Rocktrospectiva: The Acclaimed "Changesonebowie" Turns 50

Released on 21 May 1976 "Changesonebowie" was a compilation album by English musician David Bowie, issued through RCA Records in 1976. It collected songs from the 1969–1976 period, including the first LP appearance of "John, I'm Only Dancing". A "sax version" of this song, cut during the Aladdin Sane sessions in 1973, appeared on the first 1000 copies of the UK pressing (identified by the lack of the RCA logo in the upper-right corner of the cover). Later pressings of Changesonebowie featured the original version of the single that had been recorded and released in 1972. All US pressings of the LP contain this original version as well.

Two of the tracks, "Ziggy Stardust" and "Suffragette City", had never been released as singles when Changesonebowie was issued, though the former had been the B-side of "The Jean Genie" in November 1972 and the latter would be released as an A-side in July 1976 to help promote the compilation. The album was followed up by a companion compilation, Changestwobowie, in 1981.

Released in the wake of "Station To Station." David Bowie's first official compilation album, was a handy one-stop roundup of the last four years of hits, plus "Space Oddity." It soared to the top of the British chart, dragging Changesone with it the album eventually peaked at number two. The album's main charm for confirmed fans was the inclusion of  "John, I'm Only Dancing." Never previously included on LP, the song was also making its American debut here, with the excitement soaring even higher when it was discovered that the "wrong" version had been included -- the regular 1972 U.K. single version was omitted in inadvertent favor of a 1973 re-recording. The error was corrected for subsequent pressings of the album. 

RCA Records reissued Changesonebowie on CD in 1984, but it was withdrawn shortly afterwards, along with the rest of Bowie's RCA catalogue, due to a conflict between Bowie and RCA. The RCA CD contains the original single version of "John, I'm Only Dancing". When the Bowie catalogue was reissued by Rykodisc beginning in 1990, Changesonebowie was replaced by a new compilation, Changesbowie, on which "Fame" was superseded by the "Gass Mix" of "Fame 90" (produced and remixed by Jon Gass) and "'Heroes'", "Ashes to Ashes", "Fashion", "Let's Dance", "China Girl", "Modern Love", and "Blue Jean" were added. In addition to the above, Rykodisc added the songs "Starman" (following "Space Oddity"), "Life on Mars?" (following "The Jean Genie"), and "Sound and Vision" (following "Golden Years") to the double-LP editions of the album. 

The compilation remains, however, a charming time capsule, a reminder of the days when Bowie was as much a chart-topping pop star as an iconic idol.

 

Changesonebowie Track List: 

 

1. Space Oddity

2. John, I'm Only Dancing (sax version)

3. Changes

4. Ziggy Stardust

5. Suffragette City

6. The Jean Genie

7. Diamond Dogs

8. Rebel Rebel

9. Young Americans

10. Fame

11. Golden Years