Aurora Starchild
A resurfaced video of a David Bowie interview is going viral as the rock icon claims he wasn’t a fan of Paul McCartney. Asked what he thought of his contemporaries, Bowie seems slightly annoyed before giving his blunt answer. He preferred Mick’s music over Paul’s but thought the Beatles member was “a nice guy.”
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David Bowie Seems Irritated When Asked About Paul McCartney
“How do you feel about your contemporaries like the Rolling Stones and say, Paul McCartney, who are totally different people…?” asked the interviewer. His last word trails off.
“In what way?” asks David Bowie, looking a little agitated.
“I mean, do you respect their music? Do you like their music?”
“I like some of Mick’s things,” says Bowie. “I don’t like much of Paul’s. He’s a nice guy. I met him a couple of times. I don’t know him that — I think I know Mick better.”
As a big fan of David Bowie, I was curious to know more about this particular interaction. Unable to find the original interview source, I couldn’t align it with a date. So, I took the next logical step: Determine which “David Bowie” was speaking at this time.
Was This Bowie Interview From the 70s or the 80s? Does It Even Matter?
Bowie was known not just for his music, but also for his alter egos, of which he had many. They’d often include complete makeovers, new hairstyles, and outrageous costumes. Take, for example, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, and Major Tom. In the interview clip, his hair is bleached blonde and clean cut, with a little mix of undercut and pompadour.
Sifting through his various stage personas over the years, I almost wanted to say this was Bowie in his Great White Duke era from 1975-1976. But a little more searching shows him rocking an almost identical hairstyle during his Serious Moonlight tour in 1983.
David Bowie Almost Started a Supergroup with John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1974
Why this is so important is because there was a point in David Bowie’s life when he almost started a supergroup with John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Speaking with BBC 6 Music in 2004, Bowie told Marc Riley about a time in 1974 when Lennon and McCartney appeared at his hotel door.
“It was New York, around 1974, and I think it was around the first time they had gotten back together again. And I got a knock at the door at the Pierre Hotel where I had taken over a suite for months and months. It was about three in the morning and John was there and he had Paul with him!” Bowie told Riley.
For the record, Bowie once said that Lennon was “one of the major influences on my music life. I just thought he was the very best of what could be done with rock ‘n’ roll, and also ideas” (per Far Out Magazine). But I digress.
“The two of them had been out on the town for the evening,” Bowie continued to recall of the Beatles’ encounter. “And John says, ‘you won’t believe who I’ve got here’ and I said, ‘wow I thought you two had…’ and he said, ‘oh no, all that’s going to change’. It was great! We just spent the evening talking. That must’ve been the first evening they were back together since the big bust-ups.”
Or Maybe That Was Just the Cocaine Talking
It gets better. And granted, Bowie was known for doing a lot of drugs. Specifically, 1974 was the year he got heavily into cocaine. And sometimes those things can make people dream a little bigger than they actually care to follow through with the next morning.
“They actually asked me if I’d join the two of them and become a trio with them, and we’d change the name to something like David Bowie and The Beatles because they liked the idea of it being DBB,” Bowie said.
The supergroup never came to fruition, sadly. But soon after, John Lennon co-wrote David Bowie’s song “Fame,” which was released on the 1975 Young Americans album. They recorded the song in New York, and it may have even been around the same time that they were talking about forming a supergroup. Of course, McCartney wasn’t a part of “Fame,” so maybe that’s a hint that Bowie wasn’t a big fan of his music after all.
Bowie and McCartney Developed Some Kind of Relationship Over the Years
Despite Bowie not being a big fan of Paul McCartney’s music during his interview (which could have been in 1983), he did get to know him and perform with him over the years. Bowie, McCartney, Alison Moyet, Pete Townshend, and Bob Geldof performed “Let It Be” together on July 13, 1985. They were at Live Aid at the Wembley Stadium in London and raising funds for the Ethiopian famine disaster.
McCartney and Bowie were also photographed over the years being quite chummy together. Stevie Riks is a YouTube personality and impersonator and a big fan of David Bowie. He has an excellent compilation video of them if you’re interested. However, they must have had a little beef with each other at some point. This can be inferred from a story about a painting.
Paul McCartney Once Painted a Portrait Called “Bowie Spewing”
In 1990, Paul McCartney painted a portrait of David Bowie and titled it “Bowie Spewing.” He talks about it in yet another undated interview. He also claims that Bowie gave him his blessing to put it in an exhibit. But according to Far Out Magazine, Bowie once responded to a publication’s inquiry about his thoughts on the painting’s title with these words:
Of course not, but what a coincidence, I am currently working on a song that’s called ‘McCartney Sh*ts.’
David Bowie, Speaking to Belgium’s Humo Magazine
Whatever their relationship was like, by the time of Bowie’s tragic death from cancer in 2016, the former Beatle had some sweet words for his late friend.
“Very sad news to wake up to on this raining morning. David was a great star and I treasure the moments we had together,” said McCartney. “His music played a very strong part in British musical history. I’m proud to think of the huge influence he has had on people all around the world. I send my deepest sympathies to his family and will always remember the great laughs we had through the years. His star will shine in the sky forever.”
