This day in HISTOROCK !! David Bowie !!

      This day in HISTOROCK !!

              In 1969, David Bowie recorded "Space Oddity" at Trident Studios, London, England . The title of the song clearly makes reference to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey !! It went on to become a UK No.1 when re-released in 1975 !! Written about the launch of Major Tom, a fictional astronaut; Bowie would later revisit his Major Tom character in the songs "Ashes to Ashes'' and ''Hallo Spaceboy'' !! "Space Oddity" became big enough, that Bowie's second album, originally released as David Bowie in the UK, was renamed after the track for its 1972 reissue by RCA Records !! Before it's release Bowie had originally wanted George Martin to produce, but was turned down by Martin . Next, producer Tony Visconti  liked the demo tracks but thought "Space Oddity" was a cheap shot at the impending US Space Mission, so he delegated the production work to Gus Dudgeon and the song was recorded on June 20/1969 using in house session players, one of whom was Rick Wakeman(Yes) on mellotron & piano !! The single was not played by the BBC until after the Apollo 11 crew had safely returned to earth !! It reached no 5 UK, but only 124 US and was re-issued in 1973, reaching no 15 Billboard and became Bowie's first US/Canada(16) hit single!! "Space Oddity" was also used by U2 on their 360 tour before their arrival on stage and in May 2013, "Space Oddity" became the 1st song ever to be recorded in outer space when Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield played his own version from the International Space Station !! Hadfields version though has Major Tom landing safely back on earth !! The video on Youtube has had over 22,000,000 hits !! They say some songs define an artist, but "Space Oddity" is one of Bowie's songs that has truly defined him over the years !! 

Keep on ROCKIN !!
Trike :-)