David Bowie Criticizes MTV for Not Playing Black Artists! We did not know this

#davidbowie #reaction
David Bowie Criticizes MTV for Not Playing Black Artists! We did not know this
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[@rk3257]

David Bowie was married to a black woman for 27 yrs, until the day he passed. The beautiful Somali supermodel & actress Iman. Peace.

[@Dookie-j7q]

And he is still beautiful she say

[@karenfryberger4260]

Iman is Somali, not Ethiopian.

[@PUNKinDRUBLIC72]

Ethiopian??

[@rk3257]

@@karenfryberger4260 Yep, brain phsss.

[@rk3257]

@@PUNKinDRUBLIC72 Somali. brain phsss.

[@Fafnir369]

This is the way Bowie lived his whole life

[@marypittman5821]

The Beatles came to America and would not play with a segregated audience. The venues complied. Thank you Beatles.

[@commonsense9176]

Was about to say that 😂

[@dawnyoung8]

Neither would Elvis

[@alysmyers8772]

But then they burned Beatles albums in the South - directly related.

[@brianbenoit6883]

In the '30's, They wouldn't let black people in some venues even to perform, so Al Jolson would put on blackface and then tell the venue owners they just had their first black person in the building. One of his biggest hits was about how much he loved his mammy that helped raise him.

[@AlBarzUK]

@@alysmyers8772 not actually. The Beatles were so hugely popular in every country they went to, the tv and radio channels and papers were full of stories about them, and their music, every single day for years. Including the Deep South. (Otherwise they wouldn’t have had any Beatles albums to burn.) John Lennon actually criticized people for making The Beatles more popular than Jesus, so those dumb people assumed he was saying The Beatles were better than Jesus and started the stupidity of burning stuff.

[@NativeNYerChicHK]

Bowie made his point & turned the screws slightly, a point that was truthful and glaringly obvious, and laughed at the BS answers Mark Goodman was giving, and in the end just agreed to disagree. But the really genius part is that he didn’t get upset and argue. He simply let it hang in the air for Mark Goodman, MTV and their entire viewing audience to have to contemplate their entire existence 🤣👏👏👏 EXPERT level impulse control & emotional intelligence.

[@TheDivayenta]

He gave Mark the rope.

[@donnadubyak6504]

Bowie was very intelligent.

[@scottclark3761]

Bowie said more with a stare than the other guy said with a paragraph.

[@famijher]

David Bowie was married to Somali-American Supermodel Iman from 1990 until his death in 2016. She was his second wife.

[@tothemax2175]

As someone that is old enough to have watched MTV from day one, I have to say that David Bowie was right. If you were a Black artist in the 80's, you'd have to have a top 40 hit and a really good music video to be played on MTV. Michael Jackson is the perfect example of this.

[@lunadyana3330]

And Prince

[@Emilie-one]

I was there on day one… And I agree with you 100% .. Bowie was right

[@LunaJo67WDHTMJ]

Michael Jackson's Billie Jean was only played after Sony/CBS boss Yetnikov threatened to pull all his artists from MTV. Originally they didn't want MJ either. LJ

[@tothemax2175]

Thanks for sharing that info. Good thing MTV woke up and did the right thing. It would have been a shame to miss out of MJ's work.

[@edwardriel]

Agree. I was probably 12-13 when MTV first came out and I watched it obsessively. Aside from MJ, the only videos I recall seeing from black artists during the early days were Herbie Hancock's "rock it" (which featured primarily robots) and Eddie Grant's "Electric Avenue" (which was a banger, but didn't tend to get airplay until after Midnight), with maybe some Lionel Ritchie soft rock thrown in.

[@zinnia2980]

British artists have always chanpioned black musicians and performers. The Beatles refused to play to segregated crowds in America. David Bowie taking on MTV was exceptionally important and he was so upset about their lack of black representation when he was asked to appear to self promote which he refused to do so. It was humbling and s landmark moment in musical history. MTV were shamed into changing their racist policies by one of the most famous and important artists on the planet. British people cannot stand discrimination or inequality. Have a look at The Battle of Bamber Bridge during the Second World War when the British people helped the black servicemen being attacked by their white racist collegues. So proud 👋

[@samolevski1119]

I agree with much of what you say but please don't try and tell the world that 'British people' cannot stand discrimination or inequality. I am an older white British guy and racism is still very much alive here as it is in most other countries - doesn't mean it's right but it exists, and to state otherwise is very misleading. We have had equality and minority rights rammed down our throats so much that public opinion is changing because it all went too far. We are not like the states, where the original citizens were replaced by a mixture from around the world - here in the UK it is still 85% white, and in Scotland it's 95% white, simply because we have had an unwanted influx of people forced upon us by politicians. Without that fairly recent influx, the percentages given above would and should be higher, because this sudden influx has changed public opinion as can be sen in Ireland, with mainland UK also rejecting the multicultural crap that was forced upon us.

[@firstsurname7099]

@@samolevski1119 Jeez man, you can have your opinion without just making random shiz up - for example in the most recent census 2021 "white" (in England and Wales) was 81.7% of the population actually a decrease from 86.0% (48.2 million) in 2011 - so this 'recent influx' you've been made to be afriad or annoyed about is entirely contructed and the opposite of reality.... The UK's history of racism is complex - we were, largely, the creators of the industrial transatlantic slave trade; we financially and politically benefitted (well our overlords mainly and the rest of us with trickle down jobs n roads n shiz) from its continuation after we'd 'technically' abolished it in the British Isles and colonies (but continued to pay damanges to the slavers until 2015, less than a DECADE ago) ; We enslaved, indentured, colonised, extracted humanity/work/children from folk of all shades including and firstly those of us who are the most pale and most freckly and most indigenous - Celtic peoples; We did Windrush and the Windrush scandal, our fav meals are curries but we enacted partition, we castigate and patronise Jewish and Palestine people for fighting and hatred we created, we have neo nazis wave the George Cross whilst claiming they're being silenced not knowing where the flag came from or symbolised who idolise footballers if they score but racially abuse them is they miss a penalty. When it comes to music, however, we tend to listen and mix up and dance to and play it all and with all. One legacy our musicians and music lovers most defo have is in giving credit to artists of 'all shades' and demanding audiences of 'all shades' whether its the Beatles friendship and admiration for Little Richard, Tom Jones insisting he'd sing a love duet with Leslie Uggams on his ABC show in 'merica, Jimi Hendrix making his home in the UK, the Stones fanboi-ing Chuck Berry and all the Blues guys when they first got to the states, Dusty Springfield refusing to play white only gigs in South Africa... or Bowie pulling up MTV - I mean he was married to an African woman and has an African American daughter FFS so hardly surprising innit Oh and BTW the UK was always and will always continue to be a multicultural nation of migrants - the first King of the Union, James I was the 6th King James in Scotland and our national flag is quite literally made of the flags of four nations - if you don't like our values and traditions then you and yours can eff back where you came from - I'm guessing you're French and German, ie Anglo Saxon innit

[@wintermoonomen]

I can't quite agree with that when Britain had the National Front , the British National Movement, National Action. The specials sang about such injustices in the UK and many others .

[@turfsniffer]

"No Blacks, No Irish, No dogs" - common signs in Britain right up until the 1960's. Lets not even mention mainstream sitcoms, where Indians, Blacks and Irish were typecasted and laughed at. British people cannot stand discrimination or inequality? Really?

[@firstsurname7099]

@4th_Lensman_of_the_apocalypse how to say you're ill informed without saying you've never read a book

[@loripeterson1912]

Bowie played many characters throughout his career. He was way before his time with all he did. One of the most amazing artist of all time.

[@marypittman5821]

Nat King Cole would sing and then have to eat his dinner back stage until Frank Sinatra invited him into the dining room with the wealthy white folks. You didn’t say no to Sinatra.n

[@AngelaGoodwin-fh6fw]

Frank Sinatra wouldn't perform at any venue which would deny black performers the same treatment as white. Sinatra didn't play.

[@wendypow1963]

And Dean Martin stood by Samny Davis Jr. When he was barred usage of the hotels and restaurants that he performed at.

[@babykittenkisses2625]

the rat pack 4 life dawg

[@LynnThompsonAuthor]

Same with Sammy Davis, Jr.

[@darkangel72-ge6sc]

David Bowie was always a decade or two ahead of the times. I feel like he was always scrutinized for being eccentric and extreme. He was definitely a level or two above the norm...an icon.

[@stumm71]

No, sadly USA always was delay two hundred years in racism.

[@TheDoctorFlay]

From a British point of view the American music industry has always been strange and compartmentalised. In the UK we grow up listening to music from "the" charts, but in America there were different charts for black music and white music In the UK if a blues or soul song by a black artist, or a country song from a good ole boy was at Number 1 in the charts, it was the same charts for all, so we all got exposed to a lot more genres.

[@Karen_in_Canada]

Canada was much the same as the Brits

[@samolevski1119]

I'm an older white Brit and this point is so very true, it explains so much when you watch black American reactors here on KZbin, and they've never heard of songs their British counterparts would know for the reasons you have stated.

[@wompa70]

Billboard did have the top chart that ignored genres. But if that’s all you ever looked at you’d miss out on so much good but not popular music.

[@EchoesDaBear]

I think that had the natural effect of influence! You look at the multiple 'British Invasions' and the sounds they brought - it was multi-faceted, multi-genre - it didn't matter the 'colour' of the artist creating it, good music was the language, and many British acts took that and ran with it, quite successfully I might add!

[@rychergirl5126]

I fell in love with David Bowie at 7 years old when I watched him on Bing Crosby's Christmas TV special in 1977. I've seen so many interviews over the years that prove this man was a true visionary who used his art to pull the rest of society reluctantly into his world. I miss him dearly.

[@Emilie-one]

Bowie’s face says it all… he wasn’t buying that load of 💩

[@GaylaMoog]

This was so much double speak. "We can't let one group decide what we need to play" ,then he talked about one kid and what that kid wanted. I was also annoyed when he said kids in the Midwest would be scared of black faces. The Midwest has never been known as a racist area. He was covering the butts of rich white men. I am almost 70 and the amount of racism and negativity being spread by media moguls is frightening

[@donnadubyak6504]

Bowie was no idiot.

[@RockinMamaT]

What is making me smile is Mark is now being interviewed instead of interviewing David 😂

[@wendyryder2708]

lol!

[@pyrovania]

David also got him to confess to catering to midwestern racists, on live television.

[@matthewgoodA1206]

That part of it was so good.

[@Bijou2013]

It's so funny that these artists are like - yeah, it's so great having these people around. Just a general comment that they put no one thought into. Johnny Cash integrated his tv show - totally against what he was told - in 1969-1972! In a mostly segregated South, he had Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Rosetta Tharp, Louis Armstrong....all on his show. He never made an introduction like "black artist" or "white artist".He introduces everyone just as an artist. He sat on the same piano bench and held onto hands and sang in the same microphone - he completely changed the ball game!!

[@billboth6572]

Sinatra was fighting for black artists (Sammy Davis Jr) back in the 40's and 50's

[@dopenose]

Johnny Cash’s first wife was black so…

[@MizCriz46]

@@dopenose No, she was not. She was Sicilian-American, exotic-looking & beautiful. They had 4 daughters. The lie that she was black was spread to give him a pass for kicking her to the curb when he met June. Their daughter, Roseanne Cash, talks about what he did in the Ken Burns documentary, Country Music.

[@dopenose]

@@MizCriz46 well the African American Registry (AAREG) sees it differently. Her great great grandmother was a mulatto slave so I guess it’s up to interpretation if 1/16 is “mixed enough” to count as Black or not. Peace.

[@jmburbach]

RIP Bowie ❤

[@BarTGila]

I watched this interview live and he really touched their nerve. People actually boycotted them when they started playing black artists. Both the Beatles and the Stones refused to play to segregated audiences when they came to tour here. These artists changed the face of American music.

[@wendypow1963]

I'm watching the STAX documentary on MAX. They just did an episode featuring Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs and other big artists that were/are black and how shocked and joyful they were when touring Britain and Europe; having unsegragated audiences AND the ability to eat in any restaurant and sleep in any hotel without them having a "colored only" sign. No wonder Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and other famous black artists preferred touring overseas. I was born in the 1950s in England and the majority of my musical preferences are black artists. I've always loved Motown, Stax, soul, and the Philly sound. Love Al Green, Barry White, Chi-Lites, O'Jays and many more. Due to our love of soul music, northern England developed its own "Northern Soul" sound and dance moves.

[@christineenright7491]

David Bowie wasn't a cross dresser. I believe it was called glam-rock. He was married to Iman, a beautiful Ethiopian model for many years until his death. But back to this video, Bowie wad 100% right and I love getting did not back down. The music industry has always separated the audiences by black, white, country, jazz etc. Even today, if you have Sirius XM their channels are very narrow demographics with a strong racial profile. I believe that the internet and quite frankly the better reactors, who are exposing their audience to other genres

[@Jan-xn3kz]

Yes in more progressive days when men could where feminine dress and NOT call themselves a woman.

[@personalcheeses8073]

Wow you just erased his first wife and son. However you are correct that he was not a cross dresser, he wore stage costumes. And the lyrics to modern love should solidify David Jones the man as opposed to David Bowie the performer.

[@deborahcurry1014]

Iman is Somalian... from Mogadishu.

[@johnnyhancock76]

Yes, he was a cross dresser. He spent plenty of his free time in dresses.

[@personalcheeses8073]

@@johnnyhancock76 Let’s face it, it was mostly just for photo shoots.

[@looneygardener]

Equality is extreme left? Equality is not political. That is nuts. We Canadians think that's f'd.

[@MissMeKate]

Lots of us in the UK think it's nuts too, though a loud minority would sadly disagree.

[@cathywethington5913]

MTV's stance was ludicrous anyway. Soul Train was a big hit at the time. I'm white and all my friends when I was in high school were white and we stopped everything to watch Soul Train on Saturday mornings. So it wasn't that the kids weren't willing to listen... MTV wasn't willing

[@mapegatkinson92]

Bowie knew MTV was full of shit. Good for him.

[@spicyboi544]

Bowie will forever be a special guy, I look forward to further reaction from the legend

[@yolandabrooksqueenofsevens]

I was a little girl when this happened and Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson talked about MTV not wanting to play them.

[@fayesouthall6604]

It’s nuts isn’t it?

[@billboth6572]

David was right.

[@berniewatts5028]

Thank you BP and Don for honest opinion. I’m 78 , and before me my parents, what we see , or consume has always been controlled by money. Money rules the world. You touched on the subject genuinely. 👏👏👏❤️❤️❤️👵🏼 Gmaw

[@04m11]

In the beginning of MTV it was strictly rock music, it was not left leaning, they didn't want to play Michael Jacksons music. It was afer that interview that David Bowie and other big artist threatened to remove their music from the channel. That's when they started playing Run-Dmc, MJ, and Prince

[@Karen_in_Canada]

And yet today Prince would be called a cross dressing freak again. Some people don't get that there is a propaganda campaign going on to put these people back in closets.

[@AndersonDawesWasRight]

"Video Killed the Radio Stars" wasn't rock music, it was pop, white pop.

[@ymrabc]

I don’t know about now but in the UK when I was growing up in the 70s and 80s I was not aware of specialist radio stations that featured black music or white music, we just listened to BBC Radio 1 or Capital Radio in London and the music was mixed, some rock, some pop, some soul and our charts were made up of all types of music. Maybe it is different now but I love all music genres and I think it is because I was exposed to all music growing up. Great music is great music whoever makes it.

[@Veritas-TheGoader]

Black, white, red, or green, just make good music and I’ll listen to it. The color of the person is moot.

[@Karen_in_Canada]

Sadly wasn't always true. There are some who are trying to push America back to the sixties.

[@cptight88]

People don't like what they're not exposed to. Bowie's issue was the white corporate knobs actively preventing black musicians from showing their videos. Once Michael Jackson got on, the audience demand increased contrary to the MTV execs claim.

[@hrma6313]

@@Karen_in_Canada Not the sixties, the 19-th century.

[@Veritas-TheGoader]

@@cptight88 ok

[@claireb9127]

We never had segregation in the U.K. that is why we found it so unjust. It’s not a left or right issue. It’s about right or wrong. The British are big on fairness, not identity politics.

[@paddysworld3978]

I wouldn't necessarily agree with that comment, especially being British myself. There is a change in the UK and politics seems to be a lot more polarised than when I was younger, especially identity politics!

[@willrichardson519]

Racism in the UK is a bit more subtle. Despite the Battle of Bamber bridge in Ww2, when immigrants came to the UK to do the hard work we didn't want to do, as there was full employment, landlords would put up notices/ads saying no blacks, no Irish, no dogs.

[@paddysworld3978]

​@@willrichardson519That's a fair analysis!

[@Cchan53]

And BP David Bowies song was SPACE ODITTY not Space Odyssey..

[@personalcheeses8073]

It’s always annoying when people get that wrong😑

[@annaworth286]

Space Oddity

[@Erol_808]

You should checkout David Bowie performing his song 'Golden Years' on the Soul Train - the predominantly black music TV show.

[@beedeegee9374]

The great Luther Vandross was one of his backup singers.

[@KarriSimone]

❤🎉🎉 I want to congratulate Black Pegasus for almost 300,000 subscribers. Your channel has grown so much in the last year let alone the last month or two. I'm so excited for you truly much love. I love how you don't pigeon hole yourself into a absolute political situation and take on each topic as it applies to citizens not as it politically applys to you.

[@Lakeshore14]

Glad to hear that David Bowie questioned MTV about their practices. In the 1950s when Sammy Davis Jr. performed in Las Vegas he had to stay on the other side of town and was not allowed to stay in the hotel where he performed. When his good friend Frank Sinatra found out, he gave the hotel an ultimatum and told them if Sammy couldn’t stay there, Sinatra wouldn’t perform. Suddenly they were able to accommodate Sammy. It’s a disgrace that they had such a policy to begin with.

[@wendypow1963]

I believe this was Dean Martin who stood up for Sammy. They were great friends.

[@Lakeshore14]

@@wendypow1963 Yes they were great friends. I saw Sinatra talk about the Vegas incident in an interview he did with Walter Cronkite.

[@karmannghiaman1041]

And before Bowie, we had Dusty Springfield, a real champion of black soul music in the Sixties. I think there's also an interview somewhere with Steve Cropper where he talks about coming to the UK for a Stax review and the likes of Otis being treated like superstars and playing to a white audience and how depressing it was to go back to segregation and the Jim Crow laws. My favourite protest track though has to be UB40's "Tyler". How on earth did they know about that miscarriage of justice back in 1980?

[@discontentedcitizan6046]

David Bowie grew up in Brixton where the population was predominately afro Caribbean community . He grew up among black people and loved the area.

[@lynette.]

Bowie was always out spoken about what was wrong . Even as a school boy he protested the right for being allowed to have their own hairstyles ,the college cut collar length was banned. Not right or left just just.

[@abbymathews5088]

💯❤The best way to explain David Bowie as a human being is … Bowie is the original Ren. The one thing Bowie has on Ren is he was an artist. I mean creating sculptures, paintings and sketches etc. If you were to look into Bowie’s personality, intelligence, morality, and humor they are so similar it’s freaky. Both men insatiable when it comes to literature and film. Both men loyal and generous to a fault. The list is endless. I can’t imagine a Bowie fan alive that would not clamber to Ren upon discovering him. 😉❤️✌️

[@NotThatMF]

Ren is a kindred spirit to the late David Bowie. Both great men and artists. Genuinely good people and ahead of their time musically. Big Ren fan here. If you don't know who Ren is, watch Hi Ren-Ren

[@Codex7777]

Bowie's been my musical icon for most of my life. I'd pretty much given up on modern music... until I discovered Ren! I'd always had my 'Big 4', who I just saw as a league above everybody else, in terms of talent, innovation, influence and popular appeal. They are, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and, of course, David Bowie! I'd always wanted it to be a top 5 but every artist I added, although brilliant, just didn't feel on the same overall level as the other 4, so it kept changing. At various times it's been Yes, Cream, Deep Purple, Free, Yazoo, The Eurythmics, George Michael, Massive Attack, Portishead, Blur, Pulp, Radiohead etc etc but they were all temporary residents, though some had multiple visits. Then I discovered Ren and that 5th spot is finally filled! :) He has the talent, undoubtedly and he sound unique and original, rare qualities, especially nowadays but it's his emotional appeal and personal connection, that hits like no other artist I've encountered, in my entire life. He even outdoes Bowie in that regard and that's something I never thought I'd be saying! I held off putting Ren in that fifth spot for over a year, as it felt wrong placing him alongside the giants of popular music but I eventually bowed to the inevitable. If he's not a giant yet, he should be and if there's any hope for modern popular music he WILL be! :)

[@lemurskin1234]

I have not been this excited about discovering an artist (Ren) since discovering Bowie 45 years ago.

[@abbymathews5088]

@@lemurskin1234 I was nine when I found David. I’m 52 now. Sobbed like a baby when he died. 😉❤️✌️

[@abbymathews5088]

@@Codex7777 I admitted Ren was better than Bowie. Then I proceeded to cry. 🙂‍↕️❤️✌️

[@RO-vh8ln]

David Bowie toured New Zealand in the late 70's and visited a Marae (Maori meeting ground) for a cup of tea and quick visit. Then he was asked to stay for lunch and it turned into a day of singing. Maori have a strong culture of receiving guests with music and song and David reciprocate. When interviewed later he said the found the whole experience very moving.

[@drooney9]

The music industry has always been controlled by non-musicians.

[@helenab7390]

Usually old white Jewish men.

[@zigman63]

Iam sure someone has mentioned in the comments that Bowies wife is black and gorgeous, Fame,sound and vision, young Americans are as soul and funky as anything back then.He was one of the first white artists to be on Soul train,and his backing singers had a little know legend that was Luther Vandross. Respect for your interesting video.

[@monicarichards1473]

Thanks for doing this clip. I didn't know about this interview and I'm an 80s teenager, but the reason why David Bowie was being interviewed by MTV was because he had released an album called Let's Dance. You should definitely do some song from it, like Let's Dance, China Girl, Modern Love from that album. .And you will hear why he was interrogating the interviewer. That way, the missing part you didn't know now that I've seen it is that Bowie. recognize, the station wasn't really playing black artist and disguising it as they were more of a rock station, that is horse crap. Had a lot of what you would call black Influence beats at the time on the album Let's Dance and they knew it because tbey had heard the album. So he knew they were interviewing him knowing his album had a style of black beat music and was getting exempt because he was White and if he wad black and released the same album he would be banned from MTV. Michael Jackson was banned until the fans of all racial backgrounds called and wrote letters demanding they play Thriller and MTV once Michael Jackson was play became a legit channel for video watching. But I love that he put them on blast and gave them the business in the early 80's. When you listen to Let's Dance it will all become clear and his death stare and his interrogation of iterviewer will make full sense. And yes, back in the early 80s. The whole thing with putting black people on TV was actually scary to some white people. Just the sight of black people is scary. It's hard for you to believe you were just a baby.

[@QueenBabylonnia]

Yep,he understood alright. He understood what he was saying but he never agreed with him… he was looking straight through the guy, that stare.

[@vmroxy]

Interesting that they chose Prince being scary to a midwestern community since he was from Minneapolis. 😂 We’ve all seen how music is a way to educate people about our experiences, experiences that may be very different than theirs, a way of exposing others to worlds they sometimes can’t even fathom. This can lead to understanding, empathy, and God forbid, unity. Why did they have to have a separate section for MTV Raps? So people could choose to tune out at that time? Why not just mix it all in with the rest of the music? If you control the narrative, you control the outcome. And yes, David Bowie was married to the gorgeous, Ethiopian model, Imán.

[@mistybenefield5796]

Bowie gave not a solitary fuck about the bullshit line being fed to him. His disdain was palpable. Gotta appreciate someone who can level withering criticism with just a look.

[@BirgittHGer]

Hey - congratulation to 300.000 subs🎊🎉🎊🔥🔥🔥

[@williamjoback1436]

Back in the day, I saw this interview. Citizens of the U.K. have a certain appreciation and respect towards black artists. The record companies had to "black mail" MTV to get Michael Jackson and Prince music videos aired. Michael Jackson and Prince were acclaimed and they could not get their music videos on MTV in the early 80's?!?

[@alanshields8036]

The reason I've always been drawn to David Bowie. Not only is was he a genius, he was real.

[@PaulMDove2]

This reminded me of the story Kevin Godley tells about the "Rockit" Video. If you search for this you'll find it on KZbin. What he says is that MTV were OK playing Herbie Hancock's music so long as he wasn't in the video because back then they wouldn't show videos featuring black artists. I think this would be worth a reaction as a follow up to the Bowie/MTV interview.

[@AP-gb3eh]

Who interviewed who? Bowie was pissed in that interview Bowie was a musician who went out of his way to integrate everyone in his sessions and he was married to the beautiful Iman .

[@stevenmonte7397]

Damn, Bowie owned that dude!!!

[@TheDivayenta]

They didn’t know David Bowie was gonna come with those questions.

[@davemick7216]

I love the conversation around 9 minutes in. I originally started watching reaction videos because Tool reactions were huge at that time, and my algorithm was loaded with "black folks react to Tool" - And I have to admit, as a whiteboy, I was curious to see what people from other cultures thought about rock and metal, that's why I still like watching reaction videos, to get other people's perspective.

[@elisebarthalow6075]

Soul Train welcomed Bowie and other white artists.He was a giant.

[@helenbaumander3953]

He was the first white solo performer invited on. There was a band that had one or two white members that was on before him.

[@everyonelovesmajima]

MTV responded by just not playing music any more.

[@worksbydandeprez]

That was a big deal back in the day. MTV was playing Michael Jackson and figured that was all they needed to do. MTV thought only people in NY & LA would be interested in black musical acts but I remember driving through eastern Washington and hearing Rick James and Prince on the radio before the stations in Seattle and Portland were playing them.

[@revaflowers3115]

I think it would have been expected of Bowie to speak-up. He lived the life,walked the walk,and talked about things that affected him and those he loved and cared about.

[@gohumberto]

From back when Music Television played music.

[@MindFeather]

thank you for being who you are, from deep inside, both of y'all. blessings. and peace. you know i heard one time on tv , the author and poet Sherman Alexie, who calls himself a "half-breed," said "in America, what's happening to the Native Americans, it's not so much "racism", it's more like erasism -- we are being erased. every talk on racism has a black person and a white person. every once in awhile a brown person or a yellow person. meanwhile, the red people are being erased."

[@Rickhorse1]

Good observation about Bowie's stare. One of the most impressive aspects of this "interview" is how basically polite he is, using logic & his intelligence (& piercing stare) show how full of crap the excuses of the host are. Today it would break down to raising your voice to debate...Bowie didn't stoop to that.

[@BeastCoast4747]

Love how mature Bowie and just people in general were back then they could actually sit down and talk without being triggered.

[@pyrovania]

Being "triggered" was not a thing before 2005. It is very much a millennial-generation concept. - signed, an old fart. Further explanation: a person of my generation would have found the concept of being triggered kind of insulting, like you have no self control vs. external stimuli. At least, that's how I see it. External stimuli exist. It is your job to deal with it.

[@EmmaBadOne]

Loved listening to this conversation. What Don said near the end about the shift away from conscious hip hop toward a negative algorithm. It's hard to say why we shifted but it was apparent at the time to me and unfortunate. I don't know if it was an attempt by the labels or somewhere even higher up (the idea that NWA was promoted the same way CRACK was promoted to affect a certain demographic- was it the CIA?) or if it's just human nature to eventually lead to a common denominator/ dumbing down of an artform. Or is it human nature to be negative and hateful? No matter our conscious efforts and wishes and intentions. The algorithm (ie, humanity), historically, seems to take us to a place of singularity and that single idea or place is hate.

[@syphaeightfive3462]

I cried like one of my own passed. Like, two instances outside of my close family... Prince, and Bowie... We can be heroes!

[@LunaJo67WDHTMJ]

I knew! This was linked to MTV not wanting to play Michael Jackson's Billie Jean until the boss of CBS/Sony Walter Yetnikov threatened to pull al his artists from MTV. LJ

[@wendypow1963]

Genre-categorizing music leads to generations missing out on so much great music.

[@petrichor3947]

David Bowie picks up big stick sits down beats the shit out of interview.😮😅😂😂😂

[@kellisteadman-aldaz3846]

Bowie is the greatest! Always has been.

[@NotoriousATC]

I'm so old, when you asked who were the group with Grand Puba, my first thought was Masters of Ceremony!

[@cathywethington5913]

Bowie and Ren, my musical heroes. I haven't seen your reactions to Howie yet, but will look for them. Right now I have a request: Gail Ann Dorsey and Bowie doing a cover of Oh, Superman, live version on stage

[@cathywethington5913]

Bowie not Howie. #!$#@%& spell check

[@lathedauphinot6820]

Bowie was always ahead of the curve. There’s a music video he made in 1980 for the song “Ashes To Ashes” where his character is holding an electronic tablet which, of course, hadn’t been invented yet, that shows him violence coming in scenes from the future. In the movie “The Man Who Fell To Earth”, his character plays a man from another planet who has come to Earth to buy water for his planet, which has been turned into hot, dry desert by climate change. He is seduced by money, fame, and alcohol and never returns home.

[@jmarasco510]

Gotta check out bowie and Tina Turner singing "tonight"

[@matthewwisner2153]

People credit Michael Jackson for breaking the racial barrier of MTV. He was just too big for them to ignore.

[@w1lsmum]

I grew up listening to Motown, and soul music in northern England in the late 60's early 70's.

[@AnnQlder]

David Bowie sometimes featured Australian Aboriginal people in his film clips, famously in Let’s Dance. It was a big deal at the time, much respect for him

[@noother964]

I really enjoyed your discussion.

[@guestuser2373]

MTV started playing rock. There weren't many black rock bands. Michael Jackson, Eddy Grant, and Living Colour were some.

[@annaworth286]

In the U.K., segregation did not exist, so the concept was abhorrent to us, hence David Bowie’s (controlled) anger during this interview. Only a few areas of the country had Black people, immigrants from African countries or the Caribbean, so the people who we saw on tv, were musicians, actors, sportsmen etc. The first Black person that I saw in real life, was in the hospital, he was the doctor who stitched a wound on my head, it was 1960, and I was seven years old, at that time, the population was probably 99.9% white.

[@SpirosMargelis]

Rock = Revolution! Bowie changed the world by living in our planet. Many old Rockers did the same. Rock is NOT just music !!! It's so much more ...

[@boowescott996]

I'm really wishing you would check out Elvis and the black camunity it's an eye opener one everyone should watch

[@laynestj]

This is a great one to react to. It's a good gateway to the range of attitudes about racial issues that were in play at that time. It's also very interesting to contemplate how differently race issues were playing out in these two related, English-speaking countries. Bowie is a hero in so many ways for this, and other similar, social questions of the time.

[@mej6519]

bowie was in the music industry for such a long time he had to reinvent himself on multiply occassions. he was a visionary, and a champion for new music. one such instance of this, bowie used to go to a london club called the blue note, he was kinda of a regular there. during the uk's early 90's rave scene when hardcore breakbeat and jungle started to emerge, bowie befreinded an up a coming dj named goldie, goldie hosted "metalheadz"(not heavy metal, but jungle/drum and bass) at the blue note and bowie was on the guest list. bowie was there at metalheadz when goldie dropped his lp "timeless" on dubplate for the first time.

[@t0ddtu63]

This was also the criticism of Album Oriented Rock(AOR) radio stations. The format died in the 80's.

[@helenab7390]

His wife is black...beautiful inside and out both of them...

[@lynnhamps7052]

One of the biggest differences between the UK and America, is our political stances...we don't give a crap about which party our colleagues, friends or neighbours vote for, for a start our Right leading politicians are practically equivalent to the central left in the States. If we want to debate politics or religion we'll do so, it may get heated even but it doesn't break up friendships. Many of us don't even stick to one party and will decide on the policies at individual elections where to place our vote. It's called being open minded and grown up! 😑✌🇬🇧 PS Bowie was a genius, there will never ever be another like him..TOP 💔

[@PeterJPickles]

Us in Britain grew up with black music since the 1930s, we could never understand the racism against them in the USA, some of your artist actually settled in Europe to get away from racism, mental.

[@susanjohnston8267]

Oh you should review the testimonials of singers who were brought in around the Parental Advisory with the PMRC. You have Frank Zappa, Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) and John Denver. You should hear them defending their music. It is crazy.

[@Gypsythatremains73]

My man...David bowie was a brilliant, kind, fully accepting, immensely talented man. He was also good friends with Mr. Freddy Mercury! Take a look at the song he sings " under pressure "...." watching some good friends scream, let me out...give love..give love...give love one more chance.."...David bowie was the man! Love him! ❤️

[@EvilSnipa]

The big one for me was Run DMC having to do Rock music to get on MTV like Rock Box, King of Rock, Walk this Way Eddie Martinez is a Legend

[@Renkk17]

David Bowie was married to a black woman, Prince had a mixed band, Lenny Kravitz had a mixed band and many others!

[@ajruther67]

He also helped reignite Tina Turner's career. He left his own party to go see her perform down the street in New York. Some of the people at the party coudn't believe he would leave his own party to go see someone else perform. A few followed him to go see her. The next year 1984, her first solo album was released with her hit song What's Love Got to do with It

[@sharleneemerson6357]

Thanks for this fantastic reaction and substantive discussion ❤🎉🤘

[@derekhines1078]

A polite way of saying you’re wrong “I understand you’re point of view”. Along with that Bowie tone.

[@teslafenn]

Bowie was one of the best

[@EchoesDaBear]

David Bowie (RIP), aka The Chameleon, The Thin White Duke, didn't see colour! That's my belief in him. He saw musical talent! We needed champions like him, The Beatles (who wouldn't play in segregated venues when they toured the States), Peter Gabriel (whole heartedly embracing World music sounds), same with Paul Simon, and others to say 'why the prejudice'? Good music is universal, and truly colourblind! Bowie indeed married an absolutely beautiful Somali model, Iman! I've seen this interview dozens of times, and always get a laugh at how 'dagger' like Bowie's gaze is! He's seeing right through the corporate B.S. he's hearing! Cheers.

[@bcma9688]

I grew up in this era - at the start & rise of MTV's cultural influence. A white kid in the Midwest. Prince on MTV did not scare me. HE BLEW ME AWAY! He expanded my horizons & changed the game for me. And I remain forever grateful. A prime example of pigeonholing a population/region based on old-fashioned concepts. STILL happens to this day. Not all midwesterners are conservative, closed minded "hicks". Once MJ & Prince broke down that barrier at MTV, it became a touchstone for my generation. It brought us together.

[@Veritas-TheGoader]

Remember when MTV segregated the music. A block of rap, headbangers ball, 120 minutes, Bevis and Butthead lol, mtv jam, mtv rock. Kinda like opening a business to a select group (kinda based on race), at select times. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@aura81295]

Don't algorithms today pretty much do the same thing? If I click on something due to interest, curiosity or whatever, I will then be bombarded with a ton of stuff that is determined by someone else to be "categorically" similar. As consumers of a huge diversity from which to choose, this can help us more readily find what we are looking for - the difference between searching for a book at the library vs trying to find the same thing at garage sales. Yet it is also restrictive because, while we get the convenience of just being able to go in and pick up what we want, we reduce exposure to so much of the other stuff that is out there. Pros and cons...

[@Veritas-TheGoader]

@@aura81295 Thanks for the straw man

[@Jan-xn3kz]

British artists Stones, Beatles, Zeppelin etc all loved Black artists listened to it, modified it and sold it back to you guys and most of you didn’t even recognise it was part of your own cultural history.

[@esthershink-tremblay6777]

David Bowie had the balls to say it in 1983 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@riffmondo9733]

Yeah this was a good one. VJ’s on MTV were such punks.