Coming to auction in September is what is believed to be the earliest tape of David Bowie singing. BBC.com reported the 1963 tape, which was rejected by Decca Records, features a then-16-year-old Bowie (then still known as David Jones) fronting his band the Konrads on the track, “I Never Dreamed.” Bowie, who was the band’s saxophonist and usually did not sing also co-wrote the previously unreleased song. The tape, the Konrads’ drummer, David Hadfield, in an old bread basket in his apartment will be sold at Omega Auctions, in Newton-le-Willows, and expect to fetch over $13,000.
David Hadfield recalled the session for “I Never Dreamed”: “Our agent, Eric Easton, who also managed the Rolling Stones, asked us to do a demo so he could try and get us an audition at Decca. We had decided that we would do a couple of guitar instrumentals and one original song. Decca initially turned us down, but when they eventually gave us an audition later that year, vocalist Roger Ferris was the lead voice and David sang backing harmonies.”
David Bowie biographer Marc Spitz told Pulse that fellow ’70s icon Peter Frampton was able to shed new light on Bowie’s teen years, having known Bowie since his childhood when Frampton’s father served as Bowie’s first creative mentor: “Owen Frampton was the art teacher at Bromley Tech where David Bowie went to high school — whatever the British equivalent of high school is. And Owen Frampton was the father of Peter Frampton who obviously went on to become one of the biggest rock stars of the ’70s and then was brought on tour in ’87 on the Glass Spider tour as the lead guitarist. So just to have that range of perspective from the late ’50s and early ’60s up until the late ’80s, was really valuable and a great interview. And Frampton was just the nicest guy. I’m sure people say that about him. That was one of the pivotal interviews for the book, where I knew stuff was coming together and I knew that it was probably going to work.”
Coming on October 12th is the fourth in a series of David Bowie box sets, titled, Loving The Alien (1983-1988). The 11-CD box, 15-LP vinyl set, and standard digital download boxed set is named after the opening track from the Tonight album and includes newly remastered versions of 1983’s Let’s Dance, 1984’s Tonight, 1987’s Never Let Me Down (original and remixed/revamped 2018 versions), the live album Glass Spider (Live Montreal ’87), the previously unreleased Serious Moonlight live album, a collection of original remixes entitled Dance and the non-album / alternate version / B-sides and soundtrack music compilation Re:Call 4.
