In 1963, the young David Jones, who was not yet known by the name David Bowie, recorded a demo titled I Never Dreamed with The Konrads, his first band. The session took place in a small studio located in South London.
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David Hadfield, The Konrads’ former manager and drummer, has just got his hands on the recorded cassette, which had not been seen until then. When he was moving house, Hadfield found it while searching his grand-father’s bread basket, which also contained various bills, letters and books.
'David was the best person to sing it and give the right interpretation'
Despite two auditions, the recording did not convince the record label Decca, which sidelined a young man who would in a few years become one of the icons of the 20th century. David Jones left the band some time afterwards, due to ‘artistic differences.’
‘I had decided that David was the best person to give the right interpretation. So this became the very first recording of David Jones singing 55 years ago!’ David Hadfield confessed to The Guardian. He also explained that ‘there is no other recording 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,’ added the band’s former manager.
David Jones thereafter became David Bowie, so as to avoid being confused with the British singer Davy Jones. This rediscovered recording of the artist, who died in 2016 aged 69 years, could fetch £10,000 at auction.
‘This cassette is completely unique and is of great historical interest, being the earliest studio recording of a fledgling musician who would go on to super stardom,’ declared the auctioneer Paul Fairweather about this collectable object, which will go up for sale this September in Newton-le-Willows.
