In 1983, David Bowie Called Out MTV’s Racism On Their Own Air. This is what an anti- racist ally looks and sounds like
In 1983, during a now-famous interview, David Bowie directly challenged MTV VJ Mark Goodman on why the network barely played Black artists. Goodman admitted on air that executives feared small-town audiences would be “scared to death by Prince.” At the time, MTV largely limited Black artists, often pushing them to late-night slots under the excuse of “format.”
Behind the scenes, pressure was already building. CBS Records president Walter Yetnikoff threatened to pull his artists unless MTV aired Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” MTV relented in March 1983, and by the end of that year, “Thriller” was in heavy rotation, changing the channel’s direction.
Bowie wasn’t an outsider to this conversation. His 1983 album Let’s Dance, produced by Nile Rodgers, featured a band made up largely of Black musicians, and Bowie had long drawn from Black musical traditions, including working with Luther Vandross early in his career. When he spoke up, it wasn’t random, it was informed