THE PATH TO CONVERSATION PIECE

Your guide to this year’s other ’68/’69 archive releases…

SPYING THROUGH A KEYHOLE PARLOPHONE, 2019

A snapshot of Bowie’s 1968, when he’s still hoping for another shot with Deram, featuring home demos of “Space Oddity”, “In The Heat Of The Morning”, “London Bye Ta-ta” plus unreleased songs “Mother Grey” and “Angel Angel Grubby Face”. These tracks give a taste of what an immediate follow-up to 1967’s David Bowie might have sounded like. Released here on 7”, they all appear on Conversation Piece alongside other tracks, previously unreleased, from the era.

CLAREVILLE GROVE DEMOS PARLOPHONE, 2019

Another set of home demos on 7” vinyl, this time featuring Bowie and Hutch’s post-feathers duo. “Space Oddity” has moved on apace since the initial demos, and there are almost final versions of “An Occasional Dream”, “Let Me Sleep Beside You” plus “Lover To The Dawn”, which will become “Cygnet Committee”. All six are on Conversation Piece along with an additional Hutch-assisted version of “Space Oddity”.

THE MERCURY DEMOS PARLOPHONE, 2019

Ten songs recorded by a nervous Hutch and Bowie for Mercury’s Bob Reno, several of which eventually appeared on the Space Oddity album. These sessions have been bootlegged since the 1980s but received their first official release this year in a package featuring photo contact sheet and a reproduction of the original tape box. The demos appear in their entirety on Conversation Piece.

SPACE ODDITY 50TH ANNIVERSARY BOXSET PARLOPHONE, 2019

7” reissue of the “Space Oddity” single in original mono edit as well as Tony Visconti’s 2019 remix, which adds reverb and emphasises the strings. The B-side is the acoustic version of “Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud”. The boxset also includes a double-sided poster and facsimile of the unissued original picture sleeve.