Tim DawTHE master tape of a classic song by David Bowie, missing for over 30 years, has turned up in Devizes.

A woman from Melksham came into Simplee Sell, the Devizes-based company that helps vendors sell items on the internet auction site eBay, with the tape two weeks ago.

Proprietor Tim Daw said: "This is somebody with whom I have done business before. She had found the tape in a house in London. It appeared to be the original master tape of the track Changes which appeared on Bowie's 1971 album, Hunky Dory, but I didn't know if it was genuine or not."

Mr Daw, who lives in All Cannings, took it to his neighbour and friend Andy Scott, the former lead guitarist with the 1970s Glam Rock band, The Sweet, who has his own recording studio at his home.

Mr Scott said: "I knew as soon as I saw the box that it was genuine. It was recorded by Ken Scott at Trident Records for the album Hunky Dory, which is one of the best Bowie made.

"Rick Wakeman played keyboards on it and, as he is a friend of mine, I rang him up to ask him about it. He confirmed, from everything I was able to tell him, that it seemed to be genuine.

"I was a little frightened about putting it through my system, because there are stories of things going wrong, of classic tapes destroyed by playing them, as well as messing up the equipment on which they are played.

"But it sounded great. It is the master from which the original record was produced. It just shows the talent of the engineers in those days, that with relatively primitive equipment compared to what we have now, they were able to produce such a fantastic sound.

"Changes is the lead track on what is now recognised as a Bowie's greatest album. It is the last of the missing masters and it should go back to where it belongs. I'm sure his people would be prepared to pay a finder's fee."

The woman who brought the tape in to Mr Daw did not want to speak to the media, but Mr Daw said she was delighted that it had proved to be such an important discovery.

The middle-aged woman discovered the tape when she moved into a house in London. She had it for many years but it was only when she recently moved to Wiltshire that she felt impelled to do something with it.

She brought it into Simplee Sell to try and offer it for auction on eBay but, following Andy Scott's suggestion, is quite happy for it to be reunited with its lawful owners.

Initial contacts with David Bowie's agents have proved less than fruitful, but Mr Daw is still trying to speak to them about it.

Mr Scott said: "I thought that some publicity in the paper might light a fire under them."

Fact file

David Bowie was born David Robert Jones in Brixton, London, on January 8 1947.

At age 13, inspired by jazz he had heard in the West End, took saxophone lessons from the brother of Ronnie Scott.

His early bands include The Konrads, The King Bees, The Manish Boys and The Lower Third.

First hit Space Oddity (1969) which begins "Ground control to Major Tom" reached number five in the charts.

Hit albums of the 1970s include The Man Who Sold the World, Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and Aladdin Sane.

In 1993 he married the model Iman

Films in which he has acted include The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976), Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence (1983), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992), Everybody Loves Sunshine (1999), Arthur and the Minimoys (due out 2006).