When was ground control to major tom released

Very 60s. The sound of the song is far from the epic production that would eventually appear as a single. This left Bowie clear to re-record Space Oddity as a single for his new label, Phillips.

You can hear the Stylophone buzzing low in the track during the first couple of verses. It was released on Friday, 11 July - five days before Apollo 11 was due to set off and land the first man on the moon. Unfortunately there was some reluctance on the part of the BBC to play a song about a space mission that appears to go wrong: with three astronauts on Apollo 11 taking huge personal risk, the single could have been considered in terrible taste should the moon landing meet disaster.

Once the Apollo 11 astronauts returned safely to earth on 23 July , there were no such qualms, but the moment had been missed: the single crept into the charts at the end of August at the lowly position of Number It seemed like Space Oddity was another flop for David Bowie. Just as Woodstock occurred in the afterglow of the success of Apollo 11, the popular music of the day provided a soundtrack that will be forever associated with the first Moon landing.

A lot of the popular music from the late s reflected political disillusion, a critical response to the Vietnam War, and an overwhelming sense of pessimism for the future. A strong dystopian theme can be traced in the popular culture of the time.

The number one single on the U. One of the songs we most associate with Apollo 11 is equally dark, though a bit less dystopian. In his mind, it had little to do with the American space program. The song caught the attention of the BBC, who approached Bowie about using the song during their coverage of the landing. Portrait of David Bowie by Mick Haggerty, Jon : This is, dare I say, a bit pedestrian, at least for Bowie. In the span of a few minutes, the master manages to transport the listener to a lonely, desolate and unreachable world.

At once, it is haunting, spiritual, and mind-expanding, and unlike any other track ever committed to wax. Jon : The undisputed sole occupier of the throne and one of the top 10 tracks of all time, in any genre. This contains more astounding hooks, riffs, melody, groove, nuances, lyrics and atmosphere than most acts could hope to conjure during an entire career. If Bowie had recorded but this track, he still would have been heralded as one of the greatest talents the world, and cosmos, had ever heard.

Chieftain reporter Jon Pompia can be reached by email at jpompia chieftain. Help support local journalism by subscribing to the Chieftain at chieftain. Home Calendar. Facebook Twitter Email.

Ground control to Major Tom: The best of Bowie proves he was in a universe by himself.