Episodes
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
What to Expect from Bowie in 2022
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
Saturday Jan 01, 2022
I'm Charlie and I like Bowie.
In what I'm deciding is officially a festive new year's tradition that needs, nay demands, its own Hallmark greeting card, I'm once again putting forth my humble yet well-informed opinions of what Bowie releases will materialize in the incoming year. The plans of the Bowie camp are notoriously fickle, but I like to give it the ol' college try nonetheless.
Oh! And watch out for one of our sporadic brand new episodes of Bowie Vs. Dylan examining 2021 in forensic detail, hopefully dropping on January 15, 2022, assuming Jake rediscovers his pride and posts it on time.
Let's take a look.
Confirmed Releases
First of all, let's take a quick glance at the items that have been officially announced for 2021 so far.
Toy:Box
While one can't help but wonder if this whole project is being released just for use of that name, Bowie's lost album Toy is receiving its very own 3-CD or 6-10" LP box set on January 7 (the day before what would have been Bowie's 75th birthday). It was originally recorded with an intended release for 2001 but never came out at the time. While this is being billed as its first release, it was included in the most recent big ol' box set, Brilliant Adventure (not to be confused with Brilliant Live Adventure) that just came out in November. It features the exact same version of Toy from the aforementioned box set (the CD version even looks like almost identical packaging) along with alternate mixes and recordings and a full album remix. Oh hey, and apparently they're now selling the album only on cassette tape as well.
Hunky Dory Picture Disc
Also set for a January 7 release, this is a completely unnecessary picture disc of the all time classic, Hunky Dory. They're seemingly going to just keep doing these so we should all probably get used to it.
Solid Bets
Next up, we have a few releases that are looking pretty likely but haven't been officially announced yet.
Brilliant Adventure Breakouts
The fifth era-set from Bowie finally saw the light of day in November and the other sets were all followed a few months later by individual releases of most of the albums contained therein. Look for Black Tie White Noise, Buddha of Suburbia, 1. Outside, Earthling, and hours... to be released on there own sometime in the spring. Toy is a possibility too but it might remain exclusive to Brilliant Adventure and the aforementioned Toy:Box set.
Low Colored Vinyl and Tape?
One probably valid rumor currently flying around is for a 45th anniversary colored vinyl release of Low. This seems really likely- they've done the same thing with every album back to Hunky Dory (fine, pedants, Pin Ups was a picture disc). Strangely, the rumor also suggests a release on cassette tape- a medium the Bowie camp has not used in decades.
Hunky Dory Full Album Remix
2021 marks the 50th anniversary of Bowie's first undisputed masterpiece, Hunk Dory. They've already announced a picture disc (see above) and in December they released a new mix of "Changes" by original producer Ken Scott as a streaming single. A full album remix feels pretty much guaranteed at some point, especially since they did the same with his two previous albums. Hopefully at the same time as the following...
Hunky Dory Related Rarities Set
2019 had Conversation Piece and 2021 had The Width of a Circle. While their format and contents were pretty different, both are books with CDs of rare and unreleased material from a Bowie album somewhere around its 50th anniversary- Space Oddity and The Man Who Sold the World respectively. Hunky Dory just celebrated its own 50th anniversary so this is surely (and very excitingly) on the horizon. Speaking of...
Ziggy Stardust 50th Anniversary releases
There's no way Parlophone is letting the 50th anniversary of Bowie's best-loved album go by without making a few bucks. Based on recent years a picture disc and a rarities set seem likely. A full album remix is a question mark since one already exists (and was just reissued in 2015 as part of the Five Years box set). But I'm sure something's on the way.
Brilliant Live Adventures reissues
The absolutely horrendous Brilliant Live Adventures campaign remains a slow motion car crash that just keeps on crashing. After the many, many problems experienced by everyone involved, Parlophone went so far as issuing a public apology and promising that the titles would be repressed so everyone could get what they wanted. They even had fans register their interest. But that was last May and nothing has been heard in over six months. So maybe they'll finally get their act together and take care of all the fans who were unable to finish their sets? Or maybe not.
Wild Speculation
Finally, we have some reasonable guesses that may or may not have any basis in reality and even if they do, may not be released in 2022.
Brilliant Remixed Adventures
The recent Brilliant Adventure box set took a different form than the others- it only included one live album and instead was preceded by a separate box set (Brilliant Live Adventures) that contained six live albums from the period. After the two, we're still missing a release of the many, many remixes from the period. I'm guessing there will be a small compilation of some of the best (certainly not comprehensive) that approximates the Dance disc included with the Loving the Alien box set from 2018.
Unreleased Mid-1960s Tracks
Producer Shel Talmy worked with Bowie in 1965 on two singles (one as The Manish Boys and one as Davey Jones). He apparently recorded several other songs as well. Five of them ended up on the long out-of-print Early On compilation. Talmy announced in a Facebook post that he has eight more completely unreleased tracks and is working with interested parties on releasing them. This post is now well over a year old and there doesn't appear to be any movement on the project but a 2022 release is still possible.
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