The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical spectacle featuring English rock musician

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

as the protagonist, held at the

Marquee Club The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...

in Soho, London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

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'' and ''

Pin Ups ''Pin Ups'' (also referred to as ''Pinups'' and ''Pin-Ups'') is the seventh studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 19October 1973 through RCA Records. Devised as a "stop-gap" album to appease his record label, it is a cove ...

'', as well as a medley of "1984" with the then-unreleased song "Dodo". The title of the show was a

play-on-words Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

, 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 Southeas ...

" 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 ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'') is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-pr ...

'' album and the dark dystopia of the ''

Diamond Dogs ''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 at Olympic and Island Studios in London and Ludolph Studios i ...

'' 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 was a Japanese fashion designer, most influential during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life and career Kansai was born in 1944 in Yokohama, Japan. He focused on civil engineering in high school, and majored in English at the Nippon University ...

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 Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

artist/poet

Tristan Tzara Tristan Tzara (; ; born Samuel or Samy Rosenstock, also known as S. Samyro; – 25 December 1963) was a Romanian and French avant-garde poet, essayist and performance artist. Also active as a journalist, playwright, literary and art critic, comp ...

'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

A bootleg 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

– vocals, guitar, tambourine, harmonica *

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

– electric guitar, backing vocals *

Trevor Bolder Trevor Bolder (9 June 1950 – 21 May 2013) was an English rock musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his long association with Uriah Heep and his tenure with the Spiders from Mars, the backing band for David Bowie, a ...

– electric bass * Aynsley Dunbar – drums *

Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Brookly ...

– keyboards * Mark Carr-Pritchard (AKA Mark Pritchett) – guitar * The Astronettes ( Ava Cherry, Jason Guess, Geoffrey MacCormack) - backup singers

Guests

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", " With a Girl Like You" and " Love Is All Around", all ...

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

* Carmen

Repertoire

Lyrics and music by David Bowie, unless otherwise indicated. * " 1984 / Dodo" * " Sorrow" (Feldman / Goldstein / Gottehrer) – A cover of

The McCoys The McCoys were a rock group formed in Union City, Indiana, United States, in 1962. They are best known for their 1965 hit single " Hang On Sloopy". Their name was changed from Rick and the Raiders to The McCoys, taken from the B-side of The ...

* " Bulerias" (David Allen) – Performed by Carmen, a Spanish ''glamenco''/flamenco group produced by

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

* " Everything's Alright" (Crouch / Konrad / Stavely / James / Karlson) – A cover of

The Mojos The Mojos were a British beat group from the 1960s, best known for their hit UK single, " Everything's Alright", with two other singles charting low in the UK Singles Chart in 1964. Biography The band formed under the name the Nomads as a ...

* "

Space Oddity "Space Oddity" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album ''David Bowie''. After the commercial f ...

" * " I Can't Explain" (

Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...

) – A cover of

The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...

* " As Tears Go By" (

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

Andrew Loog Oldham Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Loog Oldha ...

) – A cover of

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

, performed by Marianne Faithfull * "

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

" * " Wild Thing" (

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". Early life Taylor was born on March 21, 1940, in Yonkers, New York. He is the brother of ...

) – Performed by The Troggs * "

The Jean Genie "The Jean Genie" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released in November 1972 as the lead single to his 1973 album ''Aladdin Sane''. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowie recorded it with his backing band the Spiders from ...

" * "

Rock 'n' Roll Suicide "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" is a song by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, originally released as the closing track on the album ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' on 16 June 1972. Co-produced by Ken Scott, Bowi ...

" naired performance* " 20th Century Blues" ( Noël Coward) – A cover of Noël Coward, performed by Marianne Faithfull * "Can Not Control Myself" (

Reg Presley Reginald Maurice Ball (12 June 1941 – 4 February 2013), known professionally as Reg Presley, was an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer with the 1960s rock and roll band the Troggs, whose hits included " Wild Thing" (#1 on th ...

) – Performed by The Troggs * "Strange Movies" (Reg Presley) – Performed by The Troggs * "

I Got You Babe "I Got You Babe" is a song performed by Sonny & Cher and written by Sonny Bono. It was the first single taken from their debut studio album '' Look at Us''. In August 1965, their single spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 1 ...

" (

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

) – A cover of

Sonny & Cher Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of husband and wife Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector. The pair f ...

, performed by David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull

Credits

* Stan Harris – director and producer * Rocco Urbisci – creative consultant * Jaques Andre – associate producer *

Matt Mattox Matt Mattox (August 16, 1921 – February 18, 2013) was an American jazz and ballet dancer. He was a Broadway performer and a specialty dancer in many Hollywood musicals. His best-known film role was as Caleb Pontipee in the 1954 film ''Seven Brid ...

– choreographer * Freddi Burretti –

costume designer A costume designer is a person who designs costumes for a film, stage production or television show. The role of the costume designer is to create the characters' outfits or costumes and balance the scenes with texture and colour, etc. The costume ...

– costume designer * Natasha Korniloff – costume designer * Barbara Daley – make-up artist * Billy The Kid – hairdresser * George Underwood – Graphic Designer *

Ken Scott Ken Scott (born 20 April 1947) is a British record producer and engineer known for being one of the five main engineers for the Beatles, as well as engineering Elton John, Pink Floyd, Procol Harum, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Duran Duran, the Jeff B ...

& Ground Control (Robin Mayhew) – mix

References

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