WEBVTT - Chapter Eleven: MTV Idol (1980-1985) 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:02.360 Off the Record is a production of I Heart Radio. 0:00:06.080 --> 0:00:08.680 David Bowie's face was pressed against the glass of the 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:13.240 helicopter windows that hovered high above Wembley Stadium. From the heavens. 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:16.759 He watched his friend Freddie Mercury on the massive screen below, 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:21.040 presiding over a crowd of eighty thou people. They swayed 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.400 as if a single organism. Though David couldn't hear much 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:26.920 over the relentless thump of the chopper blade, it was 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:29.040 clear that Freddy had them in the palm of his hand. 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.760 Talk about a tough actor follow and in less than 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:40.400 an hour David would have to do just that. It 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:45.199 was July. David was on his way to perform at 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:48.560 the British stage of Live Aid, the Transatlantic All Star 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.800 benefit concert to raise money for Ethiopian famine relief. He 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:54.720 had been one of the first headliners to lend their 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:57.560 name to the event, opening the floodgates for a host 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.080 of rock and roll a listers like Elton John, You 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.480 to The Who and Paul McCartney to sign on. The 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:07.640 weather it thankfully cooperated. It was a beautiful summer's afternoon 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:10.800 without a cloud in the sky. The same couldn't be 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:14.160 said for inside the helicopter, which was fogged by the cigarettes. 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:17.760 David anxiously chain smoked. The pilot could barely see his 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.920 instrument panel through the haze, and begged him repeatedly to stop, 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:24.639 but David just ignored him. He needed something to steady 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:28.080 his nerves. His hands trembled as he drew each cigarette 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:31.000 to his lips. Perhaps it was just the turbulence, but 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:35.600 his whole body seemed to shake. It wasn't the prospect 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.959 of following Queen that had him spooked. Heck those kids, please. 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:42.640 He knew Freddie back when he was just another guy 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.520 selling you's clothes at Kensington Market. David remembered him well. 0:01:47.120 --> 0:01:49.480 Freddie was on his hands and knees one day, fitting 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.120 David with a pair of suede boots when he muttered 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:55.440 something about starting a band of his own. David's only 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.280 experience with success at that point was Space Oddity, but 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:01.240 he was already pretty jaded. Why would you ever want 0:02:01.240 --> 0:02:05.280 to get into this business, he replied. Ultimately. Freddie didn't 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.040 listen to David, probably for the best. From David's present 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.480 point of view in the helicopter, he was doing quite well. 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:20.160 Good for him, No following Queen wasn't a concern, nor 0:02:20.280 --> 0:02:23.040 was the prospect of performing for a televised audience of 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.520 over a billion people in a hundred and ten countries 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.520 around the globe. He wasn't even troubled by the fact 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:31.760 that his band had only rehearsed three times. No, the 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.520 problem was the twelve minute flight from central London to 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:39.200 the stadium. You see, the starman hated to fly. After 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:42.440 years of stubbornly refusing any sort of air travel, he'd 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:47.200 begrudgingly begun taking planes. But helicopters. That was just ridiculous. 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:50.519 What kind of death trap was this? How much longer? 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.320 He constantly asked the pilot during their brief time in 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.000 the air. But it was the only way to get 0:02:56.000 --> 0:02:59.880 to Wembley. Heavy traffic surrounding the stadium made it imposse 0:03:00.000 --> 0:03:02.160 able to get the steady stream of artists in and 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:05.400 out in a timely manner. There was, after all, a 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:10.720 strict schedule to keep The entire event had been timed 0:03:10.720 --> 0:03:14.240 with military precision to keep pace with the satellite broadcast 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:19.280 of the corresponding concert occurring simultaneously across the Pond in Philadelphia. 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.400 Everything about the day had grown somewhat larger in scope 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:26.960 than anyone in anticipated across the country. It was all 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.720 anyone was talking about. There was no escaping it. As 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.639 David drove to the helipad, he could hear the radio 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.760 reports spilling out of every car on the road. The 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:38.960 drive had taken him past the house where he was 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:43.640 born in Brixton, and the sidewalks were eerily quiet. Everyone 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:47.320 was indoors, glued to their television sets, all tuned to 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.960 the same channel. No one had seen anything like this before, 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.240 at least not since the moon landing. There was a 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.480 similar sense of optimism in the air. The Union of 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.640 Talent and Technology seemed to make good on the umanitarian 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:04.080 promise of Woodstock a decade and a half earlier. The 0:04:04.120 --> 0:04:07.000 Flower children had grown up, and now they were in charge, 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:09.680 and they were determined to use their power for good. 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.400 It's a laughable notion when considering the greed is good 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:16.520 ethos of the eighties, but just for one day, a 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:23.359 brighter future seemed in reach. David's helicopter touched down in 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.240 a cricket field behind Wembley, where a motorcid was on 0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:29.560 hand to whisk him inside the stadium. As he exited 0:04:29.600 --> 0:04:32.440 the car and as Cris Blue Suit, a hungry horde 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:37.039 of two photographers scrambled to get their shot to the uninitiated. 0:04:37.120 --> 0:04:40.640 The firestorm of flash bulbs would seem terrifying, but he 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:44.920 loved this bit. The nerves were gone, the flight was over, 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:48.279 The hard part of the day was done. Now only 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.200 had to do. Would sing a few songs in front 0:04:50.200 --> 0:04:54.040 of a billion people, a fifth of the planet. Only 0:04:54.160 --> 0:05:09.600 David Bowie can make him look easy. Hello and welcome 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.080 to Off the Record, the show that goes beyond the 0:05:12.120 --> 0:05:15.279 songs and into the hearts and minds of rock's greatest legends. 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:19.400 I'm your host Jordan Runtug. This season explores the life, 0:05:19.720 --> 0:05:24.080 or rather lives of David Bowie. Today's episode looks at 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.760 David in the eighties, a time that saw him grow 0:05:26.839 --> 0:05:30.440 from a famous artist to a global superstar, A one 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:34.719 man brand bolstered by the fresh force of MTV. David 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:38.600 embraced the exponential growth of mass media and shamelessly corded 0:05:38.640 --> 0:05:42.599 mass popularity. He got it, but the success changed his 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.320 reputation in a way that was irreversible. Up till then, 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:49.800 he was the world's most famous outsider. To all who 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:55.120 felt marginalized or misunderstood. He'd been a towering example of power, strength, 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:59.479 grace and courage. Now his move to the mainstream read 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:01.719 as a reject action of those who felt mothered and 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:05.520 looked to him as their patron voice and guardian. Bowie 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:08.360 himself would struggle with the impact of his creative choices 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.800 in this period. Was he a sellout? It was a 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:25.880 classic case of careful what you wish for. David Bowie 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:28.240 closed out the seventies with the song that began it 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:32.320 for him, Space Oddity. The saga of Major Tom had 0:06:32.360 --> 0:06:35.640 brought David his first notoriety, launching him into the decade 0:06:35.680 --> 0:06:38.960 he'd grow to dominate. Now, he unveiled a new version 0:06:39.000 --> 0:06:41.280 of the track on a New Year's Eve television special 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.680 in Britain. Instead of the technical tour to force heard 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:48.120 on the original, he delivered a stripped down acoustic rendition, 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:52.880 just drums, piano and David's furiously strummed twelve string guitar. 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.200 This new version was striking, almost shocking, and its sparsity. 0:06:58.080 --> 0:07:01.840 Instead of the lushly orchestrated lift off section, he offers 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:06.000 just twelve seconds of silence. The interplay between ground control 0:07:06.000 --> 0:07:10.560 and major Tom becomes an intensely passionate, solitary vocal shorn 0:07:10.600 --> 0:07:13.559 of the production pyrotechnics, it goes from being a theater 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:18.160 piece to something more personal. He was practically naked. David 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.960 Bowie had been many things over the last ten years, 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:26.200 but rarely as unadorned self. It was a fitting way 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:29.000 to end the decade that, as one paper noted, would 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.440 have been pretty boring without him. The musical book end 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:35.440 not only appealed to his sense of dramatic symmetry, but 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.240 also helped him in taking stock of the last ten years. 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.120 The character of Major Tom had come to him in 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:45.040 nineteen sixty nine after years of commercial failures. It was 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.760 a time when his dreams of artistic success were starting 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.720 to fade. He had been dropped by his label and 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:54.200 his girlfriend had just left him. Flash forward a decade. 0:07:54.560 --> 0:07:56.920 He was famous around the globe and was in the 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.000 midst of a messy divorce. He'd gotten what he wants. 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:05.440 It was it worth it? Knowingly or unknowingly. David and 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:09.040 his doomed space Man had been on parallel journeys. Like 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:12.640 Major Tom, David adventured out into the furthest regions of 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:17.880 the human experience, far above the world. Also, like Major Tom, 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.000 he felt like he'd had little choice in the matter. Sure, 0:08:21.000 --> 0:08:22.880 he'd signed up to go on the journey, but he 0:08:22.960 --> 0:08:26.760 hardly realized what it would entail. As the fame, drugs, 0:08:26.840 --> 0:08:30.640 business pressures, and personal problems mounted, he nearly drifted into 0:08:30.680 --> 0:08:34.679 the abyss. The force was just too much to alterra trajectory. 0:08:35.320 --> 0:08:38.440 Life became something that was inflicted on him a series 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:42.560 of increasingly out there occurrences. Often this is the point 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:46.960 when casualties occur. Yet through some combination of strength, will 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:50.840 and luck, he regained control. Towards the end of his 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.520 time in Berlin in the late seventies, he told a 0:08:53.600 --> 0:08:57.559 friend that he had quote grown up at last. David 0:08:57.559 --> 0:09:00.640 would face challenges and pain in the future, but he 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:06.319 would never be quite as lost again. For a man 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.600 who was loath to look backwards, processing his past would 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:13.120 be a crucial part of moving forward. He'd long confounded 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:16.320 critics with as many faces. Now he was searching for 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.640 a through line. You have to accommodate your pasts within 0:09:19.679 --> 0:09:22.480 your persona, he'd later say, of the period. You have 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.360 to understand why you went through them. You cannot just 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:27.120 ignore them or put them out of your mind and 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:30.040 pretend they didn't happen, or just say oh, I was different. 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:33.680 Then he'd absorb all of his alter egos into one, 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:36.959 a strong, self assured artist who could be whatever he 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:41.120 wanted on demand. David Jones would just be David Bowie, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:47.520 the ultimate character. His reflective mood carried over into his creativity. 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:51.160 David poured over old demos and session tapes as he 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:54.040 geared up to start work on a new record. The 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:57.400 remarkable three year creative streak with Brian Eno had yielded 0:09:57.400 --> 0:10:01.360 the groundbreaking records forever known as the Berlin Trilogy, but 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:05.040 now their partnership was coming to an end. A new 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:08.800 decade called for a fresh start. I felt I was 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:12.560 becoming static, David would say, I wanted to break away. 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:15.720 Every few years, I have to redefine what I'm writing. 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:17.880 I had to do it when I went to Berlin, 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.319 and now I had to do it again. His reacquaintance 0:10:21.320 --> 0:10:23.760 with Major Tom inspired him to write an update on 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.960 the Spaceman saga, checking in to see what ten years 0:10:26.960 --> 0:10:30.120 had drift had done to him. The Astronauts journey had 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:33.400 driven him the drugs. Now he was addicted and risk 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.840 taking permanent leave of his senses. Once more, David used 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:41.680 Major Tom as a lyrical proxy for himself. The song 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.840 was called Ashes to Ashes, and he addressed listeners with 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:55.240 uncharacteristic frankness. Do you remember a guy that's been in 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:59.160 such an early song. I've heard a rumor from ground control. 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:04.600 Oh no, don't say it's true. Ashes to Ashes, funk 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:08.840 to funky. We know Major Tom's at junkie strung out 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:15.520 in Heavens High, hitting an all time low too many. 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.120 It seemed to be an almost literal depiction of his 0:11:18.200 --> 0:11:22.280 mid seventies crisis, a time when his music was going 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:25.560 from the funk of young Americans to the supremely funky 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:30.280 avant garde station, the station he battled substance abuse in 0:11:30.280 --> 0:11:34.200 the City of Angels, strung out in Heavens High. Then 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:36.920 he departed for Europe, hitting an all time low that 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.800 ultimately produced the album of the same name. But he 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.880 saves the most damning lines for the lacerating lament of 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:47.960 the bridge. I never done good things. I never done 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:50.920 bad things. I never did anything out of the blue. 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.400 Years later, David would single out the words as crucial 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.880 to understanding as meaning those three particular lines represented in 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.160 tinuing returning feeling of an adequacy over what I've done, 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:06.000 He'd say, I have a lot of reservations about what 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:08.400 I've done, inasmuch as I don't feel much of it 0:12:08.440 --> 0:12:12.440 as any import at all. Denigrating the image of the 0:12:12.480 --> 0:12:15.200 hero from his breakthrough hit was certainly a bold move 0:12:15.240 --> 0:12:19.080 for Bowie. The act of outlining Major Tom's tragic fall 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.520 from Grace had much the same effect of killing off 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:26.160 Siggy Stardust on stage. By destroying his own creation, is 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:29.160 set him free to charge into the new decade, unfettered 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.480 by his past. Perhaps that's why David called the track 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:38.319 ashes to ashes in death. There was a rebirth if 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.520 the song was a chronicle of the rough and tumble 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:43.200 road that had led him to the eighties. The video 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:46.440 featured his first overt acknowledgement of a younger generation of 0:12:46.520 --> 0:12:48.840 artists that had followed in the trail that he blazed. 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.240 Such reckoning is always a bittersweet moment in a pop 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.319 star's life. Rock and roll is, after all, a young 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:59.280 person's game. By acknowledging the younger crowd, you admit that 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.640 you're not a part of it. It's not a long, 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:05.960 logical leap to consider yourself old. Being young didn't interest 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.679 Bowie as much as being new, or at least perceived 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:12.959 as such. Constant reinventions had staved off the inevitable staleness 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.200 that comes with a long career in the public eye. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.160 But being fresh forever it was simply impossible. He was 0:13:19.200 --> 0:13:21.840 only thirty three, but he was already being treated as 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.360 a star from another era. Time was no longer waiting 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:30.800 in the wings, it was beating at his door. Was 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.800 the dawn of the first post Bowie decade, and there 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.959 was already a kind of ziggy revival taking place in Britain. 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.680 The kids whose lives have been forever changed by watching 0:13:40.760 --> 0:13:43.760 David and Veils starman to the masses during his appearance 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.439 on Top of the Pops eight years earlier. We're growing 0:13:46.520 --> 0:13:49.760 up now and in some cases already making names for themselves. 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:54.240 Just look at bands like Joy Division, XTC, Susie and 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.960 The Banshees, and a short time later you too. Even 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:01.880 David's electro experiments with Eno inspired British kids to invest 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:05.600 in since inform groups like Depeche Mode and The Human League. 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:10.040 For a time, David paid little mind to these upstarts. 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.640 Punk had passed him by completely. He'd been in Germany 0:14:13.640 --> 0:14:16.880 when the first wave it crested in London. Aside from 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:20.480 his tour with Iggy Pop, he rarely engaged. But when 0:14:20.480 --> 0:14:23.160 he began to hear electro tinged art pop singles that 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:25.840 seemed to his ears a little too close to his 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.720 recent work, that got his attention real quick. They say 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:34.280 imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Despite David's reputation 0:14:34.400 --> 0:14:38.720 for borrowing influences and styles freely, he wasn't exactly gracious 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:43.880 when people paid him the same uh compliment. David was 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.960 more tolerant of a new subculture springing up around London 0:14:47.320 --> 0:14:51.280 known as the New Romantics. Most were recovering punks who 0:14:51.280 --> 0:14:54.320 become distancing themselves from the movement due to a combination 0:14:54.360 --> 0:14:58.840 of changing tastes and it's increasing reputation for attracting skinheads 0:14:58.840 --> 0:15:03.360 and nationalists. Instead, many punks reverted back to the glam 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:06.920 rock that they've been raised on. The alternative attitude in 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.080 general flamboyance that had led them to mohawks and piercings 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.640 made them feel right at home in the theatrical realm 0:15:12.680 --> 0:15:16.200 of ziggy They suited up in velvet and ruffles, and 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:20.680 decked themselves out and costom jewelry and elaborate sexually ambiguous makeup, 0:15:21.200 --> 0:15:23.840 setting the stage for new waivers like Boy George and 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:28.320 Duran Duran. The burst of nostalgia for the early seventies 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:32.600 sparked renewed passion for Bowie. New romantic dance clubs held 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:36.080 dedicated Bowie Knights where they blasted Jeane Genie and Rebel 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.680 Rebel like it was still in three The most famous 0:15:39.720 --> 0:15:42.600 of these hot spots was called Blitz, a wine bar 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.840 inexplicably decorated with images of the Nazi blitz Creeg from 0:15:45.840 --> 0:15:49.960 World War Two. Every Tuesday, hundreds of Bowie fans turned 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.920 up in their glam finery, forming a line that stretched 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.560 around the block. Admission was not guaranteed. They had a 0:15:56.600 --> 0:15:59.800 pretty strict door policy. Even Mick Jagger was turned away 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:03.560 one night, supposedly for being drunk and borish. But when 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:06.120 Bowie himself showed up to Bowie Knight, they were a 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:09.440 little more accommodating. Hell, it was like God himself had 0:16:09.480 --> 0:16:12.040 showed up, and the crowds parted like the Red Sea. 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:15.320 He'd come not just to check out the scene, but 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.560 also the recruit extras for the Ashes to Ashes music video, 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:21.840 due to be filmed later that week. He rounded up 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:24.880 a handful of suitably stylish clubvers and told them to 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.800 meet at his hotel on a few days. To these 0:16:27.840 --> 0:16:30.840 Bowie worshippers, it was like they died and gotten to Heaven. 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.360 It wasn't heaven exactly, but a frigid beach on the 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:38.760 English coast, not much to look at in person, but 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:42.720 director David Mallett worked as technical magic, turning the visuals 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:46.840 into with jarring fever dream fantasy, using the early computer 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:50.640 graphics program Paintbox the radically alter the colors of the film. 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.560 He rendered the sky a hallucinogenic black and the ocean pink. 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.120 So it seems slightly dated now, this was some of 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.320 the earliest technology available to achieved such an effect, and 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:04.119 its use added to the exorbitant cost of the video 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:08.199 some five hundred thousand dollars then or almost two million 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:11.760 dollars today, making it the most expensive video ever made 0:17:11.760 --> 0:17:15.840 at the time. Bowie appears in several guys is, most 0:17:15.880 --> 0:17:19.440 notably a puro style clown that recalls his early mime days. 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.400 He also donned outfits for a major tom like astronaut 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.760 and an impatient at a psych ward, quite possibly a 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.159 reference to his half brother Terry. He strolls the beach 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.800 draped in these relics of his past, as the new 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:43.120 Romantic Kids follow quite literally in his footsteps. The clip 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:46.200 would be a pivotal moment in the history of music videos, 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.720 helping kick off the MTV age a year early. The 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:52.160 song would be the centerpiece of the new album. David 0:17:52.200 --> 0:17:56.760 began recording with Tony Visconti in February of Night after 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:00.440 years of plucking song fragments from studio experimentations with Eno 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:04.240 or jam sessions with his band. These sessions mark David's 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:08.639 returns to slightly more traditional composition. Rather than improvised the 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.080 lyrics as he'd done for much of the Berlin trilogy, 0:18:11.400 --> 0:18:13.600 he took a two month break to craft the words 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.720 and melodies. His focused approach is reflected in the songs, 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.040 among the most melodic and commercial that he'd produced in years. 0:18:21.760 --> 0:18:25.000 In addition to Ashes to Ashes, another highlight was Fashion, 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:28.760 a relentless dance stomper that took aim at slaves the style. 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.680 In a way. It was the spiritual sequel to his 0:18:31.800 --> 0:18:35.320 song Fane. Deconstructing the image that was so essential to 0:18:35.359 --> 0:18:39.080 the very notion of celebrity. He tackled a similar subject 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.800 on teenage Wildlife on the flip side, Screamed Like a 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.959 Baby is an unsettling tale the ugly price one pays 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.720 for failing to fit in the society. The paranoid themes 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:53.639 continue on the song Scary Monsters, which finds David running 0:18:53.680 --> 0:18:56.960 scared from a stalker. The track would lend its name 0:18:57.000 --> 0:19:00.760 to the album's ultimate title, Scary Monsters and Super Creeps. 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.080 The record was released in September of nineteen eighty, just 0:19:05.160 --> 0:19:08.320 in time for David to conquer a new stage Broadway. 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:11.600 That summary had been offered the lead role in the 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:14.480 production of The Elephant Man. The show was based on 0:19:14.520 --> 0:19:17.920 the life of John Merrick, a severely deformed man whose 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:20.040 job as a circus attraction at the turn of the 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:24.520 century earned him a living but little compassion. David threw 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:27.240 himself into preparation for the role with his usual verve. 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:31.439 He embarked on a self directed research trip, visiting the 0:19:31.440 --> 0:19:35.600 British hospital where Marek had been treated. He examined his clothes, 0:19:36.080 --> 0:19:38.280 including the hood he had been forced to wear to 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.119 shield his disfigured face from the public. He even saw 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.160 his misshapen skeleton, a testament to the extreme physical pain 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:51.800 that Merrik constantly endured, exacerbating his emotional anguish. The experience 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:55.879 left David in tears. It evoked his strongest boyhood feeling 0:19:55.920 --> 0:19:59.480 of being alone. He was especially moved by the model 0:19:59.600 --> 0:20:03.359 Church America, constructed out of cardboard, a poignant symbol of 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:06.679 his desire for beauty and tranquility in his own troubled life. 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:12.119 David felt a kinship for the late Merrick. Both were smart, articulate, 0:20:12.200 --> 0:20:15.320 sensitive souls who spent much of their life as performers 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:20.320 being dismissed as freaks. His co stars were the first 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:24.240 to witness David's stunning portrayal of Merrek. His talent was 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:27.200 bigger than his ego, which is rare. One cast mate 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:31.600 would recall David has showed makeup and prosthetics, fearing that 0:20:31.640 --> 0:20:35.359 it would reduce the character to a caricature. Instead, he 0:20:35.400 --> 0:20:38.560 played him the hard way, with grotesque facial ticks and 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:43.240 torturous movements. The expressions of physical agony were so intense 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:48.080 that he required chiropractic treatment after each performance. His background 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:51.160 as a musician made him an excellent listener, a subtle 0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:55.040 but crucial skill that all actors must master. The winning 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.760 instant praise from his cast mates the pre show jitters remained, 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:01.800 as he told journalists at the time, this is the 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:06.040 most terrifying position I've ever put myself in. Ever. The 0:21:06.080 --> 0:21:08.720 show was scheduled to open in Denver that July, before 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:13.480 moving briefly to Chicago and finally Broadway. David stood backstage 0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:16.040 minutes before the curtain went up for his first performance, 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:24.199 very seriously wondering what on earth am I doing? He 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:27.879 needed the worried the show was a triumph, So is 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:31.480 his Broadway debut that September, which drew a dazzling array 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:35.280 of figures from David's past, like Elizabeth Taylor and Andy Warhol. 0:21:35.880 --> 0:21:38.960 Even his former manager Ken Pitt flew over from England 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.000 to catch a performance. He always knew that David had 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:44.320 what it took to be an actor, even when David 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:47.160 himself couldn't care less, and he was thrilled to see 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:50.399 him on the Great White Way. The reviews were effusive, 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:52.919 and so were the groups of Bowie die hards who 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.640 couldn't resist shouting Starman or Ziggy at some point during 0:21:56.640 --> 0:22:00.880 each show. The cast grew to expect it. They were 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:03.840 disturbed to see how closely David's life mirrored that of 0:22:03.840 --> 0:22:07.159 the circus freak he played on the stage. Everywhere he 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:10.360 went he was chased by mobs of people. Yes, they 0:22:10.400 --> 0:22:14.080 loved him, but it was frightening. Nonetheless, for one show, 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:15.879 he had to be driven to the theater hidden in 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:18.639 a garbage truck and slithered into the venue through a 0:22:18.640 --> 0:22:23.159 basement window. When the show towards Chicago, major hotels were 0:22:23.200 --> 0:22:26.480 unable to guarantee his privacy, so David was forced to 0:22:26.520 --> 0:22:29.399 stay at a grubby apartment above a local department store. 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.400 Even then, his residence was discovered and his clothes were 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.400 stolen by over zealous fans. If he could even call 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:40.280 them fans, it was hard to tell. The line got 0:22:40.280 --> 0:22:43.080 even more blurred when the cast recognized the same group 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:45.720 of six girls who showed up to every performance for 0:22:45.760 --> 0:22:48.840 a week. They were kind of hard to miss, always 0:22:48.840 --> 0:22:51.600 in the front row, with funky clothes and dyed hair. 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:55.359 At first, they thought the kids were just unusually devoted. 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:59.000 Bowie remembered the sweet dedication of the Sigma kids back 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:03.040 in Philly. Then one night, during curtain call, the six 0:23:03.080 --> 0:23:07.000 girls stood up in tandem, clutching metallic items from their purses. 0:23:07.720 --> 0:23:10.479 Security intervened before they could get very far and hustled 0:23:10.520 --> 0:23:12.920 them out of the building, but it was still unsettling. 0:23:13.960 --> 0:23:16.240 David never found out what they intended to do, but 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:22.640 it's doubtful that it was anything good. David arrived home 0:23:22.640 --> 0:23:25.080 there was Manhattan Loft on the night of December eight 0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:30.400 and heard the news John Lennon had been shot murdered 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:34.480 outside his Upper West Side apartment. His wife, Yoko Ono, 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:37.440 was at his side. They were coming home to tuck 0:23:37.480 --> 0:23:41.479 in their five year old son. David's mind went blank. 0:23:42.320 --> 0:23:46.720 The information was impossible to process. His initial numbness soon 0:23:46.760 --> 0:23:49.600 gave way to anger. What the hell is going on 0:23:49.680 --> 0:23:54.359 with this world? He repeatedly screamed between tears. He would 0:23:54.359 --> 0:23:57.040 recall A whole piece of my life seemed to have 0:23:57.080 --> 0:24:00.560 been taken away, A whole reason for being a singer 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:03.520 and songwriter seemed to be removed from me. It was 0:24:03.560 --> 0:24:11.160 almost like a warning. He was left with his memories. 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:14.920 John had gone from a hero to a mentor, an 0:24:14.920 --> 0:24:18.159 elder brother who advised him on business. Being a celebrity 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:22.040 and had to communicate effectively and efficiently through music. It's 0:24:22.160 --> 0:24:24.800 very easy, John told him as they collaborated on the 0:24:24.840 --> 0:24:29.480 track fame In. Say what you mean, make it rhyme 0:24:29.680 --> 0:24:35.480 and put a backbeat to it. It was classic Lennin, honest, unpretentious, 0:24:35.560 --> 0:24:40.640 and achingly sincere. More than just a giver of sage 0:24:40.720 --> 0:24:44.640