Rare David Bowie Recording of “The Man Who Sold the World” from 1996 Was Revealed

David Bowie in 1983. Photo by Nils Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock (99151e)

Legendary musician David Bowie would have celebrated his 73rd birthday on January 8th if he was still alive. In order to mark this occasion, Bowie’s record company Parlophone Records decided to treat his fans with a rare recording of “The Man Who Sold The World” from 1996.

According to the official info, Bowie recorded the track as part of the ChangesNowBowie session, which was scheduled for broadcast on his 50th birthday on January 8th, 1997. The session was mostly acoustic and took place during rehearsals in New York for Bowie’s concert at Madison Square Garden.

Hear the 1996’s version of “The Man Who Sold the World” below.

Besides sharing the track, Parlophone also announced two new projects containing David Bowie’s music. The first one is the previously mentioned ChangesNowBowie session, which will be out on April 18th (Record Store Day) in a limited amount as LP and CD. Besides “The Man Who Sold the World,” the release contains stripped-down versions of songs like “Lady Stardust” and “Quicksand.”

The second project is EP DAVID BOWIE IS IT ANY WONDER? which will have six rare and previously unreleased Bowie’s music. It will also contain “The Man Who Sold The World” from 1996, while the remaining five songs will be out in the next six weeks.

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PARLOPHONE TO ISSUE UNRELEASED BOWIE TRACKS “We spoke of was and when…” It’s likely that some of you have been expecting something on what would have been David Bowie’s 73rd birthday, after announcements on 8th January for the past couple of years. Indeed, if the calendar has clicked over to that date where you are, then you have possibly already found something. Now it’s 8th January in the country of his birth, here’s that announcement… + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + Parlophone Records is proud to announce 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 today as a streaming-only 1 track digital single in celebration of both David’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 17th January. ’THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD’ (CHANGESNOWBOWIE VERSION) is taken from the 9-track session ChangesNowBowie, recorded for radio and broadcast by the BBC on David’s 50th birthday on 8th January, 1997. This mostly acoustic session was a stripped back affair featuring some of David’s favourites 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 David’s 50th birthday concert at Madison Square Garden. Gail Ann Dorsey (bass, vocals), Reeves Gabrels (guitars) and Mark Plati (keyboards and programming) accompanied David on the recording. CHANGESNOWBOWIE will be released in limited quantities on LP and CD for Record Store Day on 18th April, 2020. The cover art for the album will features a portrait of David by renowned photographer Albert Watson, taken in New York in 1996. (See montage for cover) More details will be announced shortly. ~ DAVID BOWIE 'THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD' (CHANGESNOWBOWIE) IS AVAILABLE NOW ON PARLOPHONE ~ DAVID BOWIE CHANGESNOWBOWIE RELEASED ON PARLOPHONE ON 18TH APRIL, 2020 FOR RECORD STORE DAY #BowieIIAW #CHANGESNOWBOWIE

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