Listen to David Bowie’s classic cover of Elvis Presley’s ‘One Night’
I’ve always figured David Bowie would do a brilliant cover of Elvis Presley. Hell, he even wrote ‘Golden Years’ intending to give it to the star, and when he embarked upon a medley with Cher, his rendition of ‘The King’ was a standout moment. They might be different characters, but their vocal cords certainly share a kinship.
The duo also shared a birthday and in a strange way this forecast Bowie’s future like nominative determinism. As he said himself: “I couldn’t believe it, he was a major hero of mine. And I was probably stupid enough to believe that having the same birthday as him actually meant something.”
This cosmic connection would come to the fore at the end of his career too. His final outing Blackstar shares a name with a little-known Elvis track of the same name (a precursor to ‘Flaming Star’). Whether this was a coincidence or not is hard to tell, but what is for certain is that ‘The Starman’ had a hell of a lot of respect and admiration for ‘The King’.
Sadly, however, their astral plains failed to align. As country star Dwight Yoakam recalled regarding their near collaboration with ‘Golden Years’: “I couldn’t even imagine 1977 David Bowie producing Elvis. It would have been fantastic. It has to be one of the greatest tragedies in pop music history that it didn’t happen, one of the biggest missed opportunities.”
It’s the sort of dream that sets the imagination racing; ‘Golden Year’s could’ve just been the start, we might have ‘The King’s singing a stirring version of ‘Life on Mars’, a Ziggy Stardust revival of ‘Hound Dog’ and a scintillating duet of ‘If I Can Dream’ arranged by Tony Visconti. And by the sound of Bowie’s stunning performance of ‘One Night’ below, they all would’ve been euphoric.
Bowie’s bristling performance of ‘One Night’ back in 2002 is full of unbridled joy and just a hint of a wry smile to boot. What’s more, he also fronts it up with a fascinating story about his trip to Kenya. Above all, it’s a performance that typifies the true transcendence of both Elvis and Bowie, these were no ordinary stars.
