Mick Jagger and David Bowie’s 'Dancing in the Street' (1985): The Live Aid Charity Single

The collaboration came together fast. Bob Geldof asked both Jagger and Bowie to record something for Live Aid, and they picked the Martha and the Vandellas classic because nobody could agree on an original. They recorded the vocals separately—Jagger in the Netherlands, Bowie in London—then spliced them together over a new funk-rock arrangement.

The single wasn’t performed at Live Aid (each artist played their own sets), but it served as the event’s official fundraiser. The video, directed by David Mallet, showed Jagger and Bowie trading campy dance moves via split-screen, which some critics found awkward. The public didn’t care: it hit No. 1 in the UK and became the top-selling charity single of 1985, raising over £500,000 for famine relief.