Love You Till Tuesday is track number four on the 1967 album. This song has a whimsical, Saturday-morning-cartoon feel to it. It is playful and jovial. Bowie sings about his passion for a new love interest and perfectly captures what it is like to feel that newly infatuated romanticism. He sings about just watching and waiting outside of his new love’s window, and he hums “da da da dum” joyfully throughout. At the end of the song he quips, “Well I might stretch it till Wednesday,” which finalizes the lightheartedness of the song.
Love you Till Tuesday is also the title of a promotional film that was produced by Bowie’s manager at the time, Ken Pitt, to showcase his talent and gain exposure. The thirty minute film features a series of music videos and a mime routine performed by Bowie. The film also features Bowie’s girlfriend at the time, Hermione Farthingale, and his friend, John Hutchinson. I only just discovered this film while looking up information on this song, and let me tell you, this is Bowie gold!!!
The film starts with a music video for Love You Till Tuesday which consists of Bowie against a white backdrop singing to the camera. He is wearing a leisure suit with a Fred Jones from Scooby Doo style ascot. It’s amazing!
Fun fact: Bowie wears a wig throughout the film because he had recently cut his hair military style to audition for a movie role. The next music video in the film is Sell Me a Coat, from the Deram album. Again, Bowie is singing against a white background, this time joined by Hermione and Hutch (as they are billed in the credits) on backup vocals and guitar. In the next music video, When I’m Five, Bowie is alone again, this time in a black room with giant candles. He sings in a childlike voice and makes childlike faces throughout the song, as if he is actually four years old going on five. The next video is a song we’ve already discussed on this blog, Rubber Band. Bowie wears a red and white pinstripe suit and a fake mustache.
After this comes the mime routine, The Mask. Bowie mimes the story and then narrates the voice-over. It is a story about a man who steals a mask from a thrift shop, uses it to amuse his friends and family until it makes him famous, changes his personality, and ultimately kills him. I have often read about Bowie’s early art-school mime days, but until now have not had the joy of seeing him perform a mime routine. I have really been missing out! He performs the routine in full mime makeup, wearing white tights and a ruffled white shirt. It is really fantastic.
Next up is the video for Let Me Sleep Beside You. Again, this is just Bowie and the camera. He plays a guitar that doesn’t actually look real, but he gives a great Bowie-the-rock-star performance, complete with shaking legs and hips and Bowie rock faces. Next is the video for Ching A Ling, which is actually sung by Hermione, with Bowie on backup. Hermione, Hutch, and Bowie all sit on pillows playing guitars for this video. Next is an early video of an early recording of Space Oddity. How awesome is this?!?! Whereas all of the other videos in the film consist mostly of Bowie singing directly to the camera, this video is actually more like a mini-movie with Bowie playing the role of both Ground Control and Major Tom.
The final piece of the film is a music video for the song When I Live My Dream. Bowie is back in his leisure suit/Fred Jones ascot outfit, and he serenades Hermione through a seemingly enchanted forest. I am simply elated that I found this film. It is truly a jewel in the Bowie vault.
That was great! Fun read 🙂
Thanks! I hope you have time to watch the film at some point.