In the last years before the passing of David Bowie, I noticed he had an affinity to “celebrate” his birthdays by giving his fans something special.

His birthday is January 8, 1947 and he would pass away two days after his 69th birthday on January 10, 2016.  His last two albums, The Next Day and Blackstar, were announced on his 66th birthday (2014) and released on his 69th birthday, respectively.

After his passing, the No Plan EP album, featuring his final recordings was released on January 8th, 2017.

When January 8th neared this year, I figured something would be released to celebrate what would have been his 71st birthday.  I’m ashamed to admit it, but I missed the release, which turned out to be a demo version of one of his biggest hits, the song Let’s Dance.

If you’re like me and you missed it, here it is!

Clearly a “rough”, pre-Niles Rogers (the producer of the album) version, which he considerably funked up.  And yet, everything is pretty much there, lyrically and in terms of how the song “flows”.

For comparison, here’s the version that made it to the album…