Album · Compilation
The Best of Bowie
The Best of Bowie is a sixteen-track compilation put together by K-tel and released in December 1980. Its sleeve borrows the design of the 12-inch single cover for "Fashion", a nod to Bowie's then-current work. The record climbed to No. 3 in the UK Albums Chart, arriving the same year as Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps.
What sets it apart from the usual hits package is the editing. It includes the rare 7" edits of "Fame" and "Golden Years", plus unique trimmed versions of "Life on Mars?" and "Diamond Dogs", apparently made so everything would fit on a single LP. There is also a neat bit of pressing trivia: early copies carried a sticker over the track listing, and beneath it "Drive-In Saturday" was originally slated for track 7. That explains why the live "Breaking Glass" sits oddly out of chronological order.
The Best of Bowie: tracklist, credits and charts
16 tracks · 58:17Tracklist
- 1Space OddityDavid Bowie
- 2Life on MarsDavid Bowie
- 3StarmanDavid Bowie
- 4Rock ’n’ Roll SuicideDavid Bowie2:59
- 5John, I’m Only DancingDavid Bowie
- 6The Jean GenieDavid Bowie
- 7Breaking GlassBowie, Davis, Murray
- 8SorrowFeldman, Goldstein, Gottehrer
- 9Diamond DogsDavid Bowie
- 10Young AmericansDavid Bowie
- 11FameAlomar, Bowie, Lennon
- 12Golden YearsDavid Bowie4:01
- 13TVC 15David Bowie3:35
- 14Sound and VisonDavid Bowie3:04
- 15“Heroes”David Bowie and Brian Eno
- 16Boys Keep SwingingDavid Bowie and Brian Eno
- Produced by
- David Bowie, Ken Scott, Harry Maslin, Harry Maslin, Tony Visconti, Gus Dudgeon
- Recorded at
- Trident Studios, Château d'Hérouville, Hansa Studios
- Recorded
- 1969–1979
- Mixed by
- Tony Visconti
- Mixed at
- Hansa Studios
- Engineered by
- Eduard Meyer, Laurent Thibault, Tony Visconti
- Label
- K‐tel
- Length
- 58:17
Line-up
- Trevor Bolder · bass guitar · guest
- Mick Ronson · acoustic guitar, electric guitar, background vocals · guest
- Mick Woodmansey · drums (drum set) · guest
- David Bowie · lead vocals, guitar, baritone saxophone, background vocals · guest
- Carlos Alomar · guitar · guest
- Roy Bittan · drums (drum set), piano · guest
- Dennis Davis · drums (drum set) · guest
- George Murray · bass, bass guitar · guest
- Earl Slick · guitar · guest
- Ricky Gardiner · guitar · guest
- Roy Young · piano · guest
- Brian Eno · background vocals · guest
- Mary Hopkin · background vocals · guest
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1981 | 3 |
| Dutch Albums · 1981 | 4 |
| Austrian Albums · 1981 | 12 |
| Swedish Albums · 1981 | 25 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
41.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3
ListenBrainz listeners
34k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
—
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 19 December
Every year →
More from David Bowie
Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
David Bowie
1969
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
Ready, Set, Go! (live, Riverside Studios ’03)
2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
2025
The Shel Talmy Recordings
2026
The best of 1980
All of 1980 →
Back in Black
AC/DC · 1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
David Bowie · 1980
Blizzard of Ozz
Ozzy Osbourne · 1980
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden · 1980
Seventeen Seconds
The Cure · 1980
Boy
U2 · 1980
Making Movies
Dire Straits · 1980
British Steel
Judas Priest · 1980
Sandinista!
The Clash · 1980
Permanent Waves
Rush · 1980
The Game
Queen · 1980
Emotional Rescue
The Rolling Stones · 1980
More on K‐tel
The label →Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1980-12-19 vs 1980-12-15 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 15 December 1980 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 19 December 1980 | |
| Wikidata | 1980 | |
| UK / Europe release | 15 December 1980 | earliest UK or European date |
2 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | FR | K‐tel | other | |
| 15 December 1980 | GB | K‐tel | original |
Cover art sources
fanarttv · upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| fanarttv ✓ | 1000×1000 | upscaled: major: best source 1000x1000, upscaled to 1500 (x1.50) |
| coverartarchive | 600×586 | upscaled |