In a two-part interview recorded over different days during Bowie's 1983 Serious Moonlight Tour, Lisa Robinson covers a lot of ground. The first part of the interview takes place in New York City, with the two discussing Bowie's new Let's Dance album and what it was like working with Nile Rodgers and touring with new musicians. However, the true gems of this first half are Bowie's more personal reflections on overcoming his shy personality on his way to becoming a rock star, the personas he had to create in order to reach that goal, and the demons he had to shed along the way.
Part 2 of the interview contains a series of snippets recorded while Lisa Robinson was following Bowie around on tour. Focusing more on the logistics of the tour and David's experiences of it, this section acts as a wonderful companion to the performances recorded for the King Biscuit Flower Hour from around this time.
Part 1
00:08 - Discomfort with being labeled a rock star
01:25 - Living the Ziggy Stardust role
02:04 - Hiding behind the Ziggy Stardust role
03:14 - Pre-Ziggy looks/characters/phases
03:42 - Post-Ziggy looks/characters/phases
04:05 - Combining theater with rock and roll
05:45 - Thoughts on "the rock and roll club" (dependency on drugs and people)
06:52 - Friendships with Iggy Pop and Mick Jagger
07:20 - Reputation as a thief / a synthetic rock star
08:40 - Coming to terms with the real David Bowie
09:37 - Fleeing the U.S. (L.A. in particular) in order to save himself
10:28 - Getting through rough times in the late '70's
11:09 - Leaving MainMan Productions / the irony of "Fame"
12:05 - Working with Nile Rodgers / old R&B influences
13:25 - Let's Dance: The simplest album he's ever done and why
14:17 - Being more romantic than people think
15:11 - His past as one large experiment
16:21 - Relationship with Angela Bowie
16:55 - Having room in his life for new relationships
17:42 - Response to his statement that "being in love is a disease"
18:48 - Recollections of an evening with Bob Dylan
20:16 - Enjoying touring once again
21:13 - Recollections of touring with Iggy Pop / implications for his new tour
22:04 - Trying to re-enter society / thoughts on synthesizers
23:44 - Choosing musicians for the current tour / timidity with new musicians
25:23 - A number of wonderful retirements
26:35 - Contentment as a phase?
27:35 - Reflections on earlier albums
Part 2
00:00 - Hopes for the '80's
00:15 - Conceptualizing the tour
00:27 - Theatrical ideas for the tour
01:12 - Unknown tour dates, musicians, and venues
02:06 - A movie of the Spiders from Mars / recollections of that time
03:46 - Aims for Let's Dance / thoughts on synthesizers (Repeat from part 1)
05:50 - Voice changes over the years
07:06 - Experiences of maturation
08:53 - Enthusiasm over the first two weeks of the tour
09:35 - The best part of the tour so far
10:25 - Dates in America / The Us Festival
11:16 - Indoor vs. outdoor performances
11:43 - Picking material for the tour
12:42 - Anticipation for coming to America
13:10 - Acting on stage / playing smaller venues
14:30 - Changing the set list
15:45 - The outfits for the tour (many flags)
16:20 - Choreography for the tour / Lenny Pickett
17:59 - Feeling better on stage
18:31 - Theatrical presentation / being a person in the eyes of the audience
20:16 - Why his ballads are uplifting
21:00 - Being an artist in the context of rock and roll
21:40 - The most well-organized tour
22:27 - The Us Festival / breathing differently outdoors