Can David Bowie Save a Dying Outback Town?

Carinda, the remote town in the Australian outback where David Bowie shot his 1983 comeback video, "Let's Dance," is not doing so well. Ten years of drought have driven many people out of the desert town, which now has a population of less than 40. But the man who recently took over the lease of the Carinda Hotel, prominently featured in the video, has a plan to make Carinda a tourist destination, his stepdaughter Jayne Thomas tells the BBC—and it involves Bowie.

"People still come in asking about the video," explains Thomas. They're looking, tentatively, at teaming up with a tour company to offer "Bowie tours" of the pub, where locals can be seen at the bar in the video, and nearby Warrumbungle National Park, also featured in the video. "I'd like to have photos, information and the clip playing inside the pub, then go further and go year to year," Thomas says. Another idea: a "Bowie festival." But first the town would need to improve its infrastructure; right now, the run-down hotel could not host many tourists. (More David Bowie stories.)