DAVID BOWIE's latest release 'Is It Any Wonder?' has entered the Official UK Album Chart at #10.

The vinyl version has hit the number #1 spot!

This limited edition six-track EP of unreleased and rare tracks is available on CD and 12" E.P. and ONLY exclusively available via Rhino or davidbowie.store.

Although the special bundle offer has now sold out, you might be able to purchase both formats separately via Rhino store.

On this day, 44 years ago, DAVID BOWIE had this rather debonair mugshot taken by the Rochester Police Department when he appeared at the City Court for arraignment.

David was arrested a few days earlier for possessing marijuana in Rochester, New York on 21st March 1976.

The 5x4 inch photograph was found and rescued by Gary Hess from the trash during an estate sale of a retired Rochester police officer. It was later auctioned on eBay and realised $2,556 (£1,247.44 GBP).

The picture was taken four days after David was arrested, along with singer James Newell Osterberg, Jr. (aka Iggy Pop), bodyguard Dwayne A. Vaughn (22), of Brooklyn and Chi Wah Soo (20) of Rochester on drug possession charges.

The four were arrested at 2:25 a.m. in a three-room suite in the hotel at 70 State Street by four city vice squad detectives and a State Police investigator. They were all charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana. Police said they confiscated what they described as about half a pound of marijuana (182 grams). The charge was a Class C felony, carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

They were busted at the Americana Rochester Hotel and held in the Monroe County jail for a few hours before being released. David's $2,000 bail was ordered in cash, and $2,000 in bond was set for the others.

David pleaded innocent in court and was eventually found not guilty by the Rochester City Court.

DAVID BOWIE looks set to return to the Official UK charts with IS IT ANY WONDER? - it is currently tracking at #4

This limited edition six-track EP of unreleased and rare tracks is available on CD and 12" E.P. and ONLY exclusively available via Rhino or davidbowie.store.

Although the special bundle offer has now sold out, you might be able to purchase both formats separately via Rhino store.

BABY UNIVERSAL '97
'Baby Universal' was initially recorded by Tin Machine for Tin Machine II and was regularly performed on Bowie's Outside Summer Festivals Tour in 1996. The version now being released as 'BABY UNIVERSAL '97' was originally re-recorded for the Earthling album however it was ultimately removed from the final album master, but David was very fond of this version and before the track was dropped was quoted as saying, "I thought 'Baby Universal' was a really good song and I don't think it got heard. I didn't really want that to happen to it, so I put it on this album... I think this version is very good."

FUN (CLOWNBOY MIX)
'Fun (Clownboy Mix)' started out life as a modern revamp of the Bowie classic 'Fame' to be performed under the name 'Is It Any Wonder?' during David's 'club set' on the Earthling tour. The basic backing and sequencer tracks were worked at the Factory in Dublin docklands during the pre-tour rehearsals in early 1997. A live version of 'Fame' ('Is It Any Wonder?') was recorded at the Amsterdam Paradiso on 10th June, 1997, was further worked on by Mark Plati and Reeves Gabrels at Looking Glass Studios in New York and mixed at Sony Music Studios in New York in February 1998. Referenced in interviews by Reeves as 'Funhouse', the song further developed lyrically and musically and, by the time Danny Saber created the Clownboy mix in May 1998, it was a completely new piece of work written by David and Reeves and featuring no elements of 'Fame'. The Clownboy mix has previously only appeared on a BowieNet subscriber exclusive CD-ROM in 1998 and on Virgin Records in-house CDR's along with four other Clownboy mix variants.

STAY '97
'Stay' originally appeared on the 'Station To Station' album in 1976 and was released as a single in the US in August of that year. The previously unreleased 1997 re-recording of 'STAY' began at The Factory in the Dublin Docklands during the pre-Earthling tour rehearsals while David, Mark Plati and Reeves Gabrels were preparing the backing/sequencer tracks before the rest of the band arrived, and the rehearsals started in earnest. David wanted to 'update' some of his live show staples so they would sit well sonically with the Outside/Earthling material. The recording was completed later, potentially for use as a 'B-side', and mixed at Right Track Recording Studios, New York in May/June 1997.

I CAN'T READ '97
'I Can't Read' originally appeared on Tin Machine's eponymous debut album in 1989, and was a staple in the band's live set. In the autumn of 1996, during the mixing stages for Earthling, David re-recorded the track - which, at one stage, appeared on a mastered version of the album. 'I CAN'T READ '97', was David's preferred solo version, it was ultimately cut from Earthling and replaced at the last minute with 'The Last Thing You Should Do'.

NUTS
The unreleased semi instrumental 'NUTS' was jointly written by David, Reeves Gabrels and Mark Plati. It was recorded during the final Earthling sessions in November 1996, the same session during which 'The Last Thing You Should Do' was written and recorded. Both songs were being recorded as bonus tracks but then, at the last minute David swapped out 'I Can't Read' with 'The Last Thing You Should Do'. However, 'NUTS' has remained unreleased until now.

THE MAN WHO SOLD THE WORLD (LIVE ENO MIX)
A live recording was taken by Bowie collaborator Brian Eno into Westside Studios in London on 30th October, 1995, and reshaped with some overdubs and mixing. Eno wrote about the mix in his diaries saying: "I added some backing vocals and a sonar blip and sculpted the piece a little so that there was more contour to it". It was previously released as a double A-side on a green vinyl 7" single and as part of a CD single in various territories with the Outside version of 'Strangers When We Meet' in 1995, this version is based on the fairly radical trip-hop reworking of the song as performed on the Outside World Tour.

• Online now is third and final part of the 1.Outside podcast from DAVID BOWIE: Album To Album with NICHOLAS PEGG which is now available for your listening pleasure - [Listen here]...

• Check out a previously unpublished photo of DAVID BOWIE that is featured in the upcoming debut issue of DEK MAGAZINE which features a special on the residents of Oxford Town for a never-before-seen project - [Read here]...

• Well worth listening to is an interview with ex MainMan TONY ZANETTA on the C86 SHOW podcast with David Eastaugh. Tony talks about DAVID BOWIE, Andy Warhol, Pork, Play-House of the Ridiculous and much much more - [Listen here]...

Update: release delayed until 19th June. Released next month on Friday 17th April is the limited edition SPACE ODDITY Vinyl Picture Disc.

Originally this was the RCA re-release of DAVID BOWIE's 2nd album.

This new Parlophone LP picture disc features the same two 1972 Mick Rock photographs taken at Haddon Hall in Beckenham, albeit in much better quality.

Also included is a replica of the cover album poster.

The tracklisting runs as follows:

SIDE: 1
     1. Space Oddity (2009 remaster)
     2. Unwashed And Somewhat Slightly Dazed [includes Don't Sit Down] (2009 remaster)
     3. Letter To Hermione (2009 remaster)
     4. Cygnet Committee (2009 remaster)

SIDE: 2
     1. Janine (2009 remaster)
     2. An Occasional Dream (2009 remaster)
     3. Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud (2009 remaster)
     4. God Knows I'm Good (2009 remaster)
     5. Memory Of A Free Festival (2009 remaster)

You can pre-order NOW!

This afternoon's guest on CHANNEL ONE MUSIC RADIO David Barry's Imaginarium show was MARK WARDEL talking about his art and the upcoming book covering the iconic DAVID BOWIE documentary 'Cracked Actor'.

His forthcoming book written with SUSAN COMPO is scheduled for publication in January 2021.

As you know, Susan Compo wrote the amazing and highly recommended Earthbound David Bowie and The Man Who Fell To Earth back in 2017.

If you missed the radio show, you can catch up now and listen now - available for the next 7 days.

Links: channelradio.co.uk | trademarkart.com

ALBERTA BALLET in Canada will end its 2020/21 season with a new $1.2 million ballet set to the music of DAVID BOWIE.

The show, titled PHI, will debut in May 2021 and is being produced with the blessing of the late singer's estate.

Grand-Maître says basing a ballet on Bowie's music had been on his wish list for years. "I can't think of any singer-songwriter out there who can claim that kind of originality and innovation in their music like David Bowie can."

Phi tells the story of a boy addicted to a virtual-reality world who is rescued by a woman and taken to an nature-based Eden in the real world, where he meets fellow escapees. The high-tech show, which will begin rehearsals in August, will feature elaborate lighting and production design and video projections.

"It's about how we are losing our humanity with our technology," Grand-Maître says.

Grand-Maître and sound designer Claude Lemelin spent a year sifting through Bowie's vast, five-decade canon of work and whittled down the song list to 22. They range from some of his biggest hits, including "Heroes", Life On Mars? and Ashes To Ashes, to deep cuts such as Leon Takes Us Outside to Blackstar, the title track of Bowie's final album.

"The songs had to move the story forward," says Grand-Maître. "In that way, it made it easier for us to eliminate songs that we thought were just masterpieces but didn't help us with the ballet."

You can read the complete article on the saltwire.com website.

• On Tuesday 10th March HOLY HOLY have a warm-up gig at The 1865, Brunswick Square, Southampton SO14 3AR, England - [More details]...

• Stereophonics' KELLY JONES has spoken of how DAVID BOWIE inspired him to pen the band's hit 'Dakota' - [Read here]...

• Over in the US, Jim Henson's LABYRINTH The Adventure Game has just been published by River Horse. The adventure game contains everything you need to enter the magical world of Jim Henson's Labyrinth. This beautiful collectors item contains a full epic adventure which can be played both by expert role players using their favourite RPG rules system and by fans of the Labyrinth who are not role players, using the streamlined rules system included in the book. In this book you will find: a full length adventure with over 100 varied scenes, full rules for creating characters and adventuring in the Labyrinth, two custom dice included inside the book. Written by renowned RPG writer Ben Milton, with guest scenes by Alessandro Cavatore, Jack Caesar, Patrick Stuart and Matt Ward, amazing artwork by Ralph Horsley, Johnny Fraser-Allen and Brian Froud. Tools and tables for creating your own adventures within the Labyrinth, three coloured ribbon markers for tracking progress through the adventure, full color book mark with rules references and tips, high quality cloth cover, the perfect addition to any collector's bookshelf - [More details]...

UPDATE: Record Store Day 2020 is postponed worldwide until 20th June due to health and safety of the general public.

This year's RECORD STORE DAY 2020 takes place next month on Saturday 18th April 20th June.

Apart from the previously announced 'ChangesNowBowie' and 'I'm Only Dancing' vinyl and CD limited edition releases, below are all the other DAVID BOWIE related releases I can find...

David Bowie - ChangesNowBowie Parlophone 1LP, single sleeve with full colour inner.
David Bowie - ChangesNowBowie Parlophone 1CD Digipack.

The ChangesNowBowie LP and CD releases will have £1 from every unit sold going towards the charity War Child - [Read here].

David Bowie - I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour '74) Parlophone 2LP widespine 2 inner sleeves.
David Bowie - I'm Only Dancing (The Soul Tour '74) Parlophone 2CD Digipack.

More details

OST: The Turning - The Turning: Kate's Diary MusicOnVinyl 1LP dark red and black marbled vinyl
This special soundtrack release includes a brand new, never-before-heard unreleased song 'American Landfill' by Kristeen Young featuring David Bowie, plus an unreleased acoustic version of 'Mother' by Courtney Love. Neither of these tracks appear on the CD version of the soundtrack, and none will be made available again in physical format after this release is sold out. This is a one off chance to own this unique Bowie track! Also includes a song by The Aubreys, featuring Stranger Things actor Finn Wolfhard, and presented on stunning Red/Black marbles vinyl.
UK quantity: 1,000 / Global quanity: 2,500 - More details

Biffy Clyro - 'Moderns' - The Modern Lepper / Modern Love Warner Records Label - 7" white vinyl
Includes Biffy Clyro's covers of two incredible songs: Modern Leper (Frightened Rabbit) / Modern Love (David Bowie). All proceeds will be donated to 'Tiny Changes', a mental health charity set up in memory of Scott Hutchison.
More details

Hanterhir - Schizophrenia (Sonic Youth) / Dancing Out In Space (David Bowie) Easy Action 7" colour vinyl
Exclusive covers single. Hanterhir have emerged from the last 18 months with a very respectful bagful of top album reviews and critical acclaim. Prior to the brand-new album 'There is no one to trust' campaign in the late spring - early summer of 2020 they release an exclusive one off covers single of their wild interpretations of songs by Bowie and Sonic Youth. More details

Check out the recordstoreday.com website for all artist releases for 2020. Don't forget to view your own country listing releases.

Published tomorrow (5th March) is DAVID BOWIE DIAMOND DOGS (33 1/3) by GLENN HENDLER another book in the (33 1/3) series.

Synopsis: After his breakthrough with Ziggy Stardust and before his U.S. pop hits 'Fame' and 'Golden Years', David Bowie produced a dark and difficult concept album set in a post-apocalytic 'Hunger City' populated by post-human "mutants" Diamond Dogs includes the great glam anthem 'Rebel Rebel' and utterly unique songs that combine lush romantic piano and nearly operatic singing with scratching, grungy guitars, creepy, insidious noises, and dark, pessimistic lyrics that reflect the album's origins in a projected Broadway musical version of Orwell's '1984' and Bowie's formative encounter with William S. Burroughs.

In this book Glenn Hendler shows that each song on Diamond Dogs shifts the ground under you as you listen, not just by changing in musical style, but by being sung by a different "I" who directly addresses a different "you" Diamond Dogs is the product of a performer at the peak of his powers but uncomfortable with the rock star role he had constructed. All of the album's influences looked to Bowie like ways of escaping not just the Ziggy role, but also the constraints of race, gender, sexuality, and nationality. These are just some of the reasons many Bowie fans rate Diamond Dogs his richest and most important album of the 1970s.

About the Author: Glenn Hendler is Professor of English and American Studies at Fordham University, USA. He writes on popular and unpopular literature in the 19th century, film, television, and contemporary cultural politics. He is author or editor of several books, including Public Sentiments: Structures of Feeling in Nineteenth-Century American Literature (2001) and Keywords for American Cultural Studies (2007).

You can pre-order Diamond Dogs (33 1/3) NOW!

Final chance! Please take a moment to check out the items in this year's annual DAVID BOWIE charity auction.

Bringing together rare art, collectors items and more for the 5th year.

AUCTION ENDS Sunday 1st March 2020 at 6.00pm GMT

100% of net proceeds will be donated to Cabaret vs Cancer, helping families affected by cancer, with a particular focus on the work of child bereavement teams.

This auction features official David Bowie merchandise, collectibles and original artwork.

All details and further information can be found over at the jumblebee.co.uk/davidbowie2020 website.

Update: Record Store Day 2020 is postponed worldwide until 20th June due to health and safety of the general public.

Next month sees the release of previously unissued live 1974 recordings of DAVID BOWIE entitled: I'M ONLY DANCING (THE SOUL TOUR 74) on 2 LP Vinyl and 2 CD formats released for RECORD STORE DAY 2020 on 18th April.

In addition to the previously announced Record Store Day 2020 release of CHANGESNOWBOWIE, Parlophone Records are proud to also announce the unearthing of never before heard recordings of David Bowie in concert in 1974 in the form of I'M ONLY DANCING (THE SOUL TOUR 74) on 2 LP and 2 CD.

Taken from recently discovered sources in The David Bowie Archive®, I'M ONLY DANCING (THE SOUL TOUR 74) was recorded mostly during David's performance at the Michigan Palace, Detroit on 20th October 1974, with the encores taken from the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville on 30th November 1974. The only song missing from the full set on the 20th October performance is 'Diamond Dogs' which was unfortunately only recorded in part. To make up for that it was decided to include the encores from the 30th November performance which featured 'Diamond Dogs' but also enables a fuller representation of the set from The Soul Tour including such numbers as 'Knock On Wood' and the 'Foot Stomping' / 'I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate' medley.

The Soul Tour was a radical departure from the first part of the 1974 Diamond Dogs theatrical extravaganza. During a three week break in late 1974, the Diamond Dogs Tour's elaborate six-ton Hunger City stage set was drastically stripped back, and the tour's set list overhauled to include as-yet-unreleased tracks from the Young Americans sessions at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia. The Soul Tour also featured a revamped band, augmented to include musicians and vocalists from those sessions, and rechristened The Mike Garson Band.

I'M ONLY DANCING (THE SOUL TOUR 74) follows on from the previous Record Store Day 2 LP release Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles '74) and is an incredible historical document of a performer and band at the height of their live powers. The artwork for both the 2 LP and 2 CD releases is based on the original design for the programmes available at venues for dates on The Soul Tour. The Soul Tour has taken on a mythical status among Bowie fans, as the tour visited fewer than twenty cities in the East and South of US. This is the first time that audio from this incarnation of the tour has ever been officially released.

DAVID BOWIE - I'M ONLY DANCING (THE SOUL TOUR 74) (2 LP / 2 CD) tracklisting

CD 1
LP Side 1
1. Introduction - Memory Of A Free Festival
2. Rebel Rebel
3. John, I'm Only Dancing (Again)
4. Sorrow
5. Changes
6. 1984

LP Side 2
1. Moonage Daydream
2. Rock 'N Roll With Me
3. Love Me Do / The Jean Genie
4. Young Americans

CD 2
LP Side 3
1. Can You Hear Me?
2. It's Gonna Be Me
3. Somebody Up There Likes Me
4. Suffragette City

LP Side 4
1. Rock 'N' Roll Suicide
2. Panic In Detroit
3. Knock On Wood *
4. Foot Stomping / I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate / Foot Stomping *
5. Diamond Dogs / It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (But I like It) / Diamond Dogs *

Recorded at the Michigan Palace, Detroit on 20th October 1974 and * at the Municipal Auditorium, Nashville on 30th November 1974.

Musicians:

David Bowie - Vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, harmonica.

The Mike Garson Band:

Earl Slick - Guitar
Carlos Alomar - Guitar
Mike Garson - Piano, Mellotron
David Sanborn - Alto sax, flute
Pablo Rosario - Percussion
Emir Ksasan - Bass
Dennis Davis - Drums

Backing vocals - Warren Peace, Anthony Hinton, Luther Vandross, Ava Cherry, Robin Clark and Diane Sumler.

These recordings have been mastered from the only available sources to provide the best sound quality possible. Any flaws and distortion are inherent in the original sources and we hope the historical importance of the recordings outweighs any such imperfections and does not detract from the enjoyment of the performances.

For more details visit davidbowie.com website.

The debut issue of DEK MAGAZINE is about to be launched.

Featured in issue #1, they revisit DAVID BOWIE and the residents of Oxford Town for a never-before-seen project. The Corsham Street Sessions are coming...

#BowieForever #outside #unseen #CorshamStreetSessions

What's the story behind the story? The art behind the artist? The creativity behind the creation? That's what DEK sets out to uncover, scratching the surface of music, film and every other medium you can imagine. Their mission? To discover something new and authentic about the people and the process behind the things you love - taking you down new alleyways you didn't even know were there.

For more details about this brand new exciting magazine visit the dekmag.com website.

• DAVID BOWIE SPACE ODDITY Vinyl Picture Disc, to be released now on 19th June hopefully - PRE-ORDER

• DAVID BOWIE FAQ: All That's Left to Know About Rock's Finest Actor by Ian Chapman, paperback, 344 pages, to be published on 10th April - PRE-ORDER

DAVID BOWIE DIAMOND DOGS (33 1/3) by Glenn Hendler, paperback, 152 pages, published on 5th March - purchase now.

DAVID BOWIE 40th Anniversary 7" Limited Edition Picture Disc Single ALABAMA SONG / JOE THE LION / ALABAMA SONG (LIVE) is released on 14th February - purchase now.

BOWIE: Stardust, Rayguns and Moonage Daydreams by Michael Allred, hardcover, 160 pages, published on 7th January - purchase now.

Official Collectors Limited Edition 2020 DAVID BOWIE WALL CALENDAR square format calendar 12 month, featuring different stunning images each month, size 31.2cm x 31.2cm - you can purchase now.

Official 2020 DAVID BOWIE WALL CALENDAR A3 format, 12 month, featuring different stunning images each month, size 42cm x 29.7cm - you can purchase now.

2018 softback edition of DAVID BOWIE WORLD 7" RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY 1964 - 1981 book by MARSHALL JARMAN and RETO STÖCKLIN you can purchase now via marmot-publishing.com

Exclusive DAVID BOWIE lino-cut print available to PURCHASE - don't hang around, these are ALL the remaining original left-over stock from 36 years ago, once they've gone, they've gone!