Television: Musikladen

David Bowie performed on the Musikladen Extra TV show in Bremen, Germany, on 30 May 1978.

He was midway through the Isolar II Tour, which began on 29 March in San Diego. This was Bowie’s only appearance in Bremen.

Bowie’s guitarists were Carlos Alomar and Adrian Belew. Simon House was on electric violin, Sean Mayes played piano, and Roger Powell was on keyboards and synthesizers. George Murray played bass guitar and Dennis Davis was on drums.

We flew up to Bremen in north Germany for a TV show. Musikladen was the largest pop show in the world, going out to all Germany and parts of surrounding countries. The studio is arranged just like a music club with posters of Marx, Dietrich, etc on the painted walls. There’s a bar and tables and chairs for 150 kids so the cameras seem out of place, not the crowd.

The stage was quite small and had no barriers but the Germans said there would be no problems. David had put together a short show and we filed out between the scenery and the potted palms to applause from the 150.

They were right about ‘no problems’ – our only problem was adjusting to such a small and self-possessed audience. One girl, who was close enough to reach out and touch David’s leg, sat with her back to the stage for the entire performance. Eat your hearts out Bowie fanatics! It was a good show, though..

The 45-minute edition of Musikladen Extra was directed by Michael Leckebusch, and first broadcast on 4 August 1978.

The setlist

• ‘Sense Of Doubt’
• ‘Beauty And The Beast’
• “Heroes”
• ‘Stay’
• ‘The Jean Genie’
• ‘TVC 15’
• ‘Alabama Song’
• ‘Rebel Rebel’
• ‘What In The World’