Recording: In The Heat Of The Morning, London Bye Ta-Ta

David Bowie took part in the fourth and final overdub session for both sides of a proposed single on 18 April 1968: ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’ and ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’.

The evening session took place at Decca Studios in north London, with Tony Visconti producing. Both songs had been started on 12 March. Further recordings had taken place on 29 March and 10 April.

Despite the efforts, Decca declined to release the single. These were Bowie’s final sessions for the label, and the rejection marked the end of his involvement with the label.

I was already planning promotion for the next single, which we expected to be ‘In The Heat Of The Morning’, and had arranged for David to perform the work on another Top Gear broadcast, when the news came through that the Decca selection panel had found that song and ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ unsuitable for release. I immediately telephoned Hugh Mendl [Decca’s Artists Manager], whom I found to be sympathetic and now even more embarrassed by the action of his colleagues. He said “I cannot blame you if you wish to leave us.”

‘In The Heat Of The Morning’ remained unreleased until 6 March 1970, when Pitt selected the stereo mix for inclusion on the Decca compilation The World Of David Bowie. It was also released on the triple-CD version of the 2014 compilation Nothing Has Changed.

The master tape of ‘London Bye Ta-Ta’ is believed lost, but an alternative Decca version was released in the 2019 box set Conversation Piece.