Absolute Beginners
“DAVID told me that it was going to be sung by Bob Dylan originally,” says Rick Wakeman, “but for various reasons it didn’t work out – so David did it in the end.”
Dylan’s loss was certainly Bowie’s gain, with “Absolute Beginners” now justifiably regarded as one of the Dame’s finest singles of the ’80s. In typical Bowie fashion, this eight-minute song was laid down impressively quickly, mostly recorded on the same day as the Live Aid collaboration with Mick Jagger, “Dancing In The Street”.
“It was a one-off,” says co-producer Clive Langer. “It wasn’t part of a sound that he had before or after. It was one of his good ones, and we worked very hard to make sure that we didn’t let it down.”
Enlisted by director Julien Temple to create music for his film of the same name and play the role of Vendice Partners, Bowie brought in a fresh group of musicians including guitarist Kevin Armstrong, bassist Matthew Seligman and drummer Neil Conti. The group were told to turn up at Abbey Road for a session, but the identity of their employer was kept secret.
“When he breezed in, he had an Omnichord under his arm,” recalls Kevin Armstrong, “so not only was it shocking to have him come in and say, ‘Hi, I’m David’, as if we needed to know that, but he had this plastic instrument under his arm.
It looked like something out of ! Working with him was
