here, but cannot afford. jim: he wasn t a big name at the time, but it was a historical point, because he came to berlin the week after he split with his band. and from l.a. he went to berlin, he had to regenerate from anthony: well, l.a. had been really bad, apparently existing only on cartons of milk and cocaine, i think, and not much else. jim: yeah. anthony: he essentially came to berlin, oddly enough given its reputation, to clean up. clearly in really bad health, in a really bad place. and yet, the music that he made here was very different from anything he d done before. what do you think he found here that was good for him? jim: well, he lived a pretty low-profile life in berlin, i have to say at. he could be anonymous here, like everybody admired him, but nobody talked to him. that s a big advantage.
house for art, music and free expression? jim: west berlin was always very international. we had people that were flying in from all walks of life. artists from all genres were here, and we were surrounded by east. the wall was a solid resistance, and you need a strong enemy to build a strong muscle. and people who were living here had to improvise a lot. anthony: i mean, what is seen by many as a golden period, the weimar era, was in fact a hotbed of music and culture and art in between two really awful events. jim: yes. anthony: followed by the wartime years, followed by a long period, i mean, post-war berlin was in ruins. when were the good times? jim: i have a very complex
jim: yes. anthony: outside of whatever bowie was doing, what was it like in west berlin at that time? jim: it was like pressure cooking. you know, it was like pressure cooking. west berlin was surrounded by the wall, and there were just three roads leading to west berlin and they were controlled by the russians, basically. anthony: so, why would a walled city, surrounded by hostile forces, be such a hot house for art, music and free expression? jim: west berlin was always very international. we had people that were flying in from all walks of life. artists from all genres were here, and we were surrounded by east.
the wall was a solid resistance, and you need a strong enemy to build a strong muscle. and people who were living here had to improvise a lot. anthony: i mean, what is seen by many as a golden period, the weimar era, was in fact a hotbed of music and culture and art in between two really awful events. jim: yes. anthony: followed by the wartime years, followed by a long period, i mean, post-war berlin was in ruins. when were the good times? jim: i have a very complex answer to that, and that is the best times are now. we have all the freedom that we want, you know? i think the best times are now. of coursbut if you hadowerful. any lingering doubts about the acceleration. horsepower. and all-around performance. of a lexus hybrid,
and now, people are looking for a dark side, do you think? brendan: certainly, the people are looking for things that they couldn t do at home. le pustra: exactly. brendan: they re looking for le pustra: they still come here for the forbidden. brendan: things that, you know and you can tell the people who ve come and gone crazy. le pustra: it s captured people s imaginations, so people come here in search of that divine decadence. and it is here. it definitely is. anthony: during the weimar years and later, just before and after the wall came down, berlin became a refuge for artists, writers and musicians at a crossroads in their lives. most notably, in 1976, david bowie came here. jim: have a seat. well, there we go, there we go. anthony: jim rakete is a celebrated photographer known for his intimate portraits. he began his career as a photojournalist, and in 76, captured the first moments of