Back in the early ’60s, a 16-year-old kid named David Jones (who would later become better known to the world as David Bowie) was in a band called The Konrads. While the group didn’t end up getting tremendously far in the music industry, the group is historically significant in that they recorded a demo with Bowie on lead vocals. Now, the only known recording of that session has been found, making it the earliest Bowie record out there.
David Hadfield, who was the drummer and manager of The Kondrads, was moving when he found the tape, in an old bread basket that had belonged to his grandfather. Hadfield described the sessions, saying that during them, the band also recorded a pair of instrumental tracks:
“We had decided that we would do a couple of guitar instrumentals and one original song. I chose ‘I Never Dreamed’ as it was the strongest, the other two were a bit weak. I also 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 singing 55 years ago.
There is no other recording of the demo featuring David as lead in existence. Decca initially turned us down, but when they eventually gave us an audition later that year, vocalist Roger Ferris was the lead voice and David sang backing harmonies.”
The tape, along with other memorabilia, is set to go to auction in September, and is expected to sell for £10,000 (about $13,000).
