David Bowie 1997-04-18 London ,Whitehall Theatre ,Jack Docherty TV Show (soundboard) – SQ 9
01 Dead Man Walking.flac
02 Scary Monsters.flac
On Friday, April 18, he was on the Jack Docherty show. There were 150 VIps and about 200 ticket people. We managed to get the front row. The recording took just under 90 minutes. He was in great form, very playful and witty, this time wearing a leather coat.
First Jack Docherty did a (bad) jokes routine then they installed two seats and mikes for a brilliant and moving acoustic version of Dead Man Walking. They were about 1 minute into the song when DB stopped playing and ex[plained that Reeves’ guitar was not coming out of their monitors. It took a while to get the sound OK, DB was still not 100% satisfied but said they could live with that.
Between this he approached the audience and signed 2 autographs (one of which was my Earthling CD cover!!!!!!). They then played the song again but not before DB mocked the floor manager who was demanding silence from the over enthustiastic audience (90% DB fans). He said she was making him feel like 14 again and started pulling faces at her. They then played the song again. Technicians started removing the mikes and suddenly DB decided to help! He pikes up his and wanted to move it to the left side just to discover that it was connected to the right side of the stage. He made a comment about not having done this for a while. He than disappeared for a cigarette break. When he returned he was asked to walk with Jack to the chair for the camera, he started making a silly robot-walk. all around the stage.
The interview was longer that what was broadcast. They cut the bit when DB corrected the host about the prodigy not being a Drum and Bass band for instance. He said he would not do Ziggy again, would tour in South Africa and could not remember a thing before 1974 but that he read a lot about the seventies!
One of the gimmicks of the show is a giant rat bringing the ratings Ha ha… DB obviously loved the costume because when the full band returned for a very powerful version of Scary Monsters he was wearing the paws and Reeves the head. He then left thanking the delirious and loud audience several times. Later he left the backstage and again signed a couple of autographs. The whole thing was brilliant, relaxed and fun.
