David Bowie and Mick Jagger often go head to head when people start comparing the great rock stars of all time. Most charismatic, most energetic, most iconic: You name it, these two are right there at the top of those lists, and the two men certainly understood and (occasionally) played up this perceived rivalry over the years.
Videos by American Songwriter
When they decided to come together, it was for a good cause—and it turned out to be quite unforgettable, if a tad campy. We’re talking about their duet on the Motown classic “Dancing in the Street,” which the pair recorded as a benefit single and video, the latter of which having debuted on the Live Aid broadcast in 1985.
Bowie Starts the Ball Rolling
In 1984, Bob Geldof brought together a slew of British rock stars for the song “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” with proceeds from the song going to fight the famine raging at that time through the African country of Ethiopia. While Bowie didn’t participate in the song, he did record a spoken-word part for “Feed the World,” the B-side to that single.
“Do They Know It’s Christmas?” spawned the American counterpart song “We Are the World,” and these successful and highly publicized projects eventually culminated in the Live Aid concerts held in London and Philadelphia in July 1985. Considering the idea for Live Aid came only about six months or so before the actual event, it’s amazing the event came together at the magnitude it did.
David Bowie was one of the reasons. He was one of the first artists to commit to perform in England when asked, and that convinced other big names to join. Mick Jagger, who was going through a bit of a rough patch with his Rolling Stones bandmates, agreed to perform in America with Tina Turner. But Bowie and Jagger also decided they’d like to somehow collaborate.
A Dance-Off Pays Off
Bowie and Jagger first had an idea to do a duet across the continents at the Live Aid show, trading verses even though they were separated by thousands of miles. Unfortunately, they couldn’t work out the logistics of how that might work due to satellite delays.
After meeting to try and figure it out, they headed out to blow off some steam at a club, where the two stars tried to outdo each other on the dance floor. That’s where the idea to record a cover of the Martha and the Vandellas’ hit “Dancing in the Street” was born.
Just a few weeks before the Live Aid performance was scheduled, Bowie had assembled an ad hoc band to record the song “Absolute Beginners” for the movie of the same name. Once that was completed, Jagger arrived on the scene as the band was learning “Dancing in the Street.” The musicians were a bit weary from working all day, but Jagger’s energy soon enlivened them, and he and Bowie had the basic track for their cover of “Dancing in the Street” in place in a matter of hours.
Oh, That Video
Live Aid was an event in aid of an extremely serious, somber cause. But Jagger and Bowie made sure the video would inject some silliness and frivolity into the proceedings. Dressed in some very ’80s-appropriate garb, the two men prance and preen for the cameras with devil-may-care flair, ending the whole affair with a synchronized butt shake for good measure.
No one would ever say the version of “Dancing in the Street” the pair threw together could hold a candle to the original, or for that matter, some of the other notable cover takes of the song. And the video looked dated about a week or so after it was released. (In fairness, most videos of that era suffered the same fate).
But it’s all so much fun. The public certainly took it in that spirit, making this version of “Dancing in the Street” a No. 1 in the United Kingdom and a Top-10 single in the U.S. It served its purpose in the moment, since the proceeds from the single went to the cause. In terms of its benefit to posterity, it gave music fans a chance to see David Bowie and Mick Jagger, always seen as quasi-competitors, in a blaze of collaborative glory.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.