Kevin Nixon/Future via Getty ImagesDef Leppard frontman Joe Elliott‘s glam-rock side project Down ‘n’ Outz released a new video for its 2019 David Bowie tribute song “Goodnight Mr. Jones” on Sunday to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the rock legend’s death.
The CGI-animated clip, which you can watch on YouTube, was created by video director, musician and producer Frank Gryner. It focuses on a surreal planetarium presentation offering a visually striking timeline depicting Bowie’s album releases chronologically as planets and other cosmic objects swirl around a circular room. In the middle of the animated presentation is a stage with a piano at its center that shows the sheet music to a rotating list of Bowie songs.
As the video comes to an end, a rocket emblazoned with select Bowie song titles that’s positioned at the planetarium’s entrance blasts offs and heads into outer space. As the rocket travels along, we see images of Bowie album covers flash by in reverse chronological order.
“Goodnight Mr. Jones” appears on the third Down ‘n’ Outz studio album, 2019’s This Is How We Roll. The song includes references to a variety of Bowie songs.
Speaking about the tune to U.K. magazine Classic Rock in 2019, Elliott noted, “This wasn’t written until a couple years after [Bowie] died. I was toying with the music, and I was aware of the fact that if somebody came along and put a gun to my head and asked, ‘what does it sound a bit like?,’ I’d say, ‘well it sounds a bit like “Life on Mars,” at least with the tempo.'”
Joe also revealed that the track includes a sample of former Bowie drummer Woody Woodmansey taken from a recording by the Cybernauts, a Bowie tribute act featuring Woodmansey, Elliott and Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen.
By Matt Friedlander
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