Floyd Vivino: the comedian who inspired a David Bowie song
In the summer of 2002, David Bowie released his 23rd studio album, Heathen, which marked his first Tony Visconti-produced record since 1980’s highly-acclaimed Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps).
With a healthy mix of commercial singles, abstract lyrical compositions, and a scattering of covers, including those of Neil Young’s ‘I’ve Been Waiting for You’ and ‘Cactus’ by Pixies, Bowie made a triumphant return to form in Heathen after a patchy period over the late 1980s and early-1990s.
“I know how good this album is,” Bowie said of Heathen, per The Complete David Bowie. “It’s an incredibly successful album for me creatively. I wouldn’t change a note of it. […] And it’s given me an unbelievably buoyant kind of confidence as a writer. And I almost feel that I will be writing some of my very best work over the next few years.”
One of the album’s undeniable high points is ‘Slip Away’, a soaring piano-driven ballad that feels at once poignant and rapturous. The track was popular upon its release, but very few knew what the cryptic lyrics pertained to.
The chorus reads: “Don’t forget / To keep your head warm / Twinkle twinkle Uncle Floyd / Watching all the world / And war-torn / How I wonder where you are / Sailing over Coney Island / Twinkle twinkle Uncle Floyd / We were dumb / But you were fun, boy / How I wonder where you are”.
The twinkling Uncle Floyd Bowie sings of in ‘Slip Away’ is the famous New Jersey comedian and pianist Floyd Vivino, who hosted The Uncle Floyd Show for over 20 years from the mid-1970s. The programme initially aired on cable in the New York tri-state area as a children’s show, but thanks to its adult-targetted jokes, it became a show for all ages remembered for its comical puppetry. Bones Boy and Oogie, mentioned in the verses of ‘Slip Away’, are the names of two of Floyd’s puppet companions.
Bowie first became aware of The Uncle Floyd Show in the late 1970s while preparing for his lead role in the Broadway production of The Elephant Man. Floyd first became aware of Bowie’s interest in the show when he attended a live appearance from the cast in January 1981 at New York City’s legendary The Bottom Line nightclub.
The Starman told Floyd that he always had the show on as he was getting ready to perform in The Elephant Man. He also revealed that it was former Beatle John Lennon who had first introduced him to The Uncle Floyd Show. Some two decades later, Bowie called his acquaintance just before Heathen’s release to tell him about ‘Slip Away’.
“Both ‘Slip Away’ and ‘Afraid’ were recorded early last year and as I liked these two so much, I just moved ’em forward to this album. We completely re-recorded ‘Slip Away’ over one of Matt’s great loop parts,” Bowie told Livewire in 2002 while discussing Heathen.
“Back in the late ’70s, everyone that I knew would rush home at a certain point in the afternoon to catch The Uncle Floyd Show. He was on UHF Channel 68, and the show looked like it was done out of his living room in New Jersey. All his pals were involved and it was a hoot. It had that Soupy Sales kind of appeal and though ostensibly aimed at kids, I knew so many people of my age who just wouldn’t miss it. We would be on the floor; it was so funny. Two of the regulars on the show were Oogie and Bones Boy, ridiculous puppets made out of ping-pong balls or some such. They feature in the song. I just loved that show.”
Listen to David Bowie’s ‘Slip Away’ below.
