David Bowie’s Long Lost First Demo Discovered in Bread Basket

David Bowie’s first ever recording, long thought lost for good, has been discovered by a former bandmate in an old bread bin. The “I Never Dreamed” demo is expected to fetch £10,000 ($13,000) at auction in September. Listen to a clip below.

Primarily a saxophonist, 16-year-old Bowie was chosen to sing on the demo with his first band, the Konrads, in 1963. The record label Decca and Rolling Stones manager Eric Easton turned it down, and by the time Bowie recordings came into demand, neither the band members nor Decca believed their recordings had survived. Konrads drummer David Hadfield eventually found a copy in his loft while moving house in the 1990s, keeping the discovery secret until announcing the auction.

“We had decided that we would do a couple of guitar instrumentals and one original song,” Hadfield said in a statement. “I chose ‘I Never Dreamed’ as it was the strongest, the other two were a bit weak. I also decided that David was the best person to sing it and give the right interpretation. So this became the very first recording of David Jones singing 55 years ago. There is no other recording of the demo featuring David as lead in existence. Decca initially turned us down, but when they eventually gave us an audition later that year, vocalist Roger Ferris was the lead voice and David sang backing harmonies.”