This website was started circa 1995 at the time when the internet was in its infancy. I have updated and extended it throughout the years, but essentially it's just a bunch of static pages linked together. I make dynamic web sites for a living. Those sites are based around a database containing the information and PHP code to manipulate the data. One of the main advantages of dynamic sites is that the information can be ordered and searched at will.

One of the most often asked questions I get is why the idbD lacks a 7" single discography. Part of the answer is that it seemed possible to compile a complete list of Bowie singles. Even Marshall Jarman's 'bible' appears to be far from complete, just check the entries in this section! Another important factor is that it would require an immense amount of time to scan all covers and labels, prepare descriptions, etc.

Recently Chas Pearson added his knowledge to this forum, for which I'm very grateful. Chas seems to be one of the very few persons who actually has collected all post-RCA singles (1981 and onward). To give an impression of the work that needs to be done for just that period: there are at least 520 different singles from Under Pressure to Slow Burn!

Having built up a small community of fans here, I wondered if we could start working on a singles discography together. There's a lot of work to be done and not just scanning I'm listing the main things that need to be done. I'm curious if anybody would be interested in participating.

Things that need to be done:

1. A relational database has to be designed to should be able to store all information deemed necessary. Songs, versions, timings, categories (promo/white label/stock/variation), etc. It would be senseless to construct a database just for this purpose. Ideally it should be able to contain all information in the discography, so one day the entire site could be ported.

2. A relational database is ideal to economically store information but as soon as your tables consist of nothing more than ids linking to other tables, data entry becomes incredibly tedious and complicated if it has to be done directly into the database. So what needs to be constructed is an interface that allows easy entry/manipulation of stored information.

3. A new interface for the singles section and ultimately for the new site. Let's face it, the IdbD looks stale compared to other fan sites. Besides, the information is presented in a rather rigid form. If you look at the CD-singles section, there's a list of titles and you can access detailed information for individual titles. My idea would be to add more friendly navigation, not just a back link on the details page. Of course this is easy to realise once the information is stored in a database. You should also be able to sort singles on e.g. title, not just release date. Additionally, access to the information should be presented in a better way than just the menu at the left hand site. And of course the entire site should look a bit (a LOT!) more stylish and pictures of covers and labels should be much larger than the current 300x300 pixels (again taking the CD-singles as an example).

4. Combining Marhsall's book with Chas's collection and the stuff that has appeared on eBay over the years you get a pretty accurate idea of the full single discography. Still, we need scans of all those titles. Who has got the singles? Who has got the time to scan them? Of course once the framework is there, scans could be added over the years but it would be nice to a) first compile a complete list and b) know some people who are willing to contribute.

OK, I guess this post is long enough already. Let me know what you think and if you could contribute in any way.

Cheers

Ruud

happy to help out but i'm not sure i have anything like the collection other might have.

perhaps if the list was done first, then scanning could be allocated. people pick what they have and upload a scan.

that way my 100 or so singles, none of which are very rare, could be removed from the responsibility list of someone with a larger collection.

like a vine post, the complete list could be posted, each member removes what they can scan and reposts the list.

leave those with the big collections until last and see what is left.

happy also to do some of the dull data plugging if someone else can set up the interface.

christian

Happy to do some scanning, although I probably haven't got anything out of the ordinary.

I'm not up on web design/build so I don't understand half of what you've written!

I don't collect singles... really i don't!
I've got maybe 20-30 singles, but i don't think they're of interest.

BUT I think it's a great idea!

Cheers
Zig Dust®

Ditto for me also Zig.

Will be great to see them . Superb Idea



Nigel

I've sold most of my singles but I've kept scans of most of the rarer ones. STS France, BMW UK solid centre, Sorrow unique UK label etc... let me know if you need any.

agree with all the above and responses... i'd be happy to scan what i have here and even get the rest shipped over from the UK, i actually miss having them around! i don't have anything "heavy" among my 200 or so, but hopefully some that are rare enough to save those with the biggest collections a few scans.

I think this is a terrific idea, it would be great to have a discography online that is as complete as possible.

This will be quite an undertaking, so any help is very welcome. I have a collection of around 400 singles and am happy to help out with scanning.

Before scanning some choices will have to be made though - what has to be scanned (front and side a label, or also back and side b?), what size scans? How do we illustrate variations in label design or back covers? Etc.

Also important will be to decide what kind of info should be in the database. Titles and matrix numbers of course, but what about release dates etc?

The more information and scans the merrier of course, but as the amount of items is so large every choice will have impact on the amount of work.

So any ideas?

i'd say there's a case for including back covers as so many front covers are similar if not identical, whereas the back with invariably include mention of the country of manufacture etc. label b-sides perhaps only if it's a unique pairing to that issue?

one other question / suggestion.

could each single's page have a forum style posting capability.

it would be a great way of adding in any extra info and would keep the information up to date.

just an idea, i'm not sure what level of extra encoding that would mean but i like how the info is being shared here.

also, it would help notification of small differences as people compare scans with what they have.

just a thought.

Hallo all,

thanks for your responses. As soon as there's something to put data into I will get back to those that offered their scanning services! I'm off for a week but as the days are very short here in Warsaw, I might get some things done. I just realized that the latest FileMaker Pro can access SQL databases, which means that building the interface to add data may be (much) less work than anticipated!

Meanwhile, please post your suggestions for sites that may serve as... ehm... inspiration for a new look of the IdbD. E.g. I think this one is quite good: http://www.mansonusa.com/discography/

Best,

Ruud

Brand new to forums but an avid fan for a long time, am happy to help in any way I can. I have a modest collection (worksheet on request) and a number of scans of e-bay 'oddities'.
John

My collection may be very poor.
But I'd like to contribute to this fantastic project.
Probably my scanner can scan 2~4 pcture sleeves at one time!

I have no collection but I began a few years ago a very simple database of David Bowie's discography. Of course it's not complete but week after week I add discs...

The database is made with MySQL with these tables : disc, author, track, song. Others tables for the shows were planned (tour, setlist, place) but I have no time to fill them. Have you already the model for your database ?

PS : sorry for my bad english

I have around some 400 singles and would be more than happy to help with scans.

One idea would be to agree ASAP on scan size. The higher the quality the better.