WAITING IN THE SKY VINYL LP FOR RSD 2024

“He’d like to come and meet us…”

To mark what would have been David Bowie’s 77th birthday, Parlophone Records are proud to announce the release of a very special David Bowie limited vinyl LP, WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME… pic.twitter.com/j9Oh0pQWSv

— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) January 8, 2024

The LP is set to be released on April 20th 2024, in line with Record Store Day, which falls on the same day.

Record Store Day is an annual event beginning in 2007 to “celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store”. Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together fans, artists, and thousands of independent record stores around the world. A number of records are pressed specifically for Record Store Day, with a list of releases for each country, and are only distributed to shops participating in the event.

A press release for the upcoming album states that “The tracklisting for WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) runs differently from the ZIGGY STARDUST album and features four songs that didn’t make the final album.

On Side 1, in the place of ‘STARMAN’, one of the last three tracks recorded for the album in February 1972, is ‘ROUND AND ROUND’, a Chuck Berry cover. The track was finally released on a single as the B-side to ‘DRIVE-IN SATURDAY’ on 6th April, 1973. Initially, closing Side 1 of the album was Bowie’s version of Jacques Brel’s ‘AMSTERDAM’, which would later appear as the B-side of ‘SORROW’ on 12th October, 1973.

Side 2 of the 15th December, 1971 tracklisting features two long-time non-LP fan favourites, ‘HOLY HOLY’ and ‘VELVET GOLDMINE’. The former is a re-recording with The Spiders of David’s 1971 single. Again, this version of the track had to wait several years before surfacing as the B-side of ‘DIAMOND DOGS’ on 14th June, 1974.”

Waiting In The Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth) tracklist:

Side 1
“Five Years”
“Soul Love”
“Moonage Daydream”
“Round And Round”
“Amsterdam”

Side 2
“Hang On To Yourself”
“Ziggy Stardust”
“Velvet Goldmine”
“Holy Holy”
“Star”
“Lady Stardust”

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The newly released mix was made available via Parlophone Records and was created by the album’s co-producer Ken Scott. The legendary producer is best known as one of the five engineers who worked closely with the Beatles. Scott generated the new mix at the beginning of the year from existing multi-tracks. The new version of the iconic track was based on the master track which resulted from Bowie’s broadcast recording on Top Of The Pops, with the master having initially been released on the picture disc Starman 7’’, which dropped over ten years ago.

A statement on Bowie’s website has given the following description outlining the importance of the performance and recording, “David Bowie’s performance of STARMAN on Top Of The Pops is undoubtedly one of the most essential pieces of music television ever broadcast. It has influenced generations of musicians, artists and writers who saw it at the time and countless others who have since seen it over the decades, from bootleg VHS copies to YouTube clips.”

Although taken off the air in 2006, Top Of The Pops has remained an important institution within British music and has been responsible for the success of many artists since its first broadcast in 1964. According to rules outlined by the Musicians Union. In order to appear on the TV show artists would have to re-record their song and then perform the vocals live over the newly recorded track. Due to these rules, Scott had multiple tracks available to use and was able to utilise both aspects of the process.

The new mix consists of the backing vocals recorded for the show’s purpose and the lead vocals taken from the track featured on the album. As per the show’s request, the backing vocals were recorded at Trident Studios, one of London’s most beloved recording facilities located in SoHo. Keen-eared music fans will spot the Adhoc ab-lib within the mix, Bowie can be heard singing “Hey Brown Crow”.

The re-worked mix of “Starman” is not the only celebratory nod to the influential album’s 50th anniversary, to commemorate the release of The Rise And Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars the album will also be made available as a special edition. As from Friday 17th June 2022, the album will be available to purchase as a limited edition 50th anniversary half-speed mastered LP and picture disc, the LP will not only hold great collector value but will also include the re-worked master and a reproduction of the promotional poster.

Bowie’s powerful talent is not only evident in his enduring legacy but can also be seen within his influence seen in other musicians, Tim Burgess is one of such artists and chose to celebrate the musical landmark in a virtual fashion. The English singer and frontman for The Charlatans held a very special listening party today via Twitter, Burgess has given the following description of the event, “I’m really excited to be hosting a Ziggy Stardust Listening Party on the 50th anniversary of the album’s release. Fans from all around the world can take part and we’ve enlisted a few friends to help us out too.”

Details concerning Burgess’ listening party can be found here.

Click here to stream/buy/listen to “Starman (Top Of The Pops Version 2022)“

On the day that we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of the Starman 45, it is with pleasure that we can announce the issue of two 50th anniversary vinyl versions of David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album via Parlophone, on 17th June 2022. https://t.co/OH2kScVM44 pic.twitter.com/07YER606Ia

— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) April 28, 2022

The record will be released as an LP and picture disk, and will feature the same promotional poster that was released alongside the original album.

A press release regarding the re-issue stated: “This new pressing…was cut on a customised late Neumann VMS80 lathe with fully recapped electronics from 192kHz restored masters of the original Trident Studios master tapes, with no additional processing on transfer. The half speed was cut by John Webber at AIR Studios.” The press release went on to describe the beloved album, calling it “the breakthrough album that catapulted David Bowie into the international spotlight…has remained a touchstone record, growing in stature with each passing year.”

The classic single “Starman” turned 50 on the 28^th of April, and a new lyric video has emerged ahead of the Ziggy Stardust re-release. You can watch it at the link below.

The iconic record was originally released on June 16^th, 1972 via RCA Records, and features some of the legendary musician’s greatest hits, including “Starman”, “Moonage Daydream” and “Hang On to Yourself”. The record is described as being a sort-of concept album, and focused on one of Bowie’s well-known alter-egos; Ziggy Stardust, a queer, extra-terrestrial rock ‘n’ roller sent to save the world from aa looming apocalypse. Bowie assumed numerous characters besides Stardust throughout his career, such as Arnold Corns, Major Tom, Aladdin Sane and the White Duke.

In other news regarding David Bowie, reports back in November revealed that director Brett Morgen, the man behind the 2015 documentary Montage of Heck, that focused on the life of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, had spent the last few years working on a Bowie film that involves a great deal of archival concert footage, some of which has yet to be seen by the public.

The track listing for The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars can be viewed down below.

SIDE A
‘Five Years’
‘Soul Love’
‘Moonage Daydream’
‘Starman’
‘It Ain’t Easy’ 

SIDE B
‘Lady Stardust’
‘Star’
‘Hang On To Yourself’
‘Ziggy Stardust’
‘Suffragette City’
‘Rock ’n’ Roll Suicide’