Ricky Gervais bragged about his friendship with David Bowie in the latest issue of GQ, and I don’t blame him. If I was friends with David Bowie, I would make sure that everyone knew about it. I would be tweeting that shit nonstop. And judging from the above photo of Gervais from the 1980’s when he was in a new wave band, he’s clearly been a Bowie fan for a while, and being his friend is probably a little bit of a dream come true. So yeah, Mr. Gervais talked about his friendship with The Bowie, and it sounds like a match made in sarcasm heaven. From GQ via NME:
[On what they talk about] Music and comedy…I think I might have said what a huge fan I was. And I think he liked my stuff…I got him to do a little thing in Extras. I remember we went round his flat, and it’s exactly as you’d expect it to be – just beautiful and tasteful and modern, and there’s this wonderful statue. And I went, ‘Oh, that’s amazing’.
The first time he buzzed me in [to his flat], the concierge called up and said, “Mr Jones?” Of course he’s Mr. Jones! He’s not fucking David Bowie! I met David Jones. [Bowie’s legal name is David Robert Jones.]
He’s been a musical hero of mine for 30 years. When I called him up [to guest star on Gervais’ Extras] and I’d written ‘Little Fat Man’, I said, ‘Have you got the lyrics?’ and he went, “Yeah.” I said, ‘Can you do something quite retro, like ‘Life on Mars?’?’ And he went [deadpan], “Oh, of course, yeah, sure. I’ll knock off a quick ‘Life On Mars?’, shall I?
OH, BOWIE! Aside from hanging out with Gervais, Mr. David Robert Jones is doing pretty well for himself. His latest album is a hit, even if some Catholics are mad at him.
Here’s the video for the “Little Fat Man” segment Gervais mentioned.
KILLLLLING me! “little fat man” is my jam. also BIG LOLz @ the gervais photo up top – crikey! looks like a member of spandau ballet.