Saturday Deluxe / 10 January 2026

David Bowie

Today is the 10th anniversary of David Bowie’s death. It’s scary how quickly time passes.

l really wish he were still with us, making music, but there has been so much activity around David’s back catalogue that, curiously, I haven’t really missed him. Let’s not forget that Bowie disappeared for the best part of a decade (between Reality and The Next Day) so we were used to him not being around and if we are being truly honest, the 20 years prior to that were not constantly basking in the glow of his brilliance and reminding each other how lucky we were to have him around. For every Outside or Reality there was a Never Let Me Down or an Hours…

His death, and particularly the quality of Blackstar, was a kind of wake up call for many. Oh yeah, he’s amazing. I forgot.

I still play albums like Black Tie White Noise (really) and Tin Machine (oh yes) but of course, the era of the 1970s remains David Bowie’s zenith. Every year an album that would rank as the best work of another artist (okay, technically there was no Bowie studio album in 1978 but he released two in 1977 and co-piloted a pair of Iggy Pop albums the same year and live album Stage was issued in 1978, so slacking he wasn’t).

David could simply not deliver ‘average’ during this time. If he’d never made another album after Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (which I count as the end of his 70s era, despite it being released in 1980) his legacy would have been assured. Beatle-esque perfection. Funnily enough, despite all the praise for his so called Berlin Trilogy and the mid-70s genius of Young Americans and Station to Station, I find myself returning to his early albums the most, particularly David Bowie (aka Space Oddity) and The Man Who Sold The World. I was playing Space Oddity just the other day (I picked up the Ryko 2LP clear vinyl at Den Bosch record fair back in November). There’s something about the albums recorded before Bowie became a star…

As founder and editor of a reissue website, I know I shouldn’t really say this out loud, but I actually think Parlophone should take a couple of years off and forget about David Bowie for a bit. It really has been incessant for the last decade. They’ve done a pretty good job but there has been a barrage of box sets. Volumes of vinyl. Maybe with the last ‘Era’ box now released it’s time to pause and reflect and this will happen naturally? Or maybe not. When reissues are too commonplace they start to feel less than special. 45th anniversary vinyl? Why do we need it?

Anyway, thanks David Bowie. You were great. And when I think of your music I also think of my friend Aubrey Day who died just over a year ago. Aubrey and I got into David’s music together, something I wrote about ten years ago, when Bowie died.

SDE in the Guardian

First the FT and now The Guardian! Thank you to Martin Belam at The Guardian for including a mention of the 2026 SDE Reissue Preview in the “What else we’ve been reading” section of Wednesday’s ‘First Edition’ newsletter. You can hopefully see it via this link (you’ll need to scroll down).

RIP Bert Bevans

New York DJ, mixer/remixer Bert Bevans has died. McCartney fans will recall his name from the 1986 single ‘Press’ which he mixed with Steve Forward. Bevans also mixed Pete Wylie’s Sinful and many other 80s classics. Rest in peace.

Paul Young at the BBC

If you’re in the UK, tonight on BBC you can enjoy Paul Young at the BBC, an hour-long retrospective. “Interwoven with clips of his classic songs, Paul reflects on his journey through fame, the stories behind his most memorable tracks and the experiences that shaped his career, from the early days with the Q-Tips to solo fame in the 1980s and right up to the present day”.

To celebrate this broadcast we have a very special offer on the SDE Surround Series blu-ray of No Parlez. It’s reduced to £13 for 24 hours only. David Kosten’s Atmos Mix is spectacular, so this comes highly recommended. Order via the SDE shop using this link or the button below.