Peter Frampton Releases New Cover Of David Bowie Classic

Peter Frampton has just dropped the new video for his cover of David Bowie's 1984 Tonight classic, “Loving The Alien.” The track is featured on the guitarist's latest instrumentals set, Frampton Forgets The Words, which drops on April 23rd.

Frampton, who was school friends with Bowie while the pair were growing up at England's Bromley Technical High School, toured as Bowie' guitarist during his 1997 Glass Spider tour, during which Frampton first played “Loving The Alien.”

David Bowie biographer Marc Spitz told us that Peter Frampton was able to shed new light on Bowie's teen years, having known Bowie since his childhood when Frampton's father served as Bowie's first creative mentor: “Owen Frampton was the art teacher at Bromley Tech where David Bowie went to high school — whatever the British equivalent of high school is. And Owen Frampton was the father of Peter Frampton who obviously went on to become one of the biggest rock stars of the '70s and then was brought on tour in '87 on the Glass Spider tour as the lead guitarist. So just to have that range of perspective from the late-'50s and early-'60s up until the late-'80s, was really valuable and a great interview. And Frampton was just the nicest guy. I'm sure people say that about him. That was one of the pivotal interviews for the book, where I knew stuff was coming together and I knew that it was probably going to work.”

Peter Frampton told us that although he's always been known as a top guitarist, taking the plunge into a fully-instrumental project wasn't as easy one might expect: “I've always been a little nervous about doing it, even though I started off playing instrumentals when I was a kid. You call it surf music (in America) — to us, it was just the Shadows and the Ventures. Pre-Beatles, you know? That's where I cut my teeth. That's the reason I'm playing guitar, is Hank Marvin & the Shadows. And, of course, I've got a track playing with the Shadows on the record.”

Frampton Forgets The Words also features the Grammy Award-winning legend's new takes on Radiohead's “Reckoner,” Lenny Kravitz' “Are You Gonna Go My Way?,” George Harrison's “Isn't It A Pity,” Roxy Music's “Avalon” and Jaco Pastorious' “Dreamland.”