When David Bowie made his appearance on Dinah Shore’s daytime gabfest, Dinah! in 1976, I faked being sick that day so I could stay home from school. I recorded the audio of the program by holding my $30 cassette recorder against the TV speaker. To me, this was event television. Watching it on YouTube some 35 years later, I realized how much of the dialogue is still to this day etched in my memory. Ridiculous perhaps, but true. This was back when rock and roll could still change your life.

Dig what’s on offer here folks: The thin white duke in FINE FORM, taped in Los Angeles on January 3, 1976, right before Station to Station came out, and apparently when he was in his still in his phase of wearing only clothes sold at Sears & Roebuck. Bowie was on the show to promote his role in Nicolas Roeg’s film The Man Who Fell to Earth.

To say that Dinah, Henry Winker, Nancy Walker and the studio audience were treated to an amazing version of “Stay” during that taping is simply an understatement. Listen to this LOUD and enjoy it. For me, this is one of the very best of the very best moments of David Bowie performing on television throughout his entire career.
 

 
The whole interview is fun. Dinah Shore, the Oprah of the 70s, clearly enjoyed meeting Bowie (she invited him back).  I can’t embed the clips here, but you can watch it in three parts on YouTube (one, two, three).In the third segment, Natalie Cole, Candy Clark,  parapsychologist Dr Thelma Moss [side note: I made a Kirlian photography device for my 5th grade science fair after hearing her speak about it here] and believe it or not, Bowie’s Karate instructor, Wayne Vaughn join David, Nancy Walker, Dinah and the Fonz.