BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1977
“”Heroes”” is a song by English musician David Bowie, written by Bowie and Brian Eno. Produced by Bowie and Tony Visconti, it was recorded in July and August 1977, and released on 23 September 1977. A product of Bowie’s “Berlin” period, the track was not a huge hit in the UK or US at the time, but has gone on to become one of Bowie’s signature songs. In January 2016, following Bowie’s death, the song reached a new peak of number 12 in the UK Singles Chart. “”Heroes”” has been cited as Bowie’s second-most covered song after “Rebel Rebel”.
Bowie’s performance of “”Heroes”” on June 6, 1987 at the German Reichstag in West Berlin was considered a catalyst to the eventual fall of the Berlin Wall, similar to that of Bruce Springsteen’s concert at Radrennbahn Weissensee a year later.
In Germany a 12″ single was released which featured the song performed in English and German as well as English and French.
SIDE A:
Heroes/Helden (English/German Version) 6:02
Written-By – Maass*, Eno*, Bowie*
SIDE B:
Heroes/Héros (English/French Version) 6:04
Written-By – Eno*, Bowie*
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: RCA Victor – PC 9821
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM, Single
Country: Germany
Released: 1982
Genre: Rock
Style: Art Rock, Classic Rock
CREDITS:
Mastered By – G. F. Pfanz
Producer – Bowie*, Visconti*
NOTES:
Super-Sound-Single
Disco-Remix
Printed in Germany.
Find the 12″ on DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Tube: Tung-Sol 12AX7ECC803-S Gold Electron Tube
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
ty
I’m surprised of the rip quality obtained using both the Debut Carbon Table with the stocked Ortofon 2M. I had owned the music Hall version of this table and the motor crapped out in a year, apparently this newer motor is much better. Having this 12 inch packed in storage with all of my LP’s and CD’s I had a question? The b-side of this rip with the French version seems a lot brighter and crisper than the a-side. It’s been so long since I’ve listened to my copy that I don’t recall this much of a sonic difference. Is… Read more »
Hi Allan I do not use any click removal software I manually remove everything. I also upgraded the cartridge ands stylus to the Ortofon Super 30. I think it just may be the way it was mixed or pressed.
Hey Paul,
really great stuff. This 12” is absolutely amazing. Have both versions on a DB bootleg of the “Christiane F” Soundtrack which was unavailable on CD for many years.
They transferred it from the Cassette tape really well, but I know your rip will beat the sound.
The other posts of DB’s 12″ Singles are worth collecting too.
Keep it up. Best regards.
Paul, thank you for all of the David Bowie, that you have made available to us. I have a lot of his stuff, but more than likely not as beautifully digitized as your offerings are.
This is a great tribute to a greatly talented musician and man.
Many many thanks for sharing this!!
It looks like you have almost everything!
Heroes in french. Wow. (Or should i say ooh-la-laa? Nah, to emotional a song for puns like that..)
In The Netherlands it was a big hit for months at that time. And (in mostly new wave-crowds?) again in the 80’s when the movie Christiane F was released. (Look it up if you think drug-addictions are cool when popstars have them too.) The success-period of the soundtrack was extended for years because of showing the movie in schools over the decade.
Hi Paul,
Nice selection. Heroes is one of my favorite Bowie LPs. The sound of it was weird & odd at first when I heard it. The song Heroes pulled me in & the rest followed. I know you don’t have Beauty & the Beast or you would have posted it by now. But, I wanted to make everyone aware of a fairly rare extended version of Beauty & the Beast worth chasing after. I found two YouTube videos; however, both are from less than pristine sounding vinyl.
Never heard the French one before, tyvm for all the Bowie, beers on me if you’re ever in London (serious)
Cheers! Dashing Blade I may take you up on that someday 🙂
Unfortunately I never heard this versions before. As a native German speaker I must say Davids German is pretty good, except when he’s screaming the lyrics, they are not understandable. So I Googled ’em. The song and the lyrics are powerful in German as they are in English!
Thanks so much for posting all this great Bowie stuff!
You’re welcome Deeky 🙂
🙂
Can’t help but wonder (as no DB expert) if either of these foreign versions have appeared on CD anywhere. Many thanks BTW.
I don’t think so Neil.
The English/German version was released on CD in 2001 on the “Christiane F” EMI re-issue. The English/French version has recently been released on “A New Career In A New Town”, although the mastering is abysmal.
Thanks for replies. Think i’ve only just seen DJPaul’s! Abysmal remastering again? Wow what’s wrong with these record companies? Thank God for someone who always gets in right (DJPaul)!!
Awesome…
Thanks Paul.. 🙂
You’re welcome Ex15 🙂
Thanks so much for posting this one! It’s one I used to have and lost in a move. And it’s one I’ve thought a lot about since Bowie’s untimely death.
You’re welcome VanceMan 🙂
Perhaps the greatest song ever written? My favourite, anyway 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever heard the French version – so looking forward to that! Thanks.
You’re welcome Micmij 🙂
I am grinning from ear to ear right now as i type.
This is a wonderful gift from you. Thanks Paul 🙂
You’re welcome Junior 🙂
very good , thanks!!
You’re welcome Jonathan 🙂
YEAH! definitely Paul you are my hero
aww thank you Rafael Cova. You guys are so nice! 🙂
infinite thanks for publishing this gem of immense value, this version is totally unknown to me, the German version of Heroes left me impressed, infinite thanks.
Rafael
You’re welcome Rafael 🙂
David Bowie’s Heroes, another great classic, A Big Thank You, Paul.
You’re welcome Lee 🙂
An absolute classic. Bowie on vinyl. The original vinyl. What a series. What a series!!!!!
Glad you are enjoying the series Joey 🙂
24bit download always says “file not found”. Can you check? 🙂
It’s working now.
Utterly amazing 😆 I’m lost for words. Thank you so much. I’m sure everyone agrees when I say you are our hero 😍😍😍
Thank you Wolfie 🙂
So true Wolfie, so true!! Paul’s our ultimate Hero!!!
Jeff
Hi there. Great find!!!! Just so you know, at this very moment (12:42 p.m. EST 1/27/2016), there’s a 404 error on the 24-bit flac link.
It is now working Andrew 🙂
Hi Paul, the 24 bits Flac link does not work.
But thank you very much for the english/french version of “Heroes”.
It was on the french cassette version of the album in the 80s, by the time I purchased it.
It’s now working Manu 🙂
Thank you Paul, now playing…
I tried the 24 FLAC link this morning (11:00am on 1/28) and still got a 404 error.
???
Thanks for remembering Bowie and helping us to remember him, too!
Jeff
You may need to clear your cache and try again.
Hey, there…….
Just tried it with Google Chrome, a fresh install that had never gone to your site and got the same 404 Error.
This is the URL: http://burningtheground.net/btg2/heroes24.rar
Cheers,
Jeff
I think I figured it out.
The download works if it’s done directly from your site, but not if it’s done via the emailed link.
When I just downloaded it from the site (successfully), I noticed this symbol: } in the filename, which is not present in the link of the email.
(The actual filename is heroes24}.rar)
Cheers,
Jeff
Incredible Paul! Absolutely incredible!! What things you have in your mighty and HUGE record collection!! This is going to be wonderful, I can just tell. Thank you again for pulling out all the stops in your heart-felt David Bowie tribute these past two weeks. I can ALWAYS count on you dear Paul for unexpected surprises when it comes to our favorite artists. You’re the Tops, my friend.
Grateful!!
Jeff
Thank you Jeff I hope you like these versions as much as I do. Big hug 🙂