Switch on the TV we may pick him up on Channel Two…
With the amount of TV and radio advertising it has received, nobody in the UK, (or indeed anybody who reads these pages) can have escaped the fact that tonight’s episode of
One thing I can guarantee after tonight’s broadcast, is that you will come away with one of the most bizarre Bowie songs you’ve ever heard stuck in your head. Indeed, See His Pug-Nosed Face (or whatever title the song will become known as) is destined to become to David Bowie what My Lovely Horse became to The Divine Comedy. Father Ted fans will understand the connection.
Please also note that viewers outside of the UK can watch the Bowie episode
Meanwhile ahead of tonight’s show, today’s Daily Telegraph in the UK has the above blurb on its front page, with a full-page feature inside entitled: Thin white duke and the short fat duck.
The item is part of a regular Telegraph feature entitled Perfect Playlist, that we’ve featured on these pages before. (02.24.05 NEWS: DOWNLOAD TEN OF BOWIE’S BEST FOR A FIVER).
The theme of this week’s is Ricky Gervais’ favourite David Bowie songs, and here’s an excerpt:
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It?s not often you?ll hear Ricky Gervais gushing. But ask him about David Bowie and there is no stopping him. “He?s a hero, and I feel obliged to admit how important he has been to me.
Apart from Mohammed Ali, there hasn?t been anyone else who has come close as an icon. I?ve been a fan for about 35 years and now a friend for a couple.”
Their friendship began in 2001 after someone gave Bowie a copy of The Office and he emailed Gervais.
“It wasn?t a disappointment when I met him because he?s a normal, grounded human being. You don?t meet David Bowie: you meet David Jones, the bloke who was born in South London, and through integrity and hard work became the biggest star on the earth. He?s not a space alien who talks about spiders.
“He?s a very funny, dry, erudite bloke. I imagine him in a nuclear bunker in New York surrounded by lots of television screens like The Man Who Fell to Earth. But most of all he is very sweet.”
So it?s no surprise that Bowie makes a guest appearance tonight in Gervais?s new series of Extras, or that he is the only celebrity who doesn?t get sent up.
“We don?t take the piss out of him; in fact, he really humiliates the main character Andy Millman.”
Getting Gervais to choose his perfect Bowie playlist is a challenge.”?I could name 10 songs just from two albums. I?m a bit of nerd on the subject.”
“There?s never been a Bowie album that I didn?t like. He?s an auteur and I think he?s right that there should be a certain snobbery in art because its not for debate, its not a democracy, you?ve got to be a complete fascist and if you don?t believe you?re doing the absolute best that you can do there is no point doing it. I despise performers now who say they are doing it so they can buy a house with their advance. Bowie did it because it was his life.”
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I’ll leave you with the ten songs Ricky chose, and you can read what he had to say about them by clicking on the Telegraph blurb above.
01 – Letter To Hermione
02 – Life On Mars?
03 – Lady Stardust
04 – The Jean Genie
05 – Sweet Thing
06 – Rock ‘n’ Roll With Me
07 – Can You Hear Me
08 – Station To Station
09 – “Heroes”
10 – Ashes To Ashes