''Jazzin' for Blue Jean'' is a 21-minute short film featuring

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

and directed by

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...

. It was created to promote Bowie's single " Blue Jean" in 1984David Bowie: Best of Bowie (2002)
/ref> and released as a video single. The film won the

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Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for " Best Video, Short Form" (later renamed "Best Music Video"), which proved to be Bowie's only competitive Grammy Award during his lifetime.

Background

''Jazzin' for Blue Jean'' was shot in August 1984 and features Bowie in dual roles: as Vic, a man with his eye on a girl and as Screaming Lord Byron, a flamboyant rock star whose forthcoming gig provides the man with a date. Bowie performs "Blue Jean" as Byron towards the end of the film; a shorter music video for "Blue Jean" was shot a few days later. ''Jazzin' for Blue Jean'' led Bowie and Temple to work together for the movie '' Absolute Beginners'' (1986).

Plot

The film depicts the adventures of the socially incompetent Vic (played by Bowie) as he tries to win the affections of a beautiful girl by claiming to personally know her favourite rock star, Screaming Lord Byron (also played by Bowie). Rightfully disbelieving him, she challenges Vic to introduce her to him. They make a date for a Screaming Lord Byron show, where Vic attempts to sneak backstage to convince a cowering, paranoid Mr. Screaming to come say hello to him and the girl after the show. Screaming does come to Vic's table after the show and says hello to him and the girl, but the girl and Screaming Lord Byron have already met (in Peru), and she leaves with the rock star instead of Vic. As they drive off, Bowie breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...

and asks the director why the story changed from his concept.

Track listing

* "Don't Look Down" (from ''

Tonight Tonight may refer to: Television * ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC * ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...

'') oundtrack only* "

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" (from '' Low'') oundtrack only* " Blue Jean" (from ''Tonight'') usic video

Cast and crew

The main cast and crew of the film:

Cast

* Screaming Lord Byron / Vic - David Bowie, with Screaming Lord Byron being a dual-allusion and parody of

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

and Screaming Lord Sutch. * "The Dream" - Louise Scott * Screaming's Band - Paul Ridgeley, Richard Fairbrass, Daryl Humpries * Bowie's stand-in - Ian Ellis * Ticket girl - Eve Ferret

Crew

* Director -

* Conceived by - David Bowie * Screenplay - Terry Johnson * Choreographer - David Toguri

Production

Shot at the Prince Alfred pub in

Maida Vale Maida Vale ( ) is an affluent residential district in North West London, England, north of Paddington, southwest of St John's Wood and south of Kilburn, on Edgware Road. It is part of the City of Westminster and is northwest of Charing C ...

, the Coal Hole pub at the Strand and the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

also at the Strand.

Production notes

Three different Bowie songs are played during the video, namely "Don't Look Down," (from ''

''), "

" (from '' Low'') and "Blue Jean" (also from ''Tonight''). The video footage playing in the pub is from the performance in the club at the conclusion of the film.

Releases

The film was released on home video on VHS and Betamax formats by Sony Home Video in North America, EMI/Picture Music International in the UK, and on Laserdisc by Pioneer Artists in Japan (12" and 8", with analog stereo sound) and North America (12", digital and analog sound). The home video version was first converted to PAL for the UK, with the speed increased from 24 frames per second to 25fps, giving it a run time of 20 minutes. The NTSC (North America, Japan) version, converted from PAL, maintains the 20 minute run time. The video later appears as an

easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian holiday of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are commonly used during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The ...

hidden on the ''

Best of Bowie ''Best of Bowie'' is a greatest hits album by English recording artist David Bowie. Released in October 2002, four months after the critical and commercial success of the '' Heathen'' album, the songs range from his second album, ''David Bowi ...

'' DVDs. It is slightly modified: in the club where the girl is watching a Screaming Lord Byron video, the screen originally showed footage of the very same concert she and Vic would later attend. On the DVD version, a different promotional video for the song is overlaid on the screen – this is also the trigger for another easter egg, which is itself that alternate video. The portion of the movie where Screaming Lord Byron performs the song "Blue Jean" in front of the crowd was used as the standard-length music video and clocks in at just over three minutes. This short music video is a straight edit out of ''Jazzin' For Blue Jean'' and later appeared on 1993's '' David Bowie - The Video Collection''.

References

External links

* {{Grammy Award for Best Music Video David Bowie video albums 1984 short films 1984 films Grammy Award for Best Short Form Music Video Music videos directed by Julien Temple 1980s English-language films English-language short films