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"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 who becomes lost in outer space. Supposedly released to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landing, it appears on the album Space Oddity. The BBC featured the song in its television coverage of the lunar landing.
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[citation needed], while Tony Visconti liked the album demo-tracks, but considered the planned lead-off single, "Space Oddity", a gimmick track[citation needed], 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 July 11, 1969 to coincide with the Apollo 11 moon landings[citation needed]. 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. It failed to chart in the U.S., however.
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 (My Lovely)".
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 1989's Sound + Vision.
Auteur: digitalcast
Keywords: rock seventies 70s bowie alternative classic Major Tom Apollo Auteur: November 22, 2008
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