The bizarre moment David Bowie rapped alongside Mickey Rourke
It’s almost a scientific fact that David Bowie could do everything. That being said, it still comes as quite a shock that he once rapped with the actor Mickey Rourke in the track ‘Shining Star (Makin’ My Love)’. The 1987 Never Let Me Down effort has retreated into the realm of obscurity since its release, so much so that it proves to be the oddest blind spot you’ll find in his discography, even among the most studious fans.
The album came at a point when Bowie was at the peak of his fame, but perhaps his creative force had dwindled as a result. He had just had two number-one albums in a row with Let’s Dance and Tonight, but Let Me Down failed to make it three on the bounce. “[The great public esteem at that time] meant absolutely nothing to me,” Bowie reflected. “It didn’t make me feel good. I felt dissatisfied with everything I was doing, and eventually, it started showing in my work.”
He despised the record, and, in truth, it may well be his worst. However, the measure of Bowie as an artist is that even when he failed miserably, he did so in the most interesting way. And he didn’t rest there for long either. Following this mishap, he went off and formed Tin Machine and explored other artistic outlets, leaving the rap double act of MC Bowie & Rourke in the shade for good.
At the time, Rourke was filming the movie A Prayer for the Dying in London. The duo hit it off over drink, and the actor asked Bowie if he could feature on one of the songs in his forthcoming album. It’s a bold request, like asking Michelangelo whether you can do a little doodle somewhere on his next ceiling job. However, ultimately, Rourke rattling off the various pitfalls of society happened to be one of the most alluring bits.
“A strange little piece,” Bowie recalled in a Music & Sound Output interview. “Again, it reflects back-to-street situations, and how people are trying to get together in the face of so many disasters and catastrophes, socially around them, never knowing if they’re going to survive it themselves. The one thing they have got to cling on to is each other; although it might resolve into something terrible, it’s the only thing that they’ve got. It’s just a little love song coming out of that environment. A tribute to Smokey Robinson.”
He referred to Rourke’s contribution as “method rapping” and asserted that he had no problem following suit. I tried ‘Shining Star (Makin’ My Love)’ with another voice, and it just sounded wrong,” Bowie explained. “It needed a high, little voice, a bit Smokey Robinson. That never bothered me, changing voices to suit a song. I don’t think it’s character-changing so much. You can fool about with it.”
You can check out the bizarre little gem below.
