David Bowie: Jay Leno Interview

Bowie on the Tonight Show (1993)

I just recently stumbled across this excellent interview and performance Bowie did on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno back in 93.  (See Below)



It once again ensnared me into his oft-maligned and ridiculed 90s era (in particular his early 90s era, immediately post-Tin Machine is regarded as the time period when it was "cool to hate Bowie").  However, what's not to like about early 90s Bowie? It's the first time you see him so incredibly (dare I say effusively) happy after a decade of "mid-life crisis" wandering (both personally and professionally).

Here, he's a newlywed, beaming with pride after his marriage to Iman - in fact, his entire album Black Tie White Noise has a constant, underlying theme of love that's almost treacley sweet in comparison to the usual angsty, somber, never-end-well-actually-secretly-about-a-quest-for-spiritual-enlightenment love songs that he usually writes (although, of course, there's plenty of that in the album too).  Even in the interview, he's beaming with pride about the marriage that he regarded as the most successful thing he ever did.

He's also, as seen in this appearance, someone who has clearly re-discovered his love of making music.  After the commercial 'sell out' disaster of Never Let Me Down and his critical, commercial, and audience "favourite to hate" band Tin Machine, this album feels like it's going back to Bowie's roots.  Sure, there's an element in the album of the "forgettable" (and perhaps "date-able") electronic 90s music that will never make it a Ziggy Stardust.  However, more pervasively is the strong and rigorous underlying structure that makes the album a love letter to the jazz music that Bowie loved.  The R&B and jazz inspiration is never far from the work (musically or lyrically).

Thus, you should definitely watch this performance and interview as well as listen to Black Tie White Noise.  Sure, it's not my favourite album (it ranks, depending on my mood, in the lowest five of his works), but even my least favourite Bowie album is eons ahead of other artists' best work.  And it's well worth your time to see my favourite rocker getting back to doing what he loves with a cheeky grin and a sharp suit, singing (with little ambiguity regarding the message) about some of the best themes/messages in art: the ultimate control/Reality that is God/spirituality, racial reconciliation, and love.

Also, this album was released on my birthday (albeit two years before I was born), so you should listen to it for that reason alone (if nothing else).