Alan yentob cracked actor bowie

It was subsequently performed on the 1974 diamond dogs tour, and was included on the david live album. Luther vandross, robin clark and ava cherry are gathered in a semicircle around him, everyone glancing at their lyric sheets as though theyre actors about to go off book. David bowie bbc imagine 4 april 20 back to cracked. Alan yentob interviews bowie in this enjoyable and intelligently made 15 minute bbc tv feature from 1978. Alan yentobs cracked actor film is forty today david bowie. David bowie probably doesnt want you to see this film. If the book relies mainly on yentob s views and notes, it will be highly misleading. Cracked actor was originally a song from david bowies 1973 album, aladdin sane. David bowie 1975 alan yentob on allmovie a documentary about the glamrock star, filmed in. Due to the madness that was bowie s life around this time, he deemed the title of this track to be suitable for the film. The bbc make some excellent documentaries on musicians. Saw and excellent one on leonard cohen donkeys years ago, and also on david bowie, conducted by alan yentob.

Cracked actor captured david bowie at a fragile stage in his life. Also, much more recently i watched lou reed remembered the bbc then seem to shoot themselves in the foot by not adding dvds of these documentaries to their online shop. About cracked actor this track, taken from the album aladdin sane is about an aging movie stars sexual encounter with a prostitute. Two unreleased david bowie records announced on limited vinyl. Performing over 70 concerts and taking 6 months, bowie and his band stepped on stage each even. Many years ago i spoke to a member of the crew now deceased who remembered the shoot very differently chaos, equipment failures, and not even one single show filmed in its entirety. Dont think my parents were very impressed i was and still am. Clearly on cavetts wavelength, the bbcs alan yentob borrowed the title of a bowie song for cracked actor 1974, a documentary that portrayed the 27yearold chameleon as a. Alan yentob looking back at cracked actor documentary. Hes done a good job of making a great deal of archival material legitimately available even his infamously twitchy, sniffy 1974 interview with dick cavett but cracked actor, broadcast the following year as part of the bbcs omnibus. Cracked actor is notable for being a source for footage of bowies ambitious diamond dogs tour at the time he was a cocaine addict and also for showing bowies fragile mental state during this period. Near the end of alan yentob s documentary cracked actor, bowie is filmed rehearsing a new song. Choreographed by toni basil, and lavishly produced with theatrical special effects, the highbudget stage production was filmed by alan yentob.

The feature was recorded and broadcast during the 1978 isolar ii world tour. As i wrote in the notes for cracked actor live 74, the video footage is apart from earl slicks guitar solo is from the wonderful 1974 alan yentob bbc documentary, cracked actor. Cracked actor is notable for being a source for footage of bowie s ambitious diamond dogs tour at the time he was a cocaine addict and also for showing bowie s fragile mental state during this period. The former is the first official release of this philly dogs tour show from september 1974, some of which was featured in alan yentob s bbc documentary, cracked actor. David bowie arena rock bbc tv, 1978 david bowie news. Alan yentob s famous 1975 bbc doco capturing postziggy bowie in america during the 74 diamond dogs tour chemraddled and alarmingly emaciated, yet lucid and surprisingly open in interviews and in fine voice on stage. At the time he was a cocaine addict and the documentary has become notorious for showing bowie s fragile mental state during this period. David bowie repetition 97 official video tilda swinton on working with david bowie march 2020 recommended books on david bowie. All of the multitrack tapes were finally reunited in. A film about david bowie is a 1975 television documentary film about the musician david bowie, made by alan yentob for the bbcs omnibus strand. Afterwards i was able to chat to alan yentob who told me that he and tony visconti were trying to locate the missing footage with the intention of creating a feature length version of cracked actor for cinema release. He has spent his entire career at the bbc from where he stepped down as creative director in december 2015 and served as chairman of the board of trustees for kids company from 2003 until the collapse of the charity in 2015. Right pushing ahead of the dame david bowie, song by song.

Filmed during bowie s legendary diamond dogs tour in 1974, alan yentob s film revealed a man on. In alan yentob s documentary, bowie sings it to no one and everyone, flicking his hair around. The programme was commissioned by bbc two controller alan yentob, who had a background in serious arts documentaries, but the production team led by michael jackson were mostly from youth programming backgrounds. For this talk which closes bowiefest, alan yentob joins us in conversation with artist jeremy deller about the influential bbc omnibus documentary, cracked actor, which follows an alienated bowie during the diamond dogs tour of america in 1974 cracked actor was filmed at a prolific time in bowie s recording and acting career. Cracked actor is a 1975 television documentary film about the musician david bowie, made by alan yentob for the bbcs omnibus strand. David bowie alan yentobs cracked actor film is forty. Space oddity 1972 picture disc out in june, preorder now. In 1974, david bowie embarked on an extensive tour of america. Cracked actor wikimili, the free encyclopedia wikimili, th. The lyrics in question are for moonage daydream, and the clip is from alan yentob s 1975 documentary cracked actor although bowie was going through a fair amount of chemicals and frayed nerves at the time, this scene is far from a moment of madness.

Closing out cracked actor, the song might be heard as a knowing joke, the parable of the horny bisexual. Cracked actor is a 53minutelong bbc television documentary film about the pop star david bowie. David bowie fans explain the singers otherworldly appeal. The film is a must for fans of bowie to see during this period of transition as he would move from glam to american soul music that would become the basis for his 1975 album young americans. His talent as a producer and director emerged in the early 1970s with the david bowie documentary cracked actor and the star became one of the earliest of. In 1974, the bbcs alan yentob produced cracked actor, a documentary following bowie s us tour in support of the diamond dogs lp, the last of his three glam rock albums. The track also gave its name to alan yentob s documentary of the tour. This track, taken from the album aladdin sane is about an aging movie stars sexual encounter with a prostitute.

Mark wardels cracked actor book the biography of a. Alan yentob born 11 march 1947 is a british television executive and presenter. Notoriously, yentob s expectations of a colourful romp through the glam subculture were confounded, and the film became a disturbing snapshot of bowie s rapid descent. It was produced by bowie s old mate alan yentob, who in 1974, produced the brilliant cracked actor probably the greatest bowie documentary ever made. After killing ziggy off in that july 1973 concert, bowie cultivated a new persona. If bowie hadnt been hobbled by mainmans excesses, he might well have elected not to release a postdiamond dogspreyoung americans live record at all, but if he had, this stunning performance from las universal amphitheater recorded in september 74 for alan yentob s cracked actor bbc documentary wouldve provided ideal. Alan yentobs cracked actor film is forty today im just the space cadet. Taken from cracked actor, alan yentob s 1975 rockumentary about the extraordinary rock star. The resulting documentary, cracked actor, featured a pasty and emaciated bowie.

Cracked actor is an intriguing yet haunting documentary from alan yentob about david bowie in the mid1970s. Cracked actor the album and cracked actor the film draw on the same recordings. Alan yentobs cracked actor film is 45 today david bowie. With the new live album cracked actor, produced by tony visconti, bowie s longestrunning collaborator tries to reconstruct that time, a moment of grand ambivalence. The documentary depicts a drugaddled and fragile bowie. His relationship with his wife, angie, was beginning to falter, there was business problems looming, and he was addicted to cocaine, which caused severe physical debilitation, paranoia and emotional problems. Alan yentob filmed a documentary of david bowie while on tour in 1973.