The Deram Anthology (1966-1969) Polygram 1997, 844-784-2
1. Rubber Band (single version)
2. The London Boys (b-side)
3. The Laughing Gnome (a-side)
4. The Gospel According To Tony Day (b-side)
5. Uncle Arthur
6. Sell Me A Coat
7. Rubber Band
8. Love You Till Tuesday
9. There Is A Happy Land
10. We Are Hungry Men
11. When I Live My Dream
12. Little Bombardier
13. Silly Boy Blue
14. Come And Buy My Toys
15. Join The Gang
16. She's Got Medals
17. Maid Of Bond Street
18. Please Mr. Gravedigger
19. Love You Till Tuesday (single version)
20. Did You Ever Have A Dream (b-side)
21. Karma Man (recorded 1967, first issued 1970)
22. Let Me Sleep Beside You (recorded 1967, first issued 1970)
23. In The Heat Of The Morning (recorded 1968, first issued 1970)
24. Ching-A-Ling (stereo edit)
25. Sell Me A Coat (Love You Till Tuesday soundtrack version)
26. When I Live My Dream (version 2)
27. Space Oddity (original version, edit)
An attempt to compile the complete Deram recordings that's let down by the erroneous inclusion of two edited tracks.
Chronologically presented, the first four tracks comprise Bowie's two initial singles for Deram, none of which appeared on LP until the first compilations kicked in after his success at RCA, The Laughing Gnome providing an embarrassing (for Bowie) surprise hit single when reissued in 1973 while the Ziggy/Aladdin Sane era was in full swing. While the A-sides are representative of the jaunty theatrical style he'd adopted during this phase of his career, their respective flip sides provide fine examples of Bowie's early sombre song-craft.
Tracks 5-18 present his debut album in the correct sequence. It may sound dated and out of place among his later works, but this is a genuinely unique album and unfairly dismissed. Very inventive and stylised it rewards regular spins.
Tracks 20-23 are the first post-album songs to be recorded by Bowie, the first owing a debt to The Lovin' Spoonful's Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? which is indicative of Bowie's genre-hopping ways, never content to settle in one niche. The other three tracks mark the beginning of a long and productive alliance with Tony Visconti and were criminally ignored by Deram at the time, not surfacing until The World Of David Bowie compilation in 1970. Personally i consider these to be among the very best songs of his early works. Bowie revisited LMSBY for his unreleased Toy album in 2000, while Arctic Monkeys offshoot The Last Shadow Puppets recently covered ITHOTM. Suede stole the chorus of Karma Man and made a career out of it.
The last four songs are drawn from sessions for the Love You Till Tuesday promotional film. Bizarrely the version of Ching-A-Ling (performed with about to be ex-girlfriend Hermione Farthingale and Hutch) is missing the first verse which Bowie sings... but this version is in stereo, the full length version elsewhere is in mono. You need 'em both collectors! Space Oddity suffers a similar fate, appearing here in edited form.