55 years ago today, July 11, 1969, Mercury Records releases (in mono) David Bowie’s “Space Oddity,” rush releasing it five days before the launch of Apollo 11. The single hit #1…in 1975. At the time of its release, “Space Oddity” sold poorly, despite rave reviews. It eventually reached #5 in the UK, though it fell short of the Hot 100 in the US, peaking at #124. Rick Wakeman is on mellotron, Tony Visconti is on woodwinds. While Visconti produced the Space Oddity album (released in the UK as David Bowie), the track “Space Oddity” was produced by Gus Dudgeon, who would go on to mega-success producing Elton John’s classic 70’s albums. Visconti didn’t think much of the track, and never did, still calling it a novelty record as late as 2016. But Gus loved it. He said “in those days a gimmick was a big deal and people who had gimmicks were taken more seriously than those who hadn’t. Bowie’s was that he’d written a song about being in space at a time when the first US moonshot was about to take place. I listened to the demo and thought it was incredible. I couldn’t believe that Tony didn’t want to do it.” Terry Cox from the British folk band Pentangle is on drums. Bowie is on 12-string acoustic guitar and Stylophone, a small “keyboard” played with a stylus.

Here’s Bowie live at the time of the release:

The BBC used the single as the background music to cover the landing of the Apollo 11. Bowie was pleased “Space Oddity” was given the exposure, but he was sure they’d not really listened to the song. He said “it was picked up by British television and used as the background music for the landing itself in Britain. Though I’m sure they really weren’t listening to the lyric at all; it wasn’t a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing. Of course, I was overjoyed that they did.” In late ’72, RCA Records re-released the single in the US, repackaging some of Bowie’s Mercury Records albums, including 1970’s David Bowie becoming Space Oddity. The single hit the Top 20, peaking at #15, becoming Bowie’s first US hit. In 1975, RCA released a 3-song maxi-single in the UK that made it to #1, “Space Oddity” b/w “Changes” and the then unreleased “Velvet Goldmine.”

I can distinctly remember first hearing it when my next door neighbor Joey Pellegrini played the 45. As far as I was concerned, it was the deepest, heaviest thing I would ever hear for the rest of my life. Many bands and artists have recorded or performed the song over the years. David himself was especially fond of a late 70’s version by the Langley Schools Music Project, a 60-voice choir of Canadian children. He said “the backing arrangement is astounding. Coupled with the earnest if lugubrious vocal performance, you have a piece of art that I couldn’t have conceived of, even with half of Colombia’s finest export products in me.” Check it out:

Perhaps the ultimate cover comes from space, when Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, commander of 2013’s Expedition 35 to the International Space Station, performed the song on the ISS while floating through the space station:

Jimbo would never forgive me if I didn’t include this one:

The last word goes to Mr. Bowie himself. He returned to Major Tom several times throughout his career, including the songs “Ashes to Ashes” and “Hallo Spaceboy.” But his farewell, released only a few days before he headed off, was truly mesmerizing. Major Tom appears visually here in the video for “Blackstar,” the title track from his final album. Not knowing what was going on in his private life made this all the more incredible. The stars looked very different that day. If you’ve got 10 minutes, give this a watch:

Today’s Playlist is a SomethingIsHappening compendium of songs about fictional characters, in honor of the 55 year anniversary of the release of “Space Oddity,” July 11, 1969:

#DavidBowie #SpaceOddity #RickWakeman #TonyVisconti #RCARecords #Blackstar #GusDudgeon #Phish