David Bowie’s First-Ever Television Appearance: Scamming the BBC in 1964

One day in 1964, a BBC researcher wandered into La Gioncona, a coffee bar on Denmark Street in London. He noticed a couple of long-hair young men and asked them if the length of their locks ever caused them any problems.  

After a quick conversation, the researcher asked if they’d come on the telly to talk about men and long hair. For their trouble, they’d each earn five guineas (a little over  £5).  One of those young men was a 17 year-old named David Jones, later to be known as David Bowie.

Bowie and his buddies concocted a story.  They were part of a group called The League for the Protection of Animal Filament, a support organization for men who chose to wear their hair long.  Such a group never existed, but hey, this was for the telly.

The result was a 90 second interview on a show called Tonight, which was broadcast on the evening of November 12, 1964.  It went like this.