TVC 15



"TVC 15" is a song written and recorded by David Bowie in 1975 and released in 1976.

The track was inspired by an episode in which Iggy Pop, during a drug-fuelled period at Bowie’s LA home, hallucinated and believed the television set was swallowing his girlfriend. Bowie developed a story of a holographic television, TVC 15. In the song, the narrator's girlfriend crawls into the television and afterwards, the narrator desires to crawl in himself to find her.

It was chosen as the second single from Station to Station in the UK, where it reached No. 33.

The B-side, "We Are the Dead", originally part of Bowie’s attempt to adapt Nineteen Eighty-Four, had previously been released on the Diamond Dogs album.

In America it peaked at No.64 on Billboard singles chart.

Track listing

 * 1) "TVC 15" (Bowie)  – 3:43
 * 2) "We Are the Dead" (Bowie) – 4:58

Production credits

 * Producers:
 * Harry Maslin on "TVC 15"
 * David Bowie
 * Musicians:
 * David Bowie: Lead Vocals, Guitar on "We Are The Dead", Saxophone
 * Warren Peace: Percussion, Backing Vocals
 * Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick: Guitar on "TVC 15"
 * George Murray: Bass on "TVC 15"
 * Dennis Davis: Drums on "TVC 15"
 * Roy Bittan: Piano on "TVC 15"
 * Herbie Flowers: Bass on "We Are the Dead"
 * Mike Garson: Piano, Synthesizers on "We Are the Dead"
 * Aynsley Dunbar: Drums on "We Are the Dead"

Live versions

 * A live performance recorded on 23 March 1976 was released on Live Nassau Coliseum '76, part of the 2010 reissues of Station to Station.
 * A spring 1978 performance from the "Heroes" tour can be heard on Stage.
 * On 14 December 1979 Bowie performed the song as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, accompanied by Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias.
 * Bowie performed the song during the Live Aid concerts on July 13, 1985. The tempo was considerably faster and more upbeat.

Other releases

 * It appeared on several compilations:
 * The Best of Bowie (1980) (single edit)
 * Fame and Fashion (1984) (album version)
 * Sound + Vision box set (1989) (album version)
 * Bowie: The Singles 1969-1993 (1993)
 * The Singles Collection (1993)
 * The Best of 1974/1979 (1998) (single edit)
 * Best of Bowie (2002)
 * The single edit of the song also appeared on the Christiane F. soundtrack (1981). It is also included on Re:Call 2, part of the Who Can I Be Now? (1974–1976) compilation (2016).
 * It was released as a picture disc in the RCA Life Time disc set.

Cover versions

 * Comateens – Comateens
 * The Wannadies - Only Bowie (1995)