Are there any rare or alternate studio versions of tracks from "Heroes", Low and Station to Station?

I really like this period of Bowie, but I am not really an expert on his work. Google isn't really helping me this time as there is just too much arcane Bowie trivia on the net. What I'm trying to find is if there are any out-takes from these albums (other than "Some Are" and "All Saints"), any different takes, anything extended or instrumental or even any contemporary re-edits. I'm not too interested in live versions, unless there were any that were particularly notable. Can you advise, ILM music brain?

There's versions of the song "Heroes" with both German and French vocals, plus a song called "Abdulmajid" recorded around that time that was a bonus track on the Ryko version of Heroes. The mix is from 1991 though. It had a 1991 remix of Joe the Lion as well.

there's a B-side to "TVC15" called "We Are The Dead" that isn't on the Ryko CD of Station, don't know if it ever turned up anywhere else.

That's originally from Diamond Dogs. Interesting choice for a b-side!

Thanks. I see that Abdulmajid has also turned up on the "All saints" album of instrumentals. I'm kinda hoping these albums are all re-issued as deluxe editions at some point with a second disc of unreleased tracks but I have no idea if any "unreleased" material exists or not.

There's a 4CD reissue of Station To Station due out this year sometime, but it doesn't appear to add any other tracks - just a 5.1 DVD mix and a live show
http://pitchfork.com/news/36213-david-bowies-ispace-oddityi-istation-to-stationi-albums-to-be-reissued/

There's a real paucity of rare and alternate tracks of 70s Bowie in general it seems...you might like Iggy Pop's The Idiot however if you are jonesing for related material...Bowie is all over that record and it makes a nice companion to the Berlin (sic) trilogy

Also check out the 33 1/3 book on Low... its a great read and full of anecdotes about what inspired him at the time (mostly Eno and Kraftwerk, but also lesser known stuff).

that is my favorite 33 1/3 by far, a brilliant book

Yeah I very much enjoyed the 33 1/3 book. iirc reading that was one of the major factors in me getting so obsessed with Low.

Never bought "The Idiot" - Should rectify that, although I must have listened to it before.

i haven't heard these (maybe i did back in the late 90s?), but phillip glass did heroes and low symphony albums
http://www.amazon.com/Heroes-Symphony-Philip-Glass/dp/B0000040VA
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Low-Symphony-Philip/dp/B0000040US/ref=pd_sim_m_1

good call on The Idiot, probably comes closest to satisfying the jones for more of this kind of stuff (that doesn't seem to be out there).

i like how 'red money' on lodger is basically 'sister midnight' with new lyrics - it finishes that whole bowie/berlin era back where it started.

Was gonna joke "it's called The Idiot!" The next two Iggy records as well though not nearly as much.

My eureka moment a few years ago was when I finally discovered The Idiot. I LOVE Bowie, especially this period, but sometimes don't quite relate to his lyrics, his pretentions, his "artfulness". Those aren't bad things, I love them, but I used to think "man, I'd love something that sounded like this but was more simple, more raw."

Then I heard The Idiot.

Recently downloaded a cool Iggy live album w/ Bowie called Mantra 77. It's Iggy and the Tin Machine guys who played on those era records and Bowie doing a recap of the Stooges and a preview of the Idiot.

http://punknotprofit.blogspot.com/2009/01/iggy-pop-david-bowie-mantra-1977.html

oh nice, thanks for the link, Dan.

The Ryko reissues of the early nineties (which are still the best, to my ears) had a couple of bonus tracks, none of which are worth hunting.

I'll also endorse the 33 1/3 book – maybe the best purely "formalist" entry in the series.

The Phillip Glass Low & Heroes symphonies are pretty dud, in my opinion. They kind of suck the life out of the material.

Of the various outtakes that cropped up on the Ryko releases, the only one that was really excellent was "Some Are". According to that 33 1/3 (which I too recommend) a tape of the aborted soundtrack for Man Who Fell To Earth exists - how fantastic if that ever saw the light of day.