Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)

Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)
Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)
Live album by David Bowie
Released	21 April 2018
Recorded	30 June – 1 July 1978
Venue	Earls Court, London
Studio	RCA Mobile
Genre	Art rock
Length	108:13
Label	Parlophone
Producer	Tony Visconti
David Bowie chronology
David Bowie live albums chronology

Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78) is a live album by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie, recorded during the London concerts of the Isolar II Tour. It had a limited vinyl release on 21 April 2018 for Record Store Day.^[1]^[2] A more widely available CD edition followed on 29 June 2018, along with digital releases for download and streaming.^[3]

Recording

The album was recorded live during the Isolar II Tour at Earls Court, London on 30 June and 1 July 1978 by Tony Visconti with the RCA mobile unit. It was mixed by Bowie and David Richards at Mountain Studios, Montreux, from 17–22 January 1979.

The 1st July performances of "Be My Wife" and "Sound and Vision" were previously released on the semi-official 1995 Mainman compilation album, Rarestonebowie.

The shows were filmed by the director David Hemmings for cinematic release later in 1978. Bowie was dissatisfied with the film and it was never released, saying in 2000, “I simply didn’t like the way it had been shot."^[4]

Track listing

Vinyl release

All tracks are written by David Bowie, except where noted.

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)
1.	"Warszawa"	David Bowie, Brian Eno
2.	"'Heroes'"	Bowie, Eno
3.	"What in the World"

Side two
No.	Title	Length
4.	"Be My Wife"
5.	"The Jean Genie"
6.	"Blackout"
7.	"Sense of Doubt"

Side three
No.	Title	Writer(s)
8.	"Speed of Life"
9.	"Sound and Vision"
10.	"Breaking Glass"	Bowie, Dennis Davis, George Murray
11.	"Fame"	Bowie, Carlos Alomar, John Lennon
12.	"Beauty and the Beast"

Side four
No.	Title	Length
13.	"Five Years"
14.	"Soul Love"
15.	"Star"
16.	"Hang On to Yourself"
17.	"Ziggy Stardust"
18.	"Suffragette City"

Side five
No.	Title	Writer(s)
19.	"Art Decade"
20.	"Alabama Song"	Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill
21.	"Station to Station"

Side six
No.	Title	Length
22.	"TVC 15"
23.	"Stay"
24.	"Rebel Rebel"

CD Release

Disc one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Warszawa"	6:27
2.	"'Heroes'"	7:34
3.	"What in the World"	4:07
4.	"Be My Wife"	2:53
5.	"The Jean Genie"	6:34
6.	"Blackout"	3:43
7.	"Sense of Doubt"	3:40
8.	"Speed of Life"	2:37
9.	"Sound and Vision"	3:12
10.	"Breaking Glass"	3:31
11.	"Fame"	3:52
12.	"Beauty and the Beast"	4:58

Disc two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Five Years"	6:09
2.	"Soul Love"	2:52
3.	"Star"	2:30
4.	"Hang On to Yourself"	2:40
5.	"Ziggy Stardust"	3:25
6.	"Suffragette City"	4:02
7.	"Art Decade"	3:08
8.	"Alabama Song"	3:59
9.	"Station to Station"	11:10
10.	"TVC 15"	4:18
11.	"Stay"	6:59
12.	"Rebel Rebel"	3:53

Personnel

David Bowie – vocals, chamberlin
Adrian Belew – lead guitar, backing vocals
Carlos Alomar – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, music director^[5]
George Murray – bass guitar, backing vocals
Dennis Davis – drums, percussion
Roger Powell – keyboards, Moog Taurus bass pedals, synthesizer, backing vocals
Sean Mayes – piano, ARP String Ensemble, backing vocals
Simon House – electric violin
Producer: Tony Visconti
Post production mix: David Bowie, David Richards
Photography: Sukita and Chris Walter^[1]

Live performance personnel

Rick Browning - Piano tech
Jan Michael Alejandro – band tech
Vern "Moose" Constan – band tech
Leroy Kerr – band tech
Buford Jones – FOH mixer
Townsend Wessinger – Showco sound crew
Billy King – Showco sound crew
Russell Davis – Showco sound crew
Randy Marshall – Showco sound crew
Glenn George – Showco sound crew

Charts

Chart performance for *Welcome to the Blackout*
Chart (2018)	Peak position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[6]	55
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[7]	39
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)^[8]	96
Croatian International Albums (HDU)^[9]	1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[10]	32
French Albums (SNEP)^[11]	127
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[12]	58
Irish Albums (IRMA)^[13]	36
Italian Albums (FIMI)^[14]	83
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)^[15]	3
Portuguese Albums (AFP)^[16]	30
Scottish Albums (OCC)^[17]	11
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)^[18]	86
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[19]	75
UK Albums (OCC)^[20]	16
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)^[21]	23

References

^ ^a ^b "Three Bowie discs for RSD 2018".
^ "Rare and unreleased David Bowie albums set for Record Store Day 2018 – NME". 1 March 2018.
^ "Christiane F and Baal vinyl plus Blackout CD due".
^ Buckley, David (August 2018) "Soundtrack to the film that never was." Mojo (magazine), no. 297.
^ Jones, Dylan (2017), David Bowie: A Life, Crown/Archetype
^ "Austriancharts.at – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
^ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ "Lista prodaje (strano) 16. tjedan 2018. (16.04.2018. – 22.04.2018.)". Top lista (in Croatian). 2 May 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2025.
^ "Dutchcharts.nl – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
^ "Lescharts.com – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
^ "Offiziellecharts.de – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
^ "Irish-charts.com – Discography David Bowie". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 17 (dal 2018-04-20 al 2018-04-26)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
^ "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
^ "Portuguesecharts.com – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 27: del 29.6.2018 al 5.7.2018" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
^ "Swisscharts.com – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
^ "David Bowie Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 July 2020.

[davidbowie.com-1] "Three Bowie discs for RSD 2018".

[2] "Rare and unreleased David Bowie albums set for Record Store Day 2018 – NME". 1 March 2018.

[3] "Christiane F and Baal vinyl plus Blackout CD due".

[4] Buckley, David (August 2018) "Soundtrack to the film that never was." Mojo (magazine), no. 297.

[5] Jones, Dylan (2017), David Bowie: A Life, Crown/Archetype

[ac_Austria_David_Bowie-6] "Austriancharts.at – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 July 2018.

[ac_Flanders_David_Bowie-7] "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[ac_Wallonia_David_Bowie-8] "Ultratop.be – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[9] "Lista prodaje (strano) 16. tjedan 2018. (16.04.2018. – 22.04.2018.)". Top lista (in Croatian). 2 May 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2025.

[ac_Netherlands_David_Bowie-10] "Dutchcharts.nl – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

[ac_France_David_Bowie-11] "Lescharts.com – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

[ac_Germany_David_Bowie-12] "Offiziellecharts.de – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 July 2018.

[ac_Ireland2_David_Bowie-13] "Irish-charts.com – Discography David Bowie". Hung Medien. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

[14] "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 17 (dal 2018-04-20 al 2018-04-26)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 28 April 2018.

[15] "NZ Heatseeker Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 30 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018.

[ac_Portugal_David_Bowie-16] "Portuguesecharts.com – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 May 2020.

[ac_Scotland_-17] "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

[18] "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 27: del 29.6.2018 al 5.7.2018" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Retrieved 11 July 2018.

[ac_Switzerland_David_Bowie-19] "Swisscharts.com – David Bowie – Welcome to the Blackout (Live London '78)". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 July 2018.

[ac_UK2_-20] "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 July 2018.

[ac_BillboardAlternative_David_Bowie-21] "David Bowie Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 July 2020.

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