David Bowie: This Is Not America (1985)

 |   |  <1 min read

David Bowie: This Is Not America (1985)

Accidentally catching David Bowie in Labyrinth on television recently reminded just how much he put himself about for a while there.

Recording Peter and the Wolf, singing the Little Drummer Boy with Bing Crosby, strutting with Mick Jagger for Dancing in the Street, the Absolute Beginners and When the Wind Blows soundtracks, knocking off stuff for Labyrinth which allowed him to dance in very tight pants wearing That Hair . . .

And around the same time he teamed up with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny for this hypnotic if rather anodyne tonal piece of obscure sentiment for the soundtrack to John Schlesinger's "bland and boring" (according Australia's Bulletin) espionage film The Falcon and the Snowman.

Metheny spoke about it to Elsewhere in this interview

Suitably mysterious perhaps and the title at least parallels something in the film.

But really, Bowie seemed a bit lost for direction after the success of Let's Dance in '83.

Fortunately Tin Machine was just over the horizon.

Ho ho ho!

For more oddities, one-offs or songs with an interesting backstory check the massive back-catalogue at From the Vaults.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   From the Vaults articles index

Buddy Holly: Blue Days Black Nights (1956)

Buddy Holly: Blue Days Black Nights (1956)

In the year before he became famous with the hit That'll Be the Day in mid '57, Buddy Holly – who was killed in that plane crash 60 years ago in February – unsuccessfully recorded a... > Read more

Asha Bhosle and Mohammad Rafi: Dekho ab to kisko nahin hai khabar (1965)

Asha Bhosle and Mohammad Rafi: Dekho ab to kisko nahin hai khabar (1965)

Amazing what you find by accident on aircraft film channels if you forgo watching the US blockbusters or Lord of the Rings again. On a recent trip between Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne - by... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

RICHARD NUNNS AND TAONGA PUORO (2019): Sounds from darkness into the light

RICHARD NUNNS AND TAONGA PUORO (2019): Sounds from darkness into the light

On Waiheke, one of the islands in the Waitemata Harbour of Auckland, there is a remarkable private museum of musical instruments. It is exceptional in one key detail. As many would know,... > Read more

BILLY CHILDISH: ARCHIVE FROM 1959, CONSIDERED (2009): His rowdy and rough wayward ways . . .

BILLY CHILDISH: ARCHIVE FROM 1959, CONSIDERED (2009): His rowdy and rough wayward ways . . .

While it's feasible to live a happy and productive life never having heard a note of Britain's Billy Childish (b. Steven Hamper, 1954), the question is, “Why would you?” Perhaps the... > Read more