Ricky Gervais and David Bowie go way back. Well, to 2006 at least, when Bowie appeared on Gervais' series Extras, with hilarious results.
Now, Gervais - who is currently filming new David Brent spinoff movie Life on the Road - has revealed that a song from the film, 'Slough', was inspired by Bowie - and that Bowie has given it his endorsement.
The film is set 12 years after The Office and follows Brent as he takes his band Foregone Conclusion on a UK tour, so naturally there are some original songs in there (and yes, 'Free Love Freeway' is one of them.)
Other tracks include 'Lady Gypsy', 'Paris Nights', 'Spaceman Came Down', 'Please Don't Make Fun of the Disabled', 'Native American' and 'Slough', about the town that provided the location for The Office.
He told NME: "Usually I write these songs with someone in mind that Brent's ripping off. So 'Free Love Freeway' was meant to be like a Springsteen song, and 'Slough' was meant to be like a Bowie or Radiohead song."
He added: "It might be good to wipe my vocal and get someone to do them to do it for charity - like Bowie singing 'Slough'. I sent it to him and he said, 'It's great. I'd like a see a whole album of you singing about towns of Great Britain.' But imagine him singing "More convenient than a Tesco Express / Close to Windsor but the property's less."
We'd certainly pay to hear that.
