On what would have been the 77th birthday of the incomparable David Bowie, his estate has announced a new catalogue title due out for Record Store Day, featuring an early track list for 1972's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars.

Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth) takes its title from "Starman," the U.K. Top 10 hit that helped propel Bowie from art-folk wonder to glam icon for a new decade. But when this line-up for the album was assembled onto a 1/4" tape at Trident Studios on December 15, 1971, "Starman" had yet to be recorded, along with the final album's closing tracks "Suffragette City" and "Rock 'N' Roll Suicide." Those three tracks are substituted by four others recorded during these sessions: "Starman" is replaced by a take on Chuck Berry's "Round and Round," while the first side is rounded out by a cover of Jacques Brel's "Amsterdam." Side 2, meanwhile, features two original's from Bowie's repertoire: a re-recording of 1971 single "Holy Holy" and the "lost" classic "Velvet Goldmine." (By 1975, all of these orphaned recordings would be utilized as B-sides.)

The Spiders' from Mars line-up - guitarist Mick Ronson, bassist Trevor Bolder and drummer Mick "Woody" Woodmansey - first came together on Bowie's Hunky Dory a year before in 1971. But the album that would become The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars would make them stars, as fronted by Bowie in a new, jaw-dropping alter ego that established him as an enduring trailblazer in pop and rock music. Waiting in the Sky offers a distinct spin on that era, and a special piece of history for Bowie vinyl collectors.

Waiting in the Sky will be released exclusively at participating indie stores on Record Store Day (Saturday, April 20, 2024). It will be a half-speed vinyl release, cut by John Webber at Abbey Road Studios; Webber utilized "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." An early Ziggy-era photo by Brian Ward graces the album's cover, while the inner sleeve features pictures of the 1971 tape boxes that made this release possible.

The full track list is below.

Waiting in the Sky (Before the Starman Came to Earth) (Parlophone, 2024)

Side 1

1. Five Years
2. Soul Love
3. Moonage Daydream
4. Round and Round
5. Amsterdam

Side 2

1. Hang on to Yourself
2. Ziggy Stardust
3. Velvet Goldmine
4. Holy Holy
5. Star
6. Lady Stardust

Tracks 1-3, 6-7 and 10-11 released on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars - RCA Victor LSP-4702, 1972
Track 4 released as B-side to "Drive-In Saturday" U.K. single - RCA Victor 2352, 1973
Track 5 released as B-side to "Sorrow" U.K. single - RCA Victor 2424, 1973
Track 8 released as B-side to "Diamond Dogs" U.K. single - RCA Victor APB0-0293, 1974
Track 9 released as B-side to "Space Oddity"/"Changes" U.K. single - RCA Victor 2593, 1975