The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical spectacle featuring English rock musician David Bowie as the protagonist, held at the Marquee Club in Soho, London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 16, 1973, as part of the series '' The Midnight Special'', and presented the last performance of Bowie as his character Ziggy Stardust.

Lineup and content

The lineup included songs from the albums ''

Aladdin Sane ''Aladdin Sane'' is the sixth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 20April 1973 through RCA Records. The follow-up to his breakthrough ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (1972), it was the fi ...

'' and '' Pin Ups'', as well as a medley of "1984" with the then-unreleased song "Dodo". The title of the show was a play-on-words, referring to the song "

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

" and "floor shows", capturing a transitional moment between the glamorous science fiction of the previous year's '' The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' album and the dark dystopia of the '' Diamond Dogs'' album, released six months later. The live audience was made up of 200 fan club members.

Visual elements

The visual elements of the show referenced the Ziggy Stardust character, who, along with the

Spiders from Mars The Spiders from Mars were rock singer David Bowie's backing band in the early 1970s, and initially consisted of Mick Ronson on guitars, Trevor Bolder on bass guitar, and Mick Woodmansey on drums. The group had its origins in Bowie's earlier ba ...

, had been terminated by Bowie after a performance on July 3, 1973. The troupe of dancers wore crocheted cobweb-like costumes, and Bowie sported outfits designed by Freddi Buretti, Kansai Yamamoto and Natasha Korniloff, most notably a body-stocking outfit with a flame motif, as well as a fishnet full-leotard with stuffed gold lamé hands. The keyhole-cutout half-leotard outfit was inspired by the Dada artist/poet Tristan Tzara's 1921 production of '' La Coeur a Gaz''. The choreography by Matt Mattox featured a sequence of dancers spelling out the words "1980", "Floor" and "Show" with their bodies.

Unauthorized releases

bootleg Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to: * Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially * Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence: ** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...

record of ''The 1980 Floor Show'', titled ''Dollars in Drag - The 1980 Floor Show'', was released by The Amazing Kornyphone Record Label in 1974 (ASIN: B00RC7WEEO). A multi-disc DVD was later issued, showing some of Bowie's and his guests' lavish costumes and including excerpts of rehearsals and false starts.

Cast

* David Bowie – vocals, guitar, tambourine, harmonica * Mick Ronson – electric guitar, backing vocals * Trevor Bolder – electric bass *

Aynsley Dunbar Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Journey, Jefferson Starship, Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, Shuggie Otis, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, David Bowie, Mick R ...

– drums * Mike Garson – keyboards * Mark Carr-Pritchard (AKA Mark Pritchett) – guitar * The Astronettes (

Ava Cherry Ava Cherry is an American singer and model. She collaborated with English musician David Bowie between 1972 and 1975; the two met in New York City when she was a nightclub waitress and Bowie was touring for ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardus ...

, Jason Guess,

Geoffrey MacCormack Geoffrey Alexander MacCormack, better known as Warren Peace, is an English vocalist, composer and dancer best known for his work with David Bowie in the 1970s. Musical career A long-time friend of Bowie since their schooldays in Bromley, Peace ...

) - backup singers

Guests

* Marianne Faithfull * The Troggs * Amanda Lear *

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

Repertoire

Lyrics and music by David Bowie, unless otherwise indicated. * " 1984 / Dodo" * "

Sorrow Sorrow may refer to: * Sorrow (emotion) * ''Sorrow'' (Van Gogh), an 1882 drawing by Vincent van Gogh * "Sorrow" (Bad Religion song), 2001 * "Sorrow" (The McCoys song), also covered by The Merseys and David Bowie * "Sorrow" (Pink Floyd song), ...

" (Feldman / Goldstein / Gottehrer) – A cover of The McCoys * " Bulerias" (David Allen) – Performed by Carmen, a Spanish ''glamenco''/flamenco group produced by Tony Visconti * " Everything's Alright" (Crouch / Konrad / Stavely / James / Karlson) – A cover of The Mojos * " Space Oddity" * "

I Can't Explain "I Can't Explain" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by Pete Townshend, and produced by Shel Talmy. The song was issued as a single on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom, on the Brunswick label, and on the Decca label in Am ...

" ( Pete Townshend) – A cover of The Who * " As Tears Go By" ( Mick Jagger / Keith Richards / Andrew Loog Oldham ) – A cover of The Rolling Stones, performed by Marianne Faithfull * " Time" * "

Wild Thing Wild Thing or Wild Things can refer to: Books and comics * Wild Thing (comics), a 1999 Marvel Comics superheroine in the MC2 alternate future * ''The Wild Things'', a 2009 novel written by Dave Eggers Film and television * ''Wild Thing'' (film), ...

" ( Chip Taylor) – Performed by The Troggs * " The Jean Genie" * " Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" naired performance* " 20th Century Blues" (

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

) – A cover of Noël Coward, performed by Marianne Faithfull * "Can Not Control Myself" ( Reg Presley) – Performed by The Troggs * "Strange Movies" (Reg Presley) – Performed by The Troggs * " I Got You Babe" ( Sonny Bono) – A cover of Sonny & Cher, performed by David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull

Credits

* Stan Harris – director and producer *

Rocco Urbisci Rocco Urbisci is an American director, producer and film and television writer. Urbisci has written films and television shows such as Richard Pryor's ''Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling'', ''The Richard Pryor Show'' and the made for televisio ...

– creative consultant * Jaques Andre – associate producer * Matt Mattox – choreographer * Freddi Burretti – costume designer * Kansai Yamamoto – costume designer * Natasha Korniloff – costume designer * Barbara Daley –

make-up artist A make-up artist, also called a makeup artist, and often shortened to MUA, is an artist whose medium is the human body, applying makeup and prosthetics on others for theatre, television, film, fashion, magazines and other similar productions inc ...

* Billy The Kid – hairdresser * George Underwood –

Graphic Designer A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, ...

* Ken Scott & Ground Control (Robin Mayhew) – mix

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1980 Floor Show, The David Bowie 1970s American television series Rock music television series