Maybe my eyes aren't what they used to be, but the history books tell us that David Jones - aka David Bowie, who celebrates a birthday today - is in this 1968 or 1969 (I'm reading conflicting reports - maybe it was shot in 68 and aired in 69?) TV commercial for Lyons Maid ice cream. A commercial directed by a young man named Ridley Scott, who would one day go on to make movies like 1492: Conquest of Paradise and GI Jane.

Apparently 21 year old Bowie is one of the boys running up the bus steps with ice cream in hand (apparently at the 7 second mark); he's also playing guitar in the band. The song from this commercial was released as a single (the band is Mint) in the UK, but I'm not sure if it ever charted.

This commercial aired when Bowie was still struggling with his career. His first album, David Bowie, didn't do very well, and when you listen to his first single The Laughing Gnome you sort of understand why. Bowie did this commercial and auditioned for Kit Kat while trying to figure out his next move... which ended up being Space Oddity, released days before the Apollo 11 launch. Ridley Scott directed advertisements (as head of the prestigious RSA, Ridley Scott Associates, commercial production company up until making the leap to features in 1977 with The Duelists.

Here's The Laughing Gnome. Bowie's son, Duncan Jones, is making a Warcraft movie, and gnomes are a race in that world... what are the chances of a Laughing Gnome reference in the movie? Perhaps the closing credits song?