The moment David Bowie interrupted an interview to make a song about Led Zeppelin: “Isn’t that a nice little tune?”

In recent years, interviews have resembled organized press conferences. At one point, David Bowie’s interviews were as captivating as his music.

Nobody knew which version of Bowie would show up to a media invitation given his numerous varied personalities over the course of his career. He might be a charismatic figure capable of charming a snake one day and empty and frigid the next. The one consistency throughout the several identities was David Bowie’s ability to captivate audiences.

Bowie’s most famous interview moment occurred when he accurately foresaw the arrival of the internet, outlining how it will transform the way we live. The interview with BBC regular Jeremy Paxman has gone down in history as one of the most predictive pop music discussions ever. Bowie’s ability to bring out the unexpected and exceptional was a highlight of his interviews.

The singer was a showman in all aspects of his life, and his approach to interviews reflected his attitude toward the studio. Bowie was infamous for hiding behind personalities throughout his career, and this mysterious behavior was not limited to his recorded work. He saw every moment when he was spoken to or about as an opportunity to stamp his creative vision on the world’s image of him.

It didn’t matter if he was on camera, on the radio, or simply sitting across from someone with a notebook; an interview was just another opportunity to share David Bowie’s uniqueness with the world. Bowie’s 1976 interview with Playboy captured his essence. Although he ultimately loosened up and revealed some genuine details, it took a long time for his true identity to emerge.

The meeting took place during an intriguing juncture in Bowie’s life, when he was heavily dependant on cocaine, which helps to explain his acerbic behavior. Bowie had been battling with his addiction for several years, and it appeared to be pushing him toward a deadly level of reliance. On the plus side, knowing that he was able to resolve this issue resulted in his writing this wacky tune during the interview.

Elton John was formerly a close buddy of Bowie’s, and the two would often hang out in London’s gay neighborhood together. However, their connection soured when ‘The Starman’ referred to him as “the token queen of rock”. Instead of responding to the insult, the singer said, “I’d much rather listen to him on the radio than talk about him.”

For many, this could have been a surprising finish to the discourse. By today’s standards, it would have been a dead end, waiting for the interviewer to turn around while a PR tapped their watch. However, for Bowie, it was merely an opportunity to present something completely unique: “Let’s do something else.” “Want to write a song?”

Surprisingly, he wasn’t joking, and Bowie went on to write a song called ‘Audience’, which he described as “about rock ‘n’ roll”. He started with the remark, “Led Zeppelin is solid. They make you feel like a wall,” before encouraging the interviewer to suggest further musicians for the track.

Bowie then worked his magic when he was asked to write about Joni Mitchell and Stevie Wonder. He replied: “Joni Mitchell has our hearts.” [Writes it down] She does, right? Okay, let me fetch my guitar. [Looks over what he’s written and starts strumming and humming softly]. Okay, here we go. [Singing] ‘Led Zeppelin is developing, deleting our heads / They make us feel stony, they make us go blind / Hey, Stevie Wonder, there like a wall / So good to lean on, the toughest of all.’ Isn’t it a lovely little tune?”

Unfortunately, there are no recordings of this song available online. Most importantly, this episode exemplifies Bowie’s never-ending urge to create. Nothing gave him greater joy than starting something from scratch, yet ‘Audience’ demonstrates that even Bowie did not always strike gold.