Out Now: David Bowie, “Beauty and the Beast” / “Let’s Dance”

Today we celebrate the birthday of a rock legend who was taken from us far too soon and yet whose music is still played so much even now that he’ll never be truly gone. Yes, of course, we’re talking about David Bowie, and to celebrate the day that he first arrived on this planet, we’ve got two new Bowie releases to tell you about.

First up, there’s the continuation of the ongoing Bowie picture-disc series: this past Friday saw the release of “Beauty and the Beast.”

Bowie’s website noted in the press release for this release, “As with many Bowie single releases, the track sounded like nothing else on the radio at the time. As with its predecessor (‘Heroes’), perhaps the public en masse wasn’t quite ready for the latest Bowie sound, with Fripp’s incredible guitar lines again taking centre stage and that Bowie/Visconti production ensuring Bowie was ahead of the curve yet again. The advertising slogan, ‘TOMORROW BELONGS TO THOSE WHO CAN HEAR IT COMING,’ never seemed so apt.”

This single features the 2017 remastered version of “Beauty and the Beast” on the A-side, which is pretty great in and of itself, but the B-side will be the real selling point for fans: a previously-unreleased live version of “Blackout” recorded at the Deutschlandhalle, Berlin on May 16, 1978.

Go ahead and get excited. It’s the only reasonable reaction.

And as long as you’re already excited, here’s something to keep that excitement going: since today is Bowie’s actual birthday, we decided we’d celebrate by releasing a digital-only single of the demo version of “Let’s Dance,” which has been mixed by Nile Rodgers and Russell Graham especially for this release.

"I've been blessed with a wonderful career but my creative partnership with David Bowie ranks very, very, very high on the list of my most important and rewarding collaborations,” said Rodgers. “This demo gives you, the fans, a bird's eye view of the very start of it! I woke up on my first morning in Montreux with David peering over me. He had an acoustic guitar in his hands and exclaimed, 'Nile, darling, I think this is a HIT!' This recording was the first indication of what we could do together as I took his 'folk song' and arranged it into something that the entire world would soon be dancing to and seemingly has not stopped dancing to for the last 35 years! It became the blue print not only for ‘Let's Dance’ the song but for the entire album as well. “

So there you go: two new Bowie releases, both offering something you’ve never heard before. Now go forth and purchase them!