Bowie Box Zooms in on ’77-’82

Parlophone Records’ third comprehensive, chronological David Bowie box set is due for release on September 29th, naturally with a few rare goodies for completists.

Following the 12-CD/13-LP Five Years set (covering the years 1969-1973), and its follow-up, Who Can I Be Now?, which spotlighted 1974-1976 over the same number of CDs/LPs, the forthcoming A New Career in a New Town will explore Bowie’s output during the years 1977 through 1982.

The 11 CDs, or 13 vinyl LPs, feature all of the material officially released by Bowie during that time period, including the so-called “Berlin trilogy” (Low, “Heroes” and Lodger, all recorded with Tony Visconti and Brian Eno), Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps), the live album Stage, plus oddball items such as 1982’s Baal EP, which featured five songs that were performed by Bowie in a BBC version of the Bertoit Brecht play, and numerous non-album singles, B-sides, soundtrack songs (“Cat People”!) and alternate versions (including the French and German versions of “Heroes”). There’s also a brand new, nuanced remix of the under-appreciated Lodger by Visconti, begun with David’s blessing before his death last year. Add to that a 128-page book (84-page for the vinyl version) stuffed with rare and previously unpublished photographs, historical press reviews and contemporary notes about the albums from Visconti, and you have the makings of a must-have Christmas gift for the Bowie fanatic in your life. Which might very well be you.