Ten previously unheard tracks recorded by a teenage David Bowie — then going by the stage name Davie Jones — are to be released next month, offering a rare glimpse into the formative years of one of music's most transformative figures.
The collection, titled David Bowie: The Shel Talmy Recordings, has been billed by the singer's label as "the most complete collection of tracks recorded by a nascent David Bowie" alongside producer Shel Talmy. It features contributions from guitarist Jimmy Page, who would later co-found Led Zeppelin, and pianist Nicky Hopkins, a session musician who worked with the Beatles, the Who and the Rolling Stones.
“Ten previously unheard David Bowie tracks from his 1960s Davie Jones era are to be released on 18 September.”
One of the singles, I Want Your Love, was uploaded to streaming services on Wednesday ahead of the full album's release on 18 September. The other previously unheard songs include Cupid, Leave Her to Me, You Gotta Tell Her, Certain Woman, Today, I Live in Dreams and I Do Believe I Love You.
Some singles from that period — Can't Help Thinking About Me and Do Anything You Say — have already been available. The new compilation also includes You've Got A Habit Of Leaving and Baby Loves That Way.
Music historian Alec Palao wrote in the album's sleeve notes: "David Bowie the artist is a book of chapters, the turn of each page delivering something completely different and unexpected from the last. Each fascinating phase in his career should be considered complementary. This collection, a primary chapter if not the very earliest instalment in David's musical journey, deserves legitimate consideration."
Talmy, who died in 2024, is best remembered for producing the Kinks' You Really Got Me and the Who's My Generation. He first met Bowie while frequenting London's Denmark Street, then the heart of the British music industry. The US ex-pat signed Bowie and the Manish Boys in December 1964, but the singer had already moved on to form Davie Jones & The Lower Third. The majority of the recordings Bowie made with Talmy featured that band or were solo demos.
The year after those sessions, the singer changed his name to David Bowie to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees. He achieved his breakthrough in 1969 with Space Oddity and would later reinvent himself as Ziggy Stardust in 1972, becoming one of the most influential stars in music history.
These early recordings, long buried in archives, now surface as a missing chapter in that extraordinary story.