David Bowie- The Mask

[katymagnets]

He wasn't 16 or 17 when he made this, he was in his early 20s.

He has turned out to be a card though, hasn't he? ; )

[groovymack]

Sighs, is it me or does he look so yummy in tight tights.

[Eggs4Eva]

i want alot more of this!

[HappyToLoveYou]

DAT ASS

[biggatorbite]

Utter crap. David Bowie = sh*t

[arabiansanchez]

@biggatorbite Yet here you are watching an extremely obscure performance of his. Interesting :-)

[Taggerung12]

@biggatorbite Then why are you here?

[lorelei59]

@Bookworm- the mask becomes a part of him, and finally kills him. Bowie was very shy- he has stated that he would adopt characters ( Ziggy, Aladdin Sane, Thomas Newton), but they were really parts of his psyche. He got bored with them, and worried when they started to "take him over". I think this video shows a young man on the cusp of fame who wants it desperately, but realizes that it could destroy him. Bravo!

[MsMoonTheLoon]

was he really just about 16, 17 at that time? because if, then WOW, nobody from the guys in my school would do such a thing today!!!!

[SympathyForTheDebile]

this is exactly what happened with ziggy !

[Ellathegreatable]

WOAH!! creepy, reminds me totally of ziggy, but this was before all that :O he never fails to amaze me!!

[TheBookWorm1718]

Obviously a lot of people here get it, but I don't, can somebody explain the ending?

[TheyCallMeBird69]

Love the pants.

[glitzfashionglitz]

 can't people just he is hot instead of saying nasty perverted things?!!!!!!

[seekyong]

good



[sallyfieldrequired]

hes like a sim

[glitzfashionglitz]

@sallyfieldrequired This is late but at first he does

[Snotra]

Bowie must have wore out allot of mirrors..lol! I would love to hear Bowie sing...Suspicious Mimes!

[Snotra]

Bowie wore out allot of mirrors!

[Eggs4Eva]

what fabulous legs! ;)

[alikzubr]

No, he's 21-22 here. It's 1968 or 1969. Space Oddity had been already written and is played\shown in this film.

[kjonesification]

David Bowie has a HUGE penis O_O

[HorrorPixieMassacre]

Yeah, it's especially evident in the movie The Labyrinth...

[glitzfashionglitz]

@HorrorPixieMassacre I agree and I love his hair in that movie, his whole outfit is great but he does sorta show off a little.

[HorrorPixieMassacre]

@glitzfashionglitz Haha indeed. But I'm not complaining ;D

[glitzfashionglitz]

@HorrorPixieMassacre yeah

[glitzfashionglitz]

@kjonesification PERV!!!!!!

[glitzfashionglitz]

@kjonesification that is a perverted thing to say it is so true

[glitzfashionglitz]

@kjonesification I'm sorry

[glitzfashionglitz]

@kjonesification I'm sorry i called you a perv I'm not the type of person who calls people names unless it's my brother sorry

[CandleSwan]

this is amazing! did hey write this himself?

[Cyndizdayswar]

@CandleSwan

Yes he wrote this piece himself being just a teenager!! Have you realized that this piece is a prophecy about Ziggy and junkie David?

[xironxin]

"Utile Utilii Prescientis"5-th of february 1969 - Clarence Studios, Greenwich, England; Lindsay Kemp's class member - David Jones, age 22 /a.k.a David Bowie.

later...Ziggy Stardust Persona / character / mask, almost choked him to death, The Thin White Duke character / mask, almost coked'n'cracked him to death, The Goblin King mask almost bored him to death...The Masked Heart-Attack almost pushed him to death.

Somehow The Transfiguration Worked.

Well done Lindsay Kemp. Well done David Bowie.

[cappstv]

i think he did went by bowie at this time, cause this is from love me till tuesday i think.

[arabiansanchez]

This wasn't made for Love You Till Tuesday. I'm aware it's on it but this was a stand alone piece by the feathers mime troupe.

[cappstv]

i feel stupid now

[arabiansanchez]

Sorry! :-)

[kittyprydekissme]

@arabiansanchez Three of songs from Love You Till Tuesday have the other Feather members on them, so I would think it could still have been made for it. I don't know for certain, though.

[bowiejareth]

Awesome! Does anybody know what year this is??

[knrose10]

reminds me of life on mars

[tredissa]

Michael Jackson could never take his mask off. he could only create new ones. until they killed him. thank you for this realization

[DavidBowieloving]

WOW, really fantastic.....

[violetthebat666]

Wow, this is amazing.

[ZephyChanges]

Brilliant. I love the dark undertones and deeper meaning and whatnot.

[honeynutcheeriosXXX]

Genius! Love this!

[PotatoeDrama]

Mined.

[runly1]

wow. talk about foreshadowing.

brilliant in everything he does.

[snickerdoodle173]

oh my god look at his ass and legs in those tights! he has a flawless physique but mimes are creepy

[mxsquiggle]

amazing....

[54spiritedwill54]

AWESOME!

[mchelo18]

This is incredibly prescient and even creepy, if you think about Ziggy Stardust and how that character, that mask, almost choked him to death...

[Hacker73]

I agree, it's the exact word: prescient.

As everything in David Bowie career, his mimic work is GENIUS, DARK-SIDED, AWESOME, STRANGE, DISTURBING...

He's the Lindsay Kemp's most talented pupil. Impressive how he sintetize all his artistc skills --- in SILENCE.

[richiepiep]

To be exact, this scene was recorded on Feb. 5, 1969 at Clarence Studios, Greenwich, making David 22 at the time. The next day, he would film the 'Space Oddity' segment, the soundtrack of which was recorded on Feb. 2. He did wear a wig, not to hide his long curly hair (that perm would come later that year), but because he'd had a small role in the film 'The Virgin Soldiers', and his hair was still really short. He mimics his father's Yorkshire accent: 'you do make us laff, that were very good'.

[richiepiep]

.... and all I wanted to say was: great scene by this versatile artist! Definitely another essential chapter in the Bowie book!

[JohnnyDeppian]

Nice ass =)

[JimmersThomas]

Shame no tighter trousers were available.

[DJOfRadioGallifrey]

lol

[glitzfashionglitz]

@JimmersThomas that's perverted but lol. OMG PERVERTED SEEMS TO BE MY FAVE WORD OF THE DAY.

[TheBookWorm1718]

@JimmersThomas Tighter? LOL, I don't think we'd be able to survive that.

[WESSYS]

This is art you know....

[qbalfrog]

Agreed. It is fabulous. But, he still has a great ass. And beautiful cheekbones, and a brilliant smile, an flawless voice, and he is an all-round amazing talent.

[dotapotamus]

Jesus i bet he feels like a dumb ass.

[NukeIt2Bdone]

Can you believe this is 40 years old now!

[averynb1218]

Wow he's good

[dowling1981]

avery - Did you enjoy David Bowie better when he was Ziglington Stardust?

[averynb1218]

I'm not that familiar with his different incarnations. But I'm very impressed with his mime work.

[dowling1981]

Do you think that he makes better albums when he dons the mask of Ziglington Stardust and his cohorts?

[averynb1218]

Again, I really know nothing about Bowie's music, but I'm impressed by his mime work.

[dowling1981]

Do you not think that you should at least know about Bowie's achievements and pivotal moments in musical history if you are familiar with his mime fetishes?

[averynb1218]

Perhaps...but again, I'm not.

[dowling1981]

Are you even familiar with proposed portentions of Ziglington??

[averynb1218]

NOOO!!!

[dowling1981]

Calm down man. Do you rate any of Bowie's later stuff?

[averynb1218]

No. I stumbled across this. I don't even know enough about Bowie to distinguish between his earlier and later work.

[dowling1981]

Don't you think that there are aspects of Bowie that all should be familiar with in the ideal run of things?

[averynb1218]

Sure.

[dowling1981]

When shall you learn them?

[xironxin]

You still are Rob Hayewood!

And sure thing I still am.

(yet not enough average nob

and not enough dowlin'up)

Anyway...

Nice ride, huh???

(Plus We should Not put aside Dave Jr 'n' Baby Princess! see ya

[xironxin]

And let us give a hand 'of app to Twiggy Zardust also

[dowling1981]

Nice patter. Which is your favourite Bowie album?

[aiyoriaoshi]

I really need to work out... lol I have potential to have a figure like david bowie! Im skinny, i just need to shift a little bit of jiggle into muscle. (145 pounds and 6'0 tall here)

[nosenipples]

Ooh, kind of eerie. Funny how everyone applauds just because he put on a mask, though.

[Muxxyy]

what a touching and prophetic story. there he is, telling his own future story as he's going to lose himself among all the stage characters 10 years later...so sad.

p.s he's roughly 20 in this one, not 16 as poster says.

[danceswithpigs]

loved the story. seeing this makes me appreciate him more than i really appreciate him now. :) :) :)

[mashamorgan]

Bowie's not gay anymore but he is married to Iman. lol

[lov4jesus]

I think this is a really neat video. Especially the ending...

[frozenpandaman]

lol.

[punkrockandsocks]

this is most excellent, but i think i might have nightmares now.

[oogenesis]

he moves with an almost feminine grace. i was wondering if he'd had dance or theatre training; i guess this proves it.

[happymohawkgirl]

Is David left-handed?

[Chunkazoota]

Yes, he is.

[happymohawkgirl]

I thought so! I've seen a couple times with him writing with the left hand, and some with the right. I was wondering if this was a flipped video or something. And thanks.

[nesplayer94]

Though it's only a 4:57 minute video...it is much better than anything out in the movies right now.

[tayloreh]

The last line is a really cool payoff. I wonder how it would have turned out with a darker bg. Less surreal, but you'd see the contours better.

[jimmydecember]

Quite paiful to watch..

[nitemareshadows]

NO PENIS HERE

[Darohajo]

David Robert Haywood Jones I'm only a thin white woman was thursday's child. But I know there's something in the wind. Let me fly away with you. Waiting so long, I've been waiting so long. Come to my waiting arms. Give me more than one caress, satisfy this hungriness. Share my life. Falling in love with me. How I wish you would. With your kiss my life begins.

[MandyKazooBowie]

Only he can make swastikas sound sexy to. He is amazing. I wanna be Iman.

[Tiggernaut1]

David Bowie has always been innovative and original.  I love everything he has done from his miming, The Hunger, Twiggy Stardust, David Bowie of the 70's through now. Only he can make "Oh baby just you shut your mouth" sound sexy.....Iman is a lucky lady......

[Kianto]

Ziggy Stardust, sweetie, ZIGGY.

[Tiggernaut1]

Oops, guess I got my british icons confused there for a minute........

[nitemareshadows]

Lol. I giggled. x]

[dbdeg88]

Those tights really don't leave much at all to the imagination...I love it!

[MandyKazooBowie]

Dang, David is an awesome mime. Definately my favourite mime. Amazing. I just love to hear him talk. Wonderful accent! And I love his tights.

[beeb1992]

i love it !

[boydfriend]

Whoa. Whooooa.  That blew my mind. He's actually a really good mime!

[willausten]

Yeah, our lecturer told us the other day that he was part of the Theatre Group for his mime acts with a few others. Cover of Heroes also has a bit of symbolism to do with his miming. He had a lot of impact on Iggy pop too when they were in Berlin writing together, that's why Iggy Pop's cover (forgot the name) has a bit of the same look as hereos.

Fuck yeah, go my Music degree.

[chainxofxmemories]

LMAO look at the TIGHTS!!

haha, the accent's AMAZING!!

...but it IS kinda creepy at some parts...his facial expressions...

[falconelly]

the memes... Or the mimees

[seasaltrosemary]

I saw this show in 1968 or 69. Bowie did this routine as the opening act for Tyrannosaurus Rex, the original duo, at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, UK. We had no idea then, of course, that Bowie would become famous as a singer. I've been telling people for years that this was the first I knew of him and have been met with disbelief. Thanks arabiansanchez, for bringing back this memory of a wonderful show.

[IlaughedIcried]

I had absolutely NO IDEA David Bowie did anything like this! His physical control and body articulation is as fantastic as any professional actor or dancer...I'm hugely impressed. This makes me want to know a lot more about him, since obviously I didn't know as much as I thought!

[fjordingtokig]

lol, look at the tights! xD

I love his accent.

[fjordingtokig]

lol, look at the tights! xD

I love his accent.

[zotabor]

his a mime?

[zotabor]

his a mime?

[DBCrowns]

I love it........ pretty much did happen to him in his career with Ziggy.... (his mask)

[MansonsBitch666]

wow. really quite creepy

but it is amazing

he does it really well

[mogirldotnet]

AWESOME!

[therocketsuk]

this is a remarkable performance. when i saw bowie at the isle of wight in 2004 (to date, his last UK show), he did a few mime acts. For instance, during fame, he shaped out a mirror and held it at arms length, then mimed applying make up. I was really impressed by his skill at the time. It was done so well and from this you can clearly see this is a talent he has long practiced.

[music4allweb]

The Mask is from 1968/69 so he is 21 or 22

[stardust2116]

God, some of you people are stupid critics arn't you.

If you don't like it, quit watching it and don't leave pointless comments.

Well I love it. If you don't, you knew where you can go.

[LilLyon]

THANKS FOR THIS!

I'm not sure when this video was SHOT, but it was a part of the 1969 movie "Love You Till Tuesday" which was a collection of videos made by Bowie's manager in hopes of getting him more publicity. Obviously, the title of the movie was created into a song by Bowie and preformed at the beginning of the short film.

So.. if it was 1969, he would've been 22 :)

[rotoboto]

what a tard get a life and a job

[yakacm]

It's from 69 goto babelgum and it has a half hour segment including this and a real early version of space oddity and other stuff. But I mean fucking mime, MIME! you couldn't make it up. It's strangely compleing thou.

[Bowiefanperson]

Not a big fan of the see through pants, but hey who am I to judge. You know, just like don't look at the back of the Diamond Dogs cover if you don't want to see dog balls.

[therocketsuk]

Oh fuck off man. It's art, you prick.

[NukeIt2Bdone]

I think thats a wig, I remember hearing he cut his hair real short for another project and had to wear a wig for this movie

[lafleurdelotus]

j'aime vraiment bien cette période de David . Il avait du talent.

[lafleurdelotus]

du talent !

[NatasTheRock]

Again, whatsoever created Jeanette knew her not. Neither me. It was truly the thing that should never ever be. Die traitor, die.

[elephantstone67]

this proves that he is simply a hughe talent artist...multi facetic man

hey people...imagine him here with a bowler hat, black boots, large down eyelash and walking stick and voilà!! you have alex from clockwork orange..this from 65' or 68 maximum..and film os from 75..sooooo...

[ShovelDuct]

I thought Clockwork Orange was made in 71.

[elephantstone67]

wow nice super trare footage..Im a bowie fanatic and never seen it before...If he was 16 must be middle 60's 65 or 66...I have a short film called "The Image" (some kind if horror based film..similar to dorian gray story..and David Jones is protagonist..he has a nice Mod Psyh looking there....pretty bice..and the thing makes me think is that film is on B&W no colour and from 67 and this is on coloru and very well quality..strange, isn't it?

[arabiansanchez]

I was wrong with the age; it has subsequently been said he was in his early 20s- maybe 71ish.

He is currently 60 years old.

[Bowiefanperson]

Now 61 years

[MissMael]

That´s such a good story

[asy4]

Now I know where Todd Haynes got the inspiration for the big top scene in "Velvet Goldmine." Production design on that movie was damn amazing. The whole thing is damned amazing. Didn't it get an Oscar nomination for Art design?

[hallospacegirl1013]

jareth jr. OK THAT WAS MEAN. it was really good. and kinda predicted his future...

[Kidonia]

...that was some crazy-mad acting...what do you call it when you act like you're doing something but you don't have any props? ...is it pantomime??

[arabiansanchez]

He's miming- but his troupe, Feathers, used narration tracks too.

[challenin]

deep but half.

[tommym5]

damm it. so deep

[aquafirefli4]

Oh Bowie.

[mottnianhunter]

Voiceover and sound effects: isn't it supposed to be mime?

[fsjd3akd]

that's what made it revolutionary.... said David

[GwendolenFairfax]

Oh my god...this is soo cute=)

[AeryonSun]

I don't think it is a literal mask. I think it stands for all the fronts one makes. He did lose himself in the end, but not from a real mask, he lost himself because he ceased to be himself. He got so caught up in the act of being someone else that he lost the real him.

[arabiansanchez]

Yes, I agree.

he stopped being him and became the act, represented, in this case, physically by the mask. It took over and consumed his being.

[repelghosts]

This man knows his Kabuki theater philosiphy....10 stars for you son!Exactly, what David wanted to 'project',onstage....have a great weekend!Jeff

[fsjd3akd]

kind of like when he became Ziggy.

[Kidonia]

y'know, for Ziggy being his most notable alter ego, I was shocked when I heard him say he just wanted Ziggy to die, but I guess I could understand not wanting such a big thing to be looming over ME.

[nicounderground2004]

he's doing mime you dorks duah ...

[tyx99999]

this bugs me i dont like it no offence.

[ghodium]

ya fckn bstrds, it's obvious

[stardust2116]

I've never really got the ending

[arabiansanchez]

He was consumed by the mask / the act.

He lost track of who he was, until there was no mask.

[stardust2116]

and I dont mean that it a mean way. I like his teeth, and his eyes...

[stardust2116]

funny. u can only really tell its David by the teeth

[mitrataj]

intense

[TeenageWildlife]

mm, im a pretty big bowie fan, but i don't think it's mean at all. he even admits how he got caught up in the characters + the drug usage. his life had gone awry until the later part of the 70's. he's adopted characters as a means to advance his songs even further, there's nothing wrong with that.

[MaulC91]

this is really amazing..and he is a very good actor,as he was so young!

[arod901]

Enyone want to explain this to me , please

[challenin]

ahahha ^^ so humor :D

[airheart05]

Bowie is the man.

...palying himself as per usual

[bowie1983]

David Bowie was a good actor from the start!

[portabelvinylspelare]

So cute!! :D

[ChiaraMcD]

That was...interesting. Moving, but a little bit wierd!

[stevebarry]

probably the most disturbing video ive seen on the net in a while

[irenenuky]

that was very strong...

[Rex671]

That was really good. I love stories like that.

[sazzaria]

Neat exercise. And he's SO young!!!