David Bowie's first known studio recording found in old bread basket, heads to auction

The first-known recording by David Bowie , when he was the 16-year-old singer of a band called The Konrads, is going up for auction. Omega Auctions in northwestern England said that the reel tape would go on sale on 11 September, with an expected price of £10,000 ($13,100). The Guardian reports Konrads drummer David Hadfield found the tape when he was moving houses in an old bread basket. [caption id=“attachment_4809901” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] A young David Bowie. Image via Facebook[/caption] The song, “I Never Dreamed,” was recorded in a studio in 1963 when The Konrads asked Bowie, then known by his given name David Jones, to sing lead vocals. A harmonious rock ’n’ roll song in the vein of classic Beatles, “I Never Dreamed” was submitted to record label Decca in an unsuccessful bid for a recording contract. Hadfield said he had “decided that David was the best person to sing it and give the right interpretation.” “So this became the very first recording of David Jones (Bowie) singing 55 years ago!” he said in a statement. Bowie left The Konrads shortly afterward and did not achieve stardom until six years later when, already a solo artist, he released Space Oddity about the fictional astronaut Major Tom. He earned a reputation as one of the most innovative voices in rock over a half-century career that experimented with soul, disco, jazz and ambient music. He died in 2016 from an undisclosed battle with cancer, two days after releasing his final album on his 69th birthday. (With inputs from Agence France-Presse)