“Well, I said hello and I said hello...”
As promised yesterday, here’s the link for the exclusive Bowie Official Store 10" vinyl, plus separate links for the 2CD set and the TMWSTW picture disc.
Please be patient if any of the links aren’t live yet, they will be, very shortly.
#BowieTWOAC #Bowie1970 #Bowie1971 #BowieTMWSTW #BowieMetrobolist
“I said “Do It again, do it again””
Everything you want to know about this one is in the press release below. Stay tuned for pre-order links shortly.
#BowieTWOAC #Bowie1970 #Bowie1971 #BowieTMWSTW #BowieMetrobolist
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DAVID BOWIE - THE WIDTH OF A CIRCLE
COMPANION PIECE TO METROBOLIST CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD
TWO CD SET FEATURING 21 UNRELEASED TRACKS
FOUR TRACK 10” SINGLE / HIGH RESOLUTION (96/24) DIGITAL E.P. FEATURING 4 NON-ALBUM SINGLES NEWLY REMIXED BY TONY VISCONTI
THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD ALBUM PICTURE DISC
RELEASED 28th MAY ON PARLOPHONE
Last week saw the 50th anniversary of the original UK release of The Man Who Sold The World, David Bowie’s landmark entry into the 1970s. The album began the collaboration with guitarist Mick Ronson that would continue with such Bowie classics as Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane.
The 2020 re-release of The Man Who Sold The World restored the album’s intended title Metrobolist, while featuring a new mix by original producer Tony Visconti. Taking its name from the album’s opening track, which was named after a painting by Bowie’s friend George Underwood, the new two-CD set The Width Of A Circle acts as a complementary piece to that album. Its 21 tracks feature non-album singles, a BBC In Concert session, music for a TV play and further Visconti remixes wrapping up David’s recordings from 1970 and revealing the first sonic steps toward Hunky Dory.
Also released on 28th May is a picture disc version of The Man Who Sold The World album, featuring the striking black and white imagery of the 1972 reissue.
DAVID BOWIE – THE WIDTH OF A CIRCLE
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CD 1:
THE SUNDAY SHOW INTRODUCED BY JOHN PEEL
Recorded on 5th February, 1970 and broadcast on 8th February, 1970
Amsterdam *
God Knows I’m Good *
Buzz The Fuzz
Karma Man
London Bye, Ta-Ta
An Occasional Dream
The Width Of A Circle*
Janine
Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud
Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed*
Fill Your Heart
The Prettiest Star
Cygnet Committee*
Memory Of A Free Festival*
Performed by David Bowie and The Tony Visconti Trio (a.k.a. The Hype)
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CD 2:
THE LOOKING GLASS MURDERS AKA PIERROT IN TURQUOISE:
When I Live My Dream
Columbine
The Mirror
Threepenny Pierrot
When I Live My Dream (Reprise)
SINGLES
The Prettiest Star (Alternative Mix)
Single mix released on 6th March, 1970 on Mercury Records MF 1135. This is the unreleased alternative mix created for promotion in the US market.
London Bye, Ta-Ta*
Originally recorded and rejected as the follow up single to ‘Space Oddity’. This mono mix was finally released on the Sound & Vision box set in 1989.
London Bye, Ta-Ta (1970 Stereo Mix)*
This stereo mix of the above remained unreleased until the reformatted reissue of the Sound & Vision box set in 2003, replacing the mono mix.
Memory Of A Free Festival (Single Version Part 1)*
Memory Of A Free Festival (Single Version Part 2)*
The re-recorded electric version of the closing track from the David Bowie (aka Space Oddity) album released as a single on Mercury Records 6052 026 on 26th June, 1970.
Holy Holy*
This non-album single A side, backed by the album version of ‘Black Country Rock’ from The Man Who Sold The World album, was released on Mercury Records 6052 049 on 15th January, 1971.
SOUNDS OF THE 70’S: ANDY FERRIS SHOW
Recorded on 25th March, 1970 and broadcast on the 6th April, 1970
Waiting For The Man
The Width Of A Circle
The Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud*
The Supermen (Bowie At The Beeb vinyl only)*
Performed by David Bowie and The Hype
2020 MIXES
The Prettiest Star (2020 Mix)
London Bye, Ta-Ta (2020 Mix)
Memory Of A Free Festival (Single Version - 2020 Mix)
All The Madmen (Single Edit 2020 Mix)
Holy Holy (2020 Mix)
(*denotes previously released)
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THE WIDTH OF A CIRCLE 10” SINGLE & 96/24 digital E.P.
Available only from the official David Bowie store.
Side 1
1. The Prettiest Star (2020 Mix)
2. London Bye, Ta-Ta (2020 Mix)
Side 2
1. Memory Of A Free Festival (2020 Mix)
2. Holy Holy (2020 Mix)
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“Oh no, not me, I never lost control”
Last week we posted the newly discovered evidence that the UK version of The Man Who Sold The World (TMWSTW), was released on Thursday 8th April 1971, fifty years ago today.
Judging by today’s celebrations all over Bowie socials, the small detail that we posted the item on 1st April did nothing to make fans suspicious of this new information. And rightly so, it's a good old-fashioned fact.
Also issued on the same day were two compilations containing Bowie tracks. Dimension Of Miracles was a double vinyl Mercury sampler which contained tracks from new and recent releases including The Width Of A Circle.
Meanwhile Philips released The Sound Of The Seventies, not a wholly convincing description of the content seeing as the Bowie track was from the previous decade in the shape of Space Oddity.
Today’s montage is just for fun and features reimagined versions of the front cover of TMWSTW, alongside the released version you all know and love.
#Bowie1971 #BowieTMWSTW #ManDress
Just a note to say that the #DailyBowieThing we started on the official Bowie Facebook and Instagram pages has morphed into #AnOccasionalBowieThing, albeit still with very frequent posts.
Today’s entry is pasted below, for the other 101 entries, try these pages:
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BOWIE THING – #102
“Listen to 8-tracks by Sam Therapy and King Dice...”
We’ve featured a lot of RFs* since we started #DailyBowieThing last November, so it’s surprising it’s taken this long to get around to the 8-track cartridge.
We’ve written enough about them over the years, so we won’t bore you with more detail, suffice to say, this once hugely popular format is no longer in production.
Bowie 8-tracks were produced from 1967 through to 1987 with all the territorial variations a collector would expect. In short, it’s not an area the faint-hearted should embark upon.
However, if this is an area of collecting that appeals, check out John Carroll & Leo Rodia’s exhaustive site: BowieOnTape.com – But, be warned, as brilliant a resource as it is, it may make you think twice before you embark upon this particular endeavour.
We have illustrated this item with the four earliest examples we are aware of, clockwise from top left...
1 = 1967 US Deram album debut, unfortunately missing its outer cardboard slipcase...presuming there was one.
2 = 1970 UK Decca The World Of David Bowie, still in original shrinkwrap.
3 = 1971 UK Mercury The Man Who Sold The World, again, no slipcase but impossible to find these days.
4 = 1971 US Mercury The Man Who Sold The World, in original shrinkwrap and does turn up fairly regularly.
There are suggestions that #4 is a counterfeit, but that’s a can of worms we’ll be opening another day.
* Redundant Fomats
#AnOccasionalBowieThing #DailyBowieThing #BowieOnTape #Bowie1967 #Bowie1970 #Bowie1971
“For which my reputation swept back home in drag”
Back in November of last year we said we weren’t sure about the accepted release date of Wednesday 4th November 1970, for Mercury’s US release of The Man Who Sold The World (TMWSTW).
We have since uncovered more information which points to the album coming out sometime in January 1971, though we don’t yet have an exact date. We will do a follow up with some of the ‘evidence’ that led us to that conclusion at some point.
Meanwhile, next week sees the 50th anniversary of the release of the UK version of TMWSTW, also via Mercury. The recorded release date for what is often referred to as the 'drag' or 'dress' sleeve is 10th April, 1971. Being a Saturday, this was another date that didn’t sit comfortably with us.
Tris Penna came to the rescue only yesterday with some items from his impressive collection, namely original release sheets and a reviewer’s copy with a date stamp on the back sleeve. (Look closely, it is there.)
So, here’s hard evidence that TMWSTW was actually released on Thursday 8th April 1971. With Friday 9th April 1971 being Good Friday, this Thursday release makes perfect sense. The release of Aladdin Sane was similarly affected by Easter.
Mercury’s failure to promote the release of TMWSTW won’t have helped the dismal UK sales, prompting Bowie to make this comment later the same year: “It sold like hotcakes in Beckenham, and nowhere else.”
#Bowie1970 #Bowie1971 #BowieTMWSTW #ManDress
“Thousand years and I’ll return...“
Hot on the heels of Can’t Help Thinking About Me, David Bowie’s Do Anything You Say/Good Morning Girl single was released on the Pye label on this day in 1966.
Bowie penned both songs and though he was backed by The Buzz on these Tony Hatch produced recordings, the single was the first to be credited to Bowie alone.
You can hear an alternate mix of the track along with Bowie’s other 1966 output on I Dig Everything: The 1966 Pye Singles: http://smarturl.it/Bowie1966
Our montage shows Bowie performing Can't Help Thinking About Me the previous month on Ready Steady Go!, and the Pye Records press release lifted from Kevin Cann’s remarkable tome, ANY DAY NOW – The London Years: 1947 – 1974, where you can read the full unobscured release along with so much more.
#Bowie1966 #BowieAndTheBuzz