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Witness History

Dancing in the Street: David Bowie and Mick Jagger

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.41.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 July 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In July 1985, music legends Mick Jagger and David Bowie were asked to perform a duet with a twist at Live Aid, the biggest concert in pop history.

Utilising the latest satellite technology, Mick would perform on the US stage in Philadelphia, while David would perform on the UK stage at Wembley Stadium.

As the technical issues were being discussed, it soon became obvious that a half-second delay in the link between cities would prevent the live performance from happening, so a recording was planned instead.

A short list of songs was discussed before the duo finally settled on the Motown classic Dancing in the Street.

Live Aid press officer Bernard Doherty tells Des Shaw how the duet and video were recorded in just 18 hours and became a highlight of the benefit concert on 13 July 1985. A Zinc Media production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Mick Jagger and David Bowie performing Dancing In The Street. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0

Get closer to the action with live commentary from the world's greatest sporting events on BBC Sounds.

0:06.1

It is all over!

0:08.4

Bulls are edge, caught behind.

0:10.6

Including cricket Super League, women's Euros 2025, Wimbledon, Formula One and much more.

0:17.6

It's all right to the lights and foot to the floor.

0:20.0

Oh, what a's done it!

0:21.3

Drop shots!

0:22.9

Winner!

0:23.6

On five sports extra, sports extra two and sports extra three.

0:27.6

Listen, only on BBC Sounds. Hello, welcome to the Witness History podcast from the BBC World Service with me, Des Shaw,

0:41.6

taking you back 40 years to July 13, 1985, on stage at Wembley Stadium in London for the biggest gathering of pop superstars the world had ever seen.

0:51.5

It's 12 noon in London, 7 a.m. in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for live

0:57.8

aid.

0:59.0

Live aid was a series of concerts staged in London and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium in America,

1:08.0

linked by the latest satellite technology to a global audience estimated

1:12.3

to be 1.9 billion people.

1:16.1

Among the many memorable events during this historic concert was the screening of a video

1:20.7

featuring David Bowie and Mick Jagger, with their version of the Motown classic Dancing in the

1:25.5

street.

1:26.6

Calling out around the world, are you ready for a brand new? version of the Motown classic Dancing in the Street. Bernard Dockettie was the live-aid press officer who was part of the team that worked on this iconic slice of 80s pop.

1:42.5

The brief was, let's make fun of each other.

1:45.1

Both of them had looked at each other's videos and sort of thought, I can do that move, I can do that move.

...

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