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I got so enraged just walked up to David

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and just whed him one and a few days

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later he got rushed barfield's Eye

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Hospital I all fair and Love and War all

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that once you know it was okay as long

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as it was true but it wasn't meet George

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Underwood a talented painter artist and

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lifelong friend of David Bowie not only

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were they close friends but George also

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collaborated with Bowie leaving a mark

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on both their careers and lives we were

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9 years old uh enrolling for the Cubs

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it was the 18th Bromley Cubs and Scouts

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well we had similar interests we used to

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hang around together all the time joined

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at the hip as they say how do you say

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Bowie Bowie Bowie it is Bo that's how

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David originally uh pronounced it of

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course it's taken on so many different

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versions now I think uh Bowie is how

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David originally intended it David Bowie

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was iconic for many things music fashion

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boundary pushing art and his unique eyes

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one blue the other appearing Brown

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contrary to popular belief David wasn't

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born like this it was George who gave

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Bowie his striking look the result of a

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Teenage scuffle over a girl called Carol

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basically there's a girl that we both

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fancied and I said to David you know how

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should we chat her up I'll have a party

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and uh I invite her along my mom and dad

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were going to go out that night my dad

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had bought a few beers and everything

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the boys start coming in bottles of gin

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in their hand right everyone was drunk

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by about halfast 8 uh including David

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who was absolutely ratted can I say the

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FW my mom goes up to me and says David

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CH like a

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coffee

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go I've never said that to my mother

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it's terrible anyway I started saying to

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Carol I said I'm sorry about the party

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it's got a bit out of hand what about

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meeting up next week you know she said

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yeah all right well I me meet you down

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there at our 7 I got a phone call David

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saying yeah she can't meet you she do

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want to go out with you she wants to go

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out with me I thought oh well I suppose

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all fair and Love and War all that once

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you know it was okay as long as it was

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true but it wasn't I went down the club

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a bit later and her friend says Where

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Have You Been Carol's been waiting for

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you for over an hour and I was seething

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so the next morning I was telling my

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mate about this on on the Bus David was

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in the front of the bus and I could over

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hear him saying about this girl he's

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going out with the George wanted to go

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out with I got so enraged when the break

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time came along I just walked up to

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David and just whacked in one and uh I

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must have hit him in my ring or

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something happened a few days later he

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got rushed barfield's Eye Hospital but

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it all ended out okay because we were

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still friends and later on he said I did

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him a favor because of this strange look

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he had in his eye you know it gave him

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that enigmatic look I think yes cuz the

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pup doesn't uh dilate like normal people

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it gives the impression because of the

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refraction of the light that it's a

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different color but it's it's it's due

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to the the damage to his pupil but

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George's collaboration with David wasn't

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limited to Childhood quarrels he worked

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on several of Bowie's iconic album

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covers including hunky dory and space

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odity David did a little drawing for me

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of all the things he wanted because this

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explains the lyrics of all the songs the

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space a see two Spacemen holding a rose

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letter to her s boy from freil cloud

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there's memory of a free Festival

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signate committee they star man where

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did he come from you might recognize

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this couple they ended up in ashes to

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ashes this one here we really have to S

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owe most of this Brian Ward the

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photographer who took this Photograph

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and um David had seen a photograph of my

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mother uh on my in my living room at

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home which is a hand tinted photograph

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and he brought this photo to me and said

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can you tint it you know but like that

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one in your in your living room you I

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was really wanted to paint it rather

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than color the photograph so I shared it

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with airbrush artist and it gives it a

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bit better texture and the same thing

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for the rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust

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Brian W's Studio was in headen Street

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just just here and when David came out

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with all his gear on I started to pour

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with rain so you got inside the phone

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box and that's how the phone box oh

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there we are in the phone box once again

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got I I got it airbrushed we never knew

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how iconic the albums were going to be

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obviously you never know at the time

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David

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knew always knew roughly what he I mean

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roughly he knew exactly what he wanted

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George's influence extended Beyond Bowie

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he also designed for Mark Bolan of T-Rex

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and the fix further solidifying his

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place in the world of rock and roll the

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first um album cover I did was actually

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via David he phoned me and said it's

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made of this it's got an album cover out

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and he needs a cover done I think you'd

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be good for it so I started talking to

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Mark about what sort of cover you want

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oh it was difficult getting any sense

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out of him really it was all hey Cosmic

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man you know it's all like everything

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was very Cosmic so I I I came up with

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this idea and that was um thanks to

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David I got that and i' got a lot of

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work via that George's art extends

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Beyond album covers influenced by a

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fantastic realism that evokes a

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dreamlike quality I think I started

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painting in oils in about 19 about 1973

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yeah what I try and do in my paintings I

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mean I invent the people you see and

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they come out my

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imagination and my style is probably

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based on a traditional Rena sort of feel

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but the pallet is pallette is muted

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rather than bright and want the viewer

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to have a look at this person that I'm

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painting and think what are they think

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what are they thinking about there's

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something going on in their head which

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is what they want to know about so the

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narrative in my paintings is you know

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make up your own mind what's going on

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because I'm just leaving it open to you

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so you don't use does that make sense

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that does it does having known David

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since his youth George witnessed his

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Evolution into a global icon but did he

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ever imagine Bowie's rise to such height

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and how did their friendship shape their

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collaborations the fact that he's

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covered so many generations of fans that

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that takes him doing he did that with

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Grace I would like to thought thought of

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as a friend of David's uh because I was

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I mean we were friends for so long I

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mean gosh people say that um you know I

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was lucky to have known him no he was

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lucky to have known me that's what I

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say in 2016 the world Lost David to

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liver cancer a sudden loss that rippled

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through his millions of fans and his

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close-knit circle of friends including

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George he didn't tell me about it and I

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think he was trying to sort of be kind

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to me I had a feeling it wasn't quite

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100% but when it came you know I shot

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out of the blue and I was very upset

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yeah still missing you know remember

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when I think we were 65 or something

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emailed me saying old men now eh and I

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said yeah I said I said I look in the

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mirror and I looking I see my father and

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he said that's weird he said I look in

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Mir I see your dad as

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well today George pours his passion into

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another cause close to his heart War

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child a charity that provides support to

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Children and Families in Conflict zones

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around the world delivering life-saving

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Aid to the most vulnerable when I was

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asked to do a painting for war child

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auction

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I I immediately said yes it it it run a

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a true Bell with me and I and and I'm

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really pleased that I got

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involved well when when the theme of um

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was given to me which was um we like

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dancing and we looked Divine which is a

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line from Rebel Rebel I thought I've got

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a painting I did in 2010 and this is the

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paint a print of the painting I did

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called um I

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we love dancing iord it now nearly 30

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years later that Spirit of giving

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continues to inspire initiatives like

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sound and vision carrying Bowie's Legacy

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forward