RARE David Bowie Top of the Pops Appearance Surfaces!

A lost performance of David Bowie that has not been seen in three decades and a performance no American has ever seen, surfaced on Youtube today.

The clip is Bowie, in his Aladdin Sane alter-ego performing "The Jean Genie," the performance only aired once originally on January 4, 1973, the day after it was taped for Top of the Pops. After it aired, it was lost when hundreds of shows that were erased on tape and those tapes were reused by the BBC, because of the tapes high cost, admits the BBC on their website. The footage was found by a former Top of the Pops cameraman, John Henshall, who had no idea how rare the performance was.

Henshall posted the footage online and the performance shows The Thin White Duke backed by The Spiders from Mars performing an extended version of the song. Take a look!