George Bowie cancels Lanarkshire gig after attempted mugging

Sep 17 2009 by Richard Mooney

A LANARKSHIRE club’s party night was left in tatters after a thug tried to rob special guest DJ George Bowie of his record collection.

The incident took place in the early hours of Sunday morning, just as the Clyde One Breakfast Show host was about to set enter the Talk of the Town nightclub in Shotts.

Mr Bowie was due to perform his GB Experience set at the club that night, but after leaving a friend’s car and making his way to the venue, he was set upon by a local yob who attempted to steal his rucksack, which contained his prized music collection.

“I’d just got out of my mate’s car when this guy approached me and tried to take my bag,” said Bowie, who is in training for a charity boxing match against Celebrity Big Brother star Tommy Sheridan.

“Around half-a-dozen guys appeared and surrounded me. I didn’t think it was going to end well.

“But there was no way I was going to let them take my records. I’ve got three kids to feed.

“I was ready to put my fight training into practice if I needed to.”

However, Bowie’s friend drove back round to the club and the DJ made off with his record collection intact.

An eye-witness, who did not want to be named, said: “Unfortunately, George never made it through the door thanks to a local thug who tried to steal his bag.

“Some punters were offered their money back as he never even got his foot in the club. It now makes me realise why no celebrity would ever come to Shotts with the thugs in the area.”

Pub regulars were quick to defend the Talk of the Town nightclub, claiming that the thug involved in the incident is currently barred from the premises and that this one incident shouldn’t cast a bad light on all the work of the owners and staff done to entertain Shotts.”

One regular said: “The owners and staff worked hard to stop this kind of thing.

“I feel really bad that one person ruined the night, but he’s barred and it’s just such a sad thing that he did this after all the effort that was put into getting George Bowie to come here.

“It’s a great pub, it’s just the timing of the incident was just very unfortunate.”

Pamela Hardie, landlady of Talk of the Town, was reported as saying that would-be thief was well-known in Shotts. “Every village has an idiot and this guy is considered to be ours,” she stated.