David Bowie - 40th Anniversary 7" Picture Discs!

Since 2012, Bowie fans have been treated to these beautiful 7” picture discs, each released to commemorate the singles 40th anniversary. The real bonus is that they always add some goodie to the B-side (example: Starman has a Top of the Pops version on the B-side, which was recorded in 1972). These gems are a real steal when picked up at the retail price which is usually under $10, but you have to be quick, once they sell out people charge up to $250 each on eBay (and they sell quick even at this price).  

This insane increase in price is because of the super limited quantities being released. I’m ok with limited editions, but some of these take it a bit too far and it’s making them annoying to collect. Since it’s an easy investment, they are being snagged quickly by people looking to flip them for a fortune (and these people are buying as many as they can get) or record stores are hanging onto them by request for customers. They are still around, but I rarely see these as readily available stock on record store shelves. I thought they may have addressed this recently as Sorrow and Rebel Rebel seemed a bit easier to get (amazon had them available and they seemed to have a lot), but then they announced their plans for Changes.  

At the last minute they decided to release a picture disc for Changes for Record Store Day 2014 (they missed the 40th anniversary for this single, but decided to make up for it). The B-side of this disc is where it gets really tricky for collectors. They have 500 copies of 4 separate B-side variations, each having a different live version of Changes. Besides the song being different the picture is too, each with a live photo taken from that particular live performance. But that’s not all, after record store day they were releasing 8 additional live versions with 8 more photos. So a total of twelve different copies of Changes will be available, with 500 of each being pressed.  

Note: While the above information on the Changes disc was taken directly from the official David Bowie website (www.davidbowie.com), I don’t think these actually made the shelves for Record Store Day nor have the other 8 versions been released, so it is unclear when/if these will become available.   

Even though it is tricky (and expensive) to get all of these Bowie picture discs, I’m happy with any that I can find. They are beautifully done and look great displayed. I’m anxiously waiting for the next single Diamond Dogs which has June 23rd, 2014 as a release date.  

Below is a list of picture disc singles available: 

Starman 

John I’m Only Dancing 

The Jean Genie 

Drive In Saturday 

Live On Mars 

Sorrow 

Rebel Rebel 

Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide (UK only) 

1984 (North America only) 

Changes (?????)