Bowie at the Beeb
Compilation album by
David Bowie
Released26 September 2000 (2000-09-26) (original release)
2 April 2002 (2002-04-02)
Recorded13 May 1968 (1968-05-13) – 23 May 1972 (1972-05-23), various BBC Radio studios, London
27 June 2000 (2000-06-27), London (3 CD version)
GenreRock
Length141:18 (2 CD version)
215:31 (3 CD version)
LabelEMI/Virgin
ProducerBernie Andrews, Paul Williams, Jeff Griffin, Pete Ritzema, John F. Muir, Roger Pusey
David Bowie chronology
Hours
(1999) 		Bowie at the Beeb
(2000) 		All Saints
(2001)
David Bowie compilation chronology
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
(1998) 		Bowie at the Beeb
(2000) 		All Saints
(2001)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic86/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[2]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Pitchfork8.0/10[4]
Q[5]
Record Collector[6]
Rolling Stone[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[8]
Spin[9]
Uncut8/10[10]
Wall of Sound90/100[11][1]

Bowie at the Beeb is a compilation album by English singer-songwriter David Bowie, first released in 2000. Originally, it came in a three-CD set, the third, bonus CD being a live recording made on 27 June 2000 (2000-06-27) at the Portland BBC Radio Theatre. Later editions contain only the first two CDs. The bonus disc was also released as a separate single CD entitled BBC Radio Theatre, London, June 27, 2000.

Releases

The first pressing mistakenly included the second (disc 2, track 13) version of the song "Ziggy Stardust" twice on disc two, missing the first (disc 2, track 5) version. EMI declined to issue corrected replacement discs to customers, instead mailing out one-song CDs of the first version.

This compilation also features a previously unreleased song, "Looking for a Friend" (disc 1, track 15), which John Peel said would be released as a single by Arnold Corns. The single was later cancelled.

The live tracks recorded in June 2000, included in this set on the bonus disc, were re-mastered and re-released in 2021 in the box set Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001), and was also expanded to include the full live set list on 2 CDs; the original release was a single disc and represented an edited recording of the show.[12]

Track listing

All tracks written by David Bowie except as noted.

Disc One (May 1968 - June 1971)

All tracks are written by David Bowie except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Recording Date, supporting albumLength
1."In the Heat of the Morning" 13 May 1968, David Bowie3:01
2."London Bye Ta-Ta" 13 May 1968, David Bowie2:34
3."Karma Man" 13 May 1968, David Bowie2:59
4."Silly Boy Blue" 13 May 1968, David Bowie4:36
5."Let Me Sleep Beside You" 20 October 1969, David Bowie3:16
6."Janine" 20 October 1969, Space Oddity3:01
7."Amsterdam"Jacques Brel & Mort Shuman5 February 19702:56
8."God Knows I'm Good" 5 February 1970, Space Oddity3:10
9."The Width of a Circle" 5 February 1970, The Man Who Sold the World4:50
10."Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" 5 February 1970, Space Oddity4:54
11."Cygnet Committee" 5 February 1970, Space Oddity8:16
12."Memory of a Free Festival" 5 February 1970, Space Oddity3:17
13."Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" 25 March 1970, Space Oddity4:42
14."Bombers" 3 June 1971, Hunky Dory2:53
15."Looking for a Friend" 3 June 1971, The Man Who Sold the World3:08
16."Almost Grown"Chuck Berry3 June 1971, The Man Who Sold the World2:16
17."Kooks" 3 June 1971, Hunky Dory3:02
18."It Ain't Easy"Ron Davies3 June 1971, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars2:51

Disc Two (September 1971 - May 1972)

No.TitleWriter(s)Recording Date, Supporting AlbumLength
19."The Supermen" 21 September 1971, The Man Who Sold the World2:50
20."Eight Line Poem" 21 September 1971, Hunky Dory2:52
21."Hang On to Yourself" 18 January 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars2:48
22."Ziggy Stardust" 18 January 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3:23
23."Queen Bitch" 18 January 1972, Hunky Dory2:57
24."I'm Waiting for the Man"Lou Reed18 January 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars5:22
25."Five Years" 18 January 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars4:21
26."White Light / White Heat"Reed16 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3:46
27."Moonage Daydream" 16 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars4:58
28."Hang On to Yourself" 16 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars2:48
29."Suffragette City" 16 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3:25
30."Ziggy Stardust" 16 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3:22
31."Starman" 22 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars4:03
32."Space Oddity" 22 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars4:13
33."Changes" 22 May 1972, Hunky Dory3:28
34."Oh! You Pretty Things" 22 May 1972, Hunky Dory2:55
35."Andy Warhol" 23 May 1972, Hunky Dory3:12
36."Lady Stardust" 23 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3:19
37."Rock 'n' Roll Suicide" 23 May 1972, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars3:08

Disc Three (27 June 2000, 'Hours')

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
38."Wild Is the Wind"Dimitri Tiomkin & Ned Washington6:21
39."Ashes to Ashes" 5:03
40."Seven"Bowie & Reeves Gabrels4:12
41."This Is Not America"Bowie, Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays3:43
42."Absolute Beginners" 6:31
43."Always Crashing in the Same Car" 4:06
44."Survive"Bowie/Gabrels4:54
45."Little Wonder"Bowie, Gabrels & Mark Plati3:48
46."The Man Who Sold the World" 3:57
47."Fame"Bowie, Carlos Alomar & John Lennon4:11
48."Stay" 5:43
49."Hallo Spaceboy"Bowie & Brian Eno5:21
50."Cracked Actor" 4:09
51."I'm Afraid of Americans"Bowie/Eno5:29
52."Let's Dance" 6:20

Notes

Disc One
Disc Two

Track numbers below refer to the Japanese CD version of this album, which contains an exclusive track.

Disc Three

Apparently recorded two days after headlining closing Sunday night set of Glastonbury Festival Pyramid Stage.

Personnel

Track numbers below refer to the Japanese CD version of this album, which contains an exclusive track.

Additional personnel

Production personnel

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Chart (2000-2016) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[13] 15
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[14] 14
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] 56
French Albums (SNEP)[16] 27
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[17] 69
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[18] 22
Italian Albums (FIMI)[19] 45
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[20] 22
Portuguese Albums (AFP)[21] 42
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22] 7
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 37
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 88
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 7
US Billboard 200[26] 181

Year-end charts

Chart (2000) Position
UK Albums (OCC)[27] 146

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Gold 100,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Notes

  1. ^ a b "Bowie at the Beeb by David Bowie". Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  2. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "David Bowie — Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Sessions 68-72". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  3. ^ Snapes, Laura (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press.
  4. ^ Dombal, Ryan (2 March 2016). "David Bowie: Bowie at the Beep". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  5. ^ "David Bowie: Bowie at the Beep". Q. p. 123.
  6. ^ Atkins, Jamie. "David Bowie: Bowie at the Beep". Record Collector. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  7. ^ "David Bowie Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Sessions '68-'72". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 30 June 2001. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  8. ^ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. pp. 97–98.
  9. ^ Dolan, Jon (July 2006). "Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of The BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Spin. p. 84. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  10. ^ Pinnock, Tom (23 March 2016). "David Bowie - Bowie At The Beeb". Uncut. Archived from the original on 6 June 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2017.
  11. ^ "David Bowie — Bowie At The Beeb". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 8 December 2000.
  12. ^ Sinclair, Paul (29 September 2021). "David Bowie / Brilliant Adventure [1992–2001]". SuperDeluxeEdition. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
  13. ^ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Lescharts.com – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  18. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2016. 9. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Italiancharts.com – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  20. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  21. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  23. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – David Bowie – Bowie at the Beeb - The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68-72". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  26. ^ "David Bowie Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 29 January 2021.
  27. ^ "The Top 200 Artist Albums of 2000" (PDF). Chartwatch: 2000 Chart Booklet. Zobbel.de. pp. 39–40. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
  28. ^ "British album certifications – David Bowie". British Phonographic Industry.
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