CANBERRA, Australia (AP) – Drinkers at a dusty Outback pub raised their beer glasses Tuesday to the pub’s most famous visitor, David Bowie.
More than three decades ago, the mercurial musician made the 650-kilometer (400-mile) drive from Sydney to the tiny outpost of Carinda in parched western New South Wales state to shoot the video for his 1983 hit “Let’s Dance” at Carinda’s only pub.
The pub’s current owner, Malcolm George, said the town of fewer than 200 people hadn’t known that Bowie was coming. And they have never been allowed to forget the visit, which took their rustic watering hole to a global audience.
“People still come in asking, Is this is the pub where Bowie sang?” George said.
George said that only one of the local extras who appeared in those smoky bar scenes still lives in the town. But news late Monday (Australian East Time) that Bowie had died immediately boosted business.