Rhino's Bowie Record Store Day (April 21st) Bonanza

Rhino Records' RSD offerings include three items David Bowie fans probably will want. They are Welcome to the Blackout (Live London 1978), "Let's Dance" (demo) and, available for the first time commercially, the rare Berlin-era U.S. promo album Bowie Now.

Welcome to the Blackout (Live London 1978) is a 3 x LP previously unreleased set recorded live during the ISOLAR II tour at Earls Court, London on June 30 and July 1, 1978 by Tony Visconti and was mixed by Bowie and David Richards at Mountain Studios, Montreux, January 17-22, 1979. The newly designed trifold sleeve features imagery by photographers Sukita and Chris Walter.

The "Let's Dance" full length demo c/w "Let's Dance" (live) is a 45 rpm 12" single that features the first appearance of the full length demo of "Let's Dance", which was previously released digitally in an edited form for Bowie's birthday on January 8 of this year. The full-length demo version clocks in at 7:34 and, like the edited version, was mixed by Nile Rodgers (original co-producer of the demo with Bowie) in December of last year.

Backing the demo is a live version of "Let's Dance" recorded at Pacific National Exhibition Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, September 12, 1983 and mixed by Bob Clearmountain. This version can be seen in the Serious Moonlight concert film and was also previously available on the AA side of the now very rare Australian David Bowie Is exhibition exclusive yellow vinyl 7" single. The sleeve of the 12" single is a different colored variation of the original "Let's Dance" single cover.

Bowie Now is the first commercial release of a rare 1977 U.S. only promotional-only LP on white vinyl. The tracks are drawn from the Low and Heroes albums with all audio from the A New Career In A New Town boxed set, remastered by Tony Visconti. The package now features a newly designed inner sleeve with rarely seen black and white images taken in Berlin during 1977.

And that's just the Bowie part of Rhino's RSD offerings. Led Zeppelin will release its first RSD release this coming April 21st with a 7" single containing unreleased versions of "Rock and Roll" and "Friends" produced by Jimmy Page. Here's the full publicity blurb:

"In advance of Led Zeppelin's 50th Anniversary celebration, slated to commence this September, the band will whet fan's appetites with their first ever release for Record Store Day on April 21. The limited edition 7-inch single is produced by Jimmy Page and pressed on yellow vinyl. The single will feature two previously unheard studio mixes, handpicked by Page to appear on the release: the "Sunset Sound Mix" of "Rock And Roll" b/w the "Olympic Studios Mix" of "Friends."

The previously unreleased version of "Rock And Roll" provides an additional peek into the fabled "Sunset Sound Mixes" of Led Zeppelin IV. Only two previous "Sunset Sound Mixes" have been released, the first being the version of "When The Levee Breaks" on the original album and the second the "Stairway To Heaven" mix that debuted on the 2014 deluxe edition. The previously unheard "Olympic Studios Mix" of "Friends" is a stripped-down version, without the orchestration of the final mix, offering a true fly-on-the-wall feel from the band's recording sessions for Led Zeppelin III at Headley Grange.

Additionally, on March 23rd Led Zeppelin released a newly remastered version of their classic live album How The West Was Won in multiple formats including the first ever vinyl and Blu-ray Audio editions (with the Blu-ray containing hi-res 5.1 surround sound). The collection captures performances from Led Zeppelin's legendary concerts at the Los Angeles Forum and Long Beach Arena on June 25 and 27, 1972. Melded together and sequenced to replicate a single concert from beginning to end, the three-CD and four-LP collections capture the band at the height of its formidable powers."

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