David Bowie (October 25, 1984) – “Let’s Talk: A Conversation With David Bowie” Cover Feature - Rolling Stone
This major Rolling Stone cover feature presents an extended conversation between David Bowie and Charles Shaar Murray during the Tonight era. Across four pages, Bowie looks back over key stages of his career while discussing the making of Tonight, his renewed collaboration with Iggy Pop, songwriting, acting, The Man Who Fell To Earth and the increasing distance he felt from some of the darker characters and themes of his earlier work.
Publication: Rolling Stone
Date: October 25, 1984
Country: United States
Feature Length: Four pages
Published under the headline “LET’S TALK: A Conversation with David Bowie”, Charles Shaar Murray’s interview takes place in London shortly after the release of Tonight.
The feature opens by looking back at Bowie’s activity since Let’s Dance. Murray notes the enormous success of that album and the accompanying Serious Moonlight Tour, before turning to the new record and Bowie’s decision to work extensively with Iggy Pop once again.
Bowie explains that after the exertions of 1983, he did not initially intend to release another album so quickly. The Tonight project developed through a mixture of new Bowie material, collaborations and songs associated with Iggy Pop.
The interview specifically discusses the reunion between Bowie and Iggy as songwriters. Bowie talks about getting Iggy involved again and describes the creative compatibility between them, particularly in the writing process.
BOWIE AND IGGY POP
Iggy Pop forms one of the central strands of the interview.
The opening photograph shows Bowie with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in London in 1972, immediately connecting the contemporary conversation with Bowie’s earlier relationships and collaborations.
Murray discusses the long creative association between Bowie and Iggy, including Bowie’s production work and the way the two had influenced one another over the years.
For Tonight, several songs brought that relationship back into focus. Bowie explains that the writing partnership worked effectively because each could contribute something different to the process.
The conversation also reflects upon Iggy’s own songwriting and Bowie’s desire to work with the material rather than simply treat it as a nostalgic return to their earlier collaborations.
THE TONIGHT ALBUM
The interview explores the creation of Tonight and the mixture of material selected for the record.
Bowie discusses songwriting and the different circumstances under which the tracks developed. Rather than presenting the album as a completely unified concept, the feature reveals the various creative routes through which its songs emerged.
The discussion also shows Bowie considering the speed with which the record followed Let’s Dance and the huge commercial visibility generated by the preceding year.
Murray’s questioning places Tonight within the larger arc of Bowie’s career, asking how the artist who had repeatedly reinvented himself during the 1970s now viewed the demands created by mass international success.
LOOKING BACK
A substantial part of the feature is retrospective.
Bowie discusses earlier periods of his work and the way his relationship with particular songs and characters had changed with time. The interview considers the psychological intensity of some of his 1970s material and the distance Bowie now felt from several of those ideas.
The conversation touches upon Ziggy Stardust and later personas, allowing Bowie to reassess the characters that had once played such an important role in both his music and public image.
Rather than rejecting the past, Bowie presents himself as someone whose perspective had changed. The earlier work remained part of his history, but he was no longer interested in inhabiting those characters in the same way.
THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH
The interview also reaches back to Bowie’s film career, including The Man Who Fell To Earth.
The feature considers Bowie’s experience as an actor and the unusual relationship between his screen character and the public image surrounding him during the mid-1970s.
By 1984, Bowie was able to discuss the film from considerable distance, placing it alongside the other dramatic and musical identities that had formed part of his career.
SONGWRITING
Songwriting becomes another central topic.
Bowie discusses the mechanics of collaboration and the different approaches employed while developing new material. His work with Iggy Pop provides one example of collaborative writing, while the conversation also considers how Bowie’s own methods had altered over time.
The interview presents songwriting as a continuing process rather than something governed by a single fixed method.
Murray’s questions repeatedly draw connections between Bowie's current work and earlier periods, while Bowie reflects on the extent to which instinct, collaboration and changing personal circumstances affected the songs.
PHOTOGRAPHY
The four-page feature combines contemporary imagery with archive photography.
The opening spread contains a photograph captioned:
“David Bowie with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in London, 1972.”
The archive image places three figures associated with an important period of Bowie's early-1970s career together above the large “LET’S TALK” headline.
The feature continues with additional Bowie photographs, reinforcing the retrospective nature of the conversation while connecting the 1984 interview with earlier phases of his career.
CONTEXT AND NOTES
Published during the Tonight era, the interview captures Bowie immediately after the enormous mainstream success of Let’s Dance had dramatically expanded his worldwide audience.
Charles Shaar Murray uses that moment to look both forwards and backwards. Rather than concentrating exclusively on promoting the new album, the conversation examines Bowie’s changing relationship with his own past and the creative partnerships that had helped shape his work.
The presence of Iggy Pop is particularly important. The feature treats their renewed collaboration not as an isolated event but as another chapter in a creative relationship extending back many years.
The result is a career-spanning conversation that places Tonight within the much broader story of Bowie’s continual changes in music, identity, songwriting and performance.
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Event: Four-page David Bowie interview and cover feature
Era: 1984 Tonight era
Tone: Conversational, reflective and career-spanning
Writer: Charles Shaar Murray
Photography: Contemporary and archive photography, including Bowie with Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in London in 1972
WHAT THE FEATURE SHOWS
• Four-page Rolling Stone conversation with David Bowie
• Discussion of Tonight and the period following Let’s Dance
• Bowie reflecting on renewed songwriting collaboration with Iggy Pop
• Career reflections reaching back into Bowie’s 1970s work
• Discussion of Bowie’s changing relationship with earlier characters and personas
• Consideration of The Man Who Fell To Earth
• Detailed discussion of Bowie’s songwriting and collaborative methods
• Archive photograph of Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed in London in 1972
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