A demo that is thought to be among the first recordings of David Bowie‘s ‘Starman’ will be auctioned this week.
Bowie can be heard on the demo telling guitarist Mick Ronson he had not finished the song when he tried to end the recording. Ronson gave the demo to his friend Kevin Hutchinson, an aspiring musician, to help him learn the song in 1971.
According to the BBC, Mr Hutchinson listened to the song, labelled it “David Bowie rehearsal tape”, and packed it away in a box in his attic.
The demo, which was recorded in 1971, had been “totally forgotten about” for almost 50 years. It also contains recordings of Bowie songs ‘Moonage Daydream’ and ‘Hang Onto Yourself’.
“I remember listening to it and thinking, ‘This is OK,'” said Mr Hutchinson. “I didn’t think, ‘This is fantastic.’ At 16, you’re not totally impressed. Nothing impresses you.”
He told BBC Radio Humberside in 2017 that he had retrieved the tape after watching a documentary about Bowie, who had died the year before, aged 69.
