David Bowie - "Toy" CD Review (No Label)

I love the alleged “mystique” when news of a bootleg hits the mainstream media. The bootlegs that I can remember creating significant media hype are The Minutemen – Just A Minute... Men (which was a live radio broadcast that was bootlegged by a disgruntled DJ after the band had the ‘audacity’ to release part of the session themselves); The Misfits – 12 Hits from Hell (there were so many promos in circulation, how can anyone not think this would have gone viral); Metallica – “I Disappear” demo (gee Lars, a studio demo is leaked and you think the problem is the vehicle used to distribute the song??).

More recently, there were a number of studio tracks leaked from Guns N’ Roses’ then-forthcoming album Chinese Democracy (now $1.99 at Best Buy) and the latest leak is David Bowie’s (unreleased until now) 2001 album Toy. The website TorrentFreak tracked down the uploader who said: “Myself and a few friends were very angry that certain people only seem to want to profit from recordings like the Toy album, so when we saw the eBay auction and heard of someone else selling discs for $55, I decide to upload it and give it away.”

The story behind this 14-track/60+ minute disc is that it was planned for release in 2001 but shelved due to a dispute with Virgin. With Bowie going ‘quiet’ this past decade, this is the first new studio material since 2002’s Reality and the version of Toy that is circulating is studio quality ( 256 kps, unlike the GN’R leaks). Where this gets especially interesting is that the disc is a mix of (then) new material and radical reworkings of some of the earliest material from Bowie’s back catalog.

Here is the track list:

1) "Uncle Floyd" - 6:15
>> This track appeared on 2002’s Heathen under the title “Slip Away” without the intro sound bite from the Uncle Floyd show and with subtle differences in the music and lyrics.

2) "Afraid" - 3:29
>> This track appeared on 2002’s Heathen in essentially the same format.

3) "Baby Loves That Way" - 4:38
>> Originally released in 1965 as the b-side of the single "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" under the name Davy Jones & the Lower Third. This new version is about a minute and a half longer than the original version but, aside for some studio banter toward the end of the song, this version is rather close to what was ultimately released on the "Everyone Says Hi" UK CD single.

4) "I Dig Everything" - 4:53
>> Originally released in 1966 and served as Bowie’s last recording on Pye. The version on Toy is about two minutes longer than the original version and remains unreleased.

5) "Conversation Piece" - 3:53
>> Originally released in 1970 as the b-side to “The Prettiest Star” and later included as a bonus track on the Ryko issue of Space Oddity. The version recorded for Toy is close to the original but runs a minute longer. This version was included on the bonus disc for Heathen.

6) "Let Me Sleep Beside You" - 3:14
>> Originally recorded as a single in 1967 which was rejected by the record company and ultimately released on one of the many singles compilations from the Deram era and, more recently, included on the deluxe edition of David Bowie’s first album. This version is a good bit heavier than the original and remains unreleased.

7) "Toy (Your Turn To Drive)" - 4:46
>>”Toy” (aka “Your Turn To Drive”) is one of the new tunes written for Toy and was released on iTunes as a non-lp single in 2003.

8) "Hole In The Ground" - 3:30
>> Allegedly from the Space Oddity sessions (1969).

9) "Shadow Man" - 4:41
>> An outtake from 1971 that can be found on a few bootlegs in both demo and studio form. A slightly different and longer version than what is on the Toy bootleg was included on the “Everyone Says Hi” UK CD Single.

10) "In The Heat of The Morning" - 3:51
>> Like “Let Me Sleep Beside You”, this track was originally recorded as a single (1968) and subsequently released on one of the many singles compilations from the Deram era and, more recently, included on the deluxe edition of David Bowie’s first album. This version remains unreleased.

11) "You've Got a Habit of Leaving" - 4:49
>> Originally released as a single in 1965 under the name Davy Jones & the Lower Third. This new version is significantly longer than the original version and is close to what was ultimately released on the "Everyone Says Hi" UK CD single.

12) "Silly Boy Blue" - 5:33
>> Originally released in 1967 on David Bowie’s first album. An early demo recording along with numerous live recordings can be found on the bootleg circuit. This new version remains unreleased but is close in comparison to the live version found on the Jewel bootleg CD.

13) "Liza Jane" - 4:48
>> Originally released as a single in 1964 under the name Davie Jones with the King Bees. This new version has been reworked into a jazz number but (unfortunately) remains unreleased.

14) "The London Boys" - 3:47
>> Originally released in 1966 as the b-side to the “Rubber Band” single. While segments of this song were posted to BowieNet, this version remains unreleased.

I found the list of musicians playing on this disc (below) on an online discussion group so I can’t vouch to its accuracy but it is probably pretty close.

David Bowie: vocals, keyboards, stylophone, mandolin
Lisa Germano: acoustic & electric violins, recorder, mandolin, accordion
Holly Palmer: backing vocals
Emm Gryner: backing vocals
Sterling Campbell: drums
Mark Plati: bass, guitars
Gerry Leonard: guitars
Gail-Ann Dorsey: bass
Mike Garson: piano
Cuong Vu: trumpet
Earl Slick: guitar

Links:
David Bowie

Do Unfinished Albums Really Leak? My Views on the Buckcherry and Guns N' Roses Leaks...

Just to put some context around this post, I'm still playing catch-up with some releases and just got around to listening to the new "leak" that surfaced in June of nine tracks from Guns N' Roses' forthcoming Chinese Democracy CD.

With the new Buckcherry "leak" having been traced back to the band's manager, this seems to prove a point that I made about a year ago re: the Spring '07 "leaked" Chinese Democracy tracks. (see previous post)

I STILL don't believe that these types of leaks are anything more than attempts by someone in or associated with the band to generate publicity. I think the Buckcherry "leak" is a closed case so we won't go down that path. Can you really tell me that, when major labels are starting to send music bloggers watermarked CDs (to tell where any potential leaks are coming from), finished studio tracks continue to 'drift' out of the Guns N' Roses camp and no one has any idea who the source is. I just don't buy it...

If this happened once or twice, I would consider the possibility that the leaks are coming from disgruntled ex-employees or members. Now that June's "leak" marks the 6th or so leak since last year...what is the reality of the situation?? Are there mysterious men from Spain uploading tracks from a seemingly endless master reel (see Idolator for details) or is this a planned attempt at viral publicity??

(From GunsNRoses.US) Here is a blow-by-blow history of the Chinese Democracy leaks:
"In September 2003, radio DJ Eddie Trunk played a new Guns N' Roses song titled "I.R.S." on his syndicated radio show Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk. The band's management issued a cease-and-desist order against Trunk, leading him to strip replays of his broadcast of both the song and references to it. In February 2006, full studio demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher in the Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" leaked online. Brian May confirmed on his blog that he recorded guitar for the "Catcher in the Rye" demo in 1999. On February 20 2007, a new version of the song "Better" was leaked onto the Internet. The song was confirmed real by Dizzy Reed. However, he also said it is not the final studio version. The next day, March 29, 2007 a full studio version of the song "Madagascar" leaked onto a GN'R fan website and is still in circulation. On May 4, 2007, three more tracks leaked from "Chinese Democracy"; the albums title track "Chinese Democracy", "The Blues" and an updated version of "I.R.S." All three tracks had previously been played live and the track "Chinese Democracy" had been partially leaked in March. An updated version of "There Was a Time" was along the 4 songs sent and was leaked on May 6, 2007. On June 2008, a set of nine songs were released online, including never-heard-before demo version of Prositute, Rhiad and the Beduins and If the World."

If the above wasn't funny enough, here is the latest leak (from July):

My Views on Guns N' Roses - Chinese Democracy MP3 Leaks

I am finding all these (supposed) leaks pretty funny as I don't believe for a minute that this is anything more than promo attempts for the "forthcoming" release.

Earlier today, Blabbermouth reported that:

A studio mix of another new GUNS N' ROSES song, "There Was a Time", was leaked on Sunday, May 6, making it the fourth new GN'R track in two days to be released via the Internet ("The Blues", "Chinese Democracy" and "I.R.S." were leaked two days earlier). "There Was a Time" (also known as "T.W.A.T.") was played live only twice — at the first New York City warm-up show on May 12, 2006 and Madrid, Spain on May 25, 2006 — and was mentioned as one of GN'R singer Axl Rose's favorites in an interview he gave to Rolling Stone magazine in January 2006. All tracks are rumored to be set for inclusion on GUNS N' ROSES' upcoming album "Chinese Democracy".

Let's get real -- is the band or someone from the band's camp leaking these songs or are there shadowy figures in Spain who are selling songs from the completed CD for $2,500 per track. (see story in idolator). The only concession that I'd be willing to give is that these "shadowy figures" could be from the record company and they are trying to recoup lost expenses.