It’s been roughly half a century since David Bowie’s first major hit, “Space Oddity”. The Mercury Demos collection will feature unreleased recordings that helped secure the icon a record deal.
Parlophone is marking the milestone with a range of different box sets, The company has already revealed Spying Through a Keyhole and then Clareville Grove Demos, which is set to drop on May 17th.
Now, the record company have announced another set of recordings called The Mercury Demos. CoS reports that this third box set is due out June 28th, the release will offer a collection of 10 formative Bowie recordings he laid down in first half of 1969.
Bowie played these songs live on to a Revox reel to reel tape machine. The singer made the recordings in his own flat with singer and guitarist John ‘Hutch’ Hutchinson.
This recording was, in essence, the pair’s live setlist and was put to tape at the request of Mercury Records.
Calvin Mark Lee, A+R man for Mercury, wanted to play some of Bowie’s music to his boss, and it was this tape that ultimately bagged Bowie a record deal with the label.
The version “Space Oddity” lifted from the release of Mercury Demos was featured in the edits collection on the Sound and Vision box set. However, this is the first time it’s available in its most authentic form as part of the demo collection.
The other nine songs are all formerly unreleased and comprise of a range of originals as well as two covers. The covers are Lesley Duncan’s “Love Song and Roger Bunn’s “Life is a Circus”.
The special release will be contained in a replication of the original tape box. The box set will feature one LP, two photo contact sheets, a print and sleeve notes written by Mark Adams.
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