David Bowie Serious Moonlight 1983

Serious Moonlight is a recording of the David Bowie concert in Vancouver on September 12, 1983.

It is available as an official live DVD and an unofficial live album CD. I would like David Bowie to tidy up this mess and release it as an authorised CD as there is definitely a place for it within the group of David Bowie live albums.

I haven’t been featuring live concert DVDs without an accompanying CD but I thought I’d make an exception. I’m not sure about the legality of the Serious Moonlight live album but it’s being sold by Play.com and cduniverse.com so I’m guessing that it has a grey status. Legal but not approved by David Bowie.

David Bowie Serious Moonlight

David Bowie Serious Moonlight

Set List

  1. Introduction
  2. Look Back in Anger (originally on the studio album Lodger) (also on CD version)
  3. Heroes (Heroes) (CD)
  4. What in the World (Low) (CD)
  5. Golden Years (Station to Station) (CD)
  6. Fashion (Scary Monsters) (CD)
  7. Let’s Dance (Let’s Dance) (CD)
  8. Breaking Glass (Low) (CD)
  9. Life on Mars? (Hunky Dory) (CD)
  10. Sorrow (Pin Ups) (CD)
  11. Cat People (Putting Out Fire) (Let’s Dance)
  12. China Girl (Let’s Dance) (CD)
  13. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (Scary Monsters) (CD)
  14. Rebel Rebel (Diamond Dogs) (CD)
  15. White Light/White Heat (cover of the Lou Reed song performed by The Velvet Underground) (CD)
  16. Station to Station (Station to Station) (CD)
  17. Cracked Actor (Aladdin Sane)
  18. Ashes to Ashes (Scary Monsters)
  19. Space Oddity/Band introduction (David Bowie)
  20. Young Americans (Young Americans) (CD)
  21. Fame (Young Americans) (CD)

The CD excludes Cat People, Cracked Actor, Ashes to Ashes and Space Oddity.

The DVD itself from the concert excludes some songs performed at the concert –  Star, Stay, The Jean Genie, Red Sails and Modern Love. This may have made sense because of space restrictions when it was originally released as a VHS video but didn’t when it moved to DVD.

Unlike the other live albums David Bowie has released, this is almost the best of Bowie live. he hasn’t done much that has helped to define his legend since 1983.

You can quibble about some of the song choices. I’ve realised that there is nothing from Ziggy Stardust included on the DVD and leaving out The Jean Genie as well, it means the set list is seriously light on the glam rock days.

Serious Moonlight does make the songs from the late 1970s Berlin albums more accessible.

The musicians were:

  • David Bowie – vocals, guitar, saxophone
  • Carlos Alomar – guitar
  • Earl Slick- guitar
  • Carmine Rojas – bass guitar
  • Tony Thompson – drums, percussion
  • Dave Lebolt – keyboards, synthesizers
  • Steve Elson – saxophones
  • Stan Harrison – saxophones, woodwinds
  • Lenny Pickett – saxophones, woodwinds
  • George Simms – backing vocals
  • Frank Simms – backing vocals

There are various videos of David Bowie on the Serious Moonlight tour on YouTube.

I found this documentary about the tour which I thought you might find interesting although it is long. I guess this may be taken down but we might get lucky.

Now songs of David Bowie live in 1983.

Fashion / Let’s Dance

Young Americans

Heroes

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Other David Bowie live albums are: Santa Monica 72  – Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture David Live  – Live Nassau Coliseum ’76  – StageGlass Spider LiveA Reality TourVH1 StorytellersDVD Serious Moonlight

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You can get these albums from Amazon.comAmazon.co.uk.

 

 

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