Over the nearly two hours of The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy and Lou 1971-1973, Danny Fields, Billy Name, Angela Bowie (David’s ex) — even David Bowie, Lou Reed and Iggy Pop themselves in interview snippets taped years ago — attempt to explain the holy triumvirate co-dependency of friends, co-workers and iconic rock stars Lou Reed, David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Starting all pretty much at the same time — Bowie in London as a folk artist, Reed with the iconic Velvet Underground in NYC and Iggy Pop startling audiences with the Stooges in Detroit — the three came together both artistically and physically (there‘s been a lot of conjecture how exactly these three got together physically!) to influence and help each other become the rock gods they are.
There is great footage, silent films of the Velvet Underground playing at Warhol’s factory, Pop running through a graveyard in an early Warhol film as well as taunting a crowd at a Stooges show. There’s also a bunch of Bowie performances, both in his famous Ziggy guise and early videos, plus snippets of all those great songs Bowie wrote under the influence of Reed, Reed wrote and sung with the Velvets and under Bowie’s production (most of which became Transfomer) and Pop’s work with Bowie that became the meandering seminal punk album Raw Power.
Mainly this DVD is about Bowie though — how Reed and Pop influenced him, how he helped produce both his friends into super stardom, and how he took all the best of what his friends were and morphed them into his own chameleon-like sensibilities. As Lee Childs claims, Bowie once admitted that his very best talent was recognizing what was worth appropriating from the talented around him. As the most interviewed personality for the film, Angela Bowie offers some especially interesting insights on her ex-husband and the early days of his career. While there could have been a little more on Reed and Pop, what The Sacred Triangle: Bowie, Iggy and Lou 1971-1973 does get right is Mick Ronson’s contribution to all this great music, arranging Bowie’s tunes as well as adding guitar and producing Transformer in all but name.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
