“It Was Too Personal” How David Bowie’s The Gouster Was Lost
Get the latest issue of MOJO for the story behind the ‘alternative’ Young Americans that’s rebooted in a new reissue. Plus we delve into Station To Station's 'madness' and 'magick'.
DAVID BOWIE’S LOST 1974 album The Gouster is set to be recreated as part of a reissue later this year – and this month MOJO provides a unique guide to this long-rumoured record.
Somewhat the ‘shadow’ of Young Americans, the record was made with Tony Visconti at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia, before Bowie packed him off to London to mix it, then hooked up with John Lennon on tracks that fed into the altered Young Americans.
However The Gouster has been restored as part of new 12-disc Bowie box set Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976) which compiles the music he made for and around Diamond Dogs, Station To Station and Young Americans, with studio recordings, alternative takes, live versions and more.
Ahead of the new compilation’s release on September 23 – which features The Gouster reconstructed via new, previously unreleased mixes of Right, Can You Hear Me and Somebody Up There Likes Me, plus new artwork (below) based on the record’s original concepts – the latest issue of MOJO (September ’16/ #274) offers unique insight into the missing album, including an interview with Visconti, who has remastered his original work for the new release.
For instance, why was The Gouster’s centrepiece track, It’s Gonna Be Me, originally discarded?
“That’s one of the best things [on The Gouster],” Visconti tells MOJO. “I think he left it off because… well, I don’t know the story but he said it was just too personal. He didn’t want to live with that song on that album, coming back to haunt him.”
Get MOJO, on sale now, for the full 'Gouster guide' – with a forensic examination of its tracks by Bowie expert and Pushing Ahead Of The Dame blogger Chris O’Leary.
Plus! Bowie fans can also enjoy Bowie biographer David Buckley’s exploration of the magickal, mechanistic madness of Station To Station and its subsequent, controversial tour.
FOR MORE ABOUT THE WHO CAN I BE NOW? [1974–1976] BOX SET INCLUDING FULL TRACKLISTING