On This Day in 1980, David Bowie Hit No. 1 With a Song and Music Video That Was the Most Expensive of Its Time

David Bowie was no stranger to topping the charts throughout his career. However, on this very day in 1980, one historically significant song made it to No. 1 on the charts. And that song is historically significant because of how wildly expensive its music video was for the time.

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The song in question is the beloved art rock tune “Ashes To Ashes”. The song, which was a standout single from Bowie’s album Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), was released on the first of the month and only took a few weeks to make it to the very top of the UK Singles chart. Oddly enough, the song didn’t quite make it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as it was just one spot shy of making it past the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart that year.

Regardless, “Ashes To Ashes” was the song of the summer in the UK, and it made it to the top spot on this day in 1980. However, the song isn’t really known for being one of Bowie’s biggest hits. Rather, “Ashes To Ashes” is known for having the most expensive music video at the time of its release.

The Hefty Cost of David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” Music Video

“Ashes To Ashes” was David Bowie’s second No. 1 hit in the UK. It’s a great song, too. The tune continues the story of the infamous Major Tom, who first debuted in Bowie’s famous song “Space Oddity”. It’s certainly memorable. And it was also an incredibly expensive song, too.

David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” came out at the top of the 1980s, when music videos and MTV were just starting to become the next big thing in music media. Naturally, Bowie had to go all out for the “Ashes To Ashes” music video.

Bowie and director David Mallet quickly got to work on the MV, which featured solarized effects, Bowie dressed as a clown, astronauts, prison inmates, and a few cameos from Blitz Club icons like Steve Strange. It’s really a visual delight. And it also happened to be the most expensive music video in history at the time. The music video for “Ashes To Ashes” cost about £250,000 (or about $337,500) to produce. Nobody had dumped that much money into a music video before.

It was worth the cost. Bowie’s video was considered incredibly influential on the growing New Romantic movement in music. Today, the music video for David Bowie’s “Ashes To Ashes” is still considered one of the greatest music videos of all time.

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