Bowie plays everything from King Crimson to Ronnie Spector, Phillip Glass to Little Richard

On March 20 1979, BBC Radio 1 invited David Bowie on air to DJ. The singer was only a few months from releasing Lodger, the final piece of his “Berlin Trilogy”, when he took the opportunity to spend two hours playing some of his favorite songs. It’s an unsurprisingly eclectic listen as he stretches from early 20th century composer Elgar through Little Richard, The Rolling Stones, Iggy Pop and children’s music onto contemporary artists like Talking Heads and Blondie.

You can find these songs anyway, however. The major draw is Bowie, who chimes in between each song and makes transitions as jarring as Little Richard to the New York no wavers Mars seem logical and fluid. He was good like that. Listen below.

Tracklist:
The Doors, ‘Love Street’
Iggy Pop, ‘TV Eye’
John Lennon, ‘Remember’
? & The Mysterians, ’96 Tears’
Edward Elgar, ‘The Nursery Suite’ (extract)
Danny Kaye, ‘Inchworm’
Philip Glass, ‘Trial Prison’
The Velvet Underground, ‘Sweet Jane’
Mars, ‘Helen Fordsdale’
Little Richard, ‘He’s My Star’
King Crimson, ’21st Century Schizoid Man’
Talking Heads, ‘Warning Sign’
Jeff Beck, ‘Beck’s Bolero’
Ronnie Spector, ‘Try Some, Buy Some’
Marc Bolan, ’20th Century Boy’
The Mekons, ‘Where Were You?’
Steve Forbert, ‘Big City Cat’
The Rolling Stones, ‘We Love You’
Roxy Music, ‘2HB’
Bruce Springsteen, ‘It’s Hard To Be A Saint In The City’
Stevie Wonder, ‘Fingertips’
Blondie, ‘Rip Her To Shreds’
Bob Seger, ‘Beautiful Loser’
David Bowie, ‘Boys Keep Swinging’
David Bowie, ‘Yassassin’
Talking Heads, ‘Book I Read’
Roxy Music, ‘For Your Pleasure’
King Curtis, ‘Something On Your Mind’
The Staple Singers, ‘Lies’