Memo for Radio Show

Available for 24 days

Among the 90,000 items in the David Bowie Centre which opened recently at V&A East Storehouse in London, curators unearthed a handwritten note titled “Memo for radio show — list of favourite records.” On it, Bowie sketched out 15 tracks he imagined playing on a potential radio broadcast. Some of these are names long known as Bowie influences including The Beatles, Ronnie Spector, Roxy Music, Scott Walker, and The Legendary Stardust Cowboy, an eccentric '60s performer who was a huge influence on the creation of Ziggy Stardust. Bowie’s love of jazz is also represented in the memo by Miles Davis and Charles Mingus as well as classical pieces by Ralph Vaughan Williams and Richard Strauss. This one hour show brings Bowie’s memo to life. Each of the 15 tracks is played, interspersed with archive recordings of Bowie’s voice, interviews, and reflections that have been recorded for the BBC across the years. The programme imagines Bowie himself as host, guiding listeners through the music that inspired him.