David Bowie’s first ever recording found in bread basket

The first ever studio recording of David Bowie is set for auction after being found in an old bread basket.

The 1963 demo tape, rejected by Decca, is expected to sell for £10,000 when it goes under the hammer in September at Omega Auctions in Newton-le-Willows. The unreleased tape features a 16-year-old Bowie (then known as David Jones) singing I Never Dreamed with first band The Konrads. The tape is being sold by former Konrads drummer David Hadfield.

David Hadfield found the extremely rare tape when moving home, stashed in an old bread basket that had belonged to his grandfather along with a host of other material including booking forms, photographs, promotional sketches, letters and bills, in a loft above the garage.

Hadfield recalls “Our agent, Eric Easton, who also managed The Rolling Stones, asked us to do a demo so he could try and get us an auction at Decca. So in early 1963 I booked into R.G.Jones small studio in Morden. In preparation for the demo David and our guitarist Neville Wills wrote 2/3 songs. We had decided that we would do a couple of guitar instrumentals and one original song. I chose “I Never Dreamed” as it was the strongest, the other two were a bit weak! I also decided that David was the best person to sing it and give the right interpretation. So this became the very first recording of David Jones (Bowie) singing 55 years ago! There is no other recording featuring David as lead in existence. Decca initially turned us down, but when they eventually gave us an auction later that year, vocalist Roger Ferris was the lead voice and David sang backing harmonies.”

Bowie left the band the later that year, but it would be a further six years before his career would take off.