David Bowie is one of the most influential musicians of all time. Everything he did was pure art, if you wanna check out some more space themed Bowie tunes, Starman is a must listen. It is from his album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars which is widely considered the greatest glam rock album in history.
"Greatest glam rock album in history..." I'm not going to dispute that. But perhaps more importantly, wasn't it also the first? (Released summer 1972) The album invented glam rock as we came to know it. I know the New York Dolls were getting started about the same time, but they didn't release their first album until a year later than ZS. I think T. Rex gets to be mentioned in this conversation as well, as a very early influence, but I'm not sure he got all the way to "glam." I've always felt there's no doubt that Ziggy was the glam rock shot heard 'round the world.
He's somewhere better now, and he will have a ton of new music for you to explore when you get there. Don't rush though, there's still stuff for you to do here first.
so did ion and off all day , what was amazing that day was the messages i got from friends . kinda pproved to me they knew how much bowie meant to me ( i didnt know )
I knew he'd been ill for about three years but it still came as a shock,more to those I broke the news to who hadn't seen how unwell he'd looked in one or two of his last videos. The first quarter/third and end of that year 2016 was crazy for the musicians and entertainers we lost suddenly,one after another.
A Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield sang this song with his acoustic guitar from the international space station and did a very good job of it. Bowie liked it.
In 2011, US astronaut Mark Kelly quoted Bowie from the ISS after his wife, congresswoman Gabby Giffords, was shot and almost killed in Arizona, saying "Tell my wife I love her very much.", to which mission control responded "She knows." That is an even more poignant tribute to the song than col. Chris Hadfield posting his cover of Space Oddity from the ISS. This amazing song DID impact an entire generation!
David Bowie truly was "The Man Who Fell to Earth". His music and his presence were like a gift from another world. I love your reaction and take on this.
"Let's Dance" "Ashes to Ashes" "Starman" "Life on Mars" "Absolute Beginners". Any one of these will blow you away. Bowie = legend. Much love from England 🏴
The whole Ziggy Stardust era was such an incredible creative departure from the status quo. Another indication of the gigantic explosion of musical creativity of the 60's and 70's. We might never see another time like it.
I think I was in the 8th grade when this came out. I imagined that I was in space when it came on the am radio station. The teenagers today would go insane if all they had to listen to, was am stations .LOL
@@greg2976 Great memories of when the new and decadent, underground 'FM' radio started. They could get away with so much more that AM. I remember that AM couldn't even play Chuck Berry's "My Ding-a-ling".
@@kurtschulten5369 Hey Kurt, I grew up in Pittsburgh. I DO remember that song being played on am stations. I didn't turn into a fm rocker till I was around 14 or so, which would be in 1974ish. It's amazing how am has turned into a talk radio, radio station!
"Heroes" would be my #1 recommendation to listen to next from Bowie. But make sure it's the longer album version, not the single version. Another song would be "Right" because you'll liked Philly Soul.
We 70s children feel so strongly about our musical heroes. You have to realize it was usually us in the wee hours with turntable, wired headphones in the pitch black. No cellphones, tv did not broadcast that late. It was pretty lonely but it was a trip and I'll always cherish just me and Elton, me and David, me and Boston or Motown or Bette. It shaped me for sure.
I think, also, having instant access to infinite music stops me and many others of the 'internet generation' to really stopping and listening to an album and hearing every note of each song. You had to grow to appreciate artists slowly back then, whereas I never had that same relationship with any singers when I was a kid, I could just pick whatever song I wanted off iTunes or RU-vid. I still have my musical heroes, but the connection was way more genuine when you had to go and buy an album and play it and that being your hobby. Music I love is now just in the soundtrack to my everyday life, I don't appreciate it the same way.
Now you need to do "Major Tom (Coming Home)" by Peter Shilling. This song leaves the fate of Major Tom in the air.... Peter wrote his song to answer what happened to him. The original David Bowie song is from 1969. Peter wrote his song in 1983.
@@chriso6719 As often as you beat me... I'm sure it was just a fluke... 😜 I'm dying to try and tie them listening to Major Tom into listening to "Coming Home" by Coheed and Cambria but I'm sure that would just be confusing since that takes place their comic book world... 😁 and not David Bowie's Space Oddity world.
Perceived by some to be a cash-in novelty song, Space Oddity laid out David Bowie's longstanding themes of isolation, alienation and fame. As David Bowie's first bona fide hit, Space Oddity took him into the charts and launched him into the stratosphere.
David Bowie’s death to this day is still a shock to me even after 6 years. We lost such a creative mind when he passed. I love seeing how Amber is being transported to another plain with the music, like she gets with the great Pink Floyd. There are so many great songs to discover as you travel through Bowie’s music catalog. I can’t wait to see more!
I'm still in shock over his death because I certainly didn't see that one coming at all. And while I was mourning his death, I was hit by a sledgehammer a week later with the death of Glenn Frey. That was a really really bad week!
Same. He didn't tell people outside a select few and so it really did seem to just come out of nowhere. I watched the video for "Lazarus" so many times that day. It's always so incredible to me - as it was when Warren Zevon passed - that a person facing the impending end of their life and all the pain, sadness, and uncertainty that comes with that - will choose to make one final bit of art before they go, especially when that art is both a meditation on what they're facing and a final goodbye to their fans. Talk about a true artist! I really would love for J&A to react to "Lazarus" because I think it was such a special song and moment that only reinforces everything they already think about him and more, but I know they have some personal situation in their (recent?) past that really affects them when it comes to videos dealing with dying and/or that type of loss, so I don't want to bum them out that much either. It really was such a great swan song for Bowie though and proof positive that he lived and breathed creativity while he was here.
I remember seeing one of the last interviews he had with him and his wife. It was one of the sweetest things when they were talking about each other. He was describing things about her that he loves and how they relate to each other. She was also doing the same talking about how she was the more dramatic person and he was the one who pretty much leveled her out. She was saying in a way it's maddening because he had such an English personality being so calm and relaxed during our times of stress. She said the most beautiful thing about that marriage is that even after all these years she says I STILL RATHER FANCY HIM. Which to me was just the cutest expression in their English way of speaking. She got this look on her face, and I'll never forget it she looked almost like a schoolgirl talking about a crush she had on someone. She lowered her eyes and didn't really look at the camera for a second and then when she looked up she had tears in her eyes because she knew she was losing him. But for that split second she looked so shy as if she was like 15 years old again and had found her first love. That was right before she said I still rather fancy him and you can tell there's such a level of deep love with her and that they shared such a beautiful marriage after all those years. Turn his part of the interview he also kind of looked a bit emotional and like a kid when he spoke about her. It was like almost watching them go back in their minds when they were teenagers even though they met when they were adults. You can see like the almost breathless excitement when they reminiscing to the journalist reporter about how they met... And how they knew that each other WAS the one for them. Out of all the interviews that I've ever seen of either one of them with them together that is absolutely my most favorite. I feel that it's most intimate one they've ever given and it shows them at the most vulnerable and then most loving together. I don't know if I'm explaining this the right way so people can understand, but it was really beautiful thing to witness with how they were talking about each other and the excitement they had in their voices when they talked about when they first met. 😉❤️😎
Nobody has mentioned the fact that Major Tom (Sheppard) in the song never makes it back to earth, something went wrong and he comes to accept the fact he ain't coming back, hence the line about his wife.
One reason I would support this comment is that David Bowie didn't "stay in his lane." He branched out to movie acting and record producing and other pursuits. He was always on the forefront of fashion and taste, always leading and never following. His early videos, which means ANY early video, always pushed the envelope. It's easy to forget now, but once upon a time we expected musical artists to release records. Maybe an Elvis Presley would release a bad film per year. But nowadays we expect musical artists to be photogenic, to have a good personality on talk shows, to be able to act and dance, to release a book or two, or perhaps reveal a hidden talent for painting or sculpture-in short, to be the complete package. David Bowie was one of the first to come along and know that, and fully realize its potential.
David Bowie 's creative genius is legendary. Try listening to "Heroes" sometime. It's probably the most played Bowie song played by other artists in tribute after his passing away.
This was recorded and released just before the actual moon launch. That makes this an even more amazing song because at that point we still didn't know if it could be done. And there were some problems that made it almost not happen. And Bowie managed to capture that uncertainty perfectly. Now you have to do the answer to this one Major Tom by Peter Shilling.
David Bowie's long-time producer, Tony Visconti, turned down the opportunity to work on this song because he though the association with the moon launch was a bit corny. He regretted it!
Golden Years and Young Americans are among two of my most favourite Bowie songs … he’s a deep dive artist, so many good ones ! I kinda think Major Tom didn’t get stranded in space, but that he chose to let go.
It is so hard to believe that there are folks who have never heard this song.. it is iconic and is one of my favorites. Glad that you covered it and that you are enjoying it. David Bowie, RIP.
Remember when the Queen movie came out and suddenly there were a thousand reaction videos of people hearing Bohemian Rhapsody for the "first time"? Or course they weren't hearing it for the first time, but "Hearing for the 704th time" doesn't get views.
This song more than any other takes me back in my mind to being a young boy in Liverpool, the radio was always on in our house and this song was always one that really struck a chord with me. The melancholy is of the scale... but I still love it
Now do the "sequel" to this, "Ashes To Ashes" that has a lot of the sounds and feel that you guys love. There's also the German tribute "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling as well.
It’s amazing how this song was released in 1969 and when I listen to space oddity I feel like I am floating around in the air it’s just so cool David was just an amazing guy
This song gives me chills- each and every time. He is gift and a legend - his music brings back so many amazing memories of my teenage years. His music is timeless ❤ thanks for sharing/ reacting- y’all are my favorite reaction couple ❤
My favorite Bowie song! Still get chills when I hear, "Tell my wife I love her very much..." Wish you would have backed up a couple of lines after that last pause, thouigh, since something had gone wrong and Ground Control had lost contact...that always gave me chills, too, and I imagine Major Tom just floating eternally in space.
When they paused, that’s exactly what I was thinking, “please back up, please back up”. Listen intently, nope, ok, maybe they’ll catch on anyway… … Bugger!
Right? My biggest pet peeve with this channel is how they never pay attention to what's actually going on in the music. They miss obvious stuff, every time. If most other reactors did, too, I'd be less annoyed, but nope, it's definitely a characteristic of these specific reactors.
Yeah, I'm glad that bothered someone else, too. They went on blissfully raving about the music and sound effects in the song but missed the tragic turn that the story took. Yeah, they should have backed up after the pause. Their loss. OK, I'm moving on.
I'm sure they'll pick it up on subsequent listens and to be fair, who knows how many times I'd heard the song before I picked up on the full story. It was 40 odd years ago and I guarantee there's many a song I've sung along to and at some point gone "oooohhhh, that's what it's about".
You have to review Chris Hadfield’s version. He actually did it on the international space station. Bowie gave it a thumbs up!!! Great version! with great natural scenery of space. Stay safe, stay sane, be well
Was just going to suggest this! Commander Hadfield did a bunch of great videos from space, but this one was the coolest. You can find it here on RU-vid.
I might add, that when this video was released on RU-vid, RU-vid blocked it due to copyright infringement. David Bowie, liked this video so much, that he fought his own record company to let the video be on RU-vid. RIP David. You will always be part of my teenage memories! Stay safe, stay sane, be well
David Bowie was an English singer-songwriter & actor. He constantly reinvented himself to stay current over nearly 5 decades. His first big hit was "Space Oddity" in 1969. He has had a lot of great songs including "Starman", "Ziggy Stardust", "Rebel Rebel", "Young Americans", "Changes", "Fame", "Golden Years", "Ashes To Ashes", Let's Dance", "Modern Love", "China Girl", "Heroes" etc.
Let’s not forget Little Drummer Boy with Bing Crosby. I listen to that every Christmas season to get me into the spirit of the season! Stay safe, stay sane, be well
Can’t go wrong w Bowie. I recommend “Changes” if you haven’t heard that one. It was a big part of the “1971” documentary on Apple+ TV. You guys would really love that 8 part doc.
The next two David Bowie songs that you should react to are "Life on Mars" and "Heroes". The former is arguably his greatest song and the video for it was a real shock to the conservative norms of the early 70's. Bowie was unapologetically leading the way for alternative lifestyles. "Heroes" was way ahead of the times sonically and has a special connection to Berlin during the Cold War when the wall divided the city. It's hard to believe that "Heroes" was recorded using analog equipment, it sounds like a product of the digital era.
Positively Love this song by Bowie! My eyes fill with tears, every time I hear it. Theirs So Much emotion...hear the words...and have a tissue near by. Love, Love. ❤️
So many great Bowie songs for you to react to…my recommendation is “Lazarus” from his last album, “Blackstar.” He released it right before he died. You HAVE to watch the video with it. It’s probably the most amazing final release by any musician ever. (I’m biased. I’m a huge fan.)
There are too many David Bowie songs to list that y'all should listen to. Two of my personal favorites are "Life On Mars" and "Ashes To Ashes". You should give them a listen.
The song "Ziggy Stardust" is part of a story about a fictional dude, but it's a _brilliant_ portrayal of the psychological implosion of a star brought on by fame...so catchy and memorable!
Bowie started his career in 1964 as a young teenager and it took a long time before he would have a hit.. In the meantime he sung with other bands & even wrote a hit for Peter Noon...Until he had an idea for this tune... He had been following the Apollo space program & wrote this song to coincide with the July 1969 Luna landing...This was not only an epic song that really captured the magnificence of the landing , but was also a stroke of marketing genius that would blast off his musical journey into space....
I’ve never listened to this song through headphones, though I’ve been listening to David Bowie since I bought Hunky Dory ages ago. Today is the first time I heard the separation of Bowie’s voice in “Tell my wife I love her very much,” and his other voice answering, “She knows,” in my other ear. It’s such a profound foreshadowing of what is about to happen to Major Thom, or what he is possibly choosing. I knew the ending, but wow. Thank you both. I saw the Ziggy Stardust tour, but I still heard something different today.
Thank you!!! “The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars” is truly epic!!! Heck, his entire collection of albums are chalked full of bangers!!!
Everyone thought David Bowie was from another dimension, but everyone loved him! I was 12 when this song was released in 1969. It was my first exposure to him. Loved this reaction! Thank you!
Judging by the way you guys are reacting to this song and music on your channel in general. I don't understand how you have never heard all these truly timeless songs. I mean I know classic songs that were out before my time. Where have you been? If you can appreciate music it's always been there for you. Your amazement is like the discovery of fire.
Bowie is one of those very selected artists, who are able to make complex and intellectual themes fit pretty well in popular music without losing its originality nor sophistication. It goes for each album released throughout his whole career
Space Oddity is one of those songs I've kinda taken for granted for all these years. Hearing it a-new through someone else's ears brought a new level of appreciation. Thanks guys!
If you really want to hear the range and control in Bowie's voice, please react to Wild is the WInd - one of my favourites. It was originally written for Johnny Mathis, and Nine Simone did two different arrangements of it, but Bowie's is the best version. It will pretty much blow you away.
David Bowie was a great actor, too. He didn't act often, but when he did it was brilliant. His turn as *Pontius Pilate* in Scorsese's, "The Last Temptation of Christ", is riveting.
He also played an FBI agent in cinema movie "Twin Peaks, Fire Walk With Me", also an English POW officer in "Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence" , monster in "Labyrinth" and vampire , partner of Catherine Denevue and Susan Sarandon in "The Hunger", also great song in "Absolute Beginners". Plus more. Cheers
He also played in The Elephant Man on Broadway or London on stage, I forget. I've read that his performance as Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), wearing zero makeup or prostheses, was heartrending.
I love the fact Boy George is watching over your shoulder as you deep dive into David Bowie music George is a huge Bowie fan and always credits Ziggy with the Reason he started to sing write and perform this is superb 😀😀
Great song. Suggestion: When you resume after a pause, you should back up a little. You missed the drama of him being lost. Also, Peter Schillig did a reprise of this song called Major Tom that is fantastic!
No one can deny the huge and unique talent that was Bowie. And the impossible to calculate influence he had over music. And may I say? When he agreed to do Gervais' Extras, he also gave us one of the all time great comedy moments. I had no idea the man had such a wonderful sense of humour as well as his other talents.
I’m absolutely transformed when I listen to David Bowie, love every phase in his life, and always followed his music! The day he died, I cried, knowing that the last album came out as his last, like preparing us for this awful loss we were about to share!! His song Lazarus was haunting & it still is hard to watch! There is, and never will be, anyone in our life that will be even close to matching his songwriting, his voice, his personas. He is that one of a kind musician that you have been blessed by just hearing him! I love you David, always have, always will! 😢 ♥️The sad old white woman
In case you didn’t know, David Bowie played an alien in the 1976 movie “The Man Who Fell To Earth”. Btw, you’re definitely correct that David Bowie is his own genre of music. There’s really no one to compare him to. That’s why I adore him.
Bowie was such a talent. Check out: "China Girl", "Let's Dance", "Changes", Jean Jeannie", "Dancing in the Streets (With Mick Jagger)", "Suffraggette City", "Modern Love", "Rebel Rebel", "Young Americans", "Fame", These are his more popular tunes but is work throughout is impossible to define.
One thing about Bowie is the lushness of his music. It's like piles of thick velvet: you fall back into it and almost float; immersed in the texture. I get the same feeling from The Moody Blues. Like I'm rolling in a cloud. Definitely headphones required!
So on your first listen you've 'got' the first layer of the 'story'. Keep listening to it, you will discover more layers to the story and meaning each time. 'Ashes to Ashes' continues the 'story' of Major Tom.
A real classic! You have to bear in mind the timeframe this was released: 1969. The Apollo space program was just getting ready to land on the moon in July 1969 and just the year before, a very influential sci-fi movie, "2001: A Space Odyssey" was released. So, space mania was in full bloom! Also, 1969 was probably the peak of the hippy/psychedelic era including in music, so you had a lot of trippy songs around that time. This song sort of ties all those things together.
I'm glad you mention that. I was terrified, as a kid, that something like this could happen to the astronauts in the first Apollo missionsl. Even going up to orbit the earth before the moon missions was scary. Knowing that Gagarin was 'up there's during his orbit seemed so crazy, just the sort of silly idea a boy would have.
He's the Goblin King, ya'll! Ooh, Bowie was a chameleon in style and music. Some of the sounds behind his vocals were done with a Synthophone. You can find them online for around 30-40 dollars. They're fun, I got my son one for Christmas. But seriously, Bowie, some great stuff you may like is the entirety of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, my personal favorite from that one is Moonage Daydream. Heroes, Changes, Life On Mars, Starman, Lady Grinning Soul, Let's Dance (SRV on guitar), Blue Jean, China Girl, you could listen to his catalog for years and not hear the same song twice. Lazarus from his last album Dark Star will make you cry.
Just in case anyone doesn't know..... Major Tom was accidentally locked out of his capsule and couldn't get back in, so he died in the empty void of space all alone.
You can hear Bowie's cockney accent coming through, born and bred in Brixton near the prison... till his family went upmarket and moved to Beckenham, Kent
@@jillybrooke29 I went to Sacred Heart school in Camberwell Green.. as did my 3 older brothers, I also went to Brixton college which I believe is no longer there
Such an amazing shape-shifting genius! I absolutely adore Let's Dance, The Man Who Sold the World (famously covered by Nirvana in their Unplugged show, but Bowie is the original,) Changes, Suffragette City, Modern Love, Rebel Rebel, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Heroes, Fashion, This is Not America, Absolute Beginners, Dancing in the Street (w Mick Jagger,) and one of my faves, Blue Jean (you gotta check out this video-- there's a 20 minute mini-movie version of it, but this is the song part of it)
A true legend, and great Gentleman, RIP Mr. Bowie. A few suggestions, from endless great choices, "Changes", "Suffragette City", and "Let's Dance". Vastly different sound for each one.
I love how Amber just closes her eyes and lets the music take her where it will. A VERY unfortunate pause there though, you TOTALLY glazed over the lyrics where Tom started having trouble communicating. It doesn't end well for Major Tom. I still don't think it has hit you yet.
100%. I get that the point of their vids is to share what they're feeling as they listen, but it's completely frustrating how they stop the songs at the worst possible times and lose the story and flow. They often mention how they love "story songs", and they completely trampled over the story here and missed it. I wish they would just listen to the song completely and then comment.
@@tracycampbell3060 The implication in the song is that he basically commits suicide. Not by actively killing himself, but by cutting off his feed to Ground Control and floating off into infinity, never to return to Earth. This is preceded by his request that they tell his wife he loves her.
David Bowie is one of a kind. Gets into "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars" A trip from beginning to end. PLEASE. You will be blown out of your mind. Fan since I'm 15 in 1973.✌🌻🌻
Next Bowie please do “Heroes” live version! It has the most views for that song. It’s such a beautiful song and different style to this and previous Bowie you’ve listened to
@@dustywaynemusic6297 I don’t actually care about it having the most views, just making sure they get the right video. Have you watched the live performance I’m talking about mate? Because honestly I think it’s better than the studio version. I don’t necessarily agree with your statement “studio better than live for first time”, generally yes, but not always. I think Alchemy Live of Sultans of Swings is a better live first listen, Elvis Suspicious Minds Las Vegas better live and this Bowie Heroes live (the one with the most views, as I say because I don’t know where it is) is a better first listen
This song is about a friend of Bowies who died of a Heroin overdose. He confirmed this in an interview. When you listen to the lyrics you can really see that, when he floats away he’s dying.
This is actually a duet between Ground Control and Major Tom…a conversation. Through Bowie sings both parts he has different voice characters for each.
if you loved this, there was a really cool 80s song that took a direct inspiration from this song. It was by German musician Peter Schilling, and the song was called "Major Tom (Coming Home)". It's always been one of my favorite 80s songs. BTW - y'all are going to hit 900 videos tomorrow!!
