Bowie at the BBC

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0:00:02 > 0:00:04Do you think of yourself as Bowie or David Jones, the boy from South London?

0:00:04 > 0:00:08Uh... Less and less as Bowie, Boughie, Booie.

0:00:08 > 0:00:09HE LAUGHS

0:00:09 > 0:00:11I don't even know how to pronounce it any more.

0:00:11 > 0:00:13# Ch-ch-ch-changes

0:00:13 > 0:00:15# Turn and face the strain

0:00:15 > 0:00:17# Ch-ch-changes

0:00:17 > 0:00:20# Don't want to be a richer man

0:00:20 > 0:00:22# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

0:00:22 > 0:00:24# Turn and face the strain

0:00:24 > 0:00:26# Ch-ch-changes

0:00:26 > 0:00:30# Just going to have to be a different man

0:00:30 > 0:00:33# Time may change me

0:00:33 > 0:00:35# But I can't trace time... #

0:00:39 > 0:00:44# O, for the wings, for the wings of a dove... #

0:00:44 > 0:00:48My mother didn't realise what she was starting, but she would

0:00:48 > 0:00:50always say that breakfast, "Oh, I could have been a singer, you know."

0:00:50 > 0:00:52And then she'd sing, and there was this thing on radio,

0:00:52 > 0:00:55Two-Way Family Favourites when and I was about six.

0:00:55 > 0:00:59And every Sunday without fail, this thing by Ernest Lough was sung.

0:00:59 > 0:01:03And my mother would, sing, "Oh, for the wings, for the wings of a dove..."

0:01:03 > 0:01:04So that was, like,

0:01:04 > 0:01:08one of my first influences I think as Ernest Lough.

0:01:10 > 0:01:13# Lucille, won't you do your sister's will?

0:01:16 > 0:01:19# Lucille... #

0:01:19 > 0:01:21I wanted to be a white Little Richard at eight.

0:01:21 > 0:01:25I remember getting so excited when they showed Little Richard on television.

0:01:25 > 0:01:28It was just amazing to actually see him moving.

0:01:28 > 0:01:31He'd just been a record to me before, you know?

0:01:33 > 0:01:35MUSIC: Lucille by Little Richard

0:01:38 > 0:01:40I saw him first in 1963, I think it was.

0:01:40 > 0:01:43And the Rolling Stones were opening up for him,

0:01:43 > 0:01:47and I'd never seen anything so rebellious in my life.

0:01:47 > 0:01:49Some guy yells out...

0:01:49 > 0:01:51- COCKNEY ACCENT:- Get your hair cut!

0:01:51 > 0:01:54- And Mick says, "What, and look like you?" - LAUGHTER

0:01:58 > 0:02:01So with the nucleus of some of his friends,

0:02:01 > 0:02:05a 17-year-old David Jones has just founded the Society for the

0:02:05 > 0:02:08Prevention of Cruelty to Long-Haired Men.

0:02:09 > 0:02:11Well, here we are.

0:02:11 > 0:02:13Long-haired men, you've got to have your hair, what,

0:02:13 > 0:02:15nine inches long before you can join?

0:02:15 > 0:02:18- Well, I think we passed that over now.- Have you?- Yes.

0:02:18 > 0:02:20Now, exactly who's been cruel to you?

0:02:20 > 0:02:23Well, I think we're all fairly tolerant,

0:02:23 > 0:02:28but for the last two years we've had comments like "darling" and "can I carry your handbag?" thrown at us,

0:02:28 > 0:02:30and I think it's just had to stop now.

0:02:30 > 0:02:35- I mean, did you get this off the Rolling Stones? - Oh, no. Definitely not.

0:02:35 > 0:02:39But did any of you have your hair growing long more than two years ago, say?

0:02:39 > 0:02:42- Oh, yes.- Did you? Before the Rolling Stones ever did?

0:02:42 > 0:02:44It takes a long time to get this length, you know.

0:02:44 > 0:02:47But do you really think that many people are on your side is what I'm saying?

0:02:47 > 0:02:51Oh, yes, quite a few. 1,000 teenagers over Britain.

0:02:51 > 0:02:54'Ever since I was a teenager,

0:02:54 > 0:02:58'I felt so adrift and so not part of everyone else.

0:02:58 > 0:03:02'There were so many dark secrets about my family in the cupboard that

0:03:02 > 0:03:06'it kind of made me feel very much on the outside of everything.

0:03:06 > 0:03:11'It was my initial fascination with mime and expressing.

0:03:12 > 0:03:17'Things with facial movements and body talk.

0:03:17 > 0:03:19'Rather than articulating things.

0:03:19 > 0:03:21'I mean, I'd done as much articulating as I felt was

0:03:21 > 0:03:23'necessary with the actual songs.'

0:03:25 > 0:03:27# Ground Control to Major Tom

0:03:31 > 0:03:33# Ground Control to Major Tom

0:03:37 > 0:03:41# Take your protein pills and put your helmet on

0:03:43 > 0:03:46# Ground Control to Major Tom

0:03:49 > 0:03:52# Commencing countdown, engines on

0:03:55 > 0:04:00# Check ignition, and may God's love be with you

0:04:15 > 0:04:19# This is Ground Control to Major Tom

0:04:19 > 0:04:23# You've really made the grade

0:04:23 > 0:04:29# And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear

0:04:29 > 0:04:34# Now it's time to leave the capsule if you dare

0:04:36 > 0:04:40# This is Major Tom to Ground Control

0:04:40 > 0:04:43# I'm stepping through the dark

0:04:44 > 0:04:49# And I'm floating in the most peculiar way... #

0:04:49 > 0:04:51'I wasn't that comfortable as a singer,

0:04:51 > 0:04:55'but I knew that I could probably project a character or an emotion,

0:04:55 > 0:05:00'or I could tell the story with my voice if I could find the right tenor for it.

0:05:01 > 0:05:04'I was influenced on one part by Little Richard, on the other

0:05:04 > 0:05:08'part by people like Tony Newley, Scott Walker, Elvis Presley.

0:05:08 > 0:05:11'And I knew that I was none of those,

0:05:11 > 0:05:14'so I thought the best thing for me to do was just, sort of,

0:05:14 > 0:05:17'use different stylings for different songs.

0:05:19 > 0:05:22'It seemed to make sense that that's also how I wrote,

0:05:22 > 0:05:24'and it's how I did everything.

0:05:24 > 0:05:28'It was a question of some rather mutant eclecticism going on.

0:05:28 > 0:05:31'That's kind of what I did, and that's what I did well.

0:05:31 > 0:05:33'And it's what I really enjoyed.

0:05:35 > 0:05:37# Wake up you sleepyhead

0:05:38 > 0:05:40# Put on some clothes, get out of bed

0:05:41 > 0:05:44# Put another log on the fire for me

0:05:45 > 0:05:47# I've made some breakfast and coffee

0:05:47 > 0:05:50# Look out my window, what do I see?

0:05:50 > 0:05:55# Crack in the sky and a hand reaching down to me

0:05:55 > 0:05:58# All the nightmares came today

0:05:58 > 0:06:01# And it looks as though they're here to stay

0:06:09 > 0:06:12# What are we coming to?

0:06:12 > 0:06:14# No room for me, no fun for you

0:06:15 > 0:06:18# I think about a world to come

0:06:18 > 0:06:21# Where the books were found by the golden ones

0:06:21 > 0:06:24# Written in pain, written in awe

0:06:24 > 0:06:29# By a puzzled man who questioned what we came here for

0:06:29 > 0:06:31# All the strangers came today

0:06:32 > 0:06:35# And it looks as though they're here to stay

0:06:37 > 0:06:41# Oh, you pretty things

0:06:41 > 0:06:47# Don't you know you're driving your mamas and papas insane?

0:06:49 > 0:06:53# Oh, you pretty things

0:06:53 > 0:06:59# Don't you know you're driving your mamas and papas insane?

0:06:59 > 0:07:01# Let me say it again

0:07:01 > 0:07:05# You've got to make way for the Homo Superior... #

0:07:07 > 0:07:11'I'm not a guy that gets on stage and tells you how my day's just gone.

0:07:11 > 0:07:13'Straight from the heart.

0:07:13 > 0:07:15'I couldn't do that.

0:07:15 > 0:07:18'I love artists who do do that and I admire them tremendously.

0:07:18 > 0:07:22'I don't have that talent, and it's not a thing that interests me.

0:07:25 > 0:07:31'I was one of that tiny bastion of Velvet Underground fans in London

0:07:31 > 0:07:36'at the time, so I wrote Queen Bitch as an homage to Velvet Underground.'

0:07:41 > 0:07:44MUSIC: Queen Bitch by David Bowie

0:07:49 > 0:07:53# Well, I'm up on the 11th floor and I'm watching the cruisers below

0:07:56 > 0:07:58# You know, my heart's in the basement

0:07:58 > 0:08:00# My weekend's at an all-time low

0:08:03 > 0:08:07# Well, he's down on the street and he's trying hard to pull sister Flo

0:08:10 > 0:08:14# And she's hoping to score, well, I can't see her letting him go

0:08:14 > 0:08:18# Walk out of her heart, walk out of her mind

0:08:19 > 0:08:24# No, no, no, she's so swishy in her satin and tat

0:08:24 > 0:08:27# And her frock coat and bibbity-bobbity hat

0:08:27 > 0:08:31# Oh, God I could do better than that... #

0:08:33 > 0:08:36'I think we were excited, when we went back into The Spiders, to

0:08:36 > 0:08:40'do Starman, cos we kind of knew that what we were doing was,

0:08:40 > 0:08:43'like, singularly different to anything else that was happening,

0:08:43 > 0:08:46'so that was that kind of frisson, you know, that sense of anticipation

0:08:46 > 0:08:49'that we were unleashing this thing on the world.

0:08:49 > 0:08:53'All the bravado of being in your 20s.'

0:08:54 > 0:08:56MUSIC: Starman by David Bowie

0:08:58 > 0:09:02# Didn't know what time it was and the lights were low

0:09:02 > 0:09:07# I leaned back on my radio

0:09:07 > 0:09:11# Some cat was layin' down some get it on rock and roll, he said

0:09:14 > 0:09:18# Then the loud sound did seem to fade

0:09:18 > 0:09:23# Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase

0:09:23 > 0:09:26# That weren't no DJ, that was hazy cosmic jive

0:09:31 > 0:09:36# There's a starman waiting in the sky

0:09:36 > 0:09:40# He'd like to come and meet us but he thinks he'd blow our minds

0:09:40 > 0:09:45# There's a starman waiting in the sky

0:09:45 > 0:09:50# He told us not to blow it cos he knows it's all worthwhile

0:09:50 > 0:09:53# He told me let the children lose it

0:09:53 > 0:09:57# Let the children use it Let all the children boogie... #

0:10:03 > 0:10:07A superstar of the beat age prepares to meet his public.

0:10:08 > 0:10:14David Bowie spends two hours before a show caressing his body with paint.

0:10:21 > 0:10:25Bowie is a skinny lad with a pasty complexion and ochre-dyed hair

0:10:25 > 0:10:27in a Teddy Boys style of 20 years ago.

0:10:27 > 0:10:31Yet with a dash of make-up, he's transforming himself into an

0:10:31 > 0:10:34object that is worshipped by millions of girls.

0:10:36 > 0:10:40Outside the Winter Gardens of Bournemouth, some of those fans

0:10:40 > 0:10:44are arriving to pay homage to a man who's become the high priest of pop.

0:10:45 > 0:10:48Every seat was sold months ago.

0:10:48 > 0:10:51Some fans were even blessed with a glimpse of the master as

0:10:51 > 0:10:53he scurried into the theatre.

0:10:54 > 0:10:57Oh, no, I wanted to see him!

0:10:57 > 0:10:59What are you so upset about?

0:10:59 > 0:11:03I wanted to see him! They said he was coming round the back.

0:11:03 > 0:11:05I've been waiting for ages to see him!

0:11:06 > 0:11:08SHE CRIES

0:11:09 > 0:11:10Why are you so upset?

0:11:10 > 0:11:15- He's smashing!- I kissed him!- I kissed his hand!- I kissed his hand!

0:11:16 > 0:11:20# Jean Genie lives on his back

0:11:20 > 0:11:22# Jean Genie loves chimney stacks

0:11:24 > 0:11:27# He's outrageous, screams and he bawls

0:11:27 > 0:11:30# Jean Genie, let yourself go, whoa-oh... #

0:11:43 > 0:11:48Meanwhile, the object of so much interest is trying on his kinky boots.

0:11:48 > 0:11:50When I was a teenager,

0:11:50 > 0:11:53I had it in my mind that I would be a creator of musicals.

0:11:53 > 0:11:58I sincerely wanted to write musicals for the West End and Broadway, whatever.

0:11:58 > 0:12:01I didn't see much further than that as a writer.

0:12:01 > 0:12:04And I really had the idea in my head that people would do my songs.

0:12:04 > 0:12:09And I was not a natural performer. I didn't feel at ease on stage ever.

0:12:09 > 0:12:11CROWD SCREAMS

0:12:11 > 0:12:15I had created this one character, Ziggy Stardust, that it seemed

0:12:15 > 0:12:17that I would be the one that would play them,

0:12:17 > 0:12:20because nobody else was doing my songs and the chances of

0:12:20 > 0:12:23my actually getting a musical mounted were very slim.

0:12:23 > 0:12:25And so I became Ziggy Stardust for that period.

0:12:25 > 0:12:29And I felt really comfortable going on stage as somebody else.

0:12:29 > 0:12:34And it seemed a rational decision to keep on doing that.

0:12:34 > 0:12:38And so I got quite besotted with the idea of just creating character after character.

0:12:38 > 0:12:41'He's also been smart enough to realise that in showbiz,

0:12:41 > 0:12:45'the more outrageous you are, the more people will notice you.'

0:12:45 > 0:12:46This is my life.

0:12:46 > 0:12:51Really, you know, writing or performing, there's not much else I want.

0:12:51 > 0:12:53It's the biggest kick I know.

0:12:53 > 0:12:56I know of all the drugs, and you get a different kind of buzz off those,

0:12:56 > 0:13:01but stages, there's something else. It's partaking of people.

0:13:01 > 0:13:05I'm very much a character when I go on stage, I feel. I mean...

0:13:05 > 0:13:07- Like an actor?- Yeah.

0:13:07 > 0:13:09I believe in my part all the way down the line,

0:13:09 > 0:13:12right the way down, but I do play it for all it's worth.

0:13:12 > 0:13:14Because that's the way I do my stage thing.

0:13:14 > 0:13:19That's part of what Bowie's supposedly all about. I'm an actor.

0:13:20 > 0:13:22Oh, it's all right.

0:13:22 > 0:13:26'Later he selects a satin psychedelic leotard.'

0:13:26 > 0:13:29I tell you what was even funnier, though, was getting my band to put the clothes on.

0:13:29 > 0:13:31DRUMS PLAY

0:13:31 > 0:13:32These guys all came from Hull.

0:13:32 > 0:13:36- NORTHERN ACCENT:- You know, we're going to play a rock and roll band. They like the songs and all that.

0:13:36 > 0:13:38And I said, "Yeah, yeah, that's great.

0:13:38 > 0:13:41- "Do you want to see what we're going to wear?" "Oh, yeah, right." - LAUGHTER

0:13:41 > 0:13:43- NORTHERN ACCENT:- "No way.

0:13:43 > 0:13:45"What bloody...? Right, I'm not putting that on."

0:13:45 > 0:13:49I said, "No, believe me, it'll... You'll look great. It'll really suit you."

0:13:50 > 0:13:52"Yeah, right." And so, I don't know how I did it,

0:13:52 > 0:13:54but I managed to talk them into doing it.

0:13:54 > 0:13:55A couple of nights later,

0:13:55 > 0:13:58we'd done a couple of shows and all these girls were all over them.

0:13:58 > 0:13:59SCREAMING

0:13:59 > 0:14:02And suddenly the dressing room procedure was really different.

0:14:02 > 0:14:05- "Right, who's got the blush?" - LAUGHTER

0:14:06 > 0:14:08It was, "Hey, Trevor, have you finished with that mascara?

0:14:08 > 0:14:10LAUGHTER

0:14:10 > 0:14:12It was a phenomenal thing.

0:14:19 > 0:14:21MUSIC: Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie

0:14:29 > 0:14:32# Oooooh yeah

0:14:34 > 0:14:35# Ah

0:14:39 > 0:14:45# Ziggy played guitar, jamming good with Weird and Gilly

0:14:45 > 0:14:48# And the Spiders from Mars

0:14:48 > 0:14:50# Well, he played it left hand

0:14:51 > 0:14:54# But he made it too far

0:14:54 > 0:14:58# Became the special man, then we were Ziggy's band... #

0:15:01 > 0:15:04Funnily enough, it was actually based on a real person.

0:15:04 > 0:15:06There was an American...

0:15:06 > 0:15:09rock singer in the late '50s, early '60s

0:15:09 > 0:15:11called Vince Taylor.

0:15:11 > 0:15:13He was out of his gourd.

0:15:13 > 0:15:16Totally flipped. I mean, the guy was not playing with a full deck

0:15:16 > 0:15:18at all.

0:15:18 > 0:15:21And I remember very distinctly

0:15:21 > 0:15:24him opening a map out on Charing Cross Road,

0:15:24 > 0:15:28outside the Tube station, and putting it on the pavement,

0:15:28 > 0:15:31and kneeling down with a magnifying glass.

0:15:31 > 0:15:34And I got down there with him, and he was pointing out all the

0:15:34 > 0:15:38sites where UFOs were going to be landing over the next few months.

0:15:38 > 0:15:41And he had a firm conviction that there was

0:15:41 > 0:15:45a very strong connection between himself, aliens and Jesus Christ.

0:15:45 > 0:15:47Those were the three elements

0:15:47 > 0:15:50that went into his make-up and drove him.

0:15:50 > 0:15:54He eventually went to France and became a huge rock star over there.

0:15:54 > 0:15:57And one night, he decided he'd had enough,

0:15:57 > 0:16:01so he came out on stage in white robes and said that the whole thing

0:16:01 > 0:16:05about rock had been a lie, that in fact he was Jesus Christ.

0:16:05 > 0:16:08- LAUGHS:- And it was the end of Vince,

0:16:08 > 0:16:10his career and everything else.

0:16:10 > 0:16:15And it was that and his story which really became one of the

0:16:15 > 0:16:19essential ingredients of Ziggy and his world view.

0:16:19 > 0:16:22It was his complete otherness.

0:16:22 > 0:16:26I'm terribly attracted to people like that, the OTHER people.

0:16:26 > 0:16:27We were only together for 18 months.

0:16:27 > 0:16:29The whole thing was over in 18 months.

0:16:29 > 0:16:31The whole Ziggy Stardust thing.

0:16:31 > 0:16:33And a good halfway through - nine, ten months into it -

0:16:33 > 0:16:36I knew it was over already, and the last few months I was really,

0:16:36 > 0:16:38like, treading water. I couldn't wait to finish.

0:16:38 > 0:16:41I just knew that I was getting bored very quickly.

0:16:41 > 0:16:44Bowie's announced he's retiring from live performances before,

0:16:44 > 0:16:46so perhaps like Frank Sinatra,

0:16:46 > 0:16:49he might make the occasional comeback.

0:16:49 > 0:16:51And at the age of 26,

0:16:51 > 0:16:54he's perhaps young enough to retire as often as he wants.

0:17:00 > 0:17:02# Oh, yeah

0:17:06 > 0:17:08# Whoohoo

0:17:11 > 0:17:14# Hoo-hoo-hoo

0:17:16 > 0:17:20# Now Ziggy played

0:17:20 > 0:17:25# Guitar! #

0:17:32 > 0:17:34I just wanted to move somewhere else.

0:17:34 > 0:17:36There was a new kind of music I wanted to write,

0:17:36 > 0:17:39a different kind of theatricality I wanted to bring into it.

0:17:39 > 0:17:42It was great to let go of it, but I tend to grasshopper about.

0:17:42 > 0:17:44- LAUGHS: - My attention span is very short.

0:17:44 > 0:17:49CROWD CHEERS AND SCREAMS

0:17:51 > 0:17:54# It's a god-awful small affair

0:17:56 > 0:17:58# To the girl with the mousy hair

0:18:00 > 0:18:04# But her mummy is yelling no

0:18:04 > 0:18:07# And her daddy has told her to go

0:18:08 > 0:18:11# But her friend is nowhere to be seen

0:18:12 > 0:18:15# Now she walks through her sunken dream

0:18:16 > 0:18:19# To the seat with the clearest view

0:18:20 > 0:18:23# And she's hooked to the silver screen

0:18:25 > 0:18:27# But the film is a saddening bore

0:18:29 > 0:18:31# For she's lived it ten times or more

0:18:32 > 0:18:36# She could spit in the eyes of fools

0:18:36 > 0:18:40# As they ask her to focus on

0:18:40 > 0:18:44# Sailors fighting in the dance hall

0:18:44 > 0:18:50# Oh, man, look at those cavemen go

0:18:50 > 0:18:54# It's the freakiest show

0:18:54 > 0:18:58# Take a look at the lawman

0:18:58 > 0:19:00# Beating up the wrong guy

0:19:00 > 0:19:04# Oh, man, wonder if he'll ever know

0:19:06 > 0:19:09# He's in the best selling show

0:19:10 > 0:19:18# Is there life on Mars? #

0:19:20 > 0:19:22Ziggy was just an experiment.

0:19:22 > 0:19:24It was an exercise for me.

0:19:26 > 0:19:30And he really grew sort of out of proportion, I suppose.

0:19:32 > 0:19:34Got much bigger than I thought Ziggy was going to be.

0:19:34 > 0:19:37I didn't ever see Ziggy as big.

0:19:37 > 0:19:41Really, it was his own personality being unable to cope with the

0:19:41 > 0:19:44circumstances he found himself in, which is being...

0:19:45 > 0:19:50..an almighty, profit-like superstar rocker...

0:19:51 > 0:19:55..who found he didn't know what to do with it once he got it.

0:19:55 > 0:19:57Which is... It's an archetype, really.

0:19:57 > 0:19:59It's the definitive rock and roll star.

0:19:59 > 0:20:01It often happens.

0:20:01 > 0:20:04And I was just trying to document it as such.

0:20:04 > 0:20:06Yes, I had a kind of a...

0:20:06 > 0:20:09a kind of a strange...

0:20:09 > 0:20:11psychosomatic death wish thing.

0:20:12 > 0:20:13I think.

0:20:14 > 0:20:18But that's because I was so lost in Ziggy. I think. Again.

0:20:18 > 0:20:20It was all that schizophrenia.

0:20:20 > 0:20:23CHEERING

0:20:36 > 0:20:39# In the year of the scavenger The season of the bitch

0:20:39 > 0:20:43# Sashay on the boardwalk Scurry to the ditch

0:20:43 > 0:20:46# Just another future song Lonely little kitsch

0:20:46 > 0:20:50- # There's gonna be sorrow - Try and wake up tomorrow

0:20:50 > 0:20:53- # Will they come? - I'll keep a friend serene

0:20:53 > 0:20:57- # Will they come? - Oh, baby, come unto me

0:20:57 > 0:21:01- # Will they come? - Well, she's come, been and gone

0:21:01 > 0:21:04# Come out of the garden, baby

0:21:04 > 0:21:06# You'll catch your death in the fog

0:21:06 > 0:21:11# Young girl They call them the Diamond Dogs

0:21:13 > 0:21:15# Yeah, young girl

0:21:15 > 0:21:18# They call them the Diamond Dogs

0:21:21 > 0:21:22# Hey, yeah

0:21:22 > 0:21:24# They call them the Diamond Dogs. #

0:21:24 > 0:21:27It did look as if it was the ghost

0:21:27 > 0:21:29of Ziggy Stardust you were tying up.

0:21:29 > 0:21:32Yes, exactly, that's what happened. It was...

0:21:33 > 0:21:35..trying to get rid of the damn character.

0:21:35 > 0:21:38- HE CHUCKLES - It was kind of following me around.

0:21:38 > 0:21:39And hopefully...

0:21:43 > 0:21:45You see, I'm very... I...

0:21:45 > 0:21:46I'm very happy with Ziggy.

0:21:46 > 0:21:49I think he was a very successful character,

0:21:49 > 0:21:51and I think I played him very well.

0:21:51 > 0:21:52But I...

0:21:52 > 0:21:56- I... I'm glad I'm me now. - HE LAUGHS

0:21:56 > 0:21:59I'm glad I'm me. My God, I can trot 'em out.

0:21:59 > 0:22:02- # Givin' it - Givin' it

0:22:02 > 0:22:04- # Givin' it - Keepin' it right. #

0:22:04 > 0:22:06That's...that's cool. That's cool.

0:22:06 > 0:22:08Next one. Got to do it this way to get it...

0:22:08 > 0:22:10One, two, three, four.

0:22:10 > 0:22:13- # Get you when you're down - Nobody, nobody

0:22:13 > 0:22:14# Do it again, get off

0:22:14 > 0:22:15# Sometimes... #

0:22:15 > 0:22:17OK, that's good.

0:22:17 > 0:22:19Right, OK, and the last section.

0:22:21 > 0:22:24# Gimme, gimme Yeah

0:22:24 > 0:22:26- # Gimme - Doin' it

0:22:27 > 0:22:29- # Taken with me - Sometimes

0:22:29 > 0:22:31- # Right - Lovin' it, doin' it. #

0:22:31 > 0:22:34# All night

0:22:34 > 0:22:36# She wants the young American

0:22:36 > 0:22:40# Young American Young American

0:22:40 > 0:22:42# He was the young American

0:22:42 > 0:22:45- # All right - All right

0:22:45 > 0:22:49# But she wants the young American. #

0:22:49 > 0:22:51THUD!

0:22:51 > 0:22:52So what's happening...?

0:22:52 > 0:22:54BOWIE SPEAKS IN GERMAN

0:22:56 > 0:22:58So...?

0:22:58 > 0:22:59What's happened since?

0:23:00 > 0:23:03Um, since Ziggy? Good Lord! Um...

0:23:05 > 0:23:08Well, the last time you saw me, or were with me,

0:23:08 > 0:23:11it was in Los Angeles, wasn't it?

0:23:11 > 0:23:12One of the my...

0:23:14 > 0:23:18One of the worst periods, I think, in my life, I think.

0:23:20 > 0:23:25I got into a lot of emotional and spiritual trouble there.

0:23:26 > 0:23:30And so I decided to split and discover new ways of...

0:23:32 > 0:23:36..relating to the music business, per se.

0:23:36 > 0:23:39I wasn't sure exactly what I was in it for any more.

0:23:39 > 0:23:43Was there a clash between that sort of materialism,

0:23:43 > 0:23:45the need to be a rock star, successful, if you like?

0:23:45 > 0:23:47Yes, I think, very much so.

0:23:47 > 0:23:50And as I really didn't want to be one myself,

0:23:50 > 0:23:54I was living more and more in the style of one of my characters,

0:23:54 > 0:23:58who wanted terrific success, because they're all Messiah figures,

0:23:58 > 0:23:59most of them,

0:23:59 > 0:24:05either light or dark shadowings.

0:24:05 > 0:24:07Um...

0:24:07 > 0:24:09And so because I knew...

0:24:09 > 0:24:12I really felt that the material aspect was something

0:24:12 > 0:24:15that had to be done in Los Angeles, because it's driven into you.

0:24:15 > 0:24:17It's the food of Los Angeles.

0:24:17 > 0:24:20Hollywood, rather, not Los Angeles.

0:24:20 > 0:24:21Unfair on Los Angeles.

0:24:24 > 0:24:26And so I just packed up everything one day

0:24:26 > 0:24:28and I moved back to Europe again.

0:24:36 > 0:24:38# I

0:24:39 > 0:24:41# I wish I could swim

0:24:45 > 0:24:46# Like dolphins

0:24:47 > 0:24:49# Like dolphins can swim

0:24:52 > 0:24:55# Though, nothing

0:24:56 > 0:24:58# Will keep us together

0:25:01 > 0:25:02# We can beat them

0:25:04 > 0:25:06# Forever and ever

0:25:09 > 0:25:10# We can be heroes

0:25:12 > 0:25:14# Just for one day

0:25:34 > 0:25:36# I

0:25:38 > 0:25:39# I will be king

0:25:43 > 0:25:49# And you will be queen

0:25:51 > 0:25:52# Though nothing

0:25:55 > 0:25:57# Will keep us together

0:25:59 > 0:26:00# We can be us

0:26:02 > 0:26:05# Forever and ever

0:26:07 > 0:26:09# Or we can be heroes

0:26:11 > 0:26:13# Just for one day... #

0:26:15 > 0:26:18Is there a danger that by following your instinct,

0:26:18 > 0:26:20your aesthetic instincts if you like, your artistic instinct...

0:26:20 > 0:26:23- Yeah.- ..that you will jeopardise that, you know,

0:26:23 > 0:26:25the money and the good life and all that?

0:26:25 > 0:26:28- No shit, Sherlock. - HE LAUGHS

0:26:28 > 0:26:29Yes, I think...

0:26:29 > 0:26:33Yes, I think I've rather sort of hit that one on the head at the moment.

0:26:33 > 0:26:35Um...

0:26:35 > 0:26:37And it's quite a relief, really.

0:26:37 > 0:26:39I feel a lot more...

0:26:39 > 0:26:42free in what I do.

0:26:42 > 0:26:44I just needed...

0:26:44 > 0:26:47I just needed a positive decision to only do what I want to do and

0:26:47 > 0:26:53not do things for the sake of what either David Bowie or

0:26:53 > 0:26:56whoever I was playing last, The Thin White Duke or something,

0:26:56 > 0:26:58was expected to do.

0:26:58 > 0:26:59- # Peace on earth - Come they told me

0:26:59 > 0:27:04- # Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum - Can it be?

0:27:04 > 0:27:06- # Years from now - A new born king to see

0:27:06 > 0:27:09- # Perhaps we'll see - Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

0:27:11 > 0:27:13- # Our finest gifts we bring - See the day

0:27:13 > 0:27:17- # Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum - Of glory

0:27:17 > 0:27:20- # See the day - To lay before the king

0:27:20 > 0:27:23- # When men of good will - Ra-pum-pum-pum, ra-pum-pum-pum

0:27:23 > 0:27:27# Live in peace Live in peace again

0:27:27 > 0:27:30- # So to honour Him - Peace on earth

0:27:30 > 0:27:32# Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum

0:27:32 > 0:27:37- # Can it be? - When we come

0:27:37 > 0:27:43# Every child must be made aware

0:27:44 > 0:27:49# Every child must be made to care

0:27:50 > 0:27:56# Care enough for his fellow man

0:27:56 > 0:28:02# To give all the love that he can. #

0:28:02 > 0:28:05Now, into this ever-changing world of current affairs,

0:28:05 > 0:28:07we welcome a chameleon of show business.

0:28:07 > 0:28:09Yet another David Bowie.

0:28:09 > 0:28:11Is this the real one this time?

0:28:11 > 0:28:14Well, um, I think so, yes.

0:28:14 > 0:28:17A lot of people looking at some of those roles that you've played,

0:28:17 > 0:28:21- I think would have been very shocked and found it very outrageous.- Yeah.

0:28:21 > 0:28:24And also there's this tremendous tendency to think

0:28:24 > 0:28:25of rock stars as, or pop stars generally,

0:28:25 > 0:28:27- as being a bit thick.- Yeah.

0:28:27 > 0:28:29Obviously, there's, I presume, a lot more to you than that.

0:28:29 > 0:28:31Did it worry you that people have that kind of image?

0:28:31 > 0:28:33- No, I'm very thick. - HE LAUGHS

0:28:33 > 0:28:36- Are you?- Yes, I became a rock star.

0:28:36 > 0:28:37What is your rank?

0:28:37 > 0:28:38Lieutenant.

0:28:40 > 0:28:41Well, Lieutenant...

0:28:42 > 0:28:46..I'm the head of a regiment, of sorts -

0:28:46 > 0:28:48the gigolos.

0:28:48 > 0:28:51Yes, your lieutenant told me.

0:28:51 > 0:28:54Lieutenant, there's one thing I don't like.

0:28:55 > 0:28:57Poor fantasy in speech.

0:28:58 > 0:28:59It lacks charm.

0:29:01 > 0:29:04And you don't seem to lack anything.

0:29:06 > 0:29:09- Do you lack anything, David Bowie? - Isn't she lovely?- She's marvellous.

0:29:09 > 0:29:13- I wish I'd met her... - It's fantastic.- ..a long time ago.

0:29:13 > 0:29:15I'm picking up the line she addressed to you in the film,

0:29:15 > 0:29:16do you feel you lack anything,

0:29:16 > 0:29:18or have you got everything you want now?

0:29:18 > 0:29:19Yes, a train ticket to Penge.

0:29:19 > 0:29:22I've got some friends out there and I promised I'd go and see them

0:29:22 > 0:29:25this week, but I haven't had the time to get down there yet.

0:29:25 > 0:29:29Are you going to give up music now and concentrate on acting?

0:29:29 > 0:29:30Is this a new whole direction?

0:29:30 > 0:29:33I'd like to expand my activities, as they say.

0:29:33 > 0:29:36No, I enjoy writing very much.

0:29:37 > 0:29:40Writing. Just music or all sorts of writing?

0:29:40 > 0:29:41Um...

0:29:41 > 0:29:44Funnily enough, I am sort of studiously trying to write

0:29:44 > 0:29:46a book of short stories

0:29:46 > 0:29:49based on things that I've done.

0:29:49 > 0:29:52But writing music, generally.

0:29:52 > 0:29:55Performance on stage, I think I've decided really cut it down to

0:29:55 > 0:29:59once every two years because I find it boring after the first ten shows.

0:29:59 > 0:30:02It starts to become repetitious - every night the same thing.

0:30:02 > 0:30:04- So will there be more acting, more films?- Yes, there will.

0:30:04 > 0:30:07- I'm heading towards directing as well.- Are you?

0:30:07 > 0:30:10- Yeah, very much. - That's a final hope, is it?

0:30:10 > 0:30:14No, I want to be a good painter again, is my really big dream.

0:30:14 > 0:30:16And now Bowie in New York.

0:30:16 > 0:30:18The play in which rock star David Bowie has scored

0:30:18 > 0:30:19a remarkable triumph on Broadway

0:30:19 > 0:30:21is called The Elephant Man.

0:30:21 > 0:30:24It's the story set in late 19th century England of John Merrick,

0:30:24 > 0:30:27played by Bowie, a grotesquely deformed man who suffered

0:30:27 > 0:30:31a miserable existence as a pathetic circus attraction until

0:30:31 > 0:30:33he was befriended by a brilliant young surgeon.

0:30:33 > 0:30:35Bowie's first appearance as a straight actor met with

0:30:35 > 0:30:37almost universal praise from the New York critics,

0:30:37 > 0:30:41and I know, to my cost, that they can be slightly unpleasant at times,

0:30:41 > 0:30:42and there were long lines at the box office.

0:30:42 > 0:30:45- WITH SPEECH IMPEDIMENT: - I have a home.

0:30:45 > 0:30:49This is m-m-my...

0:30:49 > 0:30:51home.

0:30:51 > 0:30:53This...

0:30:53 > 0:30:55is my home.

0:30:56 > 0:30:58I have a home.

0:30:58 > 0:31:00I have.

0:31:01 > 0:31:03For as long as I like.

0:31:05 > 0:31:10I have a sort of eclectic thing about freaks and isolationists

0:31:10 > 0:31:12and alienated people, sort of.

0:31:12 > 0:31:17And I kind of gather information on people like that, mentally anyway.

0:31:17 > 0:31:19# Do you remember a guy that's been

0:31:21 > 0:31:23# In such an early song

0:31:25 > 0:31:28# I've heard a rumour from Ground Control

0:31:28 > 0:31:29# Oh, no

0:31:29 > 0:31:31# Don't say it's true

0:31:31 > 0:31:35# They got a message from the Action Man

0:31:35 > 0:31:38# I'm happy

0:31:38 > 0:31:41# Hope you're happy, too

0:31:41 > 0:31:44# I've loved All I've needed, love

0:31:44 > 0:31:48# Sordid details following

0:31:48 > 0:31:51# The shrieking of nothing is killing me

0:31:51 > 0:31:55# Just pictures of Jap girls in synthesis

0:31:55 > 0:32:00# And I ain't got no money and I ain't got no hair

0:32:03 > 0:32:06# But I'm hoping to kick

0:32:06 > 0:32:09# But the planet is glowing. #

0:32:09 > 0:32:13Were you surprised at the huge success of the single in England?

0:32:13 > 0:32:16Uh... Frankly, yes, I was.

0:32:16 > 0:32:19Do you think your video had a lot to do with it?

0:32:19 > 0:32:20I don't know. I really don't know.

0:32:20 > 0:32:22I would tend to believe...

0:32:24 > 0:32:28To be honest about it, I suppose that Major Tom was a sort of...

0:32:28 > 0:32:32There's a comfortable feeling with him, being such

0:32:32 > 0:32:34a sort of an old figure of mine.

0:32:34 > 0:32:36I mean, he goes back to '68, '69, whatever it was.

0:32:36 > 0:32:38Um...

0:32:38 > 0:32:41I guess that sort of a lot of people still have some kind of

0:32:41 > 0:32:45empathy with him, because he became a little sort of bouncy hero.

0:32:45 > 0:32:49I just wanted to sort of bring him up to date a little bit

0:32:49 > 0:32:52and put him in a Victorian nursery rhyme kind of atmosphere.

0:32:52 > 0:32:54Even though it's not Victorian,

0:32:54 > 0:32:56it has that queasiness as some of those...

0:32:56 > 0:32:58# Ring a ring o' roses... #

0:32:58 > 0:33:00"This is about the plague and we're all going to drop down dead, boom."

0:33:00 > 0:33:02..kind of thing about it,

0:33:02 > 0:33:05which is what I did with the piece.

0:33:05 > 0:33:09# Ashes to ashes Funk to funky

0:33:09 > 0:33:13# We know Major Tom's a junkie

0:33:13 > 0:33:16# Strung out in heaven's high

0:33:16 > 0:33:20# Hitting an all-time low. #

0:33:23 > 0:33:26I guess there's a kind of a voice in there somewhere.

0:33:26 > 0:33:29I think songs like Wild Is The Wind

0:33:29 > 0:33:33is probably as near to a real voice.

0:33:34 > 0:33:37# Love me, love me, love me,

0:33:37 > 0:33:40# Love me, say you do

0:33:45 > 0:33:50# Let me fly away with you

0:33:53 > 0:33:59# For our love is like the wind

0:34:02 > 0:34:05# And wild is the wind

0:34:07 > 0:34:13# Wild is the wind

0:34:13 > 0:34:15# You

0:34:15 > 0:34:19# Touch me

0:34:22 > 0:34:29# I hear the sound of mandolins

0:34:32 > 0:34:38# You

0:34:38 > 0:34:40# Kiss me

0:34:41 > 0:34:49# Oh, with your kiss, my life begins. #

0:34:52 > 0:34:56Claridge's, that most exclusive of hotels in London's West End,

0:34:56 > 0:34:57at lunchtime today.

0:34:57 > 0:35:00Times are hard in the record industry,

0:35:00 > 0:35:02but EMI are celebrating.

0:35:02 > 0:35:05Against serious opposition and for very serious money,

0:35:05 > 0:35:08they've just signed a real superstar.

0:35:08 > 0:35:11Ladies and gentlemen, Mr David Bowie.

0:35:21 > 0:35:24- Can I sit down here?- Yeah, sure.

0:35:24 > 0:35:25No, I can't.

0:35:26 > 0:35:28- I'll sit here, then. - LAUGHTER

0:35:28 > 0:35:30Um... About two days ago,

0:35:30 > 0:35:34EMI Records phoned me up in Australia and said,

0:35:34 > 0:35:37would I like to take a 25-hour flight back,

0:35:37 > 0:35:41come and sit in a room with 75 journalists?

0:35:41 > 0:35:44Over the last year, I've made a couple of movies

0:35:44 > 0:35:47and I've completed an album and a single called Let's Dance,

0:35:47 > 0:35:52and tomorrow tickets go on sale in the UK -

0:35:52 > 0:35:56and in the next few days in the rest of Europe -

0:35:56 > 0:35:58for concert performances in London...

0:35:58 > 0:36:00No other pop performer except perhaps Jagger

0:36:00 > 0:36:02could create quite this interest

0:36:02 > 0:36:06for the media of Europe or pull off the event with quite such style.

0:36:06 > 0:36:09Particularly if they'd just flown in from Australia.

0:36:09 > 0:36:12# Put on your red shoes and dance the blues

0:36:14 > 0:36:16# Let's dance

0:36:16 > 0:36:20# To the song they're playing on the radio

0:36:22 > 0:36:24# Let's sway

0:36:24 > 0:36:28# While colour lights up your face. #

0:36:29 > 0:36:31The new single, Let's Dance,

0:36:31 > 0:36:33shows Bowie changing again

0:36:33 > 0:36:35to New York black funk styles.

0:36:35 > 0:36:39It's his first release for EMI after 12 years with another

0:36:39 > 0:36:41record company, RCA,

0:36:41 > 0:36:44against whom Bowie now makes the remarkable accusation

0:36:44 > 0:36:47that they tried to dictate his style.

0:36:47 > 0:36:51EMI don't give lavish receptions like this very often.

0:36:51 > 0:36:53They won't say how much they paid for Bowie,

0:36:53 > 0:36:57but rumours range from £10 million to £17 million

0:36:57 > 0:36:59for a five-year contract.

0:36:59 > 0:37:02Reportedly so, yes. I'm overwhelmed that I've...

0:37:03 > 0:37:07- Is that anywhere near accurate?- It's absolutely nowhere near accurate.

0:37:07 > 0:37:11- Can you give us a more accurate figure?- Of course not!

0:37:11 > 0:37:14He treated his press conference more like a cool actor than

0:37:14 > 0:37:16a cool pop star,

0:37:16 > 0:37:19almost like some future Dirk Bogarde in the making.

0:37:19 > 0:37:22Thank you very much and good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

0:37:22 > 0:37:23But then he has got two feature films opening

0:37:23 > 0:37:25in the next few months, including

0:37:25 > 0:37:28Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, the first film in seven years

0:37:28 > 0:37:31from Japan's controversial director Nagisa Oshima.

0:37:31 > 0:37:34I always look for characters who have

0:37:34 > 0:37:37either an emotional or a physical limp.

0:37:37 > 0:37:40I find that they are, for me, not being a...

0:37:42 > 0:37:45I don't really see my future in acting to

0:37:45 > 0:37:47a greater extent than my involvement now,

0:37:47 > 0:37:49so I really like to have characters

0:37:49 > 0:37:51that I can at least play around with.

0:37:52 > 0:37:55He asked me my name and my rank, and I told him.

0:37:56 > 0:37:59Then Lieutenant Ito asked me, "Is that true?"

0:38:03 > 0:38:06I replied, "Of course it is, I'm with the British Army."

0:38:06 > 0:38:09Is it worth coming to cope with the pressures of Cannes to sell

0:38:09 > 0:38:11a movie like Merry Christmas?

0:38:13 > 0:38:16I think that a cultural co-production like Merry Christmas

0:38:16 > 0:38:20deserves every pound of help that it can get

0:38:20 > 0:38:22because otherwise it could be relegated to

0:38:22 > 0:38:24a position of an art movie.

0:38:24 > 0:38:25Uh...

0:38:25 > 0:38:27HE SPEAKS FRENCH

0:38:27 > 0:38:31'It's awful, really unbelievably diabolical.'

0:38:31 > 0:38:32I do it very rarely.

0:38:32 > 0:38:37This is like the second time I've done it in God knows how many years,

0:38:37 > 0:38:39but I appreciate the value of doing it.

0:38:39 > 0:38:42There's a time to be public with things.

0:38:42 > 0:38:44I mean, I don't know.

0:38:44 > 0:38:47I've always been a pretty private person,

0:38:47 > 0:38:50but I think that I'm changing somewhat.

0:38:50 > 0:38:52I think it is now important for me as an artist to...

0:38:52 > 0:38:55It's slowly dawned on me that part of an artist's

0:38:55 > 0:38:59responsibility is to make himself open to the people that are

0:38:59 > 0:39:01trying to understand his work.

0:39:01 > 0:39:03I'm still not at ease with the situation,

0:39:03 > 0:39:06but it's...it's making sense now.

0:39:06 > 0:39:09Live Aid, the biggest musical event ever,

0:39:09 > 0:39:11is still going on at Wembley Stadium in London.

0:39:11 > 0:39:15It is being beamed to more than 100 countries around the world

0:39:15 > 0:39:18with about 1.5 billion people watching.

0:39:18 > 0:39:21The aim is to raise £10 million for the starving in Africa.

0:39:21 > 0:39:25# Calling out around the world

0:39:25 > 0:39:27# Are you ready for a brand-new beat?

0:39:28 > 0:39:32# Summer's here and the time is right

0:39:32 > 0:39:35BOTH: # For dancing in the street

0:39:35 > 0:39:38- # Dancing in Chicago - Dancing in the street

0:39:38 > 0:39:42- # Down in New Orleans - Dancing in the street

0:39:42 > 0:39:45- # In New York City - Dancing in the street

0:39:45 > 0:39:48# All we need is music

0:39:48 > 0:39:50- # Sweet music - Sweet music

0:39:50 > 0:39:54- # There'll be music everywhere - Everywhere

0:39:54 > 0:39:58# They'll be swinging, swaying records playing

0:39:58 > 0:40:00# Dancing in the street

0:40:00 > 0:40:02# Whoa

0:40:02 > 0:40:04# It doesn't matter what you wear

0:40:04 > 0:40:08# Just as long as you are there

0:40:08 > 0:40:09# So come on

0:40:09 > 0:40:12# Every guy, grab a girl

0:40:12 > 0:40:16# Everywhere around the world

0:40:16 > 0:40:18# There'll be dancing

0:40:18 > 0:40:22- # Dancing in the street - Dancing in the street. #

0:40:22 > 0:40:24One down and two to go.

0:40:24 > 0:40:26The next film out of the Goldcrest trap is Absolute Beginners,

0:40:26 > 0:40:28which isn't due to be released until Easter.

0:40:31 > 0:40:34# I absolutely love you

0:40:39 > 0:40:42# But we're absolute beginners

0:40:47 > 0:40:51# With eyes completely open

0:40:55 > 0:40:59# But nervous all the same. #

0:41:15 > 0:41:18Your him, aren't you? You're the goblin king!

0:41:21 > 0:41:22What's the word on David?

0:41:26 > 0:41:30'Every age group really has a whole thing about David.

0:41:30 > 0:41:34'And he himself is a very normal, well grounded,

0:41:34 > 0:41:38'straightforward person that is absolutely professional.'

0:41:38 > 0:41:40And if he says, "You do."

0:41:41 > 0:41:43- You do.- Do what?

0:41:43 > 0:41:46INDISTINCT SPEECH

0:41:46 > 0:41:48# I never sailed on a sea

0:41:50 > 0:41:52# I would not challenge a giant

0:41:54 > 0:41:56# I could not take on the Church

0:41:56 > 0:42:01- # Time will crawl - Till the 21st century lose

0:42:01 > 0:42:03# I know a government man

0:42:05 > 0:42:07# He was as blind as the moon

0:42:09 > 0:42:11# He saw the sun in the night

0:42:12 > 0:42:16# He took a top-gun pilot and he... #

0:42:16 > 0:42:20David Bowie was back on stage last night with a new band, Tin Machine.

0:42:20 > 0:42:24Unlike previous performances, this saw Bowie as himself,

0:42:24 > 0:42:25just another member of the band.

0:42:25 > 0:42:27CROWD SCREAMS

0:42:27 > 0:42:31Do you look back on the old sort of Bowie stuff and compare this?

0:42:31 > 0:42:33He just looks at the old Bowie!

0:42:33 > 0:42:35HE LAUGHS

0:42:35 > 0:42:38And now music from a band formed only three years ago.

0:42:38 > 0:42:41The second album and a new single - You Belong In Rock N' Roll.

0:42:41 > 0:42:44Keep an eye on their promising young vocalist.

0:42:44 > 0:42:46LAUGHTER Tin Machine.

0:42:46 > 0:42:47CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:42:47 > 0:42:51# You belong in rock n' roll

0:42:51 > 0:42:55# You belong in rock n' roll

0:42:55 > 0:42:59# You belong in rock n' roll

0:42:59 > 0:43:01# So do I

0:43:03 > 0:43:06# I love how she moves me

0:43:07 > 0:43:13# It makes me feel all right, all right, all right, all right. #

0:43:13 > 0:43:15'I screw up in major ways.

0:43:15 > 0:43:20'I'd much prefer a magnificent disaster than a mediocre success.'

0:43:20 > 0:43:23# I'm a-hurt, I'm a-hurt, I'm a hurting. #

0:43:23 > 0:43:25'I'd be a fool not to be aware of what my contribution

0:43:25 > 0:43:27'has been to music over the years, you know,

0:43:27 > 0:43:30'I kind of hear traces of it here, there and everywhere.'

0:43:32 > 0:43:34I only write for myself.

0:43:34 > 0:43:38I don't take much regard for my audience, whoever they might be.

0:43:38 > 0:43:42# Spaceboy

0:43:42 > 0:43:45# You're sleepy now

0:43:45 > 0:43:48# Your silhouette

0:43:48 > 0:43:51# Is so stationary

0:43:51 > 0:43:54# You're released but your custody calls

0:43:57 > 0:43:59# And I want to be free

0:44:00 > 0:44:03# Don't you want to be free?

0:44:04 > 0:44:06# Do you like girls or boys?

0:44:07 > 0:44:10# It's confusing these days

0:44:11 > 0:44:16# But moon dust will cover you, cover you

0:44:16 > 0:44:20# This chaos is killing me. #

0:44:28 > 0:44:30Neil asked me if he could mix it,

0:44:30 > 0:44:32because he thought it was a big single,

0:44:32 > 0:44:36so I said, "Yeah, I'd love one that the radio played."

0:44:36 > 0:44:40So he went away and mixed it, and now the radio are playing it.

0:44:40 > 0:44:42He knows these things.

0:44:42 > 0:44:44He has these secret ears.

0:44:45 > 0:44:48# Ground to Major Bye-bye, Tom. #

0:44:48 > 0:44:50We cut up the words of Space Odyssey.

0:44:50 > 0:44:52And he phoned up when we were in the studio and he said,

0:44:52 > 0:44:55"Oh, how's it going?" I said, "Well, there's not a second verse,

0:44:55 > 0:44:57"so we cut up the words of Space Odyssey."

0:44:57 > 0:45:00And there was a long pause on the phone and he said,

0:45:00 > 0:45:02"Sounds like I'd better come into the studio, I think."

0:45:02 > 0:45:04And I thought, "Oh, my God, we're in trouble."

0:45:04 > 0:45:07And then he came in, and he laughed, and he really liked it.

0:45:11 > 0:45:14# This chaos is killing me. #

0:45:14 > 0:45:16Me, I'm a very...pretty fulfilled artist.

0:45:16 > 0:45:21I like what I've done on the majority of occasions

0:45:21 > 0:45:26and I'm in exactly the place where I want to be at the moment, so that...

0:45:26 > 0:45:27that for me is a good thing.

0:45:27 > 0:45:31# Little wonder, then Little wonder

0:45:31 > 0:45:34# You little wonder Little wonder, you. #

0:45:34 > 0:45:37If I just do things that I really get off on,

0:45:37 > 0:45:39that I think are exciting,

0:45:39 > 0:45:41I can't guarantee that everybody

0:45:41 > 0:45:45will like it. That's just ridiculous. That's a fantasy.

0:45:45 > 0:45:48But you can guarantee that somebody is going to like it.

0:45:48 > 0:45:50# So far away. #

0:45:57 > 0:46:02Would you be happy with just being remembered as a rock star or a god?

0:46:02 > 0:46:04Um...

0:46:04 > 0:46:06Two things strike me about that.

0:46:06 > 0:46:08One, I'd be happy to be remembered.

0:46:08 > 0:46:09And secondly, by anybody.

0:46:09 > 0:46:12HE LAUGHS

0:46:12 > 0:46:13That's a bonus.

0:46:17 > 0:46:21I must say, I'm very complacent, but frankly, it doesn't bother me.

0:46:21 > 0:46:25I'm very glad that I got this life, and it's a gift,

0:46:25 > 0:46:28and for that I am thankful enough, frankly.

0:46:33 > 0:46:35# Oh, my

0:46:35 > 0:46:38# Naked eyes

0:46:38 > 0:46:41# I should've kept you

0:46:41 > 0:46:43# Should've tried

0:46:44 > 0:46:47# Should've been a wiser

0:46:47 > 0:46:49# Kind of guy

0:46:49 > 0:46:53# I loved you. #

0:46:53 > 0:46:55On a personal level, you don't do drugs any more.

0:46:55 > 0:46:58- No, absolutely not.- And you don't drink.- I don't drink either, no.

0:46:58 > 0:46:59- Not even a glass of wine?- No.

0:46:59 > 0:47:02- It would kill me if I started again. - What do you mean it would kill you?

0:47:02 > 0:47:03I'm an alcoholic,

0:47:03 > 0:47:07so it would be the kiss of death for me to start drinking again.

0:47:07 > 0:47:09And...

0:47:09 > 0:47:13My relationships with my friends, my family,

0:47:13 > 0:47:17everybody around me are so good, and have been for so many years now,

0:47:17 > 0:47:22I wouldn't do anything to destroy that again. You know?

0:47:22 > 0:47:24It's very hard to have relationships

0:47:24 > 0:47:27when you're doing drugs and drinking.

0:47:27 > 0:47:29For me personally, anyway.

0:47:29 > 0:47:34And you become closed off, unreceptive, insensitive,

0:47:34 > 0:47:35all the dreadful things

0:47:35 > 0:47:37that you've heard every other pop singer ever say.

0:47:37 > 0:47:41And I was very lucky that I found my way out of that.

0:47:41 > 0:47:43It's been good for me.

0:47:43 > 0:47:47I've reassessed my life any number of times.

0:47:47 > 0:47:48It is so exciting.

0:47:48 > 0:47:49The crowd are rising up.

0:47:49 > 0:47:52It is the moment we have all been waiting for,

0:47:52 > 0:47:54The Thin White Duke returns to Glastonbury.

0:47:54 > 0:47:58The last time he played here was 1971.

0:47:58 > 0:48:01He is on stage now, let's go and see him. It's David Bowie.

0:48:05 > 0:48:10I'd just written this one the first time I played Glastonbury, 1971.

0:48:11 > 0:48:13Oh, Glastonbury!

0:48:14 > 0:48:17# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

0:48:17 > 0:48:19# Turn and face the strange

0:48:19 > 0:48:20# Woohoo, changes

0:48:20 > 0:48:24# Do you want to have to be a better man?

0:48:24 > 0:48:26# Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

0:48:26 > 0:48:28# Turn and face the strange

0:48:28 > 0:48:31# Woohoo, changes

0:48:31 > 0:48:33# I just wanted to be a better man

0:48:33 > 0:48:36# Time may change me

0:48:36 > 0:48:40# I can't trace time. #

0:48:40 > 0:48:42I never became who I should've been

0:48:42 > 0:48:44until maybe 12, 15 years ago.

0:48:44 > 0:48:46I spent an awful lot of my life,

0:48:46 > 0:48:49as I think most people in the so-called entertainment industry,

0:48:49 > 0:48:51actually looking for myself, you know,

0:48:51 > 0:48:53and understanding what it was that I...

0:48:55 > 0:48:59..what I existed for, what was it that really made me happy in life,

0:48:59 > 0:49:00and who exactly I was,

0:49:00 > 0:49:03and who were the parts of myself I was trying to hide from a lot.

0:49:03 > 0:49:06You know, it's like exposing yourself.

0:49:06 > 0:49:10And I think a lot of us are, one, dysfunctional in show business...

0:49:10 > 0:49:11Show business!

0:49:12 > 0:49:14..pretty dysfunctional and, two,

0:49:14 > 0:49:17in huge senses of denial about who we are

0:49:17 > 0:49:19and where we exist in the world.

0:49:19 > 0:49:22Because some kind of traumatism often goes on in our childhood,

0:49:22 > 0:49:26so I think that it makes us crave some kind of strange affection,

0:49:26 > 0:49:28you know? It's sort of...

0:49:28 > 0:49:31Often, you'll find that the person who craves

0:49:31 > 0:49:33a lot of affection actually isn't terribly good at giving it.

0:49:38 > 0:49:41# They said you took a big trip

0:49:43 > 0:49:46# Said you moved away

0:49:48 > 0:49:51# It happened all so quietly

0:49:51 > 0:49:53# So they say

0:49:58 > 0:50:00# I should've took a picture

0:50:02 > 0:50:05# Something I could keep

0:50:07 > 0:50:11# I'd buy a little frame

0:50:11 > 0:50:12# Something cheap

0:50:16 > 0:50:18# For you

0:50:20 > 0:50:22# Everyone says hi. #

0:50:26 > 0:50:28Are you a New Age father now? Are you...

0:50:28 > 0:50:30doing nappy changing? Come on.

0:50:30 > 0:50:33Uh, no, I'm ridiculously Victorian.

0:50:33 > 0:50:36I'm absolutely hopeless at that kind of thing.

0:50:36 > 0:50:40I've got a huge admiration for guys who can get in there, like that.

0:50:40 > 0:50:42I just can't. Well, I mean, I didn't...

0:50:42 > 0:50:44My wife didn't let me, which was great.

0:50:44 > 0:50:46LAUGHTER

0:50:46 > 0:50:47She said, "Oh, get out of here!"

0:50:47 > 0:50:50And she was like pinning and wrapping things up and,

0:50:50 > 0:50:52you know, I knew there was some kind of...

0:50:52 > 0:50:53something in there was being prepared,

0:50:53 > 0:50:56and at the end of it all, my little daughter came out, "Da-da-da!"

0:50:56 > 0:50:58It was great.

0:50:58 > 0:50:59But I'm good at saying,

0:50:59 > 0:51:02"This is a book, and we're going to look at this," you know?

0:51:02 > 0:51:04- "Come to this museum."- Yeah.

0:51:04 > 0:51:06I'm kind of fairly good like that, I think.

0:51:09 > 0:51:11# Waiting for something

0:51:17 > 0:51:19# Looking for someone

0:51:24 > 0:51:27# Is there no reason?

0:51:32 > 0:51:36# Have I stared too long

0:51:40 > 0:51:43# Whoa-ho-ho

0:51:49 > 0:51:51# Whoa-ho-ho

0:51:53 > 0:52:02# You say you'll leave me. #

0:52:02 > 0:52:05- You've got your old Tony Visconti on it.- Yeah.- Producing it.

0:52:05 > 0:52:07- And he is old as well. - Is he?- Yeah.

0:52:07 > 0:52:09Why did you decide to go back with him?

0:52:09 > 0:52:11He did lots of your early things, didn't he?

0:52:11 > 0:52:14Yeah. We stopped arguing, you know, and it was like...

0:52:14 > 0:52:16It worked out that we started getting on as friends and all that,

0:52:16 > 0:52:19and we'd already done a lot of really good stuff together,

0:52:19 > 0:52:22so it was worth a chance, you know,

0:52:22 > 0:52:25of going back in and seeing what else we could do between us.

0:52:25 > 0:52:26It was...

0:52:26 > 0:52:29I'm really pleased we did. It was a good move. It's a good album.

0:52:37 > 0:52:41# Streets, damp and warm

0:52:43 > 0:52:46# Empty, smell metal

0:52:49 > 0:52:52# Weeds between buildings

0:52:55 > 0:52:58# Pictures on my hard drive

0:53:01 > 0:53:04# But I'm the luckiest guy

0:53:07 > 0:53:10# Not the loneliest guy. #

0:53:13 > 0:53:17I had this poetic, romantic, kind of juvenile idea that I would be dead

0:53:17 > 0:53:20by 30, you know, cos that's what all artists think.

0:53:20 > 0:53:22"I'll be dead by 30," you know, "I'm going to get TB and die."

0:53:22 > 0:53:26Aubrey Beardsley, and all that. But you don't, you know.

0:53:26 > 0:53:29You get past it, and then suddenly you're 30, and you're 40...

0:53:29 > 0:53:32And then you're 50, and 57, and all that,

0:53:32 > 0:53:35and it's a new land, you know?

0:53:35 > 0:53:38- Sure.- I'm a pioneer. Me and my kind.

0:53:38 > 0:53:40- That's right.- "Me and my kind."

0:53:40 > 0:53:44Just sort of scraping the edge of what this thing is about being

0:53:44 > 0:53:45a rock and roller at 57.

0:53:45 > 0:53:48But my revenge is all these bands that are below us,

0:53:48 > 0:53:49they've got to do this.

0:53:49 > 0:53:51So they kind of say,

0:53:51 > 0:53:54"Yeah, they're really old," but secretly they're thinking,

0:53:54 > 0:53:56"I'd better watch how he does it cos I'm going to get there."

0:53:58 > 0:54:01# All the errors

0:54:02 > 0:54:06# Left unlearned

0:54:06 > 0:54:07# Oh

0:54:11 > 0:54:13# But I'm the luckiest guy

0:54:18 > 0:54:20# Not the loneliest guy

0:54:21 > 0:54:23# In the world

0:54:33 > 0:54:34# Not me. #

0:54:44 > 0:54:45He's back.

0:54:45 > 0:54:4940 years after Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars

0:54:49 > 0:54:51and ten years since his last single,

0:54:51 > 0:54:53David Bowie has released a new song.

0:54:53 > 0:54:57It marks the singer's 66th birthday and an album is to follow.

0:54:57 > 0:55:00Our arts editor, Will Gompertz, has been listening.

0:55:00 > 0:55:03Without fanfare or flamboyance...

0:55:07 > 0:55:11..David Bowie simply posted his first new track for a decade

0:55:11 > 0:55:12on the internet.

0:55:23 > 0:55:26It is a sorrowful, nostalgic ballad

0:55:26 > 0:55:27that sees a 66-year-old rock star

0:55:27 > 0:55:31reminiscing about his time spent in Berlin in the 1970s.

0:55:39 > 0:55:42Fans were both surprised and relieved by the track's appearance.

0:55:42 > 0:55:45Some had thought that Bowie had quietly retired,

0:55:45 > 0:55:48others speculated that poor health had incapacitated him.

0:55:54 > 0:55:56I think it's a wonderful song. I think it's heartfelt.

0:55:56 > 0:55:57I think it's poignant.

0:55:57 > 0:55:59But the other thing I love is that we know

0:55:59 > 0:56:01that he's had times of ill health recently,

0:56:01 > 0:56:05and I detect a little bit of kind of fragility in the voice,

0:56:05 > 0:56:09even though it's croony, which is a really endearing thing.

0:56:19 > 0:56:21# Look up here

0:56:21 > 0:56:23# I'm in heaven

0:56:27 > 0:56:31# I've got scars that can't be seen. #

0:56:35 > 0:56:38Tonight at ten, the life and music of David Bowie,

0:56:38 > 0:56:41the rock legend, who's died at the age of 69.

0:56:41 > 0:56:43His career spanned half a century,

0:56:43 > 0:56:48leaving an indelible mark on popular culture around the world.

0:56:48 > 0:56:53# Something happened on the day he died

0:56:53 > 0:56:57# The spirit rose a metre and stepped aside

0:56:57 > 0:57:02# Somebody else took his place and bravely cried

0:57:02 > 0:57:04# I'm a blackstar

0:57:04 > 0:57:07# I'm a blackstar

0:57:07 > 0:57:10# I can't answer why

0:57:10 > 0:57:12# I'm a blackstar

0:57:12 > 0:57:17# Just go with me I'm not a film star

0:57:17 > 0:57:19# I'm-a-take you home

0:57:19 > 0:57:21# I'm a blackstar

0:57:21 > 0:57:24# Take your passport and shoes

0:57:24 > 0:57:26# I'm not a pop star

0:57:26 > 0:57:31# And your sedatives, boo I'm a blackstar

0:57:31 > 0:57:34# Your flash in the pan

0:57:34 > 0:57:36# I'm not a Marvel star

0:57:36 > 0:57:38# I'm the Great I Am

0:57:38 > 0:57:40# I'm a blackstar. #

0:57:42 > 0:57:44He released his final album, Blackstar,

0:57:44 > 0:57:47last week, on his 69th birthday.

0:57:47 > 0:57:50True to form, it was innovative, surprising and,

0:57:50 > 0:57:54in anticipating his own death, visionary.

0:57:54 > 0:57:57David Bowie was a truly great artist

0:57:57 > 0:57:59to the very end.

0:58:11 > 0:58:15# Rebel rebel You've torn your dress

0:58:15 > 0:58:18# Rebel rebel Your face is a mess

0:58:18 > 0:58:22# Rebel rebel How could they know?

0:58:22 > 0:58:25# Hot tramp, I love you so

0:58:33 > 0:58:36# You've got your mother in a whirl

0:58:37 > 0:58:41# She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl

0:58:41 > 0:58:45# Hey, baby Your hair's all right

0:58:45 > 0:58:48# Hey, baby Let's go out tonight

0:58:49 > 0:58:52# Rebel rebel How could they know?

0:58:53 > 0:58:56# Hot tramp, I love you so! #