As is often the case when great artists die, rare footage and recordings of David Bowie have begun circulating on the Internet. The latest of these oddities comes courtesy of recording engineer Ron de Strulle, who worked with Bowie on some demo tracks when the Starman visited the United States for the first time in 1970. At the time, “Space Oddity” had already made waves in Britain, and Bowie was looking to sign with a major American label; this song, “To Be Love,” was written by de Strulle and performed by Bowie during the sessions he arranged at Roxbury Road Studios in Los Angeles to cut some demos for the labels.
In an exclusive interview with Huffington Post, de Strulle discusses the process by which “To Be Love” was recorded and relates some other anecdotes surrounding his time with Bowie in LA, including a night out with The Thin White Duke in drag.
The demos Bowie cut at Roxbury Road clearly did the trick, as he signed with RCA Records soon afterward and went on to become, well, David Bowie.
Read our eulogy for the late legend here.