One of the holy grails of David Bowie fandom, the legendary unreleased 2001 album Toy, is finally set for release. “Depending where you are on the planet, if it’s 29th September you might be streaming the radio edit of “You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving” from the forthcoming Toy album, via your favourite streaming service. More details regarding that and the rest of the Era Five box, later today,” read a tweet from announcing the project, which will be folded into the latest career-spanning set from the Bowie estate.
The unreleased album produced by Mark Plati (The Cure, LouReed) was originally supposed to come out 20 years ago and feature some re-recorded versions of some of Bowie’s earliest songs from the 1960s. A version of the album leaked in 2011 featuring the new songs “Uncle Floyd,” “Afraid” and the title track, as well as refreshed takes on “Baby Loves That Way,” “I Dig Everything,” “Conversation Piece,” “Let Me Sleep Beside You” and “Silly Boy Blue.”
The collection was shelved and instead Bowie released the anxious collection Heathen in 2002. According to a release from Parlophone Records/ISO announcing the project, David Bowie 5: Brilliant Adventure (1992-2001), will drop on Nov. 26, followed on Jan 7, 2002 by Toy (Toy:Box).
The release revealed that Toy was recorded following Bowie’ triumphant Glastonbury 2000 performance in a session aimed at recording new versions of songs he’d first laid down from 1964-1971. The original plan was to record it “old school,” with the band playing live and then choosing the best takes and releasing the collection as soon as possible.
But, due to the slow nature of the music biz machine at the time, the plan fell apart and Bowie moved on to record and release his 2002 project, Heathen. “Toy is like a moment in time captured in an amber of joy, fire and energy,” said Bowie’s co-producer on the project, Plati, in a statement. “It’s the sound of people happy to be playing music. David revisited and re-examined his work from decades prior through prisms of experience and fresh perspective – a parallel not lost on me as I now revisit it 20 years later. From time to time, he used to say ‘Mark, this is our album’ – I think because he knew I was so deeply in the trenches with him on that journey. I’m happy to finally be able to say it now belongs to all of us.”
The collection will be available in 3-CD or 6×10” vinyl formats, with a 16-page, full-color book featuring previously unseen photographs by Frank Ockenfels 3.
The news was accompanied by the release of the radio edit of the swaying doo-wop-inspired “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving,” which features long-time collaborators Gail Ann Dorsey (bass), Mike Garson (piano), Sterling Campbell (drums) and Earl Slick (guitar), as well as Emm Gryner (backing vocals), Holly Palmer (percussion, backing vocals), Lisa Germano (backing vocals, violin) and Plati on acoustic and electric guitar.
“You’ve got a habit of leaving me/ And you’ve got a habit of deserting me/ Sometimes I cry/ Sometimes I’m so sad/ Sometimes I’m so glad, so glad/ You could got on if you wanted to, wanted to, wanted to,” Bowie sings on the track as a group of backing vocalists add in some retro “ooh-wah-ooh”‘s.
The Brilliant Adventure box will feature the albums Black Tie White Noise, The Buddha of Suburbia, Outside, Earthling, BBC Radio Theatre, London (June 27, 2000) and Toy.
Listen to “You’ve Got a Habit of Leaving” below and the Toy track listing.
Depending where you are on the planet, if it’s 29th September you might be streaming the radio edit of You've Got A Habit Of Leaving from the forthcoming Toy album, via your favourite streaming service. More details regarding that and the rest of the Era Five box, later today. pic.twitter.com/0eD2Q0GaUo
— David Bowie Official (@DavidBowieReal) September 29, 2021
Toy (Toy: Box) track list:
CD1 TOY
“I Dig Everything”
“You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving”
“The London Boys”
“Karma Man”
“Conversation Piece”
“Shadow Man”
“Let Me Sleep Beside You”
“Hole In The Ground”
“Baby Loves That Way”
“Can’t Help Thinking About Me”
“Silly Boy Blue”
“Toy (Your Turn To Drive)”
CD 2 TOY- Alternatives & Extras
“Liza Jane You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving (alternative mix)”
“*Baby Loves That Way (alternative mix)”
“*Can’t Help Thinking About Me (alternative mix)”
“I Dig Everything (alternative mix)”
“The London Boys (alternative version)”
“Silly Boy Blue (Tibet version)”
“Let Me Sleep Beside You (alternative mix)”
“*In The Heat Of The Morning”
“Conversation Piece (alternative mix)”
“*Hole In The Ground (alternative mix)”
“Shadow Man (alternative mix)”
“* Toy (Your Turn To Drive) (alternative mix)”
CD 3 TOY – Unplugged & Somewhat Slightly Electric
“In The Heat Of The Morning (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“I Dig Everything (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“You’ve Got A Habit of Leaving (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“The London Boys (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Karma Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Conversation Piece (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Shadow Man (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Let Me Sleep Beside You (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Hole In The Ground (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Baby Loves That Way (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Can’t Help Thinking About Me (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Silly Boy Blue (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”
“Toy (Your Turn To Drive) (Unplugged & somewhat slightly electric mix)”