- This article is about the song. For the album
which includes this song, see Space
Oddity .
"
Space Oddity" is a song written and performed by
David Bowie and released as a
single in 1969. It is about the launch of
Major Tom, a fictional
astronaut. The song appears on the album
Space Oddity. The BBC
featured the song in its television coverage of the
lunar landing.
Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs
"
Ashes to Ashes"
and "
Hallo Spaceboy".
Recording and release
Following Bowie's split from record label
Deram, his manager
Kenneth Pitt managed to negotiate a one-album
deal (with options for a further one or two albums) with
Mercury Records, and their UK subsidiary
Philips in 1969. Next he tried to find a
producer.
George Martin turned the
project down , while
Tony Visconti
liked the album demo-tracks, but considered the planned lead-off
single, "Space Oddity", a gimmick track , and delegated its
production to
Gus Dudgeon. An early
version of the song had appeared in Bowie's promotional film
Love You Till
Tuesday.
Following recording of a fresh version, the single was
rush-released on 11 July 1969 to coincide with the
Apollo 11 moon landings . In the UK, it was used
in conjunction with the
BBC's coverage of the
landing, and also promoted via advertisements for the
Stylophone, played by Bowie on the record. This
exposure finally gave Bowie a hit, reaching #5 in the chart. In the
US, it stalled at 124.
Mogol wrote Italian lyrics, and Bowie
recorded a new vocal, releasing the single "Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola"
("Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl") in Italy
, reportedly
to take attention away from covers by the Italian bands Equipe 84
and The Computers.
The song was awarded the 1969
Ivor
Novello Award, together with
Peter
Sarstedt's "
Where Do
You Go To ".
The song became so well-known that Bowie's second album, originally
released as
David Bowie in the UK (like his first album),
was renamed after the track for its 1972 reissue by
RCA, and has since become known by this name.
In
December 1972, Mick Rock shot a film clip
of Bowie performing the song during the sessions for Aladdin Sane, which was used to promote
the January 1973 U.S.
reissue on
RCA, which reached #15 in the Billboard
Chart. This was then used to support RCA's 1975 UK
reissue, which gave Bowie his first #1 single in November.
A stripped down version, originally performed on
Kenny Everett's New Year's Eve Show was
issued in February 1980 as the
B-side of "
Alabama Song".
The B-side version of "
Wild
Eyed Boy from Freecloud" first appeared on CD on 1989's
Sound + Vision.
On 20 July 2009, the single was reissued as a
digital EP
that features four previously-released versions of the song as well
as
stems allowing fans a
chance to remix the song. It coincides with the 40th anniversary of
the Apollo 11 moonlanding.
The rock band U2 use this song during shows on their international
360 concert tour: It is the last song played over the PA system
before the house lights go down and as the huge stage, lighting,
and sound system, semi-officially known as the "space ship", begins
warming up and emitting smoke. It is also used again during a short
animated interlude played during the concert on the stage's large
wrap around screen, with brief snippets sung by an animated alien
space traveler looking out through portholes on the stage/space
ship.
Track listing
- 1969 original
- "Space Oddity" (Bowie) – 5:13
- "Wild Eyed Boy from
Freecloud" (Bowie) – 4:59
- 1975 reissue
- "Space Oddity" (Bowie) – 5:15
- "Changes" (Bowie) –
3:33
- "Velvet Goldmine" (Bowie)
– 3:09
- 2009 reissue (Digital EP)
- "Space Oddity" (Original UK mono single edit)
- "Space Oddity" (US mono single edit)
- "Space Oddity" (US stereo single edit)
- "Space Oddity" (1979 re-record)
- "Space Oddity" (Bass and Drums)
- "Space Oddity" (Strings)
- "Space Oddity" (Acoustic guitar)
- "Space Oddity" (Mellotron)
- "Space Oddity" (Backing vocal, flute and cellos)
- "Space Oddity" (Stylophone and guitar)
- "Space Oddity" (Lead vocal)
- "Space Oddity" (Main backing vocal including countdown)
Alternative covers
Image:Bowiespace1.jpgImage:Bowiespace2.jpgImage:Bowiespaceit.jpg|Italian
versionImage:Bowiespace3.jpg|1975 Reissue
Personnel
Credits apply to 1969 original release:
- Musical
- Technical
- Gus Dudgeon - record producer
Other versions
- Alternate studio versions
- (1980) on Alabama Song - An
unplugged re-recording of the song.
- Live versions
- Remix versions
- (2009) David Bowie vs The Go! Team -
Space Storm, an mashup of "Space Oddity" and The Go! Team's
instrumental track "The Ice Storm" as produced by french mash-up
artist, ToToM.
- Cover versions
External links
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