“Ch, ch, ch, ch, changes”
The CHANGESBOWIE best of compilation LP hit the top spot in the UK 30 years ago today, promoted by Bowie’s SOUND + VISION World Tour which kicked off in Quebec, Canada, on 4th March.
Released on Monday 12th March 1990 by EMI in the UK (with three extra tracks on the 21 track LP & cassette), the 18-track US version was issued by RYKO on Friday 16th March 1990.
CHANGESBOWIE collected together songs chronologically that had previously appeared on both CHANGESONEBOWIE (11 tracks) and CHANGESTWOBOWIE (4 tracks) with other hits released after CHANGESTWOBOWIE and a couple of live favourites thrown in for good measure.
The album was released in several formats, including CD, Double Vinyl LP, Minidisc and cassette, while RYKO released limited editions on Clear vinyl and gold numbered Au20 CD, not forgetting a CD and cassette bundle with a free CD rack!
It could be argued that the compilation was UK-centric as it included 16 UK Top 20 hits, of which 10 were Top 5 hits, while also containing 6 US Top 20 hits of which 2 made the Top 5.
Either way, the album's sales were very healthy with it attaining Platinum status in the US where 1,000,000 copies were shipped, and Platinum in the UK and France were 300,000 were shipped in each country. CHANGESBOWIE was also Gold status in many other countries.
C1 = included on CHANGESONEBOWIE
C2 = included on CHANGESTWOBOWIE
N/A = Not applicable as either wasn't released as a single or didn't make the UK Top 30 or the American Bilboard Hot 100
01 - Space Oddity (UK #1 US #15) (C1)
02 - Starman (UK #10 US #65) (C2) (Exclusively on the EMI LP & cassette)
03 - John, I'm Only Dancing (UK #12 US N/A) (C1)
04 - Changes (UK N/A US #41) (C1)
05 - Ziggy Stardust (UK N/A US N/A) (C1)
06 - Suffragette City (UK N/A US N/A) (C1)
07 - The Jean Genie (UK #2 US #72) (C1)
08 - Life On Mars? (UK #3 US N/A) (N/A) (Exclusively on the EMI LP & cassette)
09 - Diamond Dogs (UK #21 US N/A) (C1)
10 - Rebel Rebel (UK #5 US #64) (C1)
11 - Young Americans (UK #18 US #28) (C1)
12 - Fame 90 (Gass mix) (UK #17 US #1) (C1)*
13 - Golden Years (UK #8 US #10) (C1)
14 - Sound And Vision (UK #3 US #69) (C2) (Exclusively on the EMI LP & cassette)
15 - "Heroes" (UK #24 US N/A) (N/A)
16 - Ashes to Ashes (UK #1 US N/A) (C2)
17 - Fashion (UK #5 US #70) (C2)
18 - Let's Dance (UK #1 US #1) (N/A)
19 - China Girl (UK #2 US #10) (N/A)
20 - Modern Love (UK #2 US #14) (N/A)
21 - Blue Jean (UK #6 US #8) (N/A)
* (Information relates to the original Fame single which later replaced Fame 90 on the CHANGESBOWIE Au20 CD)
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