A British auctioneer says it expects bids in the ‘thousands of dollars’ range for a rare 1965 recording of David Bowie.
Wessex Auction Rooms will sell the vinyl recording of Bowie from when he fronted the band Davy Jones and the Lower Third. The ’60s song “I Want You Love” was written by John Dee and Jack Tarr and produced by Shel Talmy.
The recording itself is an early Bowie demo, recorded and released by Pretty Things on their 1965 sophomore album Get the Picture. Buyers will receive only the physical copy of the record – no recording or publishing rights attached.
“The seller purchased the physical music archive of one of the world’s biggest publishing companies and therefore unearthed a raft of amazing demos and unheard tracks from huge artists,” says auctioneer Martin Huges. Wessex Auctions have sold two previously unreleased Bowie recordings, including “I Do Believe I Love You” (1966) and “Run Piper Run” (1967).
Early recordings of David Bowie and merchandise are some of the most auctioned memorabilia.
A David Bowie painting that sold for less than $5 at a Canadian landfill set a new auction record. The work sold for $87,789 at Toronto’s Cowley Abbot auction house. The work was titled DHead XLVI (1997) and ended up at a landfill in Ontario. People can drop off unwanted items that are still useful and residents can pay what they want for them.
The painting is from David Bowie’s “Dead Heads” collection – which includes 40 to 50 paintings. They’re semi-abstract portraits of Bowie’s friends, family members, and bandmates from the ’90s. The previous record for a painting from the collection was for $31,725, shortly after the artist died.
“We never thought of [it as] anything special, “Johnny Kirschner, the coordinator at Machar landfill, said. “We cleaned it up, put it against the wall, and didn’t think about it.”
Art experts were able to trace the painting back to Bowie by analyzing the frame and the label on the back of the painting. “It had a trail back to the hands of the artist,” Rob Cowley, Chairman of Cowley Abbott auction house said.
Bowie was/is great, but this recording is shabby and not worth a second listen.