Radio: Sounds Of The 70s

David Bowie recorded a BBC radio session for Sounds Of The 70s on 21 September 1971. It was his seventh session for BBC radio.

This edition was presented by Bob Harris, and was broadcast on 4 October 1971. It was produced by John F Muir and engineered by John White and Bill Aitken.

The recording took place in Studio T1 at Kensington House, Shepherds Bush, London. The venue was later converted to the K West hotel.

This was Bowie’s only BBC radio session to be recorded in stereo. He sang and played guitar and piano, and was joined by Mick Ronson, who played guitar and bass guitar. They were paid £15 and £10 respectively for the performance.

Seven songs were recorded: ‘The Supermen’, ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’, ‘Eight Line Poem’, ‘Kooks’, ‘Fill Your Heart’, ‘Amsterdam’, ‘Andy Warhol’.

‘The Supermen’ and ‘Amsterdam’ were not broadcast. ‘The Supermen’ and ‘Eight Line Poem’ were released on Bowie At The Beeb in 2000, while ‘Oh! You Pretty Things’ was a Japan-only bonus track. It was also included on the album’s vinyl edition in 2016.

The entire session was released on Divine Symmetry in 2021.