As a kid growing up in the middle of nowhere, we had very limited television reception for our 15, maybe it was 17?, inch black and white TV. We had the common aerial on top of a high tower alongside our house. It had a rotor that you could control from the inside to aim the antennae the direction you needed to pull in a signal. Except we lived surrounded by ancient huge, huge white oak trees, so I am not sure how we received much of anything.
At any given time, we were usually able to get at least one channel, either from Terre Haute or Evansville, Indiana, that carried the main networks of ABC, NBC, and CBS. There were also smaller stations like Harrisburg and Cape Girardeau that we could get in some of the time, but their content seemed kinda hokey to me. Anyone remember Cactus Pete?
Sometime when I was in high school, I think 1983, a television station started airing from Mt. Vernon, called WCEE Channel 13, maybe just 35 miles away. It came in clearly and this new station played music videos! Music videos were something fairly new in the mainstream and I loved them, like you know I still do. There was no MTv when you lived in the sticks. But now my TV played videos! Bingo. I was a happy girl everyday afterschool when I got to watch a few.
I remember the first one I ever watched on this wonderchannel 13:
Atomic Dog by George Clinton
Wow, I just watched it and, whoa, does that seem primitive.
----------------------------------
So, I was i
More than once I heard him tell me
Let’s sway under the moonlight, the serious moonlight.
I don’t think I had a clue at the time I was loving Bowie’s China Girl in 1983 that it had been done before by Iggy Pop in the 70’s. In fact, I am sure Xenia Girl had zero knowledge period of Iggy Pop.
He wasn’t exactly a HeeHaw regular.
Later I would find out that David and Iggy actually co-wrote China Girl and, yes, it did predate Bowie’s version. It was included on Iggy’s 1977 album, The Idiot.
Side note: Did you know that Iggy Pop is actually James Newell Osterberg, Jr from Michigan? He had a group called The Iguanas as a young man and that’s how that all started.
Yeah, I can’t quite see him as a James. Or a Junior.
David included his version of China Girl on his 1983 album Let’s Dance and released it as a single as a way of helping out friend Iggy financially while in drug-addict ruins. Iggy would collect half the royalties by being co-writer. It was a huge hit, and a video I will forever remember.
The Shhhh…part, her fingernail, their profiles, his smile, the kiss.
I didn’t know until now that there is also an uncensored version of the China Girl video where there’s a little view of Bowie’s backside at the ending when they are on the beach. It’s so brief and not that big of deal to see some skin anymore so don’t be thinking you are missing something big. I checked it out on your behalf.
You’re welcome.
Here’s the one I got to see on my big time Mt. Vernon TV. Oh, baby, just you shut your mouth.
Eighties mic = flashlight, I swear.
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