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D.Bowie - Laughing Gnome (1st version) 7" 1966 Decca Group Advance Test Recording
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Here is a 7" 1966 Decca Group Advance Test Recording on a two-sided acetate. The artist is one David Bowie, and the handwritten titles are "Laughing Gnome (1st version)" and "Gospel," though the names under which the songs were actually released are "The Laughing Gnome" and "The Gospel According to Tony Day," respectively.
The main event here is the radically different rendering of "Laughing Gnome"; the flip side appears to be the same take and mix of "The Gospel According to Tony Day" as was released; both sides are mono.
This acetate version of "Laughing Gnome" runs a bit over twenty seconds longer than the released version. Here, there's not just one gnome but two (besides Fred, who has no speaking lines in either version), the second of whom is named Fyfe Robertsgnome and has a Scottish accent throughout. (Fyfe Robertsgnome is a pun on the name of Scottish broadcaster Fyfe Robertson, who worked on the BBC for many years.) Both gnomes are voiced by David; if you play the 45 rpm disc at 33, you can hear him at his normal pitch.
As is to be expected with a studio acetate, there's no catalog number shown; the two songs were coupled on Deram DM 123, released in the UK on April 14, 1967 (it bombed), and reissued there in 1973 (and in the US, on London 20079) to capitalize on Bowie's "Ziggy Stardust" success. Much to the artist's embarrassment, it became a number six record on the second try (a copy of the US 45 version is also among the Bowie items we’re currently auctioning).
This is not merely an alternate take, but a substantially different performance, complete with significantly different lyrics. The 45-second excerpt offered HERE is representative of the extent of the dissimilarity between the two renditions; have a listen. It’s recorded straight from the disc and has not been cleaned up digitally; you can hear what fantastic shape it’s in. We’ll include a CD-R containing both sides of the acetate so that the winning bidder can enjoy owning it without ever having to actually play it.
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