David Bowie is dead, long live David Bowie. The star’s last recordings will be released next month. They herald a glut of news this fall that will spark a fresh wave of interest in the late star.After secretly battling cancer, Bowie died in January, two days after his 69th birthday and the release of the album “Blackstar.” That record was soon described as his final musical statement. Now we know that wasn’t quite true.Plans have been in place for some time for the October 21 release of “Lazarus,” the original cast recording of the star’s theatrical musical of the same name. It has now emerged that extra, previously unreleased, tracks will be added on a second disc consisting of a trio of numbers recorded in Bowie’s final sessions. “No Plan,” Killing a Little Time” and “When I Met You” are their titles. Perhaps even these do not mark the end of the Bowie release schedule.The disc will also reprise Bowie’s own version of the title track, which produced considerable comment on its first release, with fans speculating on whether the star was hinting at another comeback. In retrospect, especially with its deathbed video, it is clear that Bowie was, to the contrary, making reference to his own impending departure.The musical’s cast reimagine some of his classic songs such as “Life on Mars?” and “Changes” on the new album.“Lazarus,” a work by Bowie and Edna Walsh, and inspired by the novel “The Man Who Fell to Earth” by Walter Tevis, is also coming to London for the first time and will be premiered at the King’s Cross Theatre in a production currently due to run from October 25, 2016 through January 22, 2017 .The plot focuses on the movie and novel character Thomas Newton as he remains on earth. He is shown as an apparent human being, yet unable to die, with his mind burned out by cheap gin and still haunted by past love. The action takes place over a few days where the arrival of another lost soul might finally set him free.The work premiered at the New York Theatre workshop from November 18, 2015 until January 20 this year. There have been appeals for it to be revived on a more permanent basis, especially since it sold out in record time and absurdly closed at a time when interest in Bowie was never higher. Michael C. Hall, Michael Esper and Sophia Anne Caruso are reviving their roles from this New York production which is also captured on the accompanying album. Hall will also perform at the 2016 Hyundai Mercury Prize ceremony on September 15 at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith.In addition to this, it is worth noting that Bowie’s personal art collection will be sold in a three-part sale of about 400 items at Sotheby’s in London. The November 10 and 11 event will include more than 400 works, including by major British artists such as Damien Hirst and Graham Sutherland. Bowie’s eye for a good painting also led to him purchasing works by John Michel Basquiat and Marcel Duchamp, among many others, as well as contemporary-design pieces by Ettore Sottsass and more. A preview exhibition tour starts in Los Angeles on September 20, moving to New York, Hong Kong and London.Many Bowie admirers are hopeful that, in time, more of his music will appear, perhaps along the lines of comprehensive reissue programs devoted to the late Jimi Hendrix and Frank Zappa. It is known that there are further outtakes from Bowie’s difficult-to-obtain sessions originally recorded for the British Broadcasting Corporation. In addition, most of Bowie’s studio albums came into being after multiple demos. Some of these were appended to the Rykodisc reissues of his albums, but much more is thought to remain in the vaults. Samples were used in the “David Bowie Is” exhibition first staged at London’s V&A. Recordings of his live work have endlessly supplemented the original LPs such as “David Live” (1974) and “Stage” (1978), with versions off his Ziggy Stardust concerts, parts of his Reality Tour and the Santa Monica show from 1972 also being widely available. Again, there are known to be many other gigs recorded, both for television appearances and also at concerts with bands such as the Spiders From Mars and Tin Machine. Aficionados hope that hope that these also gain release, though there has been no official word on if and when this will occur.Bowie’s sales increased more than 5,000 percent in weeks after his tragic death, with Nielsen Music reporting that he sold 682,000 units in the U.S. alone. Another uptick of sales may be expected as his name comes back into the news again.
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