David Bowie Discusses His Brief Ban from Saturday Night Live

Editor’s Note: This nugget was found by Young Master Joe J, folded into a copy of Tower Records “Pulse” magazine from 1999. We can only surmise it was intended for an earlier version of this site, “Gibby Haynes Death Pool”





While rock musician David Bowie’s return to Saturday Night Live this weekend may seem like a routine promotional appearance for his new album “'Hours…‘”, many may be surprised to learn that it bears the weight of some behind-the-scenes controversy.



“I was banned from the show,” said Bowie from his dressing room while waiting to do a soundcheck.



From Milton Berle to Sinéad O'Connor, many celebrities have been banned from the comedic institution for a variety of reasons over the years. The show’s creator and executive producer Lorne Michaels is usually the one who wields the hammer in such matters, and the incident in February of 1997 was no different.



Earlier that week, Bowie had expressed interest in appearing in a sketch to Michaels over dinner one evening. Michaels let his writers know the next day and they came up with an idea which Bowie initially approved of.



“The gist was that I was somehow roped into a low budget telly advert for a Brooklyn bakery. They wanted me to sing about their pastries or what have you. One of the things they came up with was a version of my song, ‘Watch That Man’. But instead, in the chorus I would sing, ‘Try our flan’.”



Bowie took issue with the way the writers wanted him to pronounce the word “flan”. While either of the two main pronunciations is generally accepted, the veteran rock star and food connoisseur was miffed at saying it the “wrong” way.



“David is a man of the world,” said Michaels.



“He’s seen it all. And he takes food very seriously. I get that. But when you are running a big, live production like we are, last second changes can be complicated.”



While Bowie expressed misgivings throughout the week, he eventually agreed to do the sketch as written. But as the show was being broadcast live he changed his mind. He backed out after his first musical performance and the sketch had to be scrapped and replaced.



Late-game changes are nothing new to Saturday Night Live. The show is more than prepared to handle sudden disruptions. And although Bowie’s late decision to bow out of the sketch did anger Michaels, it was not what ultimately got him the boot.



“I was scheduled to perform a single from my ‘Earthling’ album called ‘Telling Lies’. Just before the band took the stage I decided to take the piss out of Lorne a bit because I knew he wasn’t happy with me.”



What happened next may have looked completely innocuous to the viewing public, but it was a deliberate statement that cut one man to his core.



Instead of the new single, the band played 1981’s “Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)”, a song that Michaels confessed to Bowie in private was “absolutely terrifying” to him.



“We got to talking about this and that at dinner one night and Lorne’s SNL hiatus in the early 80s came up. He told me how it was the darkest period of his life and he described how much cocaine he did while listening to my “Scary Monsters” album. Just mountains and mountains of the stuff. Sometimes straight off the record sleeve. Those were his words. I want that to be clear about that.”



When the song was over, Bowie was immediately escorted from the studio.



“They didn’t waste any time. The real shame of it was there was a lovely fruit basket in my dressing room that I wanted to take back to my hotel. I obviously didn’t get to. I was very sore about that. Still am, to tell you the truth.”



Michaels declined to go into specifics about his decision to ban Bowie, but he did confirm that the ban happened.



So why is Bowie back this weekend, only three years removed from the incident?



“We’re mates. We have been since the 70s. He knows now that I was just trying to get a rise out of him. Maybe I could have done it less, I don’t know, showy. But the air has been cleared, obviously.”



This week’s host Jerry Seinfeld had no idea that his musical guest was ever banned.



“Get out. I did not know that,” said Seinfeld.



Michaels and Bowie had dinner this week, as they did back in 1997.



“Let’s just say that we didn’t get into too many deep, dark secrets this time around,” said Bowie.



