What is this song about? I love it but it makes no sense. Anyone have any opinions or is the version from Wiki factual?

From Wiki:

"TVC 15" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie and released in 1976.

The song was inspired by an episode in which Iggy Pop, during a drug-fuelled period at Bowie’s LA home, hallucinated and believed the television set was swallowing his girlfriend. Beyond oblique references to absorption via television, the lyrics are largely nonsensical. Bowie himself hasn’t been able to shed any light on their meaning beyond the Pop anecdote, having very limited recollection of the Station to Station sessions, due to his own heavy drug use at the time.

That's about it isn't it! Not much more than hanging out with Iggy and doing drugs. A great live version by the way on Saturday Night Live where he comes out in a tight "Nazi" style skirt with a poodle with a television set for a head. Same episode he did a stellar version of The Man Who Sold The World, in a puppet like costume with no legs, other than a peg, and he is carried on stage by the back up singers. Great tripped out Bowie!

Bowie introduced it as "a love-story about a girl and a television-set" a couple of times in concerts
Funny with the Boston show/recording of 1976 - he has to restart TVC 15 - at different places during the concert....he was so out of it that he couldn't remember the setlist - and he was probably even more out of it when writing and recording the Station To Station album. Strange that the album turned out to be so exceptionally great, when the artist was in another dimension



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-15 15:23 by Erik_Snow.

Live in Europe 1978? Anyone know the venue?

I think this is from a German television show, and they also did Moon Over Alabama...

A face paced version from Live Aid in 1985.

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The Sicilian
Live in Europe 1978? Anyone know the venue?

Bremen, Germany - at the TV show MusikLaden

Ja that's it! Thanks Erik, I have that somewhere on DVD, don't they also do Moon over Alabama?

Was this before or after David Bowie designed wallpaper for Laura Ashley.

......I remember Bowie performing TVC-15 on Saturday Night Live as if it were yesterday.....epic.

RE: German TV Video

That's Adrian Belew on guitar. Bowie always put together great bands.

I was always amazed by how similar TVC15 is to Professor Longhair's "Hey Now Baby".

The TVC15 intro is a complete rip-off of "Hey Now Baby" (IMO).

Anyone else hear this?

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mccparty
I was always amazed by how similar TVC15 is to Professor Longhair's "Hey Now Baby".

The TVC15 intro is a complete rip-off of "Hey Now Baby" (IMO).

Anyone else hear this?

haven't heard that particular cut, but I can't imagine Professor Longhair taking his song in the direction that Bowie goes after the intro, so I can't see the justification for calling it a "rip-off."

though this is probably my least favorite track on Station to Station.

About the lyrics... Bowie often used the "cut and paste"-technique, after being inspired by William Burroughs. This was way back when a pair of scissors and glue did the trick. Not "word perfect" or other computer programmes.
Often he just used words and random sentences and moved them about untill he had something that looked interresting.

It could also be he was inspired by a scene from the movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth", where Bowie plays Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien who came to earth to try and provide water to his dying planet. There's a scene there where he, and his girl friend, Candy Clarke, are in bed in a room with a wall of TVs. He's pointing at them with a gun.
Bowie was originally asked to write the score for this movie, but the project kind of fell apart, probably due to his extreme intake of chemicals and his escalating paranoia. (The side effect of his cocaine)
About the 1976 Station to Station Tour. I was at Victoria Station to welcome him to London (he was on a train from Paris I think), along with 200 other hard core fans. We were deeply shocked and disgusted when he made a nazi gesture and babbled something @#$%& could have said. We didn't know then that there was more drugs than blood in his veins at the time.
Nevertheless - his shows at the old Empire Pool Wembley that May were incredible. I went to all 6 of them. The opening section was scary - Salvador Dali and Louis Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou".
Health warning: Don't take acid before you see that little film... A friend of mine did, and it took us two days to calm him down.

Here's a few links to photos of the scene.
[i44.tinypic.com]
dotphoto.com
tvguide.com




Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2010-03-15 22:24 by Addicted.

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whitem8
Ja that's it! Thanks Erik, I have that somewhere on DVD, don't they also do Moon over Alabama?

Yes he performs Alabama Song in Bremen. Excellent DVD and footage....just like the Tokyo 1978 broadcast.

The Professor Longhair thing would be typical of Bowie, he is the most genius rip off artist in rock n roll history. I still hear things 40 years later that he stole that never occurred to me, he is the epitome of Oscar Wildes dictum, there are lifts from other artists in almost all of his songs, he is an archivist who knows everything about rock n roll.

Did you ever see Velvet Goldmine where "Bowie" says to the female character "Oh i never thought of that" and she says "oh you will, you will........" LOL

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cc

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mccparty
I was always amazed by how similar TVC15 is to Professor Longhair's "Hey Now Baby".

The TVC15 intro is a complete rip-off of "Hey Now Baby" (IMO).

Anyone else hear this?

haven't heard that particular cut, but I can't imagine Professor Longhair taking his song in the direction that Bowie goes after the intro, so I can't see the justification for calling it a "rip-off."

though this is probably my least favorite track on Station to Station.

Yes, was referring only to the Intro. Bowie's TVC15 uses the exact same riff in the intro. Not a big deal, just wondering if they were doing in on purpose (homage?) or just using the riff and figuring most people wouldn't notice.

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Addicted
About the lyrics... Bowie often used the "cut and paste"-technique, after being inspired by William Burroughs. This was way back when a pair of scissors and glue did the trick. Not "word perfect" or other computer programmes.
Often he just used words and random sentences and moved them about untill he had something that looked interresting.

It could also be he was inspired by a scene from the movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth", where Bowie plays Thomas Jerome Newton, an alien who came to earth to try and provide water to his dying planet. There's a scene there where he, and his girl friend, Candy Clarke, are in bed in a room with a wall of TVs. He's pointing at them with a gun.
Bowie was originally asked to write the score for this movie, but the project kind of fell apart, probably due to his extreme intake of chemicals and his escalating paranoia. (The side effect of his cocaine)
About the 1976 Station to Station Tour. I was at Victoria Station to welcome him to London (he was on a train from Paris I think), along with 200 other hard core fans. We were deeply shocked and disgusted when he made a nazi gesture and babbled something @#$%& could have said. We didn't know then that there was more drugs than blood in his veins at the time.
Nevertheless - his shows at the old Empire Pool Wembley that May were incredible. I went to all 6 of them. The opening section was scary - Salvador Dali and Louis Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou".
Health warning: Don't take acid before you see that little film... A friend of mine did, and it took us two days to calm him down.

Here's a few links to photos of the scene.
[i44.tinypic.com]
dotphoto.com
tvguide.com

what a wonderful and thoughtful post! Thanks addicted! I think you are on to something here. I am sure the scene with Newman sitting in front of all his TVs, that seemed to be swallowing his psyche has a lot to do with the inspiration behind the song, but for sure his time with Iggy completed the picture so to speak!

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addicted
Nevertheless - his shows at the old Empire Pool Wembley that May were incredible. I went to all 6 of them. The opening section was scary - Salvador Dali and Louis Bunuel's "Un Chien Andalou".
Health warning: Don't take acid before you see that little film... A friend of mine did, and it took us two days to calm him down.

I saw him in Buffalo in March of 1976 (my first concert). Is that the film that they showed at the beginning of the concert where some guy gets his eye slit with a razor while sitting a barber chair or something? I'll never forget that. It was this wacky black n white flick if I recall correctly.

You're very welcome, whitem8! Bowie's another addiction of mine and I once had the pleasure of taking him to see his favourite painter when he visited my home town. He's a very humble, sweet, nice guy and very easy to like. He ended up buying some paintings from my friend, the painter. One of them's called "Dawn",and you can see it here.
[www.nerdrum.com]
When I looked at it the other day, it suddenly struck me that the men in the painting might be inspired by Bowie's/Newton's look when he "fell to earth".

And - The Sicilian: Yes - that's the film I was talking about. Exactly. The "razor knife and the eye-section" - exactly the one that made my friend really sick. Not my idea of a luvely night at the movies when I was 18 years old in '76. I've learned to appreciate the works of Bunuel later in life. And of course Dali's paintings, too.

Yeah he is a pure gentleman. I also had the pleasure of meeting him, and he was wonderful. Actually, a life long hero of mine and he was just as compelling in the flesh as he is on his music. Great story about the painting. Your friend has some wonderful works and has a very classical, yet Nuevo style. Thanks for sharing.