David Bowie World 7” Records 1964-1981: A completely updated edition

In 1994 Marshall Jarman, long established Bowie dealer and mail order supremo par excellence, published the first edition of this book, which covered the vinyl 45s of the first 17 years of The Thin White Duke’s recording career; essentially his celebrated RCA years and all the weird and wonderful oddities that came before.

World 7” really was the first of its kind, and reviewing the tome in my sadly short-lived self-published fan magazine, Crankin’ Out, I referred to its encyclopaedic quality as “almost biblical”. Twenty-four years on, and everything has changed. Fanzines were superseded by the internet, vinyl is undergoing a spectacular Lazarus-style resurgence in desirability, and the dear old Dame finally went to meet his Starman in the sky. 

But what a legacy, and what a book. This beautifully printed new edition – for which MJ’s been ably and admirably assisted by Swiss super-collector Reto Stocklin – is also much transformed. It’s now undeniably 100% biblical; a spotters’ rarities resource like no other. Things still draw to a close when Bowie’s glory years came to an abrupt halt, but there is much to enjoy here. The whole production has seen an exhaustive upgrade, and details, with incredible diligence and patience, a neat 1,000 records accompanied by 900 colour illustrations and more across its 244 pages. A must for vinyl junkies and record collectors everywhere. 

• 244 pages (180 in the original edition)
• A4 on heavy gloss paper
• Full colour, high quality print with spot-UV cover
• Addenda with dozens of records that weren’t in the first edition
• More than 1,000 records
• 80 acetates
• More than 900 colour illustrations
• 26–page middle section with specialties (unusual records and 7″ related memorabilia)
• Forewords by Kevin Cann, Christoph Heid and Tony Visconti