Illustrated db Discography

The Illustrated db Discography tries to capture all of David Bowie's songs, from well-known CDs to sundry bootlegs and very rare acetates, between the years 1964 and 2023. This discography only covers songs that in one way or another are accessible to fans (albeit to very few in certain cases!) and thus excludes rumoured outtakes and acetates.

The heart of the discography consists of the Song section, which can be accessed from the alphabet at the bottom. Given for each song are the available versions and mixes (and where to find these), the album on which the original version appeared (either official or bootleg), and information on available live performances. Catalogue numbers of singles, LPs or CDs refer to UK pressings, unless stated otherwise.

Albums are treated in seven different sections: Albums, Compilations, Soundtracks, Guest Appearances, Promos and Pirates. These sections and their subsections can be accessed from the top menu. Guest Appearances (under As Guest) is an overview of Bowie's guest appearances on other musicians' albums and on compilations. This section is restricted to unique tracks, i.e. songs or different versions that are not available elsewhere. Songs and albums to which Bowie devoted his qualities as a musician or producer are listed under Contributions (under As Guest). The Early Works subsection under Compilations lists Bowie's musical efforts prior to the 1969 David Bowie album (better known as Space Oddity). The reason for separating this particular period is the incredible number of re-releases that has appeared since the early 70s. Merging these compilations with the Compilations section would totally blur the general overview. Promos treats the LPs and CDs given away to clubs and radio stations for promotional purposes. For every section applies that clicking on an album title will lead you to information on musicians and producers. Pirates are (semi-)illegal LPs and CDs, often compilations or cheap clones of offical releases produced countries where copyright laws do not exist or are not enforced.

Specific information on Bowie's maxi-singles can be found in 12" Singles, while all his CD-singles are treated under CD-singles. Note that I have not included (nor intend to include) a 7" singles discography. If you have read Marshall Jarman's excellent "World 7" Records Discography", covering Bowie's singles up to and including 1981, you'll get the picture—it's virtually impossible to compile a complete David Bowie 7" discography. Chas Pearson's labour of love David Bowie 7" Singles is a work in progress that already covers several countries in incredible detail. Videos comprises the official Bowie videos, promo videos and DVDs (excluding his motion pictures). BBC provides an overview of Bowie's (and Tin Machine's) recordings for BBC radio.

If there's any information missing or you have a specific question, sign up for the Forum. The forum also features two interesting projects: a vinyl album discography and a 10" and 12" single discography. Both are works in progress and meant to ultimately provide a complete overview of all of David's LPs (2.000 and counting!) and 12" singles. Everybody is invited to dig out their collection and compare their records to what's already listed.

All helpful people contributing information per e-mail are acknowledged under Recent Ch-ch-changes. Special thanks go out to Evan Torrie (Teenage Wildlife), Eiichi Yoshimura (former Unofficial Discography), Stefan Westman and Christian Frifelt (Bassman's David Bowie Page), Pär Ståhle (Like The Video Films We Saw) and Christian Attfield (former shadowman). Furthermore, Michael Harvey's The Ziggy Stardust Companion is a site every fan should bookmark. Finally, BowieNet is David Bowie's own site that often has breaking news and interesting gadgets, although certain areas are accessible only to paying members.

Information from the following books and magazines was used:

  • The Bowie Network
  • Concert Tapes (Pimm Jal de la Parra)
  • Crankin' Out
  • Events Of David Bowie (Hans Lelivelt)
  • The Illustrated Bowie Bootleg File (Christian Frifelt) - now online on Bassman!
  • An Illustrated Record (Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray)
  • Moonage Daydream (Dave Thompson)
  • The Pitt Report (Kenneth Pitt)
  • Record Collector
  • Wild Eyed Boy (Thomas Kemp)
  • World 7" Records Discography (Marshall Jarman)

Individual people who have sent information are credited in Recent Changes (or, if long ago, in Old News). In particular I would like to thank David Gibbs, Matt Dornan, Maarten Kwant, Colin McIntyre, Alan Morgan, Alan Ross and Lars-Andre Tokheim for their continued support.