Mick Jagger admits it was “a real shame” he and David Bowie only collaborated once
As Mick Jagger celebrates the 40th anniversary of ‘Dancing in the Street’, he’s admitted it was “a real shame” that it’s the only time he collaborated with David Bowie.
Exactly 40 years ago, Live Aid was announced by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure at a press conference in order to raise vital funds to tackle the famine in Ethiopia. Additionally, Bowie and Jagger teamed up to record ‘Dancing In The Street’ in aid of Live Aid.
The duo were due to perform the collaboration at Live Aid via satellite link with Bowie at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia. However, these plans were scrapped due to a delay, therefore, they performed separate sets and avoided the song.
Now, four decades later, the video has been rereleased in upgraded 4K on YouTube. Additionally, a limited edition white vinyl 12″ has been announced for release on August 29th.
In a new statement, Jagger has reflected on the joyful experience of recording ‘Dancing in the Street’ within the space of one day in London while Bowie was recording Absolute Beginners in 1985.
“We had such a laugh doing ‘Dancing in the Street‘ with both the song recorded in the studio and the video done in one day. Remarkable how we pulled it off really,” he fondly reminisced.
Jagger continued: “The video is hilarious to watch now. We enjoyed camping it up and trying to impersonate each other’s moves, making it up as we went along. It was the only time David and myself collaborated on anything, which is a real shame.”
Meanwhile, upon release, Bowie proudly explained of the track: “We thought about it on a Thursday night and we just went through a bunch of old songs and thought that ‘Dancing’ was one we both knew very well and then we went into the studio between 7 and 11 on Saturday night and then we went over to the Docklands and shot the video for the rest of the night so we did the whole thing in ten hours, it was great.”
‘Dancing In The Street’ 40th anniversary tracklisting:
Side One
‘Dancing In The Street (Clearmountain Mix)’
‘Dancing In The Street (Instrumental)’
‘Dancing In The Street (Steve Thompson Mix)’
Side Two
‘Dancing In The Street (Edit)’
‘Dancing In The Street (Dub)’
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