David Bowie and Mick Jagger “Dancing in the Streets” released 40 years ago today, August 27th, 1985, though it was played for the world during Live Aid on July 13th, 1985 (the two musicians had originally intended to perform it simultaneously in London and Philadelphia but the delay in sound would have made things awkward). Bowie and Jagger’s version, originally recorded by Martha and the Vandellas in 1964 when it went to #2 on the charts and then was covered about a zillion times, hit #7 in the US and went to #1 in the UK. I love their rendition and I absolutely adore the video – it is so very very 80’s and so very very silly – even though it’s considered one of the worst videos of the 80’s, if not all time by, like, everyone (except me). I find this info from Wiki hilarious so pasting here in its entirety:

The video was played twice during the Live Aid event: the first before Bowie’s set, where it was introduced via satellite by the comedian Chevy Chase, and the second time as a filler when the Who’s reunion set suffered sound problems. It has been described as “campy”,”cheesy” and “embarrassing”. Radio X’s Martin O’Gorman remarked: “It’s [Bowie and Jagger’s] playful irreverence that causes many people to cringe.” Readers of The Guardian rated it the worst music video of all time in 2014, while NME placed it at No. 12 in their list of the 50 worst music videos ever. In a 2011 episode of Family Guy, Peter Griffin refers to the video as “the gayest music video of all time”, after which it is played in its entirety. After its conclusion, Griffin states: “That happened and we all let it happen.” In the 2010s, a “silent” version of the video was uploaded to YouTube, featuring grunts and shuffles instead of the music. Bowie himself was a fan of the video, with guitarist Ben Monder saying: “He thought it was hilarious and would just have us watch the whole thing [during the Blackstar sessions].

Here are both the “real” and the “no music” versions of the video so you can decide for yourself. I think both are pure gold.