50 Years Ago Today David Bowie Recorded "Space Oddity"

It was fifty years ago today, at Trident Studios in London, that David Bowie recorded "Space Oddity." It would be his first hit single, peaking at no. 5 on the UK singles chart. To this day it remains one of his best known songs.

"Space Oddity" takes its title from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), and it was clearly meant to capitalise on the interest in space travel that existed throughout the Sixties. The song centres on astronaut Major Tom, who experiences some sort of strange event during his space flight. "Space Oddity" would be released on July 11 1969, although the BBC put off playing it until the crew of Apollo 11 made it safely home. It seems likely that "Space Oddity" benefited greatly from the success of the first manned mission to the moon.

Here it must be pointed out that the version of "Space Oddity" recorded on June 20 1969 was not the first version of the song to be recorded. Earlier, on February 2 1969, David Bowie recorded the first version of "Space Oddity" for his promotional film Love You Till Tuesday. This version would not be commercially available until 1984, when Love You Til Tuesday was released on videocassette, at which point a soundtrack album for the film was also released.

In between the two versions of "Space Oddity," David Bowie would have a falling out with Deram, his record label of the time. He then signed a deal with Mercury Records for one album (with an option for two more). On June 20 1969, then, a new version of "Space Oddity" was recorded for David Bowie's first album with Mercury, which was simply titled David Bowie. The song would then be edited for release as a single (both monophonic and stereophonic versions) in various countries, including the United States.

Strangely enough, while "Space Oddity" performed well in Britain, it did not do so well in the United States. Upon its initial release in 1969, it stalled at 124 on the Billboard singles chart. Following the relative success of David Bowie's albums The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Aladdin Sane in the United States, "Space Oddity" would reach no. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was re-released in 1973.

Here, without further ado, is "Space Oddity" by David Bowie.