This product is a Record Store Day title and not available to pre-order.
Available to buy in-storefrom 8am on Saturday, 20/04/2024 (Record Store Day).
Any remaining copies will be available to buy online from 8pm on Monday22/04/2024.

12″ Black vinyl disc 180g WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH)

LIMITED 11-TRACK VINYL ALBUM RELEASED EXCLUSIVELY FOR RECORD STORE DAY 20th APRIL, 2024

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 TO EARTH) which will be released on 20th April, 2024 for Record Store Day.

The album is taken from the Trident Studios 1/4 stereo tapes dated 15th December, 1971, which were created for the then provisional tracklisting for what would become THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album.

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 didnt 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 Brels 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 Davids 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.

VELVET GOLDMINE is considered by many to be a lost Ziggy era classic, one Bowie often referred to as Hes A Goldmine or Shes A Goldmine in his notebooks and interviews. The track was recorded during the Ziggy sessions but was not released until 26th September, 1975, alongside CHANGES backing the re-released album version of SPACE ODDITY, which peaked at no. 1 in the U.K. singles chart in November 1975.

WAITING IN THE SKY (BEFORE THE STARMAN CAME TO EARTH) 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 vinyl cut was by engineer John Webber at AIR Studios, London.

Track List

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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