Forty five years ago today, on Monday 23rd of April 1979, David Bowie performed Boys Keep Swinging on the popular Thames TV program The Kenny Everett Show.

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On the 8th of April, Bowie recorded the backing track for this exclusive version of Boys Keep Swinging, at Tony Visconti’s Good Earth Studios in Soho, London. It was a one-off band picked by Visconti for the session, including ‘78 tour alumni Simon House and Sean Mayes, on violin and piano respectively, Thin Lizzy’s Brian Robertson on guitar and Visconti on bass. The next day, April 9th, was the taping of the show, at Thames Television House, also in London. The session was directed by David Mallet, who directed the entire Kenny Everett Show series. The episode was then broadcast on ITV on April 23rd.

That was the first time new material was aired from Bowie’s forthcoming album, Lodger. It had been an interminable 18 months for Bowie fans, since the release of the “Heroes” album in October 1977.

The Boys Keep Swinging single wouldn’t be released for another four days. And when it appeared, it was a different version to the one aired on The Kenny Everett Show, with a different video to accompany it.

Arguably, The Kenny Everett Show audio and video of Boys Keep Swinging are more satisfying than the official versions. Yes, we are lacking Belew’s marvellous screaming guitar freakout from the Lodger version, and the three Bowie's in drag from the official video. But I really like the live vocal and the rough edges of this version. And Bowie looks spectacularly beautiful here, sporting what looks to be a black boiler suit, sandals, and white nail polish. He’s clearly enjoying himself enormously performing his new song.

The Kenny Everett Show would be the first time Bowie worked with director David Mallet. Bowie was sufficiently impressed with the results, that he also had Mallet shoot the official Boys Keep Swinging video with Mallet, using the same set from The Kenny Everett Show. Bowie and Mallet also worked together on the other videos for Lodger songs, and intermittently during the 80’s on several very well-known videos.

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Five years ago, I attempted a restoration of the Kenny Everett performance. Since then, I have obtained a slightly better source, and technology has moved on. So here’s Take 2.

Note: during the credits at the end of this episode of the Kenny Everett Show, we glimpse quick clips of Bowie throwing the violin, as opposed to catching it as he does in the Boys Keep Swinging clip. In the clip, he pretends to play a violin during the shrieking guitar break. What we are seeing here is footage played in reverse and in varying degrees of slow motion. Out of curiosity, I reversed the footage to the right way round and retimed it to a normal speed. The results are included at the end of the video.

Thanks for watching, hope you dig it!

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Credits

Audio:
David Bowie | Boys Keep Swinging | Special version produced for the Kenny Everett Show. Backing track recorded by Tony Visconti at Good Earth Studio, Soho, London, 8th April 1979.

Video:
An excerpt from The Kenny Everett Show | Series 2 | Episode 9 | Recorded Thames Television House, London | 9 April 1979 | Broadcast on the 23 April 1979 | Directed by David Mallet

Musicians:
David Bowie | Vocal
Brian Robertson | Guitar
Ricky Hitchcock | Guitar
Tony Visconti | Bass
Andy Duncan | Drums
Simon House | Violin
Sean Mayes | Keyboards

Tony Visconti | Production

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