The 1980 Floor Show
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,[1] 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, as well as a medley of "1984" with the then-unreleased song "Dodo".[2] The title of the show was a play-on-words, referring to the song "1984" 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.[3] The live audience was made up of 200 fan club members.[4]
Visual elements
The visual elements of the show referenced the Ziggy Stardust character, who, along with the
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.[5]
Cast
- David Bowie – vocals, guitar, tambourine, harmonica
- Mick Ronson – electric guitar, backing vocals
- Trevor Bolder – electric bass
- Aynsley Dunbar – drums
- Mike Garson – keyboards
- Mark Carr-Pritchard (AKA Mark Pritchett) – guitar
- The Astronettes (Geoffrey MacCormack) - backup singers
Guests
Repertoire
Lyrics and music by David Bowie, unless otherwise indicated.
- "1984 / Dodo"
- "Sorrow" (Feldman / Goldstein / Gottehrer) – A cover of The McCoys
- "Bulerias" (David Allen) – Performed by Carmen, a Spanish glamenco/flamenco group produced by Tony Visconti[7]
- "Everything's Alright" (Crouch / Konrad / Stavely / James / Karlson) – A cover of The Mojos
- "Space Oddity"
- "I Can't Explain" (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" (Chip Taylor) – Performed by The Troggs
- "Bullfight" (Roberto Amaral) – Performed by Carmen
- "The Jean Genie"
- "Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" [Unaired performance]
- "20th Century Blues" (Noël Coward) – 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 – 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
- Billy The Kid – hairdresser
- Graphic Designer
- Ken Scott & Ground Control (Robin Mayhew) – mix
References
- ISBN 978-1-85177-737-2.
- ISBN 978-0-307-71699-6.
- ISBN 978-0-857-68290-1.
- ^ ISBN 9780857682901. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
- ^ Thompson, Dave. "David Bowie's best bootlegs". Goldmine: The Music Collector's Magazine. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
- ISBN 978-0857128751. Retrieved January 5, 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-4711-4811-8. Retrieved October 11, 2018.