Jean Genie resurfaces after three decades
- Published
Here's my report on newly found footage of David Bowie singing Jean Genie.
It's the first time the clip has been aired on television since it was originally shown on Top of the Pops in 1973.
It's vintage Bowie - when the popstar was putting the glam into rock. He looks fantastic and sounds even better. There was no miming, it was the real thing.
It was previously thought that every recording of Bowie singing the track had been destroyed. But in October it emerged that retired cameraman, John Henshall, who was filming on the day, had kept a copy of the show.
"It was never lost," he says. "I always knew I had it, I just didn't know that other people wanted it because it had been wiped by the BBC."
In the four-minute clip, Bowie is alongside his then-band The Spiders From Mars, who play a slightly extended version of the single.