Bowie and Jagger: Dancing In The Street

Here's one last post to end my recent series about Live Aid. David Bowie and Mick Jagger teamed up to create this song and video, which was played at the Live Aid concert. Its a re-make of the classic '60s song by Martha and the Vandellas. According to Wikipedia:

The video was shown twice at the Live Aid event. Soon 

afterwards the track was issued as a single, with all 

profits going to the charity. "Dancing in the Street" topped the 

UK charts for four weeks, and reached number seven in 

the United States. Bowie and Jagger would perform the song 

once more, at the Prince's Trust Concert on June 20, 1986. 

This Bowie-Jagger collaboration also fits well with comments made in one of my prior posts about the unique duets which were responsible for the song "State of Shock," which was originally meant to be a duet between Michael Jackson and Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, but then became a Jackson-Jagger duet, and was performed by Jagger and Tina Turner at Live Aid. Jagger appears to have been quite busy in '85.

Memories of Live Aid '85

This is a follow up to my recent post about Live Aid, the enormous two-city concert held in 1985 as a culmination to a number of celebrity efforts at drawing attention to a devastating famine in Africa.

I remember the day Live Aid occurred vividly: Saturday, July 13, 1985.

I was 15 at the time. Being the music and pop culture geek that I was, even at that age, I was immediately drawn to the event. It was, to me, a historical event in music (and in rock music in particular), on par with Woodstock, and other such monumental concerts. I still feel that way about it.

I followed the coverage of it from the start of the day. At first, it was mostly via radio. One of the radio stations I frequently listened to, an album rock station, had all day coverage, and I listened to it as if it were the greatest thing that ever happened. At one point in the day, my family even left for an outing, and I came along, with my Walkman radio in hand, still listening to the event Joan Baez (referring to our generation) called "your Woodstock."  

There were several interesting moments, including reunions from various major bands, including Led Zeppelin (with Phil Collins substituting for deceased drummer John Bonham); The Who; Crosby, Stills Nash & Young; and Black Sabbath.


There was even talk and rumors about a reunion of the three remaining Beatles (as John Lennon had sadly been taken from us by that time). The commentators on the radio who were covering the concerts mentioned it.  Alas, it was not to be.

At the end of the day, at least where I lived, television picked up coverage. I remember vividly this performance by Tina Turner and Mick Jagger.

The first song they are sang was "State of Shock," a song originally sung, in one of the most unusual duets of the '80s, by Michael Jackson and Mick Jagger. The song is off of the Jackson's album, Victory. I've got to do a post about that unique duet sometime!

Live Aid 1985

On July 13, 1985, one of the most amazing concerts ever occurred, and became one of the defining moment of those of us who grew up in the 1980s. It was called Live Aid, and it was the culmination of an effort by the musical community in the mid '80s to bring attention to the victims of a devastating African famine. While the cause was good, it also served the purpose of bringing together an incredible collection of musicians for one incredible day of music.

On of the prime inspirations of the effort was Bob Geldof, a musician with the group the Boomtown Rats. His guidance and inspiration brought together musicians in support of the cause of African famine victims first in the British effort known as Band Aid (and their song "Do They Know Its Christmas?"), which was shortly followed by USA for Africa (and their song "We Are The World.").  Many other efforts followed, culminating in the extravaganza known as Live Aid.

Live Aid occurred at two locations simultaneously: at JFK stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States, and in Wembly Stadium in London, in the UK. But even more impressively, it was broadcast worldwide through various media, and the era of MTV brought forth a worldwide concert that drew an enormous audience. The concert featured many remarkable performances from a great variety of musicians.

Heres the schedule of musicians who participated in Live Aid:

In London's Wembly Stadium:

7 am: Bob Geldolf opens Live Aid; Status Quo; Style Council; Boomtown Rats with Adam Ant.

8 am: Adam Ant; Ultravox; Spandau Ballet.

9 am: Elvis Costello; Nik Kershaw with Billy Conally; Sade.

10 am: Phil Collins with Julian Lennon; Sting with Howard Jones.

11 am: Bryan Ferry; Paul Young with Alison Moyet. 

12:30 pm: U2.

1 pm: Dire Straits; Queen.

2 pm: David Bowie.

3 pm: The Who; Elton John.

4 pm: Wham! ; Paul McCartney.

In Philadelphia's JFK stadium:

9 am: Joan Baez; The Hooters; The Four Tops; Billy Ocean.

10 am: Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne; Run-DMC; Rick Springfield; REO Speedwagon.

11 am: Crosby, Stills, Nash; Judas Priest.

12 pm: Bryan Adams; The Beach Boys.

1 pm: George Thorogood; Queens Performance from London.

2 pm: Music video featuring David Bowie and Mick Jagger; Simple Minds; The Pretenders.

3 pm: Santana with Pat Metheny; Ashford and Simpson with Teddy Pendergrass.

4:30 pm: Madonna; Rod Stewart. 5 pm: Tom Petty; Kenny Loggins; The Cars.

6 pm: Neil Young; Power Station. 7 pm: Thompson Twins; Eric Clapton.

8 pm: Phil Collins with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page; Duran Duran.

9 pm: Patti LaBelle; Daryll Hall and John Oats with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin.

10 pm: Mick Jagger; Jagger with Tina Turner; Bob Dylan.

Trivia: The Live Aid Concerts were held on July 13, 1985, in London and Philadelphia. Phil Collins was able to play both. He played London in the morning, and then took the Concorde to Philadelphia to play the evening there. 

Trivia: In London, a traffic light was set up just offstage to keep the performers within their allotted time. The traffic light would signal green when the performer had just just five minutes left to play, then yellow when two minutes were left, and red when it was time to leave. The performers kept to their time limits so well that the concert was often running as much as 15 minutes ahead of schedule. 

The California Raisins

The California Raisins were an example of the whimsical, quirky style of the '80s, as well as an example of the nostalgia for '60s music and culture which were so present back then. They were a fictional soul group made up of animated claymation raisins which were featured in commercials for... yep, California Raisins. 

Here they are performing "I Heard It Through The Grapevine."

Heres another commercial, this one courtesy of Retro TV. Same song, different commercial.

The Pursuit of Cool, and other stuff

I've been surfing around the net, perusing my fellow retro bloggers, and discovered this great review of a new '80s oriented novel and interview with its author over at Kickin It Old School. KIOS is an excellent blog, especially for fans of '80s culture, often featuring some great interviews with '80s figures.


Recently, it featured a post on The Pursuit of Cool, a recently released novel about college life during the '80s. It sounds like a great flashback to that era. There is also an interview with the author, Robb Skidmore, where he talks about the '80s, and his memories of them. There is a great quote from him in the interview, which is just so "spot on" about the '80s:



The 80s was a charmed era and a truly great time to be young. The Cold War had 
stalled into a nonevent and it was a period of peace and prosperity. With no wars to 
fight, young people had lots of spare time. In 1981, MTV appeared on cable television 
converters and everybody watched it, constantly. The vibe of the videos, like the 80s 
in general, was generally happy and celebratory. But the 80s also had a very 
purposeful, ambitious edge as well. There was a career chic that made achievement 
and wealth a popular thing.

I just can't help but agree with this description. He talks about his own experience with the '80s, with John Hughes movies, with '80s music, and other elements of '80s culture. Commenting about '80s music, he says: "I still love 80s music and listen to it. The range and quality and originality of music produced in that era I don't think has been surpassed." I just wanted to recommend checking out the interview and the book as well. 


Also check out my own list of recommended '80s books in this Christmas post.


Looking around the retro-blogosphere for '80s subjects:

Fourth Grade Nothing recently had a post on another of my fave '80s flicks, the cult classic The Last Starfighter.

Totally Radical Awesome 80s had a post on the charity recording, USA for Africa, which included the '80s classic "We Are The Word." The song collected funds for famine relief in Africa.

And finishing up my recent string of Eurythmics videos, here's a song and video I remember well from 1985: "There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart."


Annie Lennox truly had a voice for all seasons.

Eurythmics- Who's That Girl

Still with the Eurythmics...

I always thought that Annie Lennox had a wonderful, expressive voice that could be so many things depending on the song: lighthearted, soulful, intense, etc.  

Here's a Eurythmics song and video that showcase both Lennox's voice, and the striking visual imagery the group was known for back in the '80s. 

The year: 1983.

Eurythmics: Sweet Dreams

One of the most truly vibrant and creative music groups of the '80s was the synth pop duo Eurythmics.  I've decided to dedicate a series of posts to this great '80s musical act.

Eurythmics crashed onto the shores of America in 1983 as part of the Second British Invasion of music, adding their visually and musically bracing style to the colorful lineup of musical acts which were then breaking through. This was a time when music videos were new and novel, and often featured a New Wave style of music which was often steeped in unconventionality and heavy in synthesizers. The Eurythmics were perfectly made for the era. 

Annie Lennox probably was the more distinct member of the duo, her arty theatrical style reflected the androgyny that often characterized the era. 

Eurythmic's breakthrough hit was 1983's "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", a catchy synth song with ominous lyrics which became gigantically popular on both sides of the Atlantic. The video for the song was very memorable . . . and well remembered by many of those who grew up in the era.