David Bowie - Cracked Actor DVD
Alan Yentobs great BBC Omnibus documentary following Bowie around America in 1974.
Broadcast: BBC4, Astra @ 28.2E, January 2008
In 1974 producer Alan Yentob and a BBC film crew followed the progress of Bowie's Diamond Dogs tour through California and, in a series of live clips and interviews, revealed Bowie in yet another stage of development, moving restlessly from one creative approach and image to another.
It also showed the various reactions of the bewildered US media and a legion of fans keeping up with his new persona.
For audiences outside the US, it provided an insight into the strange world Bowie was now inhabiting and a preview of his impending soul period.
Nic Roeg was casting his next film at the time and, seeing this documentary, realised that Bowie would be the ideal person to portray the uneasy, displaced lead character. After meeting with Bowie, his instincts were confirmed and Bowie signed on for The Man Who Fell To Earth, to begin shooting in 1975.
Also included live footage from Los Angeles Universal Amphitheatre, 2 September 1974:
Cracked Actor / Sweet Thing / Moonage Daydream / Aladdin Sane / Time / Rock'n'Roll Suicide / Diamond Dogs / John I'm Only Dancing
and Hammersmith Odeon, London 3 July 1973:
Ziggy Stardust / My Death
and a Young Americans recording session (Right) from Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia August 1974.