Parlophone is continuing its series of David Bowie reissues. The label has just announced a trio of projects due June 29: the CD and digital debut of Welcome To The Blackout (Live London '78), previously only available on vinyl for this year's Record Store Day, and a pair of vinyl exclusives for brick-and-mortar record shops. All three titles come from the period covered in last year's Bowie box A New Career in a New Town: 1977-1982, which saw Bowie release two acclaimed albums, work in television and film and embark upon a massive world tour.
First is the Welcome To The Blackout (Live London '78) concert. This live album features performances recorded at Earl's Court in London on June 30 and July 1, 1978 during Bowie's "Isolar II" Tour. This stand ended the second, European leg of the tour. Tony Visconti, who produced more than a dozen albums for Bowie throughout his career, recorded the 1978 concert which was later mixed by Bowie and David Richards in Montreux, Switzerland for a possible live album at the time. It would ultimately be the Stages live compilation that would represent the tour for audiences and this concert would not be heard until its debut on Record Store Day last month.
Welcome To The Blackout focuses on songs from the two albums Bowie released in 1977 - Low and "Heroes" as well as other earlier famous songs such as "Fame," Ziggy Stardust," "The Jean Genie," Station To Station," and the first live performance of "Sound and Vision." The show features Bowie's expanded band, with core members Carlos Alomar (rhythm guitar, George Murray (bass) and Dennis Davis (drums) joined by Adrian Belew on guitar, Hawkwind's Simon House on electric violin, Utopia's Roger Powell on keyboards and Sean Mayes on piano and string ensemble. (This band would follow Bowie to Montreux for the recording of Lodger in 1979.) The album will be available as a 2-CD set as well as digitally for download or streaming in standard and high-definition versions.
Next is a vinyl reissue of Christiane F. - Wir Kinder Von Bahnoff Zoo, the soundtrack to the 1981 film based on the 1978 autobiography by German actress Christiane Vera Felscherinow. The soundtrack incorporates songs from several Bowie albums, including "Stay" (Station To Station, 1976), "Warszawa" (Low, 1977) "V-2 Schneider" ("Heroes," 1977), and "Look Back In Anger" (Lodger, 1979.) Released on vinyl for the first time in 30 years, the album will be pressed on limited edition red vinyl and available exclusively at brick-and-mortar retail stores.
The third release from Parlophone is a vinyl reissue of David Bowie In Bertolt Brecht's Baal. Bowie played the character of Baal in a 1982 television adaptation of Brecht's 1923 play, and had recorded his five songs in November of the previous year for EP release. The EP's tracks (including "The Drowned Girl," composed by Weill) were fully orchestrated by Dominic Muldowney, whereas the television performances were intimately performed to banjo accompaniment. The 5-song EP, produced by Tony Visconti, was released a little more than a week after the initial broadcast. The tracks were included on the Re:Call 3 bonus disc in the New Career in a New Town set. The new limited 10" EP vinyl reissue comes in a six-panel sleeve that replicates the original 1982 packaging and will be available exclusively at brick-and-mortar retail stores.
If you'd like to give any of these a try, we've got the full tracklistings below. Watch this space for pre-order links!
David Bowie, Welcome To The Blackout (Live London '78) (Parlophone, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Disc 1
- Warszawa
- "Heroes"
- What In The World
- Be My Wife
- The Jean Genie
- Blackout
- Sense Of Doubt
- Speed Of Life
- Sound And Vision
- Breaking Glass
- Fame
- Beauty And The Beast
Disc 2
- Five Years
- Soul Love
- Star
- Hang On To Yourself
- Ziggy Stardust
- Suffragette City
- Art Decade
- Alabama Song
- Station To Station
- TVC 15
- Stay
- Rebel Rebel
David Bowie, Christiane F. - Wir Kinder Von Bahnoff Zoo (Limited Red Vinyl Edition) (Originally issued on RCA Victor LP ABL1-4239, 1982 - reissued Parlophone, 2018)
Side 1
- V-2 Schneider
- TVC 15
- "Heroes"/"Helden"
- Boys Keep Swinging
- Sense Of Doubt
Side 2
- Station To Station
- Look Back In Anger
- Stay
- Warszawa
David Bowie, David Bowie In Bertolt Brecht's Baal (Limited Vinyl Edition) (Originally issued on RCA Victor EP CPL1-4346, 1982 - Reissued Parlophone, 2018)
Side 1
- Baal's Hymn (Der Choral Vom
Großen Baal) - Remembering Marie A.
(Erinnerung An Die Marie A.)
Side 2
- Ballad Of The Adventurers (Die
Ballad Von Den Abenteurern) - The Drowned Girl (Vom
Ertrunkenen Mädchen) - The Dirty Song
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