Diane Former Canadian Astronaut, Chris Hadfield served on a mission on the space station, ISS in March of 2013. During his mission on ISS, Chris, an amateur musician on his free time recoded this song for RU-vid, it has over 53 million views since it was recorded.
I have a space playlist where I have Chris’s version right after Bowie’s and it chokes me up every time. It was so bittersweet and emotional, Chris recording that on his final space mission.
Sad part of it was Bowie's label want to shut down the video, but Bowie informed them keep it on RU-vid. Bowie loved Chris' version of his famous song.
For me, David Bowie has been an artist that I've been continually "discovering" for decades. Revisiting his music at different times in my life has brought new understandings, new revelations, and new enjoyment.
Bowie is one of the greatest musical geniuses of the 20th century, you definitely owe it to yourself to explore more of his music. My favorite is "Is There Life On Mars"
@leostarr4293 That's very true,, Personally I used it as in the day we lost David,, Things just aren't the same without him (star)..Speaking of stars,, An often overlooked/forgotten classic that has an important message to those seeking to be a star,, Stealers Wheel "Star"
This song was made at a time when space travel was very new to us and we didn’t know even half of what we know now. The tin can is a reference to the capsule modules like Gemini and mercury which were just metal barely protecting the astronauts from the dangers of space. Gravity changes affect people differently and controlling oneself in the key there. Astronauts back in the day could not train for zero gravity at all so it was a complete surprise to them and they couldn’t react to it. Now they train in a special plane that creates simulated zero gravity and they do tasks in near weightlessness to get themselves used to doing it. A lot has changed in 30 years.
In 1983, Peter Schilling released his sequel to Bowie's Space Oddity. You'll notice that Space Oddity ends with Major Tom floating in space. Well, in 1983 Schilling released Major Tom which basically gives Space Oddity a happy ending by singing about our spaceman hero making it safely back to Earth. They are both great songs.
It's a cool song but David Bowie released his own sequel to "Space Oddity", "Ashes To Ashes", before Peter Schilling released "Major Tom". But "Major Tom" didn't have a happy ending, at least not in the German version, which is the one that was released first.
Actually it was supposed to be released just before the launch to the moon (And was in the U.K.), But in the U.S. the music exec's suggested to not release it until the astronauts had safely landed back on earth first,, Just in case something went wrong..So they waited,, Then released it.
A lot of younger people just don't get why this song about an astronaut was wild. It was the middle of the space race, and it talked about the wonder and the superficiality (the papers want to know whose shirts you wear) and the enormousness of that in a way that really captured the feeling of the time (Planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do).
Back in the day, the first sets of astronauts in Mercury, Gemini and Apollo were celebrities on par with rock stars and sports heroes, and several became household names (especially Neil Armstrong).
I grew up listening to bowie , I was so saddened when he passed, he could play any genre of music , he wrote, arranged, produced ,his music and collaborated with many other musicians, a musical genius and was a fantastic entertainer , even movies , my favorite album is ziggy stardust the entire album kicks glam ass , moon age daydream is a great tune , why was he so great, his mother's grandparents emigrated from Ireland , new york
Bowie is a deep rabbit hole. He probably was the first metro-sexual alien pop/rock star, he changed the style of presenting himself at least 3 times, he wrote countless fantastic songs, was super-creative, married to a super-model, a musical perfectionist and band leader and OTOH also a nice and polite guy with a lot of humor. He also was a good actor and acted in a few known movies, all of them kind of exceptional. His music videos were also kind of cinematic, with him being an actor in several different roles. He had also a crazy friendship with punk legend Iggy Pop, and they seemingly had an admiration for each other's musical creativity. Bowie tried to kick-start him also a bit into pop mainstream with a collab. (Iggy had pretty shitty deals with the labels and had literally no rights on his greatest hits before.) He had an intense relationship with Germany, he chose to live in Berlin until his death and the German audience loved him for his song "Heroes" that was not only featured in the German movie "Christiane F." but also was sung in German language for one verse. IMHO every rock musician should listen to Bowie's discography (in its entirety), this guy knew how to write great songs. Pick any of his known songs, no matter if on studio video or live - he was amazing either way! Did I mention that he had a really charming personality? Well, I guess you got that by now... Thank you for this nice reaction! Very appreciated!
This song has such powerful memories for me. I remember my dad saying "you have to listen to this" with tears in his eyes when he sat me down in front of the record player. It was the start of my Bowie journey. Very powerful stuff and light years ahead. ❤
I am so happy that you are listening to David Bowie. He is honestly one of my all-time favorite musicians. Not only did he play rock ‘n’ roll, he literally reinvented it. There are so many different forms of music right now that are indebted to everything that David Bowie did. Welcome again to the fold, Diane.
David Bowie was a really fascinating performer. He was hard to categorize, which can cause problems for a career, but in his case he made it work. Space Oddity came out in 1969 (as you mentioned), but it didn't catch on right away in the U.S. That year it made it only up to #124 on the American charts. It was re-released in December, 1972, and made it up to #15 in 1973, spending 10 weeks on the top 40 charts (which is a good long time). Astronaut Chris Hadfield sang a good version of Space Oddity while he was actually in space. He changed the lyrics so it didn't have him floating off into eternity at the end. You can find it on RU-vid. It's well worth watching. David Bowie was in movies, too. You may have seen him in Labyrinth (1986) with Jennifer Connelly. He was also in The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). I agree with you about 2001: A Space Odyssey. It's something every movie lover should see, preferably on a big screen. Thanks for this reaction!
when the song came out.. I went to buy the 45 at JC Pennys and ended up with Billy Preston's 'Outta Space' by mistake.. a great mistake, btw... and had to wait until the following week to get the real space song
#1 in the UK in 1975. #5 in 1969. Bowie has 11 #1 albums in the UK and 25 top 10 singles. The best thing is that that is irrelevant, his work is timeless and that is what matters, a total genius.
Happy Wednesday Diane! David Bowie was such an amazing artist and one of the artists that I grew up on during the 80s. My two favorite songs of his are both "China Girl" and "Let's Dance." Both are excellent songs to sing karaoke to.I've heard this song sung briefly by the character "Joey" in an episode of "Friends". Thanks again for sharing and reacting to this video and song by this iconic music legend! Have a great rest of your week Diane! I always enjoy your videos and reactions! Very honest and genuine! Be well dearie! ✋😎🙏❤️
This is the first time we hear about Major Tom. There are a few songs that mention him, but the next time we hear about him directly is Peter Schilling's "Major Tom (Coming Home)" in 1982.
I was never a Bowie fan until I got older. Then I realised what a wonderful true musician and artist he was. He got his life absolutely spot on. I was terribly saddened upon hear about his death. But what a cannon of material he left behind. He created many personas. You need to look into them to get the greater picture. Genius? Definitely.
First off, Thanks to Surfshark for the sponsorship. That, along with Patreon and channel memberships, allows these music reactions to happen, since they are always demonetized for copyright reasons. I love me some Bowie, although I only got to see him perform live twice. The Little Drummer Boy duet was with Bing Crosby (who was also famous for "White Christmas." Ah, I see you caught that right away.) The Bowie lightning bolt picture is from the cover of his album "Aladdin Sane." (I've always enjoyed that pun of a title - "a lad insane".) So the makeup was the character Aladdin Sane rather than Ziggy Stardust. Another famous Bowie personna was The Thin White Duke. Space Oddity was one of his earlier songs, and really established Bowie as a star. It was initially released in July 1969 to coincide with the Apollo 11 mission (the first moon landing.) The 1972 re-release was Bowie's first hit in the United States. The Story of Major Tom was continued in Bowie's 1980 hit "Ashes to Ashes." Rick Wakeman is famous for his work with the band Yes, as well as a solo career. The Marc Bolan mentioned by Elton John as a friend of both him and Bowie was the leader of the band T. Rex (They have a few songs worth reacting to. Some of my favorites are "Children of the Revolution", "Jeepster", "Rip-Off", and of course "Get it On" - also known as "Bang a Gong.") There are numerous Bowie songs you could look into. Some of my favorites are "Panic in Detroit", "Heroes", "Young Americans", "Changes", and of course "Ziggy Stardust." I'm also fond of a duet he did with Adrien Belew called "Pretty Pink Rose", although it is a lesser known song and probably wouldn't get as many views. By the way, Bowie had an acting career as well, appearing in The Hunger, Labyrinth, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and many others. He was particularly good in Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence, as an English prisoner of war held by the Japanese in World War II.
Great picture of you as DB!! This was one of his earlier and best known tracks.On another one, "Fame", John Lennon sings background. His last video acknowledged that he was dying from cancer. He also gave a silent shout-out to Jimmy Fallon's "Thank You Notes" in that video as well. The real underlying story to Space Oddity is what Bowie himself sang about in his song "Ashes to Ashes", the lyric "Everyone knows Major Tom's a junkie." Saying it was really about drug addiction. Rick Wakeman was the keyboardist for the progressive rock group Yes. Fun fact: David Jones chose "Bowie" as his stage name after the Texas hero, Jim Bowie, creator of the Bowie knife.
_Space Oddity_ wasn't "really about" drug addiction. That's a simplistic approach. It was a song about technology, loneliness, the space programme, and how maybe being lost in orbit sounded like being high on drugs. Probably other things too.
Most people know him for his lyrics and vocals but he could put together a lot of tracks as he could play, Alto and Tenor Saxophone, Guitar, Piano, Keyboards, Harmonica, Mouth Harp, Koto, Mandolin, Recorder, Viola, Violin, Cello, and not forgetting the Stylophone.
My introduction to David Bowie was in the 1986 movie Labyrinth. Now I want to watch that again. Lol. Anything we send into space, assuming we don't put it into orbit, would continue to "float" away until the gravity of something (a planet, star, or astroid) pulled it in and it crashes (getting into orbit is tricky and won't happen accidentally). In the case of a live human or animal, they would live until they either ran out of resources (air, water, food) or died naturally. They shouldn't really get sick and die unless they happened to successfully land on a planet and fall prey to a bacteria or virus that we don't have here.
My former housemate Dave is just about completely a musical illiterate. One day I was listening to the radio and the song "Heroes" came on. He asked who it was, I told him, and his reaction was "Oh...The guy from Labyrinth. He's cool." That's it. All he knows about Bowie is Labyrinth.😂
Bowie died in January of 2016, the first in a very long string of amazing, famous people who died that year. So many of them were musical artists that it's called The Year That Music Died. (I'm not sure if you're familiar but there's a song called "The Day the Music Died," when 3 big names died in a plane crash.) If I remember correctly, his last album was released only days before he died.
These first time reaction to this song don't make any justice, apart from the shock and disbelief for such a different music they aren't used to. You should see me react to the 10000 time I hear it and can't hold my tears for such a beautiful work of art.
Even if you don't react to it, when you get a chance, you should watch the video of Commander Chris Hadfield (US astronaut) performing "Space Oddity" on an acoustic guitar inside the International Space Station. Watching him and his guitar floating in a most peculiar way out in space is one of the most surreal cinematic shots ever recorded, it's one of those things that is beautiful for just it's own existence. Thankfully David Bowie was able to see that version of the song performed out in space before he died, and Bowie absolutely loved it. It has 53 million views on youtube.
I like how Chewie gets to hang out in his bed and enjoy the music with You. Give him some treats, teddys, cuddles, belly rubs and ear rubs to make Chewie's day happy and joyful.
I heard this song in the summer of 1972, I was 13 years old and one of my first favorite songs, still is! Was on my original cassette tape play list! Memories!
An Astronaut up on the International Space Station, had an acoustic guitar. He played this song, with a few lyric changes, to be more positive. He floated in the Zero G' and played the song. It was before Bowie's death -he very much approved that his song was played in Space. I believe the Astronaut is Canadian. It can be found on YT.
I'd highly recommend following through with more Bowie's catalog. Songs like Man Who Sold the World, Queen Bitch, Starman, The Jean Genie, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Golden Years, Heroes, Ashes to Ashes, Let's Dance can really show the progression and constant re-invention of himself that made his stuff stand out and hold up over the decades.
I saw Space Odyssey on its first run. I was 11 and the secretary of our small town (and mostly adult) Astronomical Society. We went as a group. When we came out, I said "I have no idea what was going on in the second half but it looked fantastic!" The adults agreed that yes, it looked fantastic and no, they had no idea either.
This was Bowie's first hit song, released in 1969. But this video was made a few years later, just after he became a big star on the back of the Ziggy Stardust album. So there was a new effort to re-promote his earlier releases, which gained a huge amount of new attention now that he was a superstar.
The makeup bit you did was the persona Bowie ran with after Ziggy, this one being Aladdin Sane ("a lad insane"). Clearly, he was going through some issues.
David Bowie! He did look "Out There" in early days but later looked quite respectable in the 1980's plus. You picked a classic, iconic song to review. His album, Ziggy Stardust has incredible songs and lyrics. Diamond Dogs, Moonage Daydream, the list goes on and on. I know he may be an acquired taste for some but if you like him, you love him. He got sober later in life and promoted the drug alcohol free lifestyle. You also gotta love when he sang with Freddie Mercury on the song Under Pressure. Great song and performance by both of them. Great choice Diane! Thanks
When I was a little little kid, I had a drastic case of heterochromia. As I grew older my eyes mellowed a bit and you have to really look close to notice now. Yep I'm weird. I like this song. It is not the only one producers, and others have chosen without really listening to the words. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Ppl love heterochromia. There’s a model who famously makes her career out of it- she even made it on one of the late night talk shows- and she’s been faking it the whole time…. Allegedly
This is also my First Time hearing David Bowies song Space Oddity enjoying the music journey with You as always making the music videos a Billion times more Enjoyable. Thanks for making the Day Happy with Good Vibes in the Universe.
The Monkees is a really good tv show for the 1960s. I can relate. In America, it played as re-runs a lot on Nickelodeon's Nick at Nite in the evenings. Some Retro Tv Stations are airing the show to this day. The intro is a classic jam. That's one of the many tv show theme songs that are the jams.
Recorded and released in 1969 becoming Bowie's first Top 10 hit in the UK. RCA re-released the track in the UK 1975 as a 'maxi-single' backed with Changes (from 1971 album Hunky Dory) and previously un-released track Velvet Goldmine, which was recorded during the Ziggy Stardust sessions in 1972. On this occasion Space Oddity hit the number one spot. The video was filmed in 1972 after Bowie found success following the Ziggy Stardust album. Elton John was so impressed by the production of this track by Gus Dudgeon that Elton insisted on having him as his producer throughout most of his output during the 1970s.
Just for a little reference, the green squiggly lines throughout the video was a oscilloscope and you have mare computing power in your phone than what the Apollo command module and lander
I learned so much today with You about David Bowie I did not know. I always enjoy learning with You. He has a long encyclopedia of interesting things He has done in his life.
I think I read somewhere that the Thin White Duke was the hardest of the three on his psyche. I have watched interviews with him from this period and they are difficult viewing. He's in a role that he is having trouble with, clearly. The Duke is not a nice person, he is arrogant, elitist, blatantly racist, and deeply insecure. I could guess that he created the character in order to exorcise some inner demons, but he paid a price for it.
Thanks Diane! This is probably my favourite David Bowie song. I always found it a very sad song though. I could always imagine myself in that situation - doomed and impossibly alone. 😢
Diane- I have always loved this song (I didn’t realize that it was written back in 72). I remember hearing this being played a lot on the radio around the time period when John Glenn (first American to travel to outer space) returned to space as part of a Space Shuttle crew back in the 90’s.
So, David Bowie is an exceptionally broad talent where music is concerned. He must have sidestepped into half a dozen subgenres by the time the 90s rolled around. And then he did it again all the way up to his death. He was a phenomenal musician. My recommendation: Heroes. Excellent song, interesting production, fascinating backstory.
Legend has it that the brilliant guitarist Adrian Belew while on hiatus from Frank Zappa’s band was approached by David Bowie to play for his band. Zappa was pissed and referred to David as “ Captain Tom”.
Released in 1969 at the height of the space race ...Bowie was so far ahead of his time , he was like a chameleon changing his persona and music constantly...a true legend that fits into his own genre...
As a young kid in the late 70s i heard this song and it made me cry. My cousin who was playing the song on the stereo asked why are you crying its not a bad song, dont you,like it? I shook my head yes. I told her through sobs I liked it. She then asked then why are you crying? I told her major Tom is gonna die lol. Hes in his space ship all alone and can't come no , he's gonna dieeeeeee.😭. My cousin laughed gave me a hug and said its just a song its not real. Major Tom is just a character in a song. I still cried and said its a sad song. Poor major tom. In later years I realized just how much of a good song it was. Howie truly was one of the greats in music of his time. Even his final song and video made a few weeks before he died was awesome. He knew he was going out of this world and he showed that he was ready in his video. It's called lazarus. It's sad by still good. Maanage daydream, ziggy stardust, the jean genie, china girl lets dance, all good songs.
This song was David Bowie's first hit song and it came at a time during the "space race". He was someone way before his time. In 1999 he did an interview with the BBC and he said the internet will bring musicians and listeners closer. The internet will help us to access music quicker and easier. This was a time when we just barely began using the internet. We all had dial up, so the journalist looked at David Bowie like he was crazy. But, David Bowie called it because here we are. 🤷🏻♀My heart still misses him. I was 7 years old when Labyrinth came out and I told my parents that I was going to marry David Bowie. 🥰
Fun fact. First-ever use of the Mellotron by Rick Wakeman of YES @ 5'22 and 6'52. in 1968 though it says 1972. Rick got paid £6 and refused to tell all The Sound Engineers how to play this new instrument so he continued all the session work when it was needed. I bought my first records in London in 1960 and they are still my favourite sounding notes of all time. Born 2 miles from me in Brixton, South East London.
To me it does bring me back to the early days of space travel, the "tin can" like the Mercury capsule, the first space walks. In just ten years NASA went from rockets blowing up on the launch pad in the early sixties to the first moon landing in 1969. Even when I was just a kindergarten boy in those days, I am happy I remember those events.
Little Drummer Boy was performed for Bing Crosby's (an American crooner from the 40's) Christmas TV Special in 1977. At the time Mr. Crosby knew he was dying of cancer and only had a few months to live. It was deliberately designed to reconcile differences between the musical tastes and attitudes of two very different generations. I remember watching the original broadcast with both my parents. We all loved it. I still watch it around Christmas time every year. Both Mr. Crosby and Mr. Bowie were outstanding musical artists for their times. I was pleasantly surprised to see Bowie on that show.
We find out in a much later song, Ashes to Ashes from his 1980 release, Scary Monsters, that 'Major Tom' was not an astronaut, but was just a junkie, tripping out on hard drugs and the song suggests an overdose. I think Ashes to Ashes was David putting his own addictions to bed by putting the Major Tom story in a new context, to express his own life experience. Bowie is a creative genius who has shown us what rock snd roll really is, its beauty, its ugliness, the power of its truth and tbe horrors of its lies.. RIP David B
I think about all the treats ahead as you explore David Bowie. He was someone who had multiple personas, with their own names, throughout his career. It means you don't know what the next song will bring. Life on Mars brings goosebumps, Starman and We Can Be Heroes can bring tears. I envy those just discovering him.
Another great review, Irish Girl! There are so many different versions of David Bowie, one could say they were all a different style of music to go with each persona. You absolutely nailed the look of Aladdin Sane, Diane, that is Ziggy Stardust goes to America. Thanks again for the SurfShark deal!
He was a very creative artist that stood out during the sandwiches for lunch bunch time period. Always wonder how much the sandwiches really impacted the creative process. BOOP
If you want to hear more Bowie, his last album was released days before he died. In the title song of the album, Black Star, he revisits the astronaut theme. It was recorded while he knew he was terminally ill. As usual, the video is very artistic.
Because you are asking space questions, and sometimes being pedantic is fun: Without any forces acting upon him, major tom would continue to float in whatever direction he started in. However there are pretty much always forces acting on you in space, such as gravity, so therefore he would probably end up orbiting some object. If he is close enough to the object, and the object has an atmosphere (such as earth), the drag force of the atmosphere would slow him down and change his velocity, his orbit would decrease, slowing him down further as the drag force of the atmosphere increases as the atmosphere gets thicker. This would continue until the heat generated from this process would vaporise his body.
First released in 1969 it was only a minor hit, peaking a number 5 because Bowie was relatively unknown to the mainstream audience. It reached number one in the US in 72 after the success of Ziggy Stardust, and became Bowie's first number one in the UK in 75. It was Starman in 1972 and his Top of The Pops performance that really launched him into mainstream stardom. It's from the album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Which many would argue was his best. Certainly not a bad track on the album.
Bowie was a truly amazing artist. I discovered his music in the 80s with the Lets Dance album. I love his music beyond words but Space Oddity touches my soul. Love your reactions Diane!
I was 13 when I discovered this song at the small towns library by the high school. The jr high building was being converted and 7th grade was in the high school. I bet I wore out the albums track every day as we waited for the late bus home.
