“I can see it now”
Though it had been made available as an online download for a couple of weeks already and BowieNet members had been teased with snippets and the album's sleeve, the physical version of the 'hours...' album wasn’t released until 4th October 1999 in the UK, twenty years ago today. It was released the following day in many other territories.
Preceded by the top 20 hit Thursday's Child in September (The Pretty Things Are Going To Hell in some territories), it's hard to imagine now just how pioneering the download version of 'hours...' was. Here’s a bit from Rolling Stone magazine published on 30th August 1999:
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David Bowie has pulled another cyber-coup by becoming the first major-label artist to sell a complete album online in download form. Starting Tuesday, Sept. 21, fans will be able to purchase the digital files for hours… at VirginRecords.com, BowieNet (www.davidbowie.com) and at participating record-store Web sites (unspecified at press time). More than fifty stores have signed on to offer the record for the two-week period preceding the album’s North American CD release on Oct. 5. Pricing will be left up to retailers.
“I couldn’t be more pleased to have the opportunity of moving the music industry closer to the process of making digital downloads available as the norm and not the exception,” said Bowie in a statement Monday. Bowie has long been a fan of the Internet and digital distribution. He was one of the first name-brand artists to release a single online in 1997 (the drum ‘n’ bass track “Telling Lies”), he pioneered the use of Webcasts and chats, and launched the world’s first artist-created Internet service provider in 1998 with the formation of BowieNet.
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Supported by a heavy TV and radio campaign of Bowie appearances, the David Bowie and Reeves Gabrels produced 'hours...' was another top five hit in the UK for Bowie...and downloading became quite popular too.
#BowieHours