Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones shared a wild story about his younger days when he “borrowed” gear from David Bowie. For musicians, having equipment stolen can be a huge setback, especially for those struggling to make it in the industry. However, in this case, the culprit turned out to be a future punk rock legend. David Bowie also predicted Kanye West’s fate.
Jones recounted on the Rockonteurs podcast how he stole various items during Bowie’s 1973 concert at the Hammersmith Odeon. Using a minivan he had parked nearby, Jones snuck into the venue late at night while a security guard was dozing off. He climbed onto the stage and grabbed whatever he could, including high-end Neumann microphones, cymbals, a Sunn bass head, and even Bowie’s microphone, which still had lipstick on it.
“They had some bloke [in the] fourth row [of the stalls], kipping. I’m waiting till he’s having a kip. I’m up the rafters like the Phantom of the Odeon. And I had a minivan. Wasn’t mine. I had a minivan by the side [of the venue].”
“This is like two in the morning. Now there’s no one around but this one bloke, and at this point, he’s like [snoring noise], and I’m just going on [to the stage], snipping, snipping…”
“I got all these amazing Neumann mics. I didn’t know what they were. I didn’t know anything. I didn’t know they [Bowie and his band The Spiders From Mars] were recording. But all these Neumann mics were there. And the Bowie [mic] was great. It was a little Shure with his lipstick still on it.”
When asked if he spared Mick Ronson’s equipment out of respect, Jones admitted he didn’t care and took whatever he could. He later stashed the stolen gear in a basement in Shepherd’s Bush, making multiple trips until the guard woke up, forcing him to flee.
The incident even made the news the next morning. Reflecting on his actions, Jones admitted his love for Bowie and The Spiders From Mars but explained that he couldn’t control his kleptomania at the time.
“I got the bass head. I think it was a Sunn bass head, a fairly new one. Like I said, I didn’t know what was what. So I nicked that, a bunch of cymbals, all them Neumann mics, and that was about it.”
“I do think someone else was with me, but I can’t remember. So I went and dropped this all off in Shepherd’s Bush. I was in this basement, and I would take the stuff down in a coal cellar.”
“Then I’d go back for another go in the van. But this time, when I went out there, the bloke woke up, and then I just split, and that was it. It was on the news on the radio in the morning, funnily enough.”
“You know, I love Bowie, I love The Spiders From Mars. Love them. But I was a kleptomaniac. I couldn’t help it!”
