“Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Lift Off”
The latest Radio Times (dated 2nd-8th February), has a five-page Bowie cover feature in celebration of Francis Whately’s David Bowie: Finding Fame. (Was David Bowie: The First Five Years)
Here’s an edited excerpt with exciting news from the piece...
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Francis Whately is nervously excited. While he sweats, an incredibly rare piece of TV footage is being slowly “baked” – the moisture tentatively extracted from a degraded recording containing a performance by David Bowie not seen in nearly 50 years. The footage in question reveals Ziggy Stardust’s “birth” on TV, a moment in broadcast and music history long considered lost. “For fans, it is something of a Holy Grail,” says Whately.
It was broadcast on 15 June 1972, on an ITV children’s pop show called Lift Off with Ayshea, but was wiped from the official archives and has long been regarded as missing presumed extinct. Then, a few months ago, professional “tape diggers” found a fragile recording of it made by the owner off his TV.
“It would fall apart if we played it, so it’s had to be very carefully restored,” says Whately. “It will be a real coup if it comes off.”
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Well, even if Starman isn't ready in time for broadcast, you can rest assured that the content of David Bowie: Finding Fame will still leave you feeling satisfied.
Aside from other promised surprises, here are a few of the contributors...
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Kristina Amadeus - Bowie’s close cousin from south London and New York resident in the early 1970s: Whately has encouraged Kristina to talk for the first time on camera about the restlessly creative boy she knew back then.
Hermione Farthingale - all singing all dancing girlfriend: Whately says it “took months” to persuade the deeply private Farthingale to finally talk to him.
Phil Lancaster - Drummer in the Lower Third: “We talked about books – we loved Jack Kerouac – and had the same sense of humour.”
Geoff MacCormack - Lifelong friend and photographer: “David’s dad bought him lots of records, and we both loved a [1957 doo-wop] song called I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent by Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers. When David released his 2013 album The Next Day, I sent him an email saying, “Lovely album, well done, young man,” or something equally silly. And he replied, all those years later: “It’s not I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent, but it’s something!”.”
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Due to the down to the wire edits and Starman baking times, it's possible that the advertised broadcast date and time could change. We'll update you here as soon as we have the final confirmed details.
Read more about David Bowie: Finding Fame here.
The Radio Times is out now.
#BowieTheFirstFiveYears #DavidBowieFindingFame