On this day (June 20) in 1969, David Bowie stepped into London’s Trident Studio to record “Space Oddity.” The song marked a shift in his sound and would go on to become his first hit. Additionally, BBC’s use of the song during their coverage of the Apollo 11 moon landing exposed a huge audience to the budding musician.
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Bowie’s 1967 self-titled debut album sounded much different than what modern fans are accustomed to. The songs featured brass and woodwind arrangements and showed Edwardian and Baroque influences. The album flopped, peaking at No. 125 on the UK Albums chart and failing to chart internationally. Likewise, his initial string of singles failed to chart. An ever-changing musician, Bowie developed a new sound for his 1969 self-titled sophomore record, which was later retitled Space Oddity.
“Space Oddity” was released as a single less than a month after Bowie recorded it. The single dropped on July 11, five days before the Apollo 11 mission took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins to the moon. The BBC used the song as the background music for its coverage of the historic moon landing broadcast, boosting the song’s popularity.
The song eventually became Bowie’s first hit. It peaked at No. 1 in the United Kingdom and No. 15 on the Hot 100 in the United States.
David Bowie on “Space Oddity”
David Bowie drew inspiration for his new sound from the Bee Gees. While most remember the group for their disco hits, they began their career as a folk-pop group with skiffle influences that were regularly compared to The Beatles. At the same time, a now-classic film inspired the song’s subject matter.
“In England, it was always presumed that it was written about the space landing, because it kind of came to prominence around the same time,” Bowie said of the song. “But it actually wasn’t. It was written because of going to see the film 2001, which I found amazing. I was out of my gourd anyway. I was very stoned when I went to see it, several times, and it was really a revelation to me. It got the song flowing,” he explained.
Featured Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images
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