Previously unreleased version of “The Man Who Sold The World” available for airplay
Parlophone Records has announced David Bowie Is It Any Wonder? — a six track EP of unreleased and rare tracks to be released over six weeks.
The first of these is a previously unreleased version of “The Man Who Sold The World,” released as a streaming-only digital single in celebration of both Bowie’s birthday and the 50th anniversary of the writing and recording of this classic. Five more songs will be released on a weekly basis from January 17th.
“The Man Who Sold The World (ChangesNowBowie Version)” is taken from the nine track session ChangesNowBowie, recorded for radio and broadcast by the BBC on Bowie’s 50th birthday on January 8, 1997.
The broadcast featured an interview with Bowie by Mary Ann Hobbs interspersed with specially recorded birthday messages and questions from the likes of Scott Walker, Damon Albarn, Bono, Robert Smith, and many more.
This mostly acoustic session was a stripped back affair featuring some of Bowie’s favorites of his own compositions and was produced by Bowie himself, Reeves Gabrels, and Mark Plati.
ChangesNowBowie was recorded and mixed at Looking Glass Studios in New York in November 1996 during rehearsals for Bowie’s 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. Gail Ann Dorsey (bass, vocals), Gabrels (guitars) and Plati (keyboards and programming) accompanied Bowie on the recording.
ChangesNowBowie will be released in limited quantities on LP and CD for Record Store Day on April 18, 2020. The cover art for the album will feature a stunning black and white portrait of Bowie by renowned photographer Albert Watson, taken in New York in 1996. More details about the album will be announced shortly.