David Bowie's trusted band member Mike Garson recalls the relief of reaching the final date of the Diamond Dogs tour in December 1974 in Atlanta. A sober individual himself, the pianist had been saddened by his bandleader’s health decline and drug abuse during the gruelling tour. It had pained him to watch a painfully gaunt Bowie having to support himself with a cane.

Days after the tour finished, Bowie and his band appeared on the Dick Cavett Show on US TV. Despite his condition, an incredible performance was delivered. Few could argue against the fact this was one of the great Bowie television appearances, brimming with a raw and soulful funk energy. He had also summoned another master of his craft in saxophonist David Sanborn, utilising him on Young Americans the way that he did Garson on Aladdin Sane.

Before his death last year, Sanborn told me. "We were playing Radio City Music Hall and well prepared for that show. There was quite a bit of it around [cocaine] but those were the times and it was prevalent everywhere in the world that I was living in. I don't want to say unavoidable but it was definitely around.

“Mike Garson in the band was not ever someone who drank or used drugs, for example. Some others may have dabbled but Bowie was deeply into it.” Sanborn recalls Bowie referring to that mid-70s lineup as one of the greatest bands he ever played with. “It was a killer band,” said the late saxophonist. “He would allow us to stretch. He was a music fan so he would let us play for ten minutes on something like ‘John I'm Only Dancing (Again)’. He gave us such freedom."

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