Recent David Bowie Demos Reveals A Rare “Space Oddity” Track and More

Another Good News For Rock Fans!

A new David Bowie demo collection is on its way, and it’s entitled; ‘THE ‘MERCURY’ DEMOS will be available on June 28 via Parlophone.

The collections will consist of 10 one-take demo recordings that Bowie made with John “Hutch” Hutchinson on guitars and vocals.

The release will also have an early version of “Space Oddity,” and the demo recordings are previously unreleased.

‘The Mercury’ Demos were recorded in one take in the late musician’s home in his early career in 1969.

The new release will be issued by Parlophone on June 28. An official statement notes that the early version of the classic track ‘Space Oddity’ is “presented here in its true context for the first time.”

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MERCURY DEMOS LP BOX DUE IN JUNE “I recall how we lived on the corner of a bed…” As part of the ongoing Space Oddity 50 celebrations and following the recent Spying Through A Keyhole and Clareville Grove Demos collections, Parlophone is releasing a further set of recordings known as The ‘Mercury’ Demos on 28th June 2019. The ‘Mercury’ Demos are 10 early Bowie recordings captured live in one take to a Revox reel to reel tape machine in David’s flat in spring 1969, with Bowie on vocals, guitar and Stylophone and with accompaniment from John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson on guitar and vocals. The version of ‘Space Oddity’ from the Demos, originally released with edits on the S&V box, is presented here in its true context for the first time. The other recordings on the album are all previously unreleased. In addition to Bowie originals, the session also includes the Roger Bunn’s Life Is A Circus (which features as an earlier demo version on the Clareville Grove Demos set) and the Lesley Duncan composition, Love Song, later recorded by Elton John for his Tumbleweed Connection album. David’s own Conversation Piece is announced as ‘a new song’ and Janine features a short section sung to the melody of The Beatles’ Hey Jude. The session was a document of the ‘Bowie & Hutch’ duo’s set of the time recorded at the request of Mercury Records A&R man Calvin Mark Lee for his boss Bob Reno. Both Calvin and Bob are referenced during the 41-minute recording which was key in securing David his deal with Mercury Records. The ‘Mercury’ Demos comes in a replica of the original tape box and will feature 1 mono 33 1/3 rpm vinyl LP, a print, two photo contact sheets and sleeve notes by Mark Adams. The labels of the LP feature the same EMIDISC acetate styling as Spying Through A Keyhole and Clareville Grove Demos with the song titles in David’s own handwriting. Side 1 Space Oddity Janine An Occasional Dream Conversation Piece Ching-a-Ling I’m Not Quite (aka Letter To Hermione) Side 2 Lover To The Dawn Love Song When I’m Five Life Is A Circus #BowieTheMercuryDemos

A post shared by David Bowie (@davidbowie) on Apr 25, 2019 at 4:58am PDT

While the rest will be released as an original which includes ‘Conversation Piece’ and ‘An Occasional Dream’, a cover of Roger Bunn’s ‘Life Is A Circus’, and Lesley Duncan’s ‘Love Song’.

The full tracklist for ‘The Mercury Demos’ is as follows:

‘Space Oddity’

‘Janine’

‘An Occasional Dream’

‘Conversation Piece’

‘Ching-A-Ling’

‘I’m Not Quite (aka Letter To Hermione)’

‘Lover To The Dawn’

‘Love Song’

‘When I’m Five’

‘Life Is A Circus’

The release will also include one mono 33 1/3 RPM vinyl, one print, two photo contact sheets, and sleeve notes by Mark Adams.