David Bowie – Heroes/Helden / Heroes/Héros (Germany 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1977

A. Front

“”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

B. Back

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

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qat
qat
July 14, 2018 10:14 pm

ty

Allan
Allan
April 4, 2016 11:33 pm

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 »

AzraStar
AzraStar
February 13, 2016 1:22 pm

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.

AntBee
AntBee
February 10, 2016 4:27 pm

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.

beukenoot
beukenoot
January 30, 2016 12:35 pm

Many many thanks for sharing this!!

It looks like you have almost everything!

Dirk
Dirk
January 29, 2016 4:32 am

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.

Randy M
Randy M
January 29, 2016 12:17 am

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.

Dashing Blade
January 28, 2016 2:58 pm

Never heard the French one before, tyvm for all the Bowie, beers on me if you’re ever in London (serious)

Davos Via 45
Davos Via 45
January 28, 2016 1:05 am

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!

deeky
January 27, 2016 9:24 pm

Thanks so much for posting all this great Bowie stuff!

CL
CL
January 27, 2016 7:36 pm

🙂

NKelly
NKelly
January 27, 2016 6:10 pm

Can’t help but wonder (as no DB expert) if either of these foreign versions have appeared on CD anywhere. Many thanks BTW.

Mark
Mark
Reply to  NKelly
March 3, 2018 10:51 am

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.

NKelly
NKelly
Reply to  Mark
March 3, 2018 12:14 pm

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)!!

ex15
ex15
January 27, 2016 3:50 pm

Awesome…

Thanks Paul.. 🙂

VanceMan
VanceMan
January 27, 2016 3:00 pm

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.

micmij
micmij
January 27, 2016 2:21 pm

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.

Junior
Junior
January 27, 2016 1:46 pm

I am grinning from ear to ear right now as i type.

This is a wonderful gift from you. Thanks Paul 🙂

Jonathan
Jonathan
January 27, 2016 1:35 pm

very good , thanks!!

Rafael Cova
Rafael Cova
January 27, 2016 12:56 pm

YEAH! definitely Paul you are my hero

Rafael Cova
Rafael Cova
January 27, 2016 12:54 pm

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

Lee
Lee
January 27, 2016 12:50 pm

David Bowie’s Heroes, another great classic, A Big Thank You, Paul.

Joey
Joey
January 27, 2016 12:32 pm

An absolute classic. Bowie on vinyl. The original vinyl. What a series. What a series!!!!!

lele
lele
January 27, 2016 11:53 am

24bit download always says “file not found”. Can you check? 🙂

Wolfie
Wolfie
January 27, 2016 11:51 am

Utterly amazing 😆 I’m lost for words. Thank you so much. I’m sure everyone agrees when I say you are our hero 😍😍😍

Jeff
Jeff
Reply to  Wolfie
January 27, 2016 12:32 pm

So true Wolfie, so true!! Paul’s our ultimate Hero!!!

Jeff

Andrew
Andrew
January 27, 2016 11:45 am

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.

Manu
Manu
January 27, 2016 11:44 am

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.

Manu
Manu
Reply to  DjPaulT
January 27, 2016 12:14 pm

Thank you Paul, now playing…

DJ Jeff
DJ Jeff
Reply to  Manu
January 28, 2016 12:06 pm

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

DJ Jeff
DJ Jeff
Reply to  DjPaulT
January 28, 2016 1:39 pm

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

DJ Jeff
DJ Jeff
Reply to  DjPaulT
January 29, 2016 1:18 pm

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

Jeff
Jeff
January 27, 2016 11:43 am

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