Is It Any Wonder? (EP)

Is it Any Wonder? is a 6-track EP by David Bowie that was released in early 2020. It is comprised mostly of older Bowie songs that Bowie re-recorded during his Earthling (1997) recording sessions and Earthling Tour rehearsals in early 1997.

Is It Any Wonder?
EP by
David Bowie
Released14 February 2020 (digital)
20 March 2020 (physical)[1]
Length28:15
David Bowie chronology
Conversation Piece
(2019)		 Is It Any Wonder?
(2020)
David Bowie EP chronology
No Plan
(2017)		 Is It Any Wonder?
(2020)

Background

Many of the tracks on the EP had not been released before. "Fun" came from the song "Fame", re-worked on Bowie's 1997 Earthling Tour as "Is it Any Wonder?". The song started with tracks recorded during pre-tour rehearsals in early 1997, supplemented with a live version of “Fame” recorded in June 1997, and then mixed by Mark Plati and Reeves Gabrels at Looking Glass Studios in New York and at Sony Music Studios in New York in February 1998. The track on this EP was remixed by Danny Saber. Prior to its release, the song was occasionally referred to as "Funhouse".[2]

The mix of "The Man Who Sold the World" was originally released in 1995 as the b-side to Bowie's "Strangers When We Meet" single, but had not been released since. The mix was made from a recording of the band playing the track in the studio on 30 October 1995, to which Eno "added some backing vocals and a sonar blip and sculpted the piece a little so that there was more contour to it."[2]

"Stay '97", an updated version of "Stay", released originally in 1976 on his album Station to Station, was recorded in 1997 at The Factory studios in Dublin and mixed in mid-1997. The Tin Machine track "I Can't Read" was re-recorded twice by Bowie in 1996, once for inclusion in The Ice Storm (1997) soundtrack, and once in this, Bowie's preferred form, for inclusion in the album Earthling, but at the last minute Bowie replaced it with the song "The Last Thing You Should Do." "Baby Universal '97", also originally by the band Tin Machine, was re-recorded for Earthling (to be slotted between "I'm Afraid of Americans" and "Law (Earthlings On Fire)", but was dropped from the album before its release. All three tracks have not been released before.[2]

"Nuts", a mostly-instrumental track by Bowie, Gabrels and Plati, was recorded in November 1996, and was intended as a bonus track, but was never released until this release.[2][3]

Release

In the build-up to the EP's release, tracks were available to stream, one per week, starting in January 2020.[4] The entire EP was available via streaming services starting on 14 February 2020,[1] and physical copies of the EP were available to purchase in March 2020.[2]

Track listing
  1. "Baby Universal '97" – 3:13
  2. "Fun (Clownboy mix)" – 3:11
  3. "Stay '97" – 7:30
  4. "I Can't Read '97" – 5:27
  5. "Nuts" – 5:21
  6. "The Man Who Sold the World (Live Eno Mix)" – 3:33

Personnel

Adapted from the Is It Any Wonder? liner notes.[5]

"Baby Universal '97" (Lyrics: Bowie. Music: Bowie, Gabrels)

"Fun (Clownboy Mix)" (Bowie, Gabrels)

  • Danny Saber – mixing
  • David Bowie – vocals
  • Zack Alford – drums
  • Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar
  • Mike Garson – piano
  • Reeves Gabrels – guitars
  • Mark Plati – keyboards; programming

"Stay '97" (Bowie, Gabrels, Plati)

  • David Bowie – vocals
  • Zack Alford – drums
  • Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar
  • Mike Garson – piano
  • Reeves Gabrels – guitars; synthesizers
  • Mark Plati – mixing; programming

"I Can't Read '97" (Bowie, Gabrels)

  • David Bowie – vocals
  • Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar; vocals
  • Mike Garson – piano
  • Reeves Gabrels – guitars; synthesizers

"Nuts" (Bowie, Gabrels, Plati)

  • David Bowie – vocals
  • Reeves Gabrels – guitars
  • Mark Plati – mixing; programming

"The Man Who Sold the World (Live Eno Mix)" (Bowie)

  • David Bowie – vocals
  • Reeves Gabrels – guitars
  • Peter Schwartz – synthesizers
  • Carlos Alomar – guitars
  • Gail Ann Dorsey – bass guitar
  • Zack Alford – drums
  • Brian Eno - backing vocals

Production

Charts
Chart (2020) Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC)[6] 10

References
  1. "Is It Any Wonder? EP streaming and physical". 13 February 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. "David Bowie Is it Any Wonder? Streaming EP of unreleased & rare material". 14 February 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. "Hear David Bowie's Unreleased 'Earthling' Semi-Instrumental 'Nuts'". 7 February 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  4. "David Bowie rarities EP 'Is It Any Wonder?' and 'ChangesNowBowie' Record Store Day 2020 release announced". 8 January 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  5. Is It Any Wonder? (CD booklet). David Bowie. Parlophone Records Ltd. 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
  6. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
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