'I Got You, Babe': When Marianne Faithfull joined David Bowie for racy cover of Sonny & Cher's classic

7 February 2025, 14:06

She was a pivotal figure in British music throughout the sixties.

It was during the decade when British bands ruled the world that Marianne Faithfull's legacy as a kittenish pop singer-turned-rock music survivor began.

Made famous – and infamous – by her relationship with Mick Jagger, who wrote her debut single 'As Tears Go By' with his Rolling Stones' accomplice Keith Richards, Faithfull became an icon of the era.

Even after her well-publicised struggles with addiction, she endured as an artist, and the outpouring of tributes after her death on January 30, 2025 at the age of 78 was testament to her impact.

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A forward-thinking type of artist, Faithfull never shied away from the risqué or the road to reinvention.

That's precisely what happened when she joined none other than David Bowie for a racy – and slightly ramshackle – duet of a Sonny & Cher classic, dressed as a raunchy, futuristic nun.

Donning a nun's habit was evidently poking fun at her own public reputation after the 1967 drug raid at Keith Richards' Redlands estate which became a national scandal.

Still, Bowie was always one for pushing boundaries so clearly thought she was an ideal partner for his 1973 television special.

Dubbed The 1980 Floor Show, a pun of his song '1984' which he opened the televised concert with, Bowie's hour-long show was broadcast in the US for NBC's The Midnight Special.

NBC producer Burt Sugarman offered Bowie the chance to appear on the show, who agreed, given he had full creative control over the hour slot.

In quite typical style at the time, Bowie proceeded to transform London's Marquee Club into an alien cabaret-style show.

Featuring a slew of familiar songs from the sixties, outlandish outfits, and some strange guests, the outcome – as you'd perhaps expect – was bizarre.

Only months before, David Bowie had called time on his beloved creation Ziggy Stardust, at the now legendary concert at the Hammersmith Odeon to the shock of his adoring fans.

There's some still some signs of Ziggy in this performance, as the 'Starman' transitioned into his Pin Ups and Diamond Dogs phase.

His right hand man in guitarist Mick Ronson was in tow, as were The Astronettes, Bowie's new trio of soulful backing singers which hinted at his future direction.

But this hour-long concert for telly was even glitzier, given Bowie's penchant for multiple outfit changes, each with increasing amounts of flair – and feathers by the looks of it.

“As I had ‘retired’ Ziggy earlier that year I decided to expand the thing a little,” Bowie later recalled in Moonage Daydream, an annotated book of photos taken by Mick Rock from that era.

“I was already putting together notes for a musical theatre piece that revolved around George Orwell’s 1984, so without giving everything away I wanted to include a couple of elements of that in this TV thing."

The laissez faire nature of the performances on the night was down to the fact that the television special was actually filmed across the course of two days.

With fans losing enthusiasm, Bowie's costume changes kept them intrigued, yet caused the programme's producers headaches.

"I believe on one shot you could even see his pubic hair, it was so low cut," Bowie's then-producer Ken Scott recalled.

"Musically and recording-wise, this particular sequence worked well, but NBC wanted to do it again, so they made David sew up the garment a bit."

"Well, David did just about everything he could to keep the original take and proceeded to do his best to mess up the retakes. I think in the end they had to intercut between the two."

I Got You, Babe - David Bowie & Marianne Faithfull | The Midnight Special

Pubic hair aside, it was Bowie's performance of 'I Got You, Babe' with Marianne Faithfull that stole the show.

Throughout the cover, the pair swapped gender roles with Bowie singing Sonny then Cher, and Marianne vice versa.

That's likely because of the register of their voices - by this point, Faithfull's vocals were deep and harsh, likely because of her publicised drug issues.

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She admitted that her voice was husky due to "too many cigarettes", but given her hiatus from music, it was a great opportunity to step back into the limelight whilst poking fun at herself.

“Because of her convent background, I felt Marianne would carry the moment superbly,” Bowie said.

Despite her costume, it was absolutely David Bowie's attire that stole the show.

“As we had lots of vinyl lying around, I opted for a shiny red 'Angel Of Death', with black feather wings on the chest.” Of course he did.