David Bowie & Mick Jagger

"Dancing in the Street" was a Martha and The Vandellas song covered by David Bowie and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger as part of the Live Aid charity movement in 1985. The original plan was to perform a track together live, with Bowie performing at Wembley Stadium and Jagger at the JFK Stadium, until it was realised that the satellite link-up would cause a half-second delay that would make this impossible. Instead, the pair decided to cover “Dancing in the Street” (having rejected an earlier possibility, “One Love” by Bob Marley). In June 1985, Bowie was recording his contributions to the Absolute Beginners soundtrack at Abbey Road, and so Jagger arranged to fly in to record the track there. A rough mix of the track was completed in just four hours, at which point the pair went straight out to London’s docklands to film a video with director David Mallet. Thirteen hours after the start of recording, this also was completed. Jagger arranged for some minor musical overdubs in New York. The video (featuring both stars mugging furiously, and sending each other up) was shown twice at the Live Aid event, with Jagger also performing it live at the US concert (Tina Turner taking Bowie’s vocals). Soon afterwards the track was issued as a single, with all profits going to the charity. “Dancing in the Streets” topped the UK charts for four weeks, and reached #7 in America. Bowie and Jagger would perform the song once more, at the Princes’ Trust Concert on 20 June 1986. It is the last UK #1 single to date for Bowie, and the only #1 success for Jagger in his native country as a solo artist. The song has since featured on several Bowie compilations.