Bowie’s BBC
audition – dull, hopeless
Years before he was the Man Who Fell to Earth, David Bowie was the man who failed his BBC singing audition.
The withering verdicts of corporation executives on one of Bowie’s first bands have been unearthed by the makers of a documentary about his formative years. ‘‘A singer devoid of personality’’ was the conclusion of one talent judge in 1965. ‘‘Singer not particularly exciting. Routines dull,’’ complained another. ‘‘I can’t find fault with them musically – but there is no entertainment in anything they do,’’ lamented a third.
The BBC executives who so bluntly dismissed a man who went on to become one of the most influential musicians in pop history were members of the longforgotten Talent Selection Group. In the 1960s this forbidding committee was responsible for auditioning every act that hoped to be played on BBC radio, to ensure that their music met the corporation’s quality standards.
Bowie, then aged 18 and still calling himself Davy Jones as well as his soon-tobe-famous stage name, performed three songs with his beat group the Lower Third.
Five of the seven judges deemed their tracks – Out of Sight, Baby that’s a Promise and a cover of Chim Chim Cher-ee from Mary Poppins – too poor for public broadcast. One member of the panel emphasised that they were not worth wasting energy on, writing: ‘‘I don’t think they’ll get better with more rehearsal.’’
While many future superstars are initially held back by the modest talents of their bandmates, several of the judges made clear that it was Bowie – not his fellow musicians – whom they disliked. ‘‘The singer is a cockney type but not outstanding enough,’’ noted one of the panel. ‘‘Amateur sounding vocalist who sings wrongs notes and out of tune. Group has nothing to recommend it,’’ said another.
Even the two judges who voted in favour of the Lower Third damned them with faint praise. ‘‘Very helpful group although their drummer was late,’’ noted one. ‘‘Useful and reasonably small.’’
The disastrous BBC audition took place in November 1965, four years before he found global fame with the 1969 album David Bowie and single Space Oddity. The Brixton-born singer went on to sell an estimated 140 million albums around the world, repeatedly reinventing his persona and sound to become one of the most important pop culture figures of the past five decades. He died of cancer in January 2016. – The Times
‘‘A singer devoid of personality.’’ BBC talent judge of David Bowie