About that “Starman” video…

Previously unreleased footage of David Bowie singing “Starman,” shot by Mick Rock, has been synced to the studio recording of the song and refashioned as an “official” video. It was put together in conjunction with the release of the Atmos edition of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars earlier this month. This new video, featured above, is similar to a new “official” video of Bowie singing “Ziggy Stardust” that uses footage taken by Rock, which was also released earlier this year.

So what do I think of this? Well, to start, I always like the opportunity to hear “Starman,” even though it is the same version from the album that I’ve been listening to for years. Also, I admit that it is kinda cool to see the footage of Bowie and the Spiders from 1972 and 1973, shot by Rock. But the overall effect is not the same as when Bowie released an “official” video in life.

The first problem is that there is something awfully close to a “Starman” video already. Bowie’s appearance, singing the song in 1972 on the British show, Top of the Pops, is readily available and magnificent. Click HERE to see it for yourself. That performance was filmed to be seen in a video format. The video elements are crisp, and unlike this recent video, Bowie’s performance was taped live—it isn’t identical to the studio version, making it something am little different than what we are accustomed to hearing. Granted, it was never released as a promotional video in the MTV sense, but at this point, it is functionally the same thing. So I’m not sure this new version was really necessary.

The Top of the Pops clip highlights another problem with the new video—while the footage appears to show Bowie singing “Starman,” his lips don’t exactly match the audio. There’s only so much a video compiler can do without tampering with the original footage of Bowie’s mouth moving. I doubt Mick Rock, if he were still alive, would have been satisfied with the visual result.

Actually, Mick Rock’s style when directing Bowie in videos was quite different—he’d often have Bowie remain stationary, creating what I think of as a living photograph. He did include brief concert footage in “The Jean Genie” video, but he never relied solely on concert footage, as is the case here. So, while the footage was shot by Mick Rock, it would be a mistake to consider this a Mick Rock video.

All that said, if this were an amateur project, I’d say, “Well done, kinda cool.” What bothers me is the “official” label. I’m not sure what makes it “official”—according to whom? I’m not exactly offended, but it’s hard for me to consider this a canonical Bowie video.

Be that as it may, I suspect this isn’t the last such “official” video we’ll see. I suppose any “new” footage of Bowie is welcome, but I’m not exactly waiting with bated breath for what comes next.

These changes aim to improve clarity, readability, and tone while keeping your original thoughts intact.