Bowie at the BBC


Bowie at the BBC

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Transcript


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Do you think of yourself as Bowie or David Jones, the boy from South London?

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Uh... Less and less as Bowie, Boughie, Booie.

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HE LAUGHS

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I don't even know how to pronounce it any more.

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# Ch-ch-ch-changes

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# Turn and face the strain

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# Ch-ch-changes

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# Don't want to be a richer man

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# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

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# Turn and face the strain

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# Ch-ch-changes

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# Just going to have to be a different man

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# Time may change me

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# But I can't trace time... #

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# O, for the wings, for the wings of a dove... #

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My mother didn't realise what she was starting, but she would

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always say that breakfast, "Oh, I could have been a singer, you know."

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And then she'd sing, and there was this thing on radio,

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Two-Way Family Favourites when and I was about six.

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And every Sunday without fail, this thing by Ernest Lough was sung.

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And my mother would, sing, "Oh, for the wings, for the wings of a dove..."

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So that was, like,

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one of my first influences I think as Ernest Lough.

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# Lucille, won't you do your sister's will?

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# Lucille... #

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I wanted to be a white Little Richard at eight.

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I remember getting so excited when they showed Little Richard on television.

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It was just amazing to actually see him moving.

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He'd just been a record to me before, you know?

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MUSIC: Lucille by Little Richard

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I saw him first in 1963, I think it was.

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And the Rolling Stones were opening up for him,

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and I'd never seen anything so rebellious in my life.

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Some guy yells out...

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-COCKNEY ACCENT:

-Get your hair cut!

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-And Mick says, "What, and look like you?"

-LAUGHTER

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So with the nucleus of some of his friends,

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a 17-year-old David Jones has just founded the Society for the

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Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men.

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Well, here we are.

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Long-haired men, you've got to have your hair, what,

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nine inches long before you can join?

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-Well, I think we passed that over now.

-Have you?

-Yes.

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Now, exactly who's been cruel to you?

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Well, I think we're all fairly tolerant,

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but for the last two years we've had comments like "darling" and "can I carry your handbag?" thrown at us,

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and I think it's just had to stop now.

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-I mean, did you get this off the Rolling Stones?

-Oh, no. Definitely not.

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But did any of you have your hair growing long more than two years ago, say?

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-Oh, yes.

-Did you? Before the Rolling Stones ever did?

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It takes a long time to get this length, you know.

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But do you really think that many people are on your side is what I'm saying?

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Oh, yes, quite a few. 1,000 teenagers over Britain.

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'Ever since I was a teenager,

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'I felt so adrift and so not part of everyone else.

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'There were so many dark secrets about my family in the cupboard that

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'it kind of made me feel very much on the outside of everything.

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'It was my initial fascination with mime and expressing.

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'Things with facial movements and body talk.

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'Rather than articulating things.

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'I mean, I'd done as much articulating as I felt was

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'necessary with the actual songs.'

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# Ground Control to Major Tom

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# Ground Control to Major Tom

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# Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

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# Ground Control to Major Tom

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# Commencing countdown, engines on

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# Check ignition, and may God's love be with you

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# This is Ground Control to Major Tom

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# You've really made the grade

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# And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear

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# Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

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# This is Major Tom to Ground Control

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# I'm stepping through the dark

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# And I'm floating in the most peculiar way... #

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'I wasn't that comfortable as a singer,

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'but I knew that I could probably project a character or an emotion,

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'or I could tell the story with my voice if I could find the right tenor for it.

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'I was influenced on one part by Little Richard, on the other

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'part by people like Tony Newley, Scott Walker, Elvis Presley.

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'And I knew that I was none of those,

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'so I thought the best thing for me to do was just, sort of,

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'use different stylings for different songs.

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'It seemed to make sense that that's also how I wrote,

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'and it's how I did everything.

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'It was a question of some rather mutant eclecticism going on.

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'That's kind of what I did, and that's what I did well.

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'And it's what I really enjoyed.

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# Wake up you sleepyhead

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# Put on some clothes, get out of bed

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# Put another log on the fire for me

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# I've made some breakfast and coffee

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# Look out my window, what do I see?

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# Crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me

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# All the nightmares came today

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# And it looks as though they're here to stay

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# What are we coming to?

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# No room for me, no fun for you

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# I think about a world to come

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# Where the books were found by the golden ones

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# Written in pain, written in awe

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# By a puzzled man who questioned what we came here for

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# All the strangers came today

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# And it looks as though they're here to stay

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# Oh, you pretty things

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# Don't you know you're driving your mamas and papas insane?

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# Oh, you pretty things

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# Don't you know you're driving your mamas and papas insane?

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# Let me say it again

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# You've got to make way for the Homo Superior... #

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'I'm not a guy that gets on stage and tells you how my day's just gone.

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'Straight from the heart.

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'I couldn't do that.

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'I love artists who do do that and I admire them tremendously.

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'I don't have that talent, and it's not a thing that interests me.

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'I was one of that tiny bastion of Velvet Underground fans in London

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'at the time, so I wrote Queen Bitch as an homage to Velvet Underground.'

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MUSIC: Queen Bitch by David Bowie

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# Well, I'm up on the 11th floor and I'm watching the cruisers below

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# You know, my heart's in the basement

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# My weekend's at an all-time low

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# Well, he's down on the street and he's trying hard to pull sister Flo

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# And she's hoping to score, well, I can't see her letting him go

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# Walk out of her heart, walk out of her mind

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# No, no, no, she's so swishy in her satin and tat

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# And her frock coat and bibbity-bobbity hat

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# Oh, God I could do better than that... #

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'I think we were excited, when we went back into The Spiders, to

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'do Starman, cos we kind of knew that what we were doing was,

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'like, singularly different to anything else that was happening,

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'so that was that kind of frisson, you know, that sense of anticipation

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'that we were unleashing this thing on the world.

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'All the bravado of being in your 20s.'

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MUSIC: Starman by David Bowie

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# Didn't know what time it was and the lights were low

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# I leaned back on my radio

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# Some cat was layin' down some get it on rock and roll, he said

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# Then the loud sound did seem to fade

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# Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase

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# That weren't no DJ, that was hazy cosmic jive

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# There's a starman waiting in the sky

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# He'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds

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# There's a starman waiting in the sky

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# He told us not to blow it cos he knows it's all worthwhile

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# He told me let the children lose it

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# Let the children use it Let all the children boogie... #

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A superstar of the beat age prepares to meet his public.

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David Bowie spends two hours before a show caressing his body with paint.

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Bowie is a skinny lad with a pasty complexion and ochre-dyed hair

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in a Teddy Boys style of 20 years ago.

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Yet with a dash of make-up, he's transforming himself into an

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object that is worshipped by millions of girls.

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Outside the Winter Gardens of Bournemouth, some of those fans

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are arriving to pay homage to a man who's become the high priest of pop.

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Every seat was sold months ago.

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Some fans were even blessed with a glimpse of the master as

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he scurried into the theatre.

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Oh, no, I wanted to see him!

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What are you so upset about?

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I wanted to see him! They said he was coming round the back.

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I've been waiting for ages to see him!

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SHE CRIES

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Why are you so upset?

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-He's smashing!

-I kissed him!

-I kissed his hand!

-I kissed his hand!

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# Jean Genie lives on his back

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# Jean Genie loves chimney stacks

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# He's outrageous, screams and he bawls

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# Jean Genie, let yourself go, whoa-oh... #

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Meanwhile, the object of so much interest is trying on his kinky boots.

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When I was a teenager,

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I had it in my mind that I would be a creator of musicals.

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I sincerely wanted to write musicals for the West End and Broadway, whatever.

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I didn't see much further than that as a writer.

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And I really had the idea in my head that people would do my songs.

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And I was not a natural performer. I didn't feel at ease on stage ever.

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CROWD SCREAMS

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I had created this one character, Ziggy Stardust, that it seemed

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that I would be the one that would play them,

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because nobody else was doing my songs and the chances of

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my actually getting a musical mounted were very slim.

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And so I became Ziggy Stardust for that period.

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And I felt really comfortable going on stage as somebody else.

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And it seemed a rational decision to keep on doing that.

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And so I got quite besotted with the idea of just creating character after character.

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'He's also been smart enough to realise that in showbiz,

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'the more outrageous you are, the more people will notice you.'

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This is my life.

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Really, you know, writing or performing, there's not much else I want.

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It's the biggest kick I know.

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I know of all the drugs, and you get a different kind of buzz off those,

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but stages, there's something else. It's partaking of people.

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I'm very much a character when I go on stage, I feel. I mean...

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-Like an actor?

-Yeah.

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I believe in my part all the way down the line,

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right the way down, but I do play it for all it's worth.

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Because that's the way I do my stage thing.

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That's part of what Bowie's supposedly all about. I'm an actor.

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Oh, it's all right.

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'Later he selects a satin psychedelic leotard.'

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I tell you what was even funnier, though, was getting my band to put the clothes on.

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DRUMS PLAY

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These guys all came from Hull.

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-NORTHERN ACCENT:

-You know, we're going to play a rock and roll band. They like the songs and all that.

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And I said, "Yeah, yeah, that's great.

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-"Do you want to see what we're going to wear?" "Oh, yeah, right."

-LAUGHTER

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-NORTHERN ACCENT:

-"No way.

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"What bloody...? Right, I'm not putting that on."

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I said, "No, believe me, it'll... You'll look great. It'll really suit you."

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"Yeah, right." And so, I don't know how I did it,

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but I managed to talk them into doing it.

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A couple of nights later,

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we'd done a couple of shows and all these girls were all over them.

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SCREAMING

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And suddenly the dressing room procedure was really different.

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-"Right, who's got the blush?"

-LAUGHTER

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It was, "Hey, Trevor, have you finished with that mascara?

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LAUGHTER

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It was a phenomenal thing.

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MUSIC: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

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# Oooooh yeah

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# Ah

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# Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly

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# And the Spiders from Mars

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# Well, he played it left hand

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# But he made it too far

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# Became the special man, then we were Ziggy's band... #

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Funnily enough, it was actually based on a real person.

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There was an American...

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rock singer in the late '50s, early '60s

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called Vince Taylor.

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He was out of his gourd.

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Totally flipped. I mean, the guy was not playing with a full deck

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at all.

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And I remember very distinctly

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him opening a map out on Charing Cross Road,

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outside the Tube station, and putting it on the pavement,

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and kneeling down with a magnifying glass.

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And I got down there with him, and he was pointing out all the

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sites where UFOs were going to be landing over the next few months.

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And he had a firm conviction that there was

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a very strong connection between himself, aliens and Jesus Christ.

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Those were the three elements

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that went into his make-up and drove him.

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He eventually went to France and became a huge rock star over there.

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And one night, he decided he'd had enough,

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so he came out on stage in white robes and said that the whole thing

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about rock had been a lie, that in fact he was Jesus Christ.

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-LAUGHS:

-And it was the end of Vince,

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his career and everything else.

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And it was that and his story which really became one of the

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essential ingredients of Ziggy and his world view.

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It was his complete otherness.

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I'm terribly attracted to people like that, the OTHER people.

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We were only together for 18 months.

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The whole thing was over in 18 months.

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The whole Ziggy Stardust thing.

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And a good halfway through - nine, ten months into it -

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I knew it was over already, and the last few months I was really,

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like, treading water. I couldn't wait to finish.

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I just knew that I was getting bored very quickly.

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Bowie's announced he's retiring from live performances before,

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so perhaps like Frank Sinatra,

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he might make the occasional comeback.

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And at the age of 26,

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he's perhaps young enough to retire as often as he wants.

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# Oh, yeah

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# Whoohoo

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# Hoo-hoo-hoo

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# Now Ziggy played

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# Guitar! #

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I just wanted to move somewhere else.

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There was a new kind of music I wanted to write,

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a different kind of theatricality I wanted to bring into it.

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It was great to let go of it, but I tend to grasshopper about.

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-LAUGHS:

-My attention span is very short.

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CROWD CHEERS AND SCREAMS

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# It's a god-awful small affair

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# To the girl with the mousy hair

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# But her mummy is yelling no

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# And her daddy has told her to go

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# But her friend is nowhere to be seen

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# Now she walks through her sunken dream

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# To the seat with the clearest view

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# And she's hooked to the silver screen

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# But the film is a saddening bore

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# For she's lived it ten times or more

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# She could spit in the eyes of fools

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# As they ask her to focus on

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# Sailors fighting in the dance hall

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# Oh, man, look at those cavemen go

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# It's the freakiest show

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# Take a look at the lawman

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# Beating up the wrong guy

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# Oh, man, wonder if he'll ever know

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# He's in the best selling show

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# Is there life on Mars? #

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Ziggy was just an experiment.

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It was an exercise for me.

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And he really grew sort of out of proportion, I suppose.

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Got much bigger than I thought Ziggy was going to be.

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I didn't ever see Ziggy as big.

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Really, it was his own personality being unable to cope with the

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circumstances he found himself in, which is being...

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..an almighty, profit-like superstar rocker...

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..who found he didn't know what to do with it once he got it.

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Which is... It's an archetype, really.

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It's the definitive rock and roll star.

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It often happens.

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And I was just trying to document it as such.

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Yes, I had a kind of a...

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a kind of a strange...

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psychosomatic death wish thing.

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I think.

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But that's because I was so lost in Ziggy. I think. Again.

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It was all that schizophrenia.

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CHEERING

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# In the year of the scavenger The season of the bitch

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# Sashay on the boardwalk Scurry to the ditch

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# Just another future song Lonely little kitsch

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-# There's gonna be sorrow

-Try and wake up tomorrow

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-# Will they come?

-I'll keep a friend serene

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-# Will they come?

-Oh, baby, come unto me

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-# Will they come?

-Well, she's come, been and gone

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# Come out of the garden, baby

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# You'll catch your death in the fog

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# Young girl They call them the Diamond Dogs

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# Yeah, young girl

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# They call them the Diamond Dogs

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# Hey, yeah

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# They call them the Diamond Dogs. #

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It did look as if it was the ghost

0:21:240:21:27

of Ziggy Stardust you were tying up.

0:21:270:21:29

Yes, exactly, that's what happened. It was...

0:21:290:21:32

..trying to get rid of the damn character.

0:21:330:21:35

-HE CHUCKLES

-It was kind of following me around.

0:21:350:21:38

And hopefully...

0:21:380:21:39

You see, I'm very... I...

0:21:430:21:45

I'm very happy with Ziggy.

0:21:450:21:46

I think he was a very successful character,

0:21:460:21:49

and I think I played him very well.

0:21:490:21:51

But I...

0:21:510:21:52

-I... I'm glad I'm me now.

-HE LAUGHS

0:21:520:21:56

I'm glad I'm me. My God, I can trot 'em out.

0:21:560:21:59

-# Givin' it

-Givin' it

0:21:590:22:02

-# Givin' it

-Keepin' it right. #

0:22:020:22:04

That's...that's cool. That's cool.

0:22:040:22:06

Next one. Got to do it this way to get it...

0:22:060:22:08

One, two, three, four.

0:22:080:22:10

-# Get you when you're down

-Nobody, nobody

0:22:100:22:13

# Do it again, get off

0:22:130:22:14

# Sometimes... #

0:22:140:22:15

OK, that's good.

0:22:150:22:17

Right, OK, and the last section.

0:22:170:22:19

# Gimme, gimme Yeah

0:22:210:22:24

-# Gimme

-Doin' it

0:22:240:22:26

-# Taken with me

-Sometimes

0:22:270:22:29

-# Right

-Lovin' it, doin' it. #

0:22:290:22:31

# All night

0:22:310:22:34

# She wants the young American

0:22:340:22:36

# Young American Young American

0:22:360:22:40

# He was the young American

0:22:400:22:42

-# All right

-All right

0:22:420:22:45

# But she wants the young American. #

0:22:450:22:49

THUD!

0:22:490:22:51

So what's happening...?

0:22:510:22:52

BOWIE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

0:22:520:22:54

So...?

0:22:560:22:58

What's happened since?

0:22:580:22:59

Um, since Ziggy? Good Lord! Um...

0:23:000:23:03

Well, the last time you saw me, or were with me,

0:23:050:23:08

it was in Los Angeles, wasn't it?

0:23:080:23:11

One of the my...

0:23:110:23:12

One of the worst periods, I think, in my life, I think.

0:23:140:23:18

I got into a lot of emotional and spiritual trouble there.

0:23:200:23:25

And so I decided to split and discover new ways of...

0:23:260:23:30

..relating to the music business, per se.

0:23:320:23:36

I wasn't sure exactly what I was in it for any more.

0:23:360:23:39

Was there a clash between that sort of materialism,

0:23:390:23:43

the need to be a rock star, successful, if you like?

0:23:430:23:45

Yes, I think, very much so.

0:23:450:23:47

And as I really didn't want to be one myself,

0:23:470:23:50

I was living more and more in the style of one of my characters,

0:23:500:23:54

who wanted terrific success, because they're all Messiah figures,

0:23:540:23:58

most of them,

0:23:580:23:59

either light or dark shadowings.

0:23:590:24:05

Um...

0:24:050:24:07

And so because I knew...

0:24:070:24:09

I really felt that the material aspect was something

0:24:090:24:12

that had to be done in Los Angeles, because it's driven into you.

0:24:120:24:15

It's the food of Los Angeles.

0:24:150:24:17

Hollywood, rather, not Los Angeles.

0:24:170:24:20

Unfair on Los Angeles.

0:24:200:24:21

And so I just packed up everything one day

0:24:240:24:26

and I moved back to Europe again.

0:24:260:24:28

# I

0:24:360:24:38

# I wish I could swim

0:24:390:24:41

# Like dolphins

0:24:450:24:46

# Like dolphins can swim

0:24:470:24:49

# Though, nothing

0:24:520:24:55

# Will keep us together

0:24:560:24:58

# We can beat them

0:25:010:25:02

# Forever and ever

0:25:040:25:06

# We can be heroes

0:25:090:25:10

# Just for one day

0:25:120:25:14

# I

0:25:340:25:36

# I will be king

0:25:380:25:39

# And you will be queen

0:25:430:25:49

# Though nothing

0:25:510:25:52

# Will keep us together

0:25:550:25:57

# We can be us

0:25:590:26:00

# Forever and ever

0:26:020:26:05

# Or we can be heroes

0:26:070:26:09

# Just for one day... #

0:26:110:26:13

Is there a danger that by following your instinct,

0:26:150:26:18

your aesthetic instincts if you like, your artistic instinct...

0:26:180:26:20

-Yeah.

-..that you will jeopardise that, you know,

0:26:200:26:23

the money and the good life and all that?

0:26:230:26:25

-No shit, Sherlock.

-HE LAUGHS

0:26:250:26:28

Yes, I think...

0:26:280:26:29

Yes, I think I've rather sort of hit that one on the head at the moment.

0:26:290:26:33

Um...

0:26:330:26:35

And it's quite a relief, really.

0:26:350:26:37

I feel a lot more...

0:26:370:26:39

free in what I do.

0:26:390:26:42

I just needed...

0:26:420:26:44

I just needed a positive decision to only do what I want to do and

0:26:440:26:47

not do things for the sake of what either David Bowie or

0:26:470:26:53

whoever I was playing last, The Thin White Duke or something,

0:26:530:26:56

was expected to do.

0:26:560:26:58

-# Peace on earth

-Come they told me

0:26:580:26:59

-# Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

-Can it be?

0:26:590:27:04

-# Years from now

-A new born king to see

0:27:040:27:06

-# Perhaps we'll see

-Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

0:27:060:27:09

-# Our finest gifts we bring

-See the day

0:27:110:27:13

-# Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

-Of glory

0:27:130:27:17

-# See the day

-To lay before the king

0:27:170:27:20

-# When men of good will

-Ra-pum-pum-pum, ra-pum-pum-pum

0:27:200:27:23

# Live in peace Live in peace again

0:27:230:27:27

-# So to honour Him

-Peace on earth

0:27:270:27:30

# Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

0:27:300:27:32

-# Can it be?

-When we come

0:27:320:27:37

# Every child must be made aware

0:27:370:27:43

# Every child must be made to care

0:27:440:27:49

# Care enough for his fellow man

0:27:500:27:56

# To give all the love that he can. #

0:27:560:28:02

Now, into this ever-changing world of current affairs,

0:28:020:28:05

we welcome a chameleon of show business.

0:28:050:28:07

Yet another David Bowie.

0:28:070:28:09

Is this the real one this time?

0:28:090:28:11

Well, um, I think so, yes.

0:28:110:28:14

A lot of people looking at some of those roles that you've played,

0:28:140:28:17

-I think would have been very shocked and found it very outrageous.

-Yeah.

0:28:170:28:21

And also there's this tremendous tendency to think

0:28:210:28:24

of rock stars as, or pop stars generally,

0:28:240:28:25

-as being a bit thick.

-Yeah.

0:28:250:28:27

Obviously, there's, I presume, a lot more to you than that.

0:28:270:28:29

Did it worry you that people have that kind of image?

0:28:290:28:31

-No, I'm very thick.

-HE LAUGHS

0:28:310:28:33

-Are you?

-Yes, I became a rock star.

0:28:330:28:36

What is your rank?

0:28:360:28:37

Lieutenant.

0:28:370:28:38

Well, Lieutenant...

0:28:400:28:41

..I'm the head of a regiment, of sorts -

0:28:420:28:46

the gigolos.

0:28:460:28:48

Yes, your lieutenant told me.

0:28:480:28:51

Lieutenant, there's one thing I don't like.

0:28:510:28:54

Poor fantasy in speech.

0:28:550:28:57

It lacks charm.

0:28:580:28:59

And you don't seem to lack anything.

0:29:010:29:04

-Do you lack anything, David Bowie?

-Isn't she lovely?

-She's marvellous.

0:29:060:29:09

-I wish I'd met her...

-It's fantastic.

-..a long time ago.

0:29:090:29:13

I'm picking up the line she addressed to you in the film,

0:29:130:29:15

do you feel you lack anything,

0:29:150:29:16

or have you got everything you want now?

0:29:160:29:18

Yes, a train ticket to Penge.

0:29:180:29:19

I've got some friends out there and I promised I'd go and see them

0:29:190:29:22

this week, but I haven't had the time to get down there yet.

0:29:220:29:25

Are you going to give up music now and concentrate on acting?

0:29:250:29:29

Is this a new whole direction?

0:29:290:29:30

I'd like to expand my activities, as they say.

0:29:300:29:33

No, I enjoy writing very much.

0:29:330:29:36

Writing. Just music or all sorts of writing?

0:29:370:29:40

Um...

0:29:400:29:41

Funnily enough, I am sort of studiously trying to write

0:29:410:29:44

a book of short stories

0:29:440:29:46

based on things that I've done.

0:29:460:29:49

But writing music, generally.

0:29:490:29:52

Performance on stage, I think I've decided really cut it down to

0:29:520:29:55

once every two years because I find it boring after the first ten shows.

0:29:550:29:59

It starts to become repetitious - every night the same thing.

0:29:590:30:02

-So will there be more acting, more films?

-Yes, there will.

0:30:020:30:04

-I'm heading towards directing as well.

-Are you?

0:30:040:30:07

-Yeah, very much.

-That's a final hope, is it?

0:30:070:30:10

No, I want to be a good painter again, is my really big dream.

0:30:100:30:14

And now Bowie in New York.

0:30:140:30:16

The play in which rock star David Bowie has scored

0:30:160:30:18

a remarkable triumph on Broadway

0:30:180:30:19

is called The Elephant Man.

0:30:190:30:21

It's the story set in late 19th century England of John Merrick,

0:30:210:30:24

played by Bowie, a grotesquely deformed man who suffered

0:30:240:30:27

a miserable existence as a pathetic circus attraction until

0:30:270:30:31

he was befriended by a brilliant young surgeon.

0:30:310:30:33

Bowie's first appearance as a straight actor met with

0:30:330:30:35

almost universal praise from the New York critics,

0:30:350:30:37

and I know, to my cost, that they can be slightly unpleasant at times,

0:30:370:30:41

and there were long lines at the box office.

0:30:410:30:42

-WITH SPEECH IMPEDIMENT:

-I have a home.

0:30:420:30:45

This is m-m-my...

0:30:450:30:49

home.

0:30:490:30:51

This...

0:30:510:30:53

is my home.

0:30:530:30:55

I have a home.

0:30:560:30:58

I have.

0:30:580:31:00

For as long as I like.

0:31:010:31:03

I have a sort of eclectic thing about freaks and isolationists

0:31:050:31:10

and alienated people, sort of.

0:31:100:31:12

And I kind of gather information on people like that, mentally anyway.

0:31:120:31:17

# Do you remember a guy that's been

0:31:170:31:19

# In such an early song

0:31:210:31:23

# I've heard a rumour from Ground Control

0:31:250:31:28

# Oh, no

0:31:280:31:29

# Don't say it's true

0:31:290:31:31

# They got a message from the Action Man

0:31:310:31:35

# I'm happy

0:31:350:31:38

# Hope you're happy, too

0:31:380:31:41

# I've loved All I've needed, love

0:31:410:31:44

# Sordid details following

0:31:440:31:48

# The shrieking of nothing is killing me

0:31:480:31:51

# Just pictures of Jap girls in synthesis

0:31:510:31:55

# And I ain't got no money and I ain't got no hair

0:31:550:32:00

# But I'm hoping to kick

0:32:030:32:06

# But the planet is glowing. #

0:32:060:32:09

Were you surprised at the huge success of the single in England?

0:32:090:32:13

Uh... Frankly, yes, I was.

0:32:130:32:16

Do you think your video had a lot to do with it?

0:32:160:32:19

I don't know. I really don't know.

0:32:190:32:20

I would tend to believe...

0:32:200:32:22

To be honest about it, I suppose that Major Tom was a sort of...

0:32:240:32:28

There's a comfortable feeling with him, being such

0:32:280:32:32

a sort of an old figure of mine.

0:32:320:32:34

I mean, he goes back to '68, '69, whatever it was.

0:32:340:32:36

Um...

0:32:360:32:38

I guess that sort of a lot of people still have some kind of

0:32:380:32:41

empathy with him, because he became a little sort of bouncy hero.

0:32:410:32:45

I just wanted to sort of bring him up to date a little bit

0:32:450:32:49

and put him in a Victorian nursery rhyme kind of atmosphere.

0:32:490:32:52

Even though it's not Victorian,

0:32:520:32:54

it has that queasiness as some of those...

0:32:540:32:56

# Ring a ring o' roses... #

0:32:560:32:58

"This is about the plague and we're all going to drop down dead, boom."

0:32:580:33:00

..kind of thing about it,

0:33:000:33:02

which is what I did with the piece.

0:33:020:33:05

# Ashes to ashes Funk to funky

0:33:050:33:09

# We know Major Tom's a junkie

0:33:090:33:13

# Strung out in heaven's high

0:33:130:33:16

# Hitting an all-time low. #

0:33:160:33:20

I guess there's a kind of a voice in there somewhere.

0:33:230:33:26

I think songs like Wild Is The Wind

0:33:260:33:29

is probably as near to a real voice.

0:33:290:33:33

# Love me, love me, love me,

0:33:340:33:37

# Love me, say you do

0:33:370:33:40

# Let me fly away with you

0:33:450:33:50

# For our love is like the wind

0:33:530:33:59

# And wild is the wind

0:34:020:34:05

# Wild is the wind

0:34:070:34:13

# You

0:34:130:34:15

# Touch me

0:34:150:34:19

# I hear the sound of mandolins

0:34:220:34:29

# You

0:34:320:34:38

# Kiss me

0:34:380:34:40

# Oh, with your kiss, my life begins. #

0:34:410:34:49

Claridge's, that most exclusive of hotels in London's West End,

0:34:520:34:56

at lunchtime today.

0:34:560:34:57

Times are hard in the record industry,

0:34:570:35:00

but EMI are celebrating.

0:35:000:35:02

Against serious opposition and for very serious money,

0:35:020:35:05

they've just signed a real superstar.

0:35:050:35:08

Ladies and gentlemen, Mr David Bowie.

0:35:080:35:11

-Can I sit down here?

-Yeah, sure.

0:35:210:35:24

No, I can't.

0:35:240:35:25

-I'll sit here, then.

-LAUGHTER

0:35:260:35:28

Um... About two days ago,

0:35:280:35:30

EMI Records phoned me up in Australia and said,

0:35:300:35:34

would I like to take a 25-hour flight back,

0:35:340:35:37

come and sit in a room with 75 journalists?

0:35:370:35:41

Over the last year, I've made a couple of movies

0:35:410:35:44

and I've completed an album and a single called Let's Dance,

0:35:440:35:47

and tomorrow tickets go on sale in the UK -

0:35:470:35:52

and in the next few days in the rest of Europe -

0:35:520:35:56

for concert performances in London...

0:35:560:35:58

No other pop performer except perhaps Jagger

0:35:580:36:00

could create quite this interest

0:36:000:36:02

for the media of Europe or pull off the event with quite such style.

0:36:020:36:06

Particularly if they'd just flown in from Australia.

0:36:060:36:09

# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues

0:36:090:36:12

# Let's dance

0:36:140:36:16

# To the song they're playing on the radio

0:36:160:36:20

# Let's sway

0:36:220:36:24

# While colour lights up your face. #

0:36:240:36:28

The new single, Let's Dance,

0:36:290:36:31

shows Bowie changing again

0:36:310:36:33

to New York black funk styles.

0:36:330:36:35

It's his first release for EMI after 12 years with another

0:36:350:36:39

record company, RCA,

0:36:390:36:41

against whom Bowie now makes the remarkable accusation

0:36:410:36:44

that they tried to dictate his style.

0:36:440:36:47

EMI don't give lavish receptions like this very often.

0:36:470:36:51

They won't say how much they paid for Bowie,

0:36:510:36:53

but rumours range from £10 million to £17 million

0:36:530:36:57

for a five-year contract.

0:36:570:36:59

Reportedly so, yes. I'm overwhelmed that I've...

0:36:590:37:02

-Is that anywhere near accurate?

-It's absolutely nowhere near accurate.

0:37:030:37:07

-Can you give us a more accurate figure?

-Of course not!

0:37:070:37:11

He treated his press conference more like a cool actor than

0:37:110:37:14

a cool pop star,

0:37:140:37:16

almost like some future Dirk Bogarde in the making.

0:37:160:37:19

Thank you very much and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

0:37:190:37:22

But then he has got two feature films opening

0:37:220:37:23

in the next few months, including

0:37:230:37:25

Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, the first film in seven years

0:37:250:37:28

from Japan's controversial director Nagisa Oshima.

0:37:280:37:31

I always look for characters who have

0:37:310:37:34

either an emotional or a physical limp.

0:37:340:37:37

I find that they are, for me, not being a...

0:37:370:37:40

I don't really see my future in acting to

0:37:420:37:45

a greater extent than my involvement now,

0:37:450:37:47

so I really like to have characters

0:37:470:37:49

that I can at least play around with.

0:37:490:37:51

He asked me my name and my rank, and I told him.

0:37:520:37:55

Then Lieutenant Ito asked me, "Is that true?"

0:37:560:37:59

I replied, "Of course it is, I'm with the British Army."

0:38:030:38:06

Is it worth coming to cope with the pressures of Cannes to sell

0:38:060:38:09

a movie like Merry Christmas?

0:38:090:38:11

I think that a cultural co-production like Merry Christmas

0:38:130:38:16

deserves every pound of help that it can get

0:38:160:38:20

because otherwise it could be relegated to

0:38:200:38:22

a position of an art movie.

0:38:220:38:24

Uh...

0:38:240:38:25

HE SPEAKS FRENCH

0:38:250:38:27

'It's awful, really unbelievably diabolical.'

0:38:270:38:31

I do it very rarely.

0:38:310:38:32

This is like the second time I've done it in God knows how many years,

0:38:320:38:37

but I appreciate the value of doing it.

0:38:370:38:39

There's a time to be public with things.

0:38:390:38:42

I mean, I don't know.

0:38:420:38:44

I've always been a pretty private person,

0:38:440:38:47

but I think that I'm changing somewhat.

0:38:470:38:50

I think it is now important for me as an artist to...

0:38:500:38:52

It's slowly dawned on me that part of an artist's

0:38:520:38:55

responsibility is to make himself open to the people that are

0:38:550:38:59

trying to understand his work.

0:38:590:39:01

I'm still not at ease with the situation,

0:39:010:39:03

but it's...it's making sense now.

0:39:030:39:06

Live Aid, the biggest musical event ever,

0:39:060:39:09

is still going on at Wembley Stadium in London.

0:39:090:39:11

It is being beamed to more than 100 countries around the world

0:39:110:39:15

with about 1.5 billion people watching.

0:39:150:39:18

The aim is to raise £10 million for the starving in Africa.

0:39:180:39:21

# Calling out around the world

0:39:210:39:25

# Are you ready for a brand-new beat?

0:39:250:39:27

# Summer's here and the time is right

0:39:280:39:32

BOTH: # For dancing in the street

0:39:320:39:35

-# Dancing in Chicago

-Dancing in the street

0:39:350:39:38

-# Down in New Orleans

-Dancing in the street

0:39:380:39:42

-# In New York City

-Dancing in the street

0:39:420:39:45

# All we need is music

0:39:450:39:48

-# Sweet music

-Sweet music

0:39:480:39:50

-# There'll be music everywhere

-Everywhere

0:39:500:39:54

# They'll be swinging, swaying records playing

0:39:540:39:58

# Dancing in the street

0:39:580:40:00

# Whoa

0:40:000:40:02

# It doesn't matter what you wear

0:40:020:40:04

# Just as long as you are there

0:40:040:40:08

# So come on

0:40:080:40:09

# Every guy, grab a girl

0:40:090:40:12

# Everywhere around the world

0:40:120:40:16

# There'll be dancing

0:40:160:40:18

-# Dancing in the street

-Dancing in the street. #

0:40:180:40:22

One down and two to go.

0:40:220:40:24

The next film out of the Goldcrest trap is Absolute Beginners,

0:40:240:40:26

which isn't due to be released until Easter.

0:40:260:40:28

# I absolutely love you

0:40:310:40:34

# But we're absolute beginners

0:40:390:40:42

# With eyes completely open

0:40:470:40:51

# But nervous all the same. #

0:40:550:40:59

Your him, aren't you? You're the goblin king!

0:41:150:41:18

What's the word on David?

0:41:210:41:22

'Every age group really has a whole thing about David.

0:41:260:41:30

'And he himself is a very normal, well grounded,

0:41:300:41:34

'straightforward person that is absolutely professional.'

0:41:340:41:38

And if he says, "You do."

0:41:380:41:40

-You do.

-Do what?

0:41:410:41:43

INDISTINCT SPEECH

0:41:430:41:46

# I never sailed on a sea

0:41:460:41:48

# I would not challenge a giant

0:41:500:41:52

# I could not take on the Church

0:41:540:41:56

-# Time will crawl

-Till the 21st century lose

0:41:560:42:01

# I know a government man

0:42:010:42:03

# He was as blind as the moon

0:42:050:42:07

# He saw the sun in the night

0:42:090:42:11

# He took a top-gun pilot and he... #

0:42:120:42:16

David Bowie was back on stage last night with a new band, Tin Machine.

0:42:160:42:20

Unlike previous performances, this saw Bowie as himself,

0:42:200:42:24

just another member of the band.

0:42:240:42:25

CROWD SCREAMS

0:42:250:42:27

Do you look back on the old sort of Bowie stuff and compare this?

0:42:270:42:31

He just looks at the old Bowie!

0:42:310:42:33

HE LAUGHS

0:42:330:42:35

And now music from a band formed only three years ago.

0:42:350:42:38

The second album and a new single - You Belong In Rock N' Roll.

0:42:380:42:41

Keep an eye on their promising young vocalist.

0:42:410:42:44

LAUGHTER Tin Machine.

0:42:440:42:46

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:42:460:42:47

# You belong in rock n' roll

0:42:470:42:51

# You belong in rock n' roll

0:42:510:42:55

# You belong in rock n' roll

0:42:550:42:59

# So do I

0:42:590:43:01

# I love how she moves me

0:43:030:43:06

# It makes me feel all right, all right, all right, all right. #

0:43:070:43:13

'I screw up in major ways.

0:43:130:43:15

'I'd much prefer a magnificent disaster than a mediocre success.'

0:43:150:43:20

# I'm a-hurt, I'm a-hurt, I'm a hurting. #

0:43:200:43:23

'I'd be a fool not to be aware of what my contribution

0:43:230:43:25

'has been to music over the years, you know,

0:43:250:43:27

'I kind of hear traces of it here, there and everywhere.'

0:43:270:43:30

I only write for myself.

0:43:320:43:34

I don't take much regard for my audience, whoever they might be.

0:43:340:43:38

# Spaceboy

0:43:380:43:42

# You're sleepy now

0:43:420:43:45

# Your silhouette

0:43:450:43:48

# Is so stationary

0:43:480:43:51

# You're released but your custody calls

0:43:510:43:54

# And I want to be free

0:43:570:43:59

# Don't you want to be free?

0:44:000:44:03

# Do you like girls or boys?

0:44:040:44:06

# It's confusing these days

0:44:070:44:10

# But moon dust will cover you, cover you

0:44:110:44:16

# This chaos is killing me. #

0:44:160:44:20

Neil asked me if he could mix it,

0:44:280:44:30

because he thought it was a big single,

0:44:300:44:32

so I said, "Yeah, I'd love one that the radio played."

0:44:320:44:36

So he went away and mixed it, and now the radio are playing it.

0:44:360:44:40

He knows these things.

0:44:400:44:42

He has these secret ears.

0:44:420:44:44

# Ground to Major Bye-bye, Tom. #

0:44:450:44:48

We cut up the words of Space Odyssey.

0:44:480:44:50

And he phoned up when we were in the studio and he said,

0:44:500:44:52

"Oh, how's it going?" I said, "Well, there's not a second verse,

0:44:520:44:55

"so we cut up the words of Space Odyssey."

0:44:550:44:57

And there was a long pause on the phone and he said,

0:44:570:45:00

"Sounds like I'd better come into the studio, I think."

0:45:000:45:02

And I thought, "Oh, my God, we're in trouble."

0:45:020:45:04

And then he came in, and he laughed, and he really liked it.

0:45:040:45:07

# This chaos is killing me. #

0:45:110:45:14

Me, I'm a very...pretty fulfilled artist.

0:45:140:45:16

I like what I've done on the majority of occasions

0:45:160:45:21

and I'm in exactly the place where I want to be at the moment, so that...

0:45:210:45:26

that for me is a good thing.

0:45:260:45:27

# Little wonder, then Little wonder

0:45:270:45:31

# You little wonder Little wonder, you. #

0:45:310:45:34

If I just do things that I really get off on,

0:45:340:45:37

that I think are exciting,

0:45:370:45:39

I can't guarantee that everybody

0:45:390:45:41

will like it. That's just ridiculous. That's a fantasy.

0:45:410:45:45

But you can guarantee that somebody is going to like it.

0:45:450:45:48

# So far away. #

0:45:480:45:50

Would you be happy with just being remembered as a rock star or a god?

0:45:570:46:02

Um...

0:46:020:46:04

Two things strike me about that.

0:46:040:46:06

One, I'd be happy to be remembered.

0:46:060:46:08

And secondly, by anybody.

0:46:080:46:09

HE LAUGHS

0:46:090:46:12

That's a bonus.

0:46:120:46:13

I must say, I'm very complacent, but frankly, it doesn't bother me.

0:46:170:46:21

I'm very glad that I got this life, and it's a gift,

0:46:210:46:25

and for that I am thankful enough, frankly.

0:46:250:46:28

# Oh, my

0:46:330:46:35

# Naked eyes

0:46:350:46:38

# I should've kept you

0:46:380:46:41

# Should've tried

0:46:410:46:43

# Should've been a wiser

0:46:440:46:47

# Kind of guy

0:46:470:46:49

# I loved you. #

0:46:490:46:53

On a personal level, you don't do drugs any more.

0:46:530:46:55

-No, absolutely not.

-And you don't drink.

-I don't drink either, no.

0:46:550:46:58

-Not even a glass of wine?

-No.

0:46:580:46:59

-It would kill me if I started again.

-What do you mean it would kill you?

0:46:590:47:02

I'm an alcoholic,

0:47:020:47:03

so it would be the kiss of death for me to start drinking again.

0:47:030:47:07

And...

0:47:070:47:09

My relationships with my friends, my family,

0:47:090:47:13

everybody around me are so good, and have been for so many years now,

0:47:130:47:17

I wouldn't do anything to destroy that again. You know?

0:47:170:47:22

It's very hard to have relationships

0:47:220:47:24

when you're doing drugs and drinking.

0:47:240:47:27

For me personally, anyway.

0:47:270:47:29

And you become closed off, unreceptive, insensitive,

0:47:290:47:34

all the dreadful things

0:47:340:47:35

that you've heard every other pop singer ever say.

0:47:350:47:37

And I was very lucky that I found my way out of that.

0:47:370:47:41

It's been good for me.

0:47:410:47:43

I've reassessed my life any number of times.

0:47:430:47:47

It is so exciting.

0:47:470:47:48

The crowd are rising up.

0:47:480:47:49

It is the moment we have all been waiting for,

0:47:490:47:52

The Thin White Duke returns to Glastonbury.

0:47:520:47:54

The last time he played here was 1971.

0:47:540:47:58

He is on stage now, let's go and see him. It's David Bowie.

0:47:580:48:01

I'd just written this one the first time I played Glastonbury, 1971.

0:48:050:48:10

Oh, Glastonbury!

0:48:110:48:13

# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

0:48:140:48:17

# Turn and face the strange

0:48:170:48:19

# Woohoo, changes

0:48:190:48:20

# Do you want to have to be a better man?

0:48:200:48:24

# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

0:48:240:48:26

# Turn and face the strange

0:48:260:48:28

# Woohoo, changes

0:48:280:48:31

# I just wanted to be a better man

0:48:310:48:33

# Time may change me

0:48:330:48:36

# I can't trace time. #

0:48:360:48:40

I never became who I should've been

0:48:400:48:42

until maybe 12, 15 years ago.

0:48:420:48:44

I spent an awful lot of my life,

0:48:440:48:46

as I think most people in the so-called entertainment industry,

0:48:460:48:49

actually looking for myself, you know,

0:48:490:48:51

and understanding what it was that I...

0:48:510:48:53

..what I existed for, what was it that really made me happy in life,

0:48:550:48:59

and who exactly I was,

0:48:590:49:00

and who were the parts of myself I was trying to hide from a lot.

0:49:000:49:03

You know, it's like exposing yourself.

0:49:030:49:06

And I think a lot of us are, one, dysfunctional in show business...

0:49:060:49:10

Show business!

0:49:100:49:11

..pretty dysfunctional and, two,

0:49:120:49:14

in huge senses of denial about who we are

0:49:140:49:17

and where we exist in the world.

0:49:170:49:19

Because some kind of traumatism often goes on in our childhood,

0:49:190:49:22

so I think that it makes us crave some kind of strange affection,

0:49:220:49:26

you know? It's sort of...

0:49:260:49:28

Often, you'll find that the person who craves

0:49:280:49:31

a lot of affection actually isn't terribly good at giving it.

0:49:310:49:33

# They said you took a big trip

0:49:380:49:41

# Said you moved away

0:49:430:49:46

# It happened all so quietly

0:49:480:49:51

# So they say

0:49:510:49:53

# I should've took a picture

0:49:580:50:00

# Something I could keep

0:50:020:50:05

# I'd buy a little frame

0:50:070:50:11

# Something cheap

0:50:110:50:12

# For you

0:50:160:50:18

# Everyone says hi. #

0:50:200:50:22

Are you a New Age father now? Are you...

0:50:260:50:28

doing nappy changing? Come on.

0:50:280:50:30

Uh, no, I'm ridiculously Victorian.

0:50:300:50:33

I'm absolutely hopeless at that kind of thing.

0:50:330:50:36

I've got a huge admiration for guys who can get in there, like that.

0:50:360:50:40

I just can't. Well, I mean, I didn't...

0:50:400:50:42

My wife didn't let me, which was great.

0:50:420:50:44

LAUGHTER

0:50:440:50:46

She said, "Oh, get out of here!"

0:50:460:50:47

And she was like pinning and wrapping things up and,

0:50:470:50:50

you know, I knew there was some kind of...

0:50:500:50:52

something in there was being prepared,

0:50:520:50:53

and at the end of it all, my little daughter came out, "Da-da-da!"

0:50:530:50:56

It was great.

0:50:560:50:58

But I'm good at saying,

0:50:580:50:59

"This is a book, and we're going to look at this," you know?

0:50:590:51:02

-"Come to this museum."

-Yeah.

0:51:020:51:04

I'm kind of fairly good like that, I think.

0:51:040:51:06

# Waiting for something

0:51:090:51:11

# Looking for someone

0:51:170:51:19

# Is there no reason?

0:51:240:51:27

# Have I stared too long

0:51:320:51:36

# Whoa-ho-ho

0:51:400:51:43

# Whoa-ho-ho

0:51:490:51:51

# You say you'll leave me. #

0:51:530:52:02

-You've got your old Tony Visconti on it.

-Yeah.

-Producing it.

0:52:020:52:05

-And he is old as well.

-Is he?

-Yeah.

0:52:050:52:07

Why did you decide to go back with him?

0:52:070:52:09

He did lots of your early things, didn't he?

0:52:090:52:11

Yeah. We stopped arguing, you know, and it was like...

0:52:110:52:14

It worked out that we started getting on as friends and all that,

0:52:140:52:16

and we'd already done a lot of really good stuff together,

0:52:160:52:19

so it was worth a chance, you know,

0:52:190:52:22

of going back in and seeing what else we could do between us.

0:52:220:52:25

It was...

0:52:250:52:26

I'm really pleased we did. It was a good move. It's a good album.

0:52:260:52:29

# Streets, damp and warm

0:52:370:52:41

# Empty, smell metal

0:52:430:52:46

# Weeds between buildings

0:52:490:52:52

# Pictures on my hard drive

0:52:550:52:58

# But I'm the luckiest guy

0:53:010:53:04

# Not the loneliest guy. #

0:53:070:53:10

I had this poetic, romantic, kind of juvenile idea that I would be dead

0:53:130:53:17

by 30, you know, cos that's what all artists think.

0:53:170:53:20

"I'll be dead by 30," you know, "I'm going to get TB and die."

0:53:200:53:22

Aubrey Beardsley, and all that. But you don't, you know.

0:53:220:53:26

You get past it, and then suddenly you're 30, and you're 40...

0:53:260:53:29

And then you're 50, and 57, and all that,

0:53:290:53:32

and it's a new land, you know?

0:53:320:53:35

-Sure.

-I'm a pioneer. Me and my kind.

0:53:350:53:38

-That's right.

-"Me and my kind."

0:53:380:53:40

Just sort of scraping the edge of what this thing is about being

0:53:400:53:44

a rock and roller at 57.

0:53:440:53:45

But my revenge is all these bands that are below us,

0:53:450:53:48

they've got to do this.

0:53:480:53:49

So they kind of say,

0:53:490:53:51

"Yeah, they're really old," but secretly they're thinking,

0:53:510:53:54

"I'd better watch how he does it cos I'm going to get there."

0:53:540:53:56

# All the errors

0:53:580:54:01

# Left unlearned

0:54:020:54:06

# Oh

0:54:060:54:07

# But I'm the luckiest guy

0:54:110:54:13

# Not the loneliest guy

0:54:180:54:20

# In the world

0:54:210:54:23

# Not me. #

0:54:330:54:34

He's back.

0:54:440:54:45

40 years after Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars

0:54:450:54:49

and ten years since his last single,

0:54:490:54:51

David Bowie has released a new song.

0:54:510:54:53

It marks the singer's 66th birthday and an album is to follow.

0:54:530:54:57

Our arts editor, Will Gompertz, has been listening.

0:54:570:55:00

Without fanfare or flamboyance...

0:55:000:55:03

..David Bowie simply posted his first new track for a decade

0:55:070:55:11

on the internet.

0:55:110:55:12

It is a sorrowful, nostalgic ballad

0:55:230:55:26

that sees a 66-year-old rock star

0:55:260:55:27

reminiscing about his time spent in Berlin in the 1970s.

0:55:270:55:31

Fans were both surprised and relieved by the track's appearance.

0:55:390:55:42

Some had thought that Bowie had quietly retired,

0:55:420:55:45

others speculated that poor health had incapacitated him.

0:55:450:55:48

I think it's a wonderful song. I think it's heartfelt.

0:55:540:55:56

I think it's poignant.

0:55:560:55:57

But the other thing I love is that we know

0:55:570:55:59

that he's had times of ill health recently,

0:55:590:56:01

and I detect a little bit of kind of fragility in the voice,

0:56:010:56:05

even though it's croony, which is a really endearing thing.

0:56:050:56:09

# Look up here

0:56:190:56:21

# I'm in heaven

0:56:210:56:23

# I've got scars that can't be seen. #

0:56:270:56:31

Tonight at ten, the life and music of David Bowie,

0:56:350:56:38

the rock legend, who's died at the age of 69.

0:56:380:56:41

His career spanned half a century,

0:56:410:56:43

leaving an indelible mark on popular culture around the world.

0:56:430:56:48

# Something happened on the day he died

0:56:480:56:53

# The spirit rose a metre and stepped aside

0:56:530:56:57

# Somebody else took his place and bravely cried

0:56:570:57:02

# I'm a blackstar

0:57:020:57:04

# I'm a blackstar

0:57:040:57:07

# I can't answer why

0:57:070:57:10

# I'm a blackstar

0:57:100:57:12

# Just go with me I'm not a film star

0:57:120:57:17

# I'm-a-take you home

0:57:170:57:19

# I'm a blackstar

0:57:190:57:21

# Take your passport and shoes

0:57:210:57:24

# I'm not a pop star

0:57:240:57:26

# And your sedatives, boo I'm a blackstar

0:57:260:57:31

# Your flash in the pan

0:57:310:57:34

# I'm not a Marvel star

0:57:340:57:36

# I'm the Great I Am

0:57:360:57:38

# I'm a blackstar. #

0:57:380:57:40

He released his final album, Blackstar,

0:57:420:57:44

last week, on his 69th birthday.

0:57:440:57:47

True to form, it was innovative, surprising and,

0:57:470:57:50

in anticipating his own death, visionary.

0:57:500:57:54

David Bowie was a truly great artist

0:57:540:57:57

to the very end.

0:57:570:57:59

# Rebel rebel You've torn your dress

0:58:110:58:15

# Rebel rebel Your face is a mess

0:58:150:58:18

# Rebel rebel How could they know?

0:58:180:58:22

# Hot tramp, I love you so

0:58:220:58:25

# You've got your mother in a whirl

0:58:330:58:36

# She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl

0:58:370:58:41

# Hey, baby Your hair's all right

0:58:410:58:45

# Hey, baby Let's go out tonight

0:58:450:58:48

# Rebel rebel How could they know?

0:58:490:58:52

# Hot tramp, I love you so! #

0:58:530:58:56

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