Lately, conversations about David Bowie have largely centered on the “Bowie 75” immersive experiences surrounding the life and times of the Starman in London and New York. But whenever unreleased music from an icon like Bowie is mentioned, it firmly becomes the toast of the sewing circle and this is where we find ourselves today.
Back in 1999, David Bowie suddenly started playing a song nobody had ever heard live before. “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” was actually the first song he’d ever recorded under the David Bowie moniker and it was the stuff of legends. Today, multiple recordings of this song have been unearthed and are out in the world for our nostalgic pleasure. Beginning with a pristine in-studio performance that he played on the Marc Radcliffe BBC Radio 1 show at London’s Maida Vale Studios in October of 1999.
“Can’t Help Thinking About Me” is a driving number with the debonair Bowie’s distinguished delivery front and center atop a driving guitar and lively drums. The backing singers on the recorded version show a manifestation of the star power he held in 1966 that materialized triumphantly in the decades since; he always kept adding to and reinventing the formula. There’s also a previously unseen live video of the song released today recorded at The Elysée Montmartre in Paris in October. The recorded version will appear on the Toy “lost album” in the upcoming David Bowie 5: Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) and Toy (Toy:Box) box sets.
Listen to “Can’t Help Thinking About Me” above and check out the live version below.
David Bowie 5: Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001) is out 11/26 via ISO Records/Parlophone. Toy (Toy:Box) is out 01/07/2021 via ISO Records/Parlophone