David Bowie/Japan Broadcast 1983

This week, as we approach “Bowie in 1983” with 100% live audience recording, we will present you with a radio album that further reveals “Bowie’s true face”. This work was taken when he appeared on the Japanese radio program “SOUND STREET”. Bowie, who was visiting Japan on the “SERIOUS MOONLIGHT JAPAN TOUR 1983”, appeared as a guest on the day when he was in charge of the DJ who co-starred in the movie “Christmas on the Battlefield”. A special program called “Playing Bowie’s Favorite Songs” was broadcast. This work is that air check tape. The program was hosted by the DJ, Bowie, and a well-known British music critic who acted as an interpreter. We will talk while playing a selection of Bowie songs. The song selections include numbers by P.I.L., ALAN FREED & HIS ROCK, VELVET UNDERGROUND, JACKIE WILSON, and LITTLE RICHARD. Best of all, Bowie’s comments about his thoughts on the song are really good. “LITTLE RICHARD was the reason I wanted to pursue music.” “I wanted to play the saxophone when I listened to ALAN FREED & HIS ROCK when I was little. That’s why I’m opening for him on this tour.” “JACKIE WILSON is one of the few He collapsed on stage a year ago and is still in critical condition (he passed away two months after this broadcast).It’s so sad,” he says, expressing his feelings towards his roots. I thought it would be filled with such roots music, but P.I.L. and VELVET UNDERGROUND, who debuted at the same time, also selected songs. There, DJs and critics are included, and it’s amazing to have honest conversations between musicians who have gone through the new wave, and between friends. “It’s ridiculously monotonous, but it works. This is the only song I like about P.I.L.” “When I listen to the Velvets after the new wave storm is over, I can feel the sparkling originality of the original.” “YMO is a strip song. It goes well too (lol)” and so on. The conversation then expanded to include how he views classical and pop music, as well as his antennae for other genres, with Bowie saying, “If your perspective on music becomes narrow, your own music will also be limited. That’s sad.” If you think about it, Bowie himself was in Berlin, a time when he was passing through the new wave and trying to become a pop star, so these are really heavy words. The three of them seemed to be talking about music without stopping, and were excited even while the songs were being played. Before JACKIE WILSON, we were probably talking about the song, but by the time it was over, we were talking about creating the sound. There, he also expressed his own personal experience, saying things like, “For ‘STATION TO STATION’ and ‘LOW,’ I messed around with various equipment, but recently I’ve been aiming for a simple and easy-to-understand sound.I went too far with ‘LOW’.” The comments are interesting. In any case, when it comes to Japanese broadcasts, there are many shallow ones that resemble “the entertainment world,” but this work is on a completely different level. When asked the question, “What do you think about being in Japan for the first time in five years?”, which even an entertainment reporter might ask, Bowie responds from a music/art perspective, while the other two respond head-on. This is not just a conversation between music lovers, but a talk between three people who have chosen music as their career and way of life. There are no complicated music theory stories, but it is a deep world where the real feelings that have been carried out are exuded from every joke to every word. “The true face of Bowie the musician” comes to mind because we are friends, and we are friends. This is a valuable piece where you can meet him. We’d like to give you a moment to talk with Bowie as “music lovers.” Broadcast: 22nd November 1983 Public Image Ltd – (This is Not a) Love Song / Alan Freed & His Rock – Right Now, Right Now elvet Underground – Here She Comes Now / Jackie Wilson – Lonely Teardrops Little Richard – True Fine Mama