" (September; #19 UK, #15 US) and "Imagine"/"It Takes Time to Find Love" (January 1980; #11 UK, #10 US) - were also Top 20 hits, with John Lennon praising Beacon's take on "Imagine".

Later that same year, Tony Banks released his first solo album A Curious Feeling on 8 October (#8 UK, #97 US) featuring Chris Thompson of Manfred Mann's Earth Band on lead vocals. On 15 February 1980, Mike Rutherford would come out with Smallcreep's Day (#6 UK, #73 US) which featured former Genesis guitarist Anthony Phillips on keyboards. Together with Ravenna, they showcased some promise for side careers for the members of Genesis, proving that there was more talent than just Kim Beacon. When Genesis reunited at the end of the 70s to record one of their greatest musical achievements, Chester Thompson had been invited by Beacon to be their touring drummer to which he accepted, staying with the group until 1992.

Footnotes

1. Coincidentally, the day before Nancy Spungen died, Diana Ross performed her last of seven concerts at Radio City Music Hall in New York (October 5-11, 1978). In OTL, her next performance would not be until April 7, 1979 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, less than two months before the release of The Boss.
2. Diana Ross Sings Songs from The Wiz would not be released until 2015.
3. Black Lives Matter was formed in July 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi (none of whom were born in 1978) following the shooting of Trayvon Martin in February 2012 and the acquittal of George Zimmerman for killing him. The movement returned to national headlines following the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, and peaceful protests are ongoing as of October 2020.
4. "Dodging a Silver Bullet" has no OTL basis. I envision that the song would've been released in early 1985 and have a dance-rock sound with some soul and funk influence.
5. All tracks are sourced from Rust Never Sleeps, excluding "Cryin' Eyes" from Life, "The Ways of Love" from Freedom, and "Shots" from Re-ac-tor. The aforementioned three tracks were written in the late 1970s, but were later put out on their respective albums throughout the 1980s.
6. In OTL, when Neil Young was signed with Geffen Records, he constantly fought with the label and released uncommercial music throughout the 1980s. For TTL, he won't release as many albums as he did, preferring instead to focus on caring for little Ben.
7. Tracks are sourced from Low, "Heroes" and Lodger, collectively known as David Bowie's Berlin trilogy. Despite Straight Lines was also a working title for Lodger.
8. OTL's Isolar II world tour from 1978.
9. All tracks are sourced from OTL's In Through the Out Door excluding "Wearing and Tearing", "Ozone Baby" and "Darlene", all sourced from Coda. The aforementioned three tracks were recorded in 1978 during the same sessions but were left off the final album in favor of "Fool in the Rain" and "Carouselambra". In addition, TTL's "All My Love" is much happier in tone due to Karac Plant surviving his stomach virus in 1977.
10. In OTL, because Led Zeppelin was touring in North America, Robert Plant was unable to see Karac prior to the latter's death. This resulted in the tour being cut short, and the elder Plant retreating to his home, questioning his future.
11. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Ravenna excluding "Vancouver", originally part of a double B-side to "Many Too Many", and "Ballad of Big", originally from And Then There Were Three. In addition, "Vancouver" is a co-write between Kim Beacon and Mike Rutherford while "Ballad of Big" is credited to both Kim and Mike, as well as Tony Banks and Phil Collins.

Author's Comments

Wow, there was quite a lot to cover, wasn't there? Since John Lennon doesn't die in this timeline, someone else had to take his place, and that, sadly, went to Diana Ross of The Supremes. There are quite a lot of parallels between the pair; both were part of popular music groups during the 1960s, both had solo careers after leaving them in the 1970s, both were living in New York by the start of the 1980s, and both of them had their killers moving to New York around the late 1970s (Chapman in OTL, Vicious and Spungen in TTL). Not only that, I believe that no matter what timeline we're in, Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen were destined to die young. Same applies to the Sex Pistols not lasting up to 1980, let alone beyond. though it doesn't mean we can't try to imagine what they could have done had they stayed together!

Not much to talk about with Neil Young or David Bowie; the former will likely end up with two albums up to 1985, and the latter's solo career will continue more or less as it did in OTL, but maybe with a few changes here and there.

The Yardbirds will continue into the 1980s with John Bonham alive and (hopefully) sober, and I've already got ideas as to how their first two albums of that decade will go down, and hopefully their performance at Live Aid won't suck like it did in OTL. Like OTL, however, the members of Genesis will have solo careers alongside being part of a band, but they'll be far more successful this time around.