In a recently published interview, Brett Smiley, the subject of Nina Antonia's book "The Prettiest Star: Whatever Happened to Brett Smiley?" divulges that when the going got tough, he went to the Chelsea.
There was so much distrust and intrigue between the label at the time, Anchor Records, the distributors, and myself with Andrew. I didn't trust him, he didn't trust me. I just got to a point where I was living in London and just left. I came to New York and was living in the Chelsea Hotel for a long time. I hit a bottom of sorts there and moved to the west coast. After there you've got to swim. Stayed at the Chateau Marmont, got thrown out of there. I had an apartment at the Sunset Tower (a beautiful Art Deco hotel on Sunset Boulevard popular with movie stars of the '30's and '40's). I hit a series of bottoms but kept showing up in the L.A. glitter, glam rock scene. I was popular but wasn't doing anything productive. I did a coupla films. Worked around Hollywood. A series of love affairs. It was a very dramatic time. That's why these interviews can be very hard for me. They really can. I was there trying to hold on to what I could but yet my life was a real mess. A lot of drugs, a lot of drinking. I saw a thing in the paper last night about the Sunset Tower. It's now called The Argyle. I remember I was there, but I also remember I was carried out on a stretcher and taken to the neuro-psychiatric institution. When I get real about it, it was very tragic actually. Getting the silver platter of a deal and then everything just screwing up righteously. Not all entirely my fault but definitely I had my part in it. Just the nature of the business.
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