Matthew Seligman – Bassist with David Bowie at Live Aid

Matthew Seligman played bass guitar in David Bowie’s band at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, London, on 13 July 1985. His connection with Bowie also included the charity recording “Dancing in the Street” with Mick Jagger and the song “Absolute Beginners”.

A former member of The Soft Boys and a musical colleague of Thomas Dolby and Kevin Armstrong, Seligman brought an established network of collaborations into Bowie’s short-lived Live Aid group. Each of these Bowie credits belongs to a particular performance or recording, rather than to a continuing Bowie tour.

Key Facts

Name: Matthew Seligman
Born: 14 July 1955, Cyprus
Died: 17 April 2020, London, England
Instrument: Bass guitar
Bowie live appearance: Live Aid, Wembley Stadium, 13 July 1985
Bowie recording credits: “Dancing in the Street” (1985), “Absolute Beginners”, “That’s Motivation” and the Labyrinth soundtrack (1986)
Other associations: The Soft Boys, Thompson Twins and Thomas Dolby

Before Bowie: The Soft Boys and Thomas Dolby

Seligman played with Robyn Hitchcock’s Soft Boys briefly in 1976 and returned after bassist Andy Metcalfe left. He played on the band’s 1980 album Underwater Moonlight. Hitchcock later described how Seligman’s arrival encouraged him to write more direct pop songs.

Following the Soft Boys, Seligman worked with the Thompson Twins and became a regular collaborator of Thomas Dolby. His bass playing can be heard on Dolby’s albums The Golden Age of Wireless (1982) and The Flat Earth (1984). He also knew guitarist Kevin Armstrong. Those working relationships became relevant when Bowie needed musicians for Live Aid.

Robyn Hitchcock on Seligman’s playing

“Matthew had a breezy pop funk approach”

— Robyn Hitchcock, The Soft Boys’ history, Yep Roc Records

Dancing in the Street: a studio connection

David Bowie and Mick Jagger – “Dancing in the Street” (official video). Matthew Seligman is credited on bass; he does not appear in the video.

Before the Wembley appearance, Seligman was credited on bass for Bowie and Mick Jagger’s version of “Dancing in the Street”, alongside fellow credited bassist John Regan. The recording was made in support of Live Aid. The song and its video were separate from Bowie’s four-song live set: the duet was presented through the video rather than performed by Bowie and Jagger together on the Wembley stage.

Dolby later recalled that Seligman mentioned their friendship to Bowie after working on the duet. Bowie then contacted Dolby about assembling musicians for his Wembley performance. It is a useful first-hand account of how an existing musical connection helped bring the Live Aid band together.

Thomas Dolby on the Bowie connection

“Matthew Seligman played bass on the Jagger/Bowie version of ‘Dancing In The Streets’”

— Thomas Dolby, interview with The Quietus, 2009

Live Aid: Wembley Stadium, 13 July 1985

Bowie performed “TVC 15”, “Rebel Rebel”, “Modern Love” and “Heroes” at Wembley. Seligman played bass alongside drummer Neil Conti, guitarist Kevin Armstrong, keyboard player Thomas Dolby, saxophonist Clare Hirst, percussionist Pedro Ortiz and backing vocalists Tessa Niles and Helena Springs. The event raised funds in response to the famine in Ethiopia.

According to Dolby, Bowie’s film work limited the available rehearsal time, and the choice of songs changed as the event approached. The final four-song sequence was settled only on the evening before Live Aid. Seligman therefore had to support familiar Bowie material in a band assembled for this particular appearance, with little time to develop the set on stage.

After “Heroes”, Bowie introduced a film about the famine. The official Bowie website states that he had dropped a song from his planned set to make room for the footage. The film’s placement was part of the benefit concert’s purpose; Seligman’s musical role was in the four songs that preceded it.

Live Aid Setlist

TVC 15
Rebel Rebel
Modern Love
“Heroes”

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Video: TVC 15

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Video: Rebel Rebel

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Video: Modern Love

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Video: Heroes

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Absolute Beginners and other Bowie work

David Bowie – “Absolute Beginners” (official video). Matthew Seligman is credited on bass for the recording.

Seligman also has a bass credit on Bowie’s “Absolute Beginners”, released in 1986 as the title song of Julien Temple’s film. The recording brought him together with Armstrong on guitar and Conti on drums, alongside other studio musicians. The credits for another Bowie song from the film, “That’s Motivation”, also name Seligman on bass.

Seligman is also credited with bass guitar on the 1986 Labyrinth soundtrack, which included songs by Bowie. The available album-level credit does not establish which individual soundtrack tracks contain his playing.

Music, law and later years

Seligman continued to record and perform with other artists after the mid-1980s. In the 1990s he developed a second career in law, eventually working on human rights matters. He lived for a period in Sendai, Japan, and later returned to London. Music remained part of his life, including further performances with Dolby.

Seligman died on 17 April 2020, aged 64. In a personal tribute, Armstrong remembered both their friendship and the experience of ending up on stage together with Bowie. His recollection places the famous Wembley performance within a much longer relationship between the two musicians.

Kevin Armstrong remembers Matthew Seligman

“Matthew was an exceptionally warm and generous person.”

— Kevin Armstrong, tribute published by the Musicians’ Union, 2020

Article Origin

This article was researched and written for DavidBowieWorld.com. The Live Aid account draws on Bowie’s official website and Thomas Dolby’s published recollection. Details of Seligman’s career and Armstrong’s tribute come from the Musicians’ Union. The Soft Boys’ history and published recording credits were consulted for the early years and the studio work.

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