April 14, 2020 —– Chart #2
Hello music friends,
Been thinking about some of the music from my high school days. One of the first concerts I attended was David Bowie at Midsouth Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee in 1976. He performed Suffragette City, Fame, Changes, Rebel Rebel and more. All of this as you might imagine in bizarre other-worldly costumes and pageantry. It was great.
Today’s chart is another Bowie song that sticks with me and is fun to play. “Space Oddity” is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter David Bowie and first released on 11 July 1969 by Philips Records as a 7-inch single, then as the opening track of his second studio album David Bowie. After the commercial failure of his self-titled debut album in 1967, Bowie’s manager Kenneth Pitt commissioned Love You till Tuesday, a promotional film that was intended to introduce Bowie to a larger audience. For the film, Bowie wrote “Space Oddity“, a tale about a fictional astronaut named Major Tom; its title and subject matter were partly inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) and Bowie’s feelings of alienation at that point in his career. Musically, “Space Oddity” was one of the most complex songs Bowie had written up to that point, and marked a change from the music hall-influenced sound of his debut to a sound that is akin to psychedelic folk and inspired by the music of the Bee Gees.
“Space Oddity” was demoed in early 1969 while the Love You till Tuesday version was recorded that February, and the film includes a promotional clip of the song. After signing with Mercury Records, a new album version was recorded in June 1969 at Trident Studios in London. The track was recorded ahead of the album because the label wanted to release the single before the upcoming Apollo 11 Moon landing. After Tony Visconti declined to produce the track, seeing it as a novelty record, production was passed to engineer Gus Dudgeon, who meticulously planned the process. The recording features use of Mellotron, which was played by future Yes member Rick Wakeman, and Stylophone. The song was mixed in both mono and stereo formats, and the single’s sleeve included an image, a rarity for radio singles at the time.
The single was rush-released ahead of the Moon landing; it received praise from music critics and the BBC used it as background music during its coverage of the landing. The single, however, initially sold poorly in the United Kingdom and was banned by radio stations in the United States. After it reached number 48 in the UK by September, Bowie performed the song on the British television program Top of the Pops in early October. The broadcast helped “Space Oddity” climb to number five, becoming Bowie’s first and only chart hit for another three years. Following the commercial breakthrough of Ziggy Stardust (1972), RCA Records reissued “Space Oddity” as a single in the US, where it peaked at number 15, becoming Bowie’s first US hit. The label also reissued David Bowie (1969) as Space Oddity; this release was promoted with a new music video that was filmed by Mick Rock. RCA again reissued the song in 1975 as part of a maxi-single, which became Bowie’s first UK number-one single. In 1979, Bowie re-recorded “Space Oddity” for the ITV television programme Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show. Bowie revisited the Major Tom character in his later singles “Ashes to Ashes” (1980), “Hallo Spaceboy” (Pet Shop Boys remix) (1995), and “Blackstar” (2015). “Space Oddity” was a mainstay during Bowie’s concerts throughout his career.
A range of artists have covered “Space Oddity” and others have released songs that reference the character Major Tom. A 2013 cover by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield gained widespread media attention; its accompanying music video, which was filmed aboard the International Space Station, was the first music video to be recorded in space. “Space Oddity” has appeared in numerous films and television series, and has a pivotal role in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. In 2019, Visconti remixed Bowie’s original recording to mark the 50th anniversary of its first release; it was accompanied by a new music video that was directed by Tim Pope. Initially viewed as a novelty track, “Space Oddity” is now considered one of Bowie’s finest recordings and remains one of his most popular songs. It has appeared in numerous “best-of” lists, including the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s “500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll”.
Keep rockin my friends,
Stan