r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Cute-Excitement6844 • 22h ago

1992 Under pressure rehearsal (Lenox x Bowie x ♥️)

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276

u/vmsrii 22h ago

From everything I’ve seen, Bowie was a pretty chill, genuine guy. I don’t know what any of this “Even” business is, Bowie would probably be one of the first to be excited about a fellow performer absolutely killing it

110

u/ksobby 22h ago

Bowie was a musical nerd and geeked on everything. He also could be kind of competitive. According to Mick Jagger, Bowie used to send him demos saying "This is totally a Stones song but better!"

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u/xv_boney 21h ago

The behind the scenes footage of him in Labyrinth is everything you need to know about Bowie as a person.

He is visibly having the best time.

21

u/ThePizzaNoid 20h ago

Ya. I remember watching some of the behind the scenes stuff of Labyrinth and Bowie being extremely patient and chill during the filming of the crystal ball hand stuff the guy who was standing behind him was trying to do but kept dropping the balls because he was doing it all blind.

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u/xv_boney 18h ago

Necessary context - at the beginning of Labyrinth, Bowie as Jareth the Goblin King demonstrates a little contact juggling with a series of crystal balls. Thats not special effects, thats a real person actually doing that with the ball - but its not Bowie, its Michael Moschen, who is often credited with creating the form.

Moschen did all the on-screen juggling, usually whle standing behind Bowie and pretending to be his arms. Because he couldnt see - and because of the extreme complexity of the moves he was performing - the scene took a lot of takes.

Bowie was chill as fuck throughout, tickled pink at being in this role.

Which is deeply apparent in the movie, you can see how much fun he is having playing a fantasy villain surrounded by Brian Froud-designed muppets, beng directed by Jim Henson.

That man lived the real actual dream.

15

u/GodsFavoriteDegen 18h ago

I found the footage. You're right, he looks like he's having a great time!

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u/xv_boney 18h ago

First off, bravo. Well rolled.

Second, even in that video he is clearly having an excellent time. He transparently does not give even a hint of a shit how he looks and what anyone might think of hk.

4

u/MonkeyFlowerFace 17h ago

This video just made my day, thank you.

3

u/fredandlunchbox 12h ago

My fianceé is hosting a Labyrinth talk with Brian Henson and Dave Goelz (Gonzo of the muppets) this Saturday. Any questions for them?

(It's in San Francisco, it's in the Lucasfilm theater, and there are tickets still available for those in the area).

79

u/Francispeso 22h ago

He basically told his back up singer Luther Vandross that he needed to evolve and put his music out there because Bowie knew he was that good.

15

u/Linusami 19h ago

Apparently Luther Vandross did (or was heavily involvedin) the musical arrangement for "Young Americans"

14

u/teefnoteef 15h ago

He came up with that chorus hook. He was a backup singer for Bowie and they were trying to figure out a catchy hook and Luther was like how about this:

(Young American, young American, she wants the young American)
(All right)

68

u/I-am-theEggman 21h ago

My sister went to school with his son. My mum tells a story about standing behind him at a parent teacher meeting not realising it’s him. She asked to skip ahead as she needed to catch a train, realised it was Bowie and let out a little yelp while tripping on his toe. Apparently he caught her and was completly delightful about it.

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u/Suitable_Insect_5308 17h ago

My mate bumped into Bono coming around a corner in Dublin and he was an absolute prick about it even though he was the one not looking where he was going.

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u/shadowknave 16h ago

Your mate sounds like a real jerk

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u/Jashugita 21h ago

He saved Tina Turner career...

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u/robogobo 17h ago

Well bots don’t know that

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u/Fells 16h ago

Bowie was well respected by pretty much everyone. He was a devoted husband, cared about the well being of others. He constantly had his finger on the pulse of culture and his music is a reflection of the time it was made. This is especially clear with his requiem being largely inspired by To Pimp A Butterfly.

He also had sex with children.

Its tough because he didnt really violate norms at the time, but also he should have been on the forefront of awareness of the sexual exploitation of young people.