- Published
Ten years ago Alec Palao was casually flicking through a collection of old records when he noticed some faint pencil markings that were enough to draw a gasp.
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that → publish → gasp
"Davie Jones," it read.
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it → read → ?
What he had found was musical gold: five unreleased songs by a young David Bowie, filed away under his birth name.
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found → find → name
From Friday, those tracks, plus another five unreleased songs that came Palao's way after the initial discovery, will be available to buy and stream.
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that → come → discovery
"They are probably the most visceral, raw you'll ever hear the man," said Palao, a music historian and archivist.
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Palao → hear → man
He entered the mainstream with his 1969 single, Space Oddity, and went on to achieve 11 number one albums.
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He → enter → albums
He died in 2016, but remains one of Britain's most recognisable cultural icons.
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He → die → icons
Six of the previously unreleased tracks from the new collection will be available on vinyl, tapping into Bowie's popularity in that format specifically.
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Six → tap → format
In 2022, Bowie was named the best-selling vinyl artist of the 21st century by Music Week, ahead of The Beatles.
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Bowie → name → Beatles
"It's just a fascinating window into London in 1965 and its possibilities," said Palao.
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Palao → say → 1965
In the early sixties, Bowie was a teenager, performing as Davie Jones at London clubs and dreaming of stardom.
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Bowie → perform → stardom
Many of the tracks he recorded in that period are either little known or lost to time.
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he → record → time
But his first professional producer, Shel Talmy, had kept a recording from 1965 among his collection of material by other artists he had worked with: The Kinks; The Who; Manfred Mann; The Easybeats.
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he → keep → artists
It was within Talmy's collection that Palao came across the valuable 12-inch acetate.
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Palao → come → acetate
That material and the five other previously unheard tunes, as well as demos and remastered songs, form part of a new, posthumous album called The Shel Talmy Recordings.
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material → remastere → album
A limited edition vinyl will be sold at Record Store Day and HMV outlets.
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vinyl → sell → Day
In 2022, David Bowie's estate sold the publishing rights to decades of the singer's work to Warner Music Group.
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estate → sell → Group
For this new material, Palao, along with Talmy Enterprises Incorporated, licensed the album to Warner, and it will be released by the company's subsidiary, Parlophone.
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it → license → subsidiary
Royalties will be paid to Bowie's estate by Warner.
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Royalties → pay → Warner
experimenting
"I think it's wonderful that people can get to hear the early Davie Jones music," said Dana Gillespie, an early collaborator of Bowie's.
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Gillespie → think → Bowie
She met him after a performance at the Marquee Club in London when Bowie was 17.
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Bowie → meet → London
"They're songs that don't really sound like David but it's him trying to find his voice.
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him → sound → voice
He was experimenting."
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He → experiment → ?
Gillespie became close friends with Bowie, eventually working with him on his "Ziggy Stardust" album.
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Gillespie → become → album
Talmy worked with both artists and Bowie's song "Andy Warhol", on his fourth studio album, was originally written for Gillespie.
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song → work → Gillespie
"He was very driven," remembered Gillespie, who is still touring and making music at the age of 77.
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who → drive → 77
"Some time in the sixties, he asked me to come and visit his parents.
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he → ask → parents
We were in his little house in Bromley, and when his parents left the room he turned to me and said: 'Whatever it takes, I want to get out of here.'
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I → leave → Whatever
And he did," she said.
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she → do → ?
It is a decade since Palao found the recordings.
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Palao → find → recordings
Since then, it has been a long process to bring them to market.
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it → bring → market
The result is an album that he says is "absolutely pure rock 'n' roll".
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he → say → ?
"If you're looking for clues as to what he was to become, there's maybe less of that," said Palao, "but objectively speaking, I feel it's important stuff.
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it → look → that
Gillespie is excited by one song in particular.
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Gillespie → excite → song
"There was a famous café called the Gioconda in Denmark Street where I often used to go with David," she said, recalling the centre of musical life in London in the 1960s.
"One day when I was sitting there, David rushed in and took me by the hand.
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David → be → hand
He said: 'You have to hear this'.
"
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You → say → this
He ran with me around the corner and squeezed us into a small listening booth.
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He → run → booth
I had one speaker and he had the other, and he played me 'I Pity The Fool'."
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I → have → Fool
A remastered version of the song can be heard in the new album.
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version → remastere → album
For music historians, fans of Bowie, and those who were there, the new album is another chance to reconnect with an enduring cultural icon.
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album → reconnect → icon
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
