The Eternal Challenger: I want you to watch these classic music videos by David Bowie now! (Recommended MV #67)
Hello, this is Yoshida.
This is the 67th installment of my series introducing recommended music videos.(Click here for the series magazine)
Everyone, do you know David Bowie?
Although he has already passed away, his music and his way of life still exist vividly and continue to exert influence.
This time, I would like to introduce you to the music videos and the life of David Bowie.
First up is Bowie's biggest hit, and the music video that sparked my interest in him.
It's David Bowie's "Let's Dance." Here you go!
Every frame is picture-perfect, and it feels fresh no matter how many times I watch it.
The pairing with the wonderful song is also excellent.
The strong message is another characteristic of this music video.
David Bowie was a rock musician and actor who began his career in the UK in 1964.
Sadly, he passed away in 2016, but he left behind a great legacy, having released 27 studio albums alone in his lifetime and appearing in over 30 films, including starring roles.
This "Let's Dance" is one of Bowie's biggest hits and signature songs, and it was released as the lead single from his 15th album of the same name in 1983.
Until then, while Bowie was popular in the UK, his popularity in the US was lackluster, and he held the position of a cult rock star, but the album "Let's Dance" became a hit in the US as well, earning him a wide range of fans.
I also became interested in Bowie because of this "Let's Dance," and as usual, I traced back to Bowie's origins.
When I did that, I realized that there were many other Bowies in the past who were different from the Bowie of "Let's Dance."
In other words, albums with completely different styles from "Let's Dance" were released at regular intervals, and it felt like, "Is this the same person?"
And it's not that each album wasn't selling; he would become recognized as a representative artist in that field, only to switch to a completely different style on the next album... and this was a repeating cycle.
When I looked into it, it seems he had a temperament where he couldn't rest unless he tackled new things he was interested in, and he would suddenly discard what he had built up until then to approach the next field.
That's amazing, isn't it?
Usually, people tend to want to stay in a field once they have achieved a certain level of success, but Bowie discarded it without any hesitation.
An eternal challenger—that is my image of David Bowie.
Since I've been talking for a long time, let's move on to the next music video.
It is a song released as the second single from the same 14th album, "Let's Dance."
It's David Bowie's "China Girl."
It has a slightly quirky feel, but it's a music video you can enjoy watching.
The combination with the pop song is also good, and it's a great work that you won't get tired of no matter how many times you watch it.
These "Let's Dance" and "China Girl" have a high quality that brings out the best in Bowie while being enjoyable for many people, both as songs and music videos.
This is because great producers and directors contributed to each of the songs and music videos.
First, regarding the music, the album "Let's Dance" was produced by the one and only Nile Rodgers, and when you hear that, you think, "I see!" right?
Actually, this project is connected to Nile Rodgers.
In the previous installment,"Introducing N*E*R*D's Mysterious Music Videos,"when I wrote about Nile Rodgers guest-performing on Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," I thought, "Come to think of it, I wanted to do a David Bowie feature, so let's make that the next one!" and that is how this content came to be.
Returning to the topic, let's move on to the music videos for "Let's Dance" and "China Girl."
These two music videos were handled by a man named David Mallet, and this David Mallet is not only involved in the production of many famous music videos of the 1980s, but he is also famous for establishing MGMM, a company that mainly handles music video production, with four colleagues and achieving great success.
It could be said that David Bowie's classic masterpieces "Let's Dance" and "China Girl" were created by Bowie's challenging way of life and two great producers and directors.
So, how was this David Bowie feature?
You can see how challenging Bowie was by watching the music videos from the 1970s uploaded on Bowie's YouTube channel.
Please see for yourself how much Bowie has changed. (You might be a little surprised.)
See you next time.