David Bowie’s handwritten lyric sheet valued at £100,000 for auction
David Bowie‘s handwritten lyric sheet has been estimated to potentially fetch up to £100,000 at auction.
The documents, which will go under the hammer next week, contain the late singer’s corrections, drafts and notes to his tracks ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide’ and ‘Suffragette City’. Both appear on his seminal 1972 album, ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars‘.
So far, the lyric sheet has been valued at anywhere between £50,000 to £100,000. It is due to be displayed at Omega Auctions showcase sale on November 28.
According to the letter of provenance, the page is from the final recording sessions of the album. Bowie allegedly gave the original owner the lyric sheets at Trident Studio, alongside some other pages of original lyrics, some of which have not survived.
The side of the page containing the ‘Suffragette City’ lyrics also revealed a note at the bottom left for the publisher. According to the note, Bowie was considering two more songs to include on the album at the time – ‘It Ain’t Easy’ and ‘Round and Round’. ‘It Ain’t Easy’ made the final cut, whilst ‘Round and Round’ (a Chuck Berry cover) was eventually released as the B-side to 1973 single ‘Drive-In Saturday’ from ‘Aladdin Sane’.
The letter of provenance also said the sheet was purchased by the current owner in the early 1980s, and loaned to the V&A in 2013 for an exhibition.
Auction manager Dan Muscatelli-Hampson said: “These are two real cult favourites in the wonderful Bowie oeuvre and ‘Suffragette City’ has been described as one of his very best.
“It’s an incredible artefact to have and to hold and it is sure to excite the many millions of Bowie fans around the world – just as the Starman lyrics did.
“We are excited to see what it might achieve on the day.”
In other Bowie news, former The Cure drummer Lol Tolhurst spoke to NME about how Bowie’s ‘Low’ was a template for him and Robert Smith.
“I can remember going to a party when I was 19, hearing ‘Sound and Vision’ and thinking this is everything I want a pop single to be because it’s catchy, it’s lovely but it’s also much deeper and darker,” he said.
He continued: “I was watching people and thinking it’s great to dance to and it makes you feel good, but there’s something more there too. I knew that was what I wanted to do with music. I wanted to do something that was accessible but can give you that feeling as well. Bowie’s ‘Low’ was a template for me and I know it was for Robert as well. We played Bowie songs a lot when we started. I still listen to ‘Low’ probably once every couple of weeks.”
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Alex Rigotti
NME
