First listen to David Bowie - Space Oddity (REACTION)

[@Problembeing]

Doing two or three Bowie songs simply doesn’t cut-it! A career that spans 7 decades requires a deep dive.

[@mysterymac38]

Yeah, and Heroes and Space Oddity do not show his creative range as an artist. There are a lot of songs better than Heroes to react to.

[@bradsmack1]

Bowie is NOT the artist you want to limit your exposure to!

[@marcomastenbroek3307]

I wish, but 7 decades is stretching it a little bit ;)

[@bradsmack1]

@@marcomastenbroek3307 Thankfully, Marco, there's a huge difference (as well as a happy medium) between not listening to any (or just a couple) of Bowie songs, and suggesting Daniel listen to all 849 recorded songs! I think all we ask of our hero is that he give a handful or two of songs a shot! One need not devour the entire OED to learn the English language, but it helps to have a working vocab, to fashion an analogy.😉🎶✔

[@marcomastenbroek3307]

@@bradsmack1 What I meant was that Bowie's career unfortunately spanned "only" 6 decades instead of 7... referring to the original comment. But I would certainly have welcomed another.

[@3ScotsInk]

This song was played in the U.K. as the U.S. was landing on the moon in 1969. Gave Bowie a boost, but still took until his first U.S. tour in 1972, and the release of the Ziggy Stardust album to propel him into stardom, then superstardom.

[@freitinhas7106]

do the album "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars"

[@brianalmeida1964]

Yes please. I'd also add the album Diamond Dogs to that request.

[@danieljodrey8863]

I second Ziggy.

[@Katehowe3010]

Why do people consider Ziggy etc to be Bowie's high watermark, when he made many superior releases? Yes, it's the album that kick- started his career, but imo, virtually his entire, '70s Canon is preferable and contains songs of a higher calibre!

[@brianalmeida1964]

@@Katehowe3010 Personal opinion influenced by first hearing. Ages of fans. If you are a fan from the late 60s early 70s then that period will resonate more. At the end of the day it is personal preference as to which genre of music is your favourite. Luckily for us Bowie was proficient in multiple genres😁

[@Katehowe3010]

We had an embarrassment of riches!

[@qbear17]

Bowie was a musical chameleon. The musical journey you take with him will make you think there are a dozen and more David Bowies. Dive in and you won't be disappointed.

[@meganparsons9106]

very true , how many have worked with both Rick wakeman and SRV and Mick Jagger and Queen

[@drieuxkoeppel8152]

Musical. Genius. I CRIED when David JONES aka “David Bowie” died on January 10, 2016. He left behind a musical legacy unsurpassed in modern music. What I found most striking about him was his ability to reinvent himself over and over, through his personas of “Ziggy Stardust” (his image here!) and “The Thin White Duke”, among others. He is survived by his wife of 24 years, Iman (Somali-born supermodel), his now 50-year-old son Duncan Jones (Birth name: “Zowie”, so he could be called “Zowie Bowie”) BAFTA-award winning movie director); and his nearly 21-year-old daughter (with Iman), Alexandria Zahra Jones). RIP David “Bowie” (aka “Jones”). 1947-2016.

[@taniaPBear]

You've started near the beginning, don't jump too far ahead. I would recommend working your way through his works more organically. Not saying strictly, but maybe 70's, 80's ,90's so on. He and his music changed and evolved so many times over the years. Whatever you decide, you can't go wrong, the man was the embodiment of 'cool', for his whole life.

[@gretch8928]

Excellent suggestion!!

[@bendancar]

In 1980 Bowie wrote his own sequel to this song, called "Ashes to Ashes." Also a great song, from a great album called "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and very different than this (an amazing album, but would not be a great place to start imo). Each album of his is its own unique world, as he constantly pushed forward and reinvented himself with purpose. Good starting albums would be Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy... or perhaps Station to Station. Each of those have a completely different sound, production, voice, instrumentation, and theme. All are great. You've stumbled on to a very deep vein here.

[@traci4187]

Hahaha... Scary Monsters might blow his mind!

[@catserver8577]

And the story was continued even further on Major Tom by Peter Schilling.

[@IllumeEltanin]

@@catserver8577 I love Schilling's Major Tom, both the 12" extended version, and the original German version. Although, like Nena's German version of 99 Red Balloons, known as 99 Luftballoons, I don't understand a word, I truly appreciate the German versions.

[@IllumeEltanin]

I believe I have heard that his track from his final album, Black Star, is also tied in to Major Tom's story, after Ashes to Ashes. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[@triscat]

@@IllumeEltaninThat’s always been my impression of Blackstar, at least the video implies that. What a genius!

[@cici7333]

The day he died I was so heartbroken. In my mind I kept hearing him sing the line "planet Earth is blue, and there's nothing I can do.". It still hurts. RIP David Bowie. 💜💔💜

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

It’s interesting that the space race and psychedelics emerged around the same time, the moonwalk and Woodstock occurred within days of each other. Bowie seems to have captured both aspects of the era in this song.

[@robinraan]

Well said

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

@@robinraan thank you.

[@seanie002]

IMO, his greatest album is ‘Hunky Dory’ - absolutely brilliant.

[@vladtheinhaler93]

word!

[@DavidAvery777]

That's a good one to start with

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Yes.

[@roballen5718]

my favourite, too

[@steveosborne3714]

The best whole-album introduction to David Bowie, and possibly his greatest album, is 'Hunky Dory'. Every song on it is excellent and not only does it contain two of his signature songs, 'Changes' and 'Life On Mars', but Rick Wakeman provides fantastic piano accompaniment throughout, some of his most highly lauded session work for any other artist. I cannot recommend the album more highly.

[@guitgas]

An excellent suggestion.

[@Glyn75]

Space Oddity is definitely the best place to start and the album "Hunky Dory" is a very good next step (it features more Rick Wakeman, including on the epic "Life On Mars"). Between 1971 and 1980, Bowie's output was pretty much perfect and bears comparison with The Beatles evolution between 1963 and 1969. It's quite hard to summarise the array of musical styles covered in this period, but here goes: 1971 - Hunky Dory - Singer/Songwriter type album, lots of acoustic guitars and pianos. 1972 - Ziggy Stardust - Glam rock at it's best. 1973 - Aladdin Sane - Still some glam, but also mixed in with a touch of Jazz. 1974 - Diamond Dogs - Transitioning from rock towards soul and half of the album appears to be a musical based on "1984" 1975 - Young Americans - Philadelphia soul 1976 - Station to Station - The end of the soul period with some avant garde touches on the title track. 1977 - Low - Start of the "Berlin Trilogy" Half New Wave pop songs, half extraordinary ambient instrumentals. 1977 - Heroes - Similar to Low, but slightly less successful. Includes the legendary title track. 1979 - Lodger - Hints towards "world music" before it was a thing. Slightly less coherent than some of the other albums. 1980 - Scary Monsters - Partly sets the agenda for the New Romantics of the early 80s. Ashes to Ashes revisits the story of Major Tom to bring things full circle. Then there are another 35 years' worth of music to come... but that's more than enough for now.

[@dantallman5345]

Well done. Very nice and helpful summary.

[@christianmunthe1572]

Rick Wakeman plays gorgeous piano on ”Life on Mars” - one of B’s master pieces

[@jaydenwhitlen1489]

Also Mellotron on this song

[@sherryheim5504]

Bowie was a genius and I am so glad that you are finally getting to him. He is a one-off and always ahead of the curve with his unique style.

[@daveking9393]

Hard to go too wrong with Mr. Bowie. So friggin talented. That was very enjoyable

[@reesezpeecez08]

"There can be only one". The Rise and Fall of Ziggy and the Spiders from Mars. It was my first intro to Bowie and me and my friends loved it (1970's). However I was disappointed with his albums after that, I felt (as did my friends) that Ziggy was his best work. It was a concept album, I suppose, and every song was excellent.

[@mysterymac38]

So your a Ziggy fan, not a Bowie fan. Let Bowie fans decide what albums are his best.

[@becuzitsthere4484]

I could never get with the whole Ziggy thing being top shelf. It was good, but many of his albums were as good or better.

[@mysterymac38]

@@becuzitsthere4484 I agree and all these people shouting listen to "Heroes" are the people who only know his hit singles.

[@michaelz9892]

Moonage Daydream or album "Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars."

[@Wither81]

One of my favorite tracks of all time. His ”sci-fi era” is defintely my favorite with amazing tracks as ”Starman”, ”Ziggy Stardust”and ”Five Years”.

[@jennifermorris6848]

It is a joy to see someone discover something you’ve known for 40 years.

[@nancymjohnson]

Golden Years, Fashion, Fame, Under Pressure w/Queen, Changes…just for starters ☮️💜

[@lisachapman7191]

All classics

[@jimtatro6550]

Bowie has so many great songs, Fame, Young Americans, Heroes, Cat People, Modern Love and so many others.

[@kelliedee]

Yes, Cat People is a great song, and no one (apart from you), ever requests it!

[@kathleensmith3555]

Only after you have explored Bowie’s amazing catalog you absolutely must watch official video for Blackstar- it is disturbing amazing and wonderfully moving- there are visual references to many former songs and movies by Bowie - The digital sounding notes at the end of Space Oddity are in Blackstar too - interesting to note is that Elvis Presley also sings a song called Blackstar where if you see it over your shoulder you know your time has come- Elvis and Bowie have a shared Birthday --A Blackstar is the name of a cancer lesion-Also the children’s movie The Labyrinth he is the perfect Goblin King and so worth watching

[@simply_psi]

Glad you're gotten round to some David Bowie, he was so creative and he constantly evolved his sounds, this is part of a suite of 4 songs about Major Tom the others are, Ashes To Ashes, Hello Spaceboy and finally Blackstar from his final album, the span most of his career from 1969 through to 2015 and it is worth listening to them all, as well as other Bowie songs, he really did deserve to be called a legend.

[@corvus1374]

And other artists also did songs about Major Tom. Probably the most familiar is "Major Tom" by Peter Schilling. Here's an entire Wikipedia article about Major Tom: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Tom

[@OutOnTheTiles]

This guy has heard plenty of Bowie. 90% of these reaction videos are lies for attention. As if he hasn’t heard Bowie on KZbin or Spotify.

[@simply_psi]

@@OutOnTheTiles I think you are right with 80% of all reactors but to be honest I think Daniel is 100% genuine, he has been honest in the past when he has heard songs before, there are a few genuine reactors out there and Daniel along with Justin at JustJP is another and I'm happy to support them both

[@Christoff070]

He was ahead of his time and his music still is

[@catshepherd3102]

Little bit of trivia: the movie, The Fountain, was inspired by this song. Yep, Major Tom became The First Father.

[@kendavis8046]

"Suffragette City" - that is completely totally different. Same basic era though.

[@Pcrimson1]

I believe you've just begun a long but rewarding journey of discovering David Bowie. I am sure the more you dig, the more you will find. I look forward to watching you reacting to a true artist! Enjoy...

[@JC-es5un]

The song “Major Tom” came out in the early 80’s by an artist named Peter Schilling. He wrote it as a continuation of Major Tom’s story. When Bowie heard it, he gave it his full stamp of approval. Bowie does mention Major Tom in the song “Ashes to ashes”, but at least to me, he seams somewhat vague on his fate. I would recommend checking out Peter Schilling’s song if you want the rest of that character’s story. As far as Bowie, he has a ton of amazing music. “Rebel Rebel” “Changes” and “Suffragette City” are classics. If you wanna dive into his later works to see how he evolved, I would recommend “I’m Afraid of Americans”, or checking out his “Black Star” album. With Bowie you’re going to have to struggle to try to find a bad song, lol. So much amazing music from that guy.

[@robinraan]

Heroes, Five Years, Young Americans. “Art ultimately becomes more about what people make of it than what the artist originally intended it to be”. Well said

[@rodneygriffin7666]

Ashes to ashes is the sequel to space oddity made 10 years later.

[@davidgale7384]

Prolific..... Welcome to our world. He is the poster boy of glamour rock. Great place to start. Enjoy!

[@bobangell1679]

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars is Bowie's masterpiece.

[@Yaktahbay]

That's not a simple repeat of the chorus at the end; the lyrics are slightly different, reflecting that he's now "floating 'round", rather than "sitting in", his tin can and his reference point is now the moon. Putting all of the clues together leads me to believe Tom chose to drift away and not return.

[@reha1066]

He has an AMAZING catalog! ZIGGY STARDUST!!!

[@Yosef1952]

Way cool. WAY cool. You might want to check out "Suffragette City" if you think you're READY for it! :-) The whole Ziggy Stardust album is worth hearing, btw.

[@IllumeEltanin]

I totally agree with those saying to truly experience Bowie, one needs to do a deep dive and experience is chameleon output and styles chronologically. However, for a concise experience of the musical changes, do the trilogy: Space Oddity Ashes to Ashes and Black Star

[@1nelsondj]

Bowie is one of the most influential and iconic music artists of all time. He wasn't jumping genres to sell records, he was evolving, experimenting. I love how this song is equal parts acoustic and electric. Once he's in space he sees the Earth is blue (both in color and sad, commercializing space exploration, asking who's shirts he wears, etc.). First he's floating above the world in his 'tin can' then he's floating above the Moon and he says his spaceship knows which way to go, says goodbye to his wife and I expect he then cuts the cord and becomes one with the universe. I love that albums, 'Janine' is a killer song, there are a couple of epics as well, around 7 min. or longer. "Ziggy Stardust" is a themed album about an alien rock star that comes here to warn us of disaster, a real classic. His next "Aladdin Sane" was more experimental followed by a covers album "Pin Ups", songs that influenced him (all very well done). Then comes his 1st true concept album "Diamond Dogs" based on Orwell's "1984". The title track and 'Rebel Rebel' are true classics. A year later came the r&b album "Young Americans" and then the more experimental "Station to Station", my personal favorite beginning with the long title track. Next is the Berlin trilogy which he worked on with Brian Eno (he didn't produce them) which had some instrumental/ambient tracks, "Low", " "Heroes" " and "Lodger" which were a little more divisive for fans. He made another successful pop album followed by his highest commercial period with "Let's Dance", "Tonight" (underrated I think) and "Never Let Me Down" (recently remixed by Tony Visconti). After that he formed a band Tin Machine, they made 2 more rock albums and toured a bit before he returned to pop.

[@JosephHuntelvisnspiders]

"I didn't want that to end" Welcome to Bowie. I'd start with Ashes to Ashes as it's the sequel to this written many years later. Bowie was always reinventing himself. Enjoy the ride.

[@keithjones6023]

There are some artists known for albums, some known for singles. Bowie was an artist who was wonderful with both. You never knew what surprise was coming next with him, but you were never disappointed!

[@justink5585]

A full album reaction you should do is "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars". It's somewhat of a concept album and one of my favourites.

[@keef7224]

Bowie’s early guitar partner, John Hutchinson, who played on the original demo version of this song, sadly passed away just last week.

[@JonDalladay]

Ashes to Ashes would be good to react to too. Shows Bowie 10 years on from this.

[@jaymacgee_A_Bawbag_Blethering]

Daniel , you have no idea how groundbreaking Bowie, his look and his music were . Most artists cannot say they changed a culture , he did , in the uk in early 70’s times were tough and I remember it being very beige and dreary and then HE happened !! And suddenly anything was possible and life was just that more colourful and interesting.. punk had the same effect 5 years later but he outlasted that and everything else thrown at him . He was unique in so many ways and we don’t see the like if him again , I’m proud he was British too . 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@broadsword6650]

There was always something “alien” about David Bowie. As well as being a rock star he was also a movie star. Watch him in the title role of “The Man Who Fell To Earth”.

[@robinraan]

( directed by Nicolas Roeg )

[@Christoff070]

And Labyrinth. More of kids movie but his role was haunting and carried the movie

[@RYANDEOROCK]

U should also check out Peter Schilling - 'Major Tom (Coming Home)' from 1983. Its unofficially a sequel to 'Space Oddity' & a very cool new age tune. There is an extended version also.

[@micheles745]

Classic Bowie and for all of us above 50 crowd, this was definitely one of our "smoking" songs along with the entire Beetles "White album". RIP David Bowie.

[@Skraith]

So this one is out there - Little Drummer Boy with David Bowe & Bing Crosby. Maybe save it for Christmas, but it's an amazing arrangement.

[@Nina5144]

His first UK no 1 in 1975 (?), first released in 69 and again in 75. Great song. I love the counting down in the background. Always loved this.

[@PTBartman]

I've seen Bowie live a couple times. His shows were theatre. He was always ahead of his time.

[@827dusty]

I was a 14 year old High school freshman in 1972 when this came out. Music sure brings back the memories.

[@lindakessler8768]

His passing hit hard for me. But he lives on forever with young people like you keeping his music alive. Thank you. 👍🤙❤💋

[@barriehull7076]

David Bowie - vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Stylophone, handclaps Mick Wayne - lead guitar Herbie Flowers - bass guitar Terry Cox - drums Paul Buckmaster - string arrangement Tony Visconti - flutes, woodwinds Rick Wakeman - Mellotron

[@Wayner71]

There is so much superb Bowie material to listen to. Between 1970 and 1980 he was unmatched as a solo artist.

[@connieleighton4375]

It's absolutely the first song to play from David, this song introduced a lot of people to his music, including me I was ten the year this song came out, and i was totally enchanted by it...♡

[@joaopaulohenriques1404]

Many people don’t realize this but he is also very influential on the Glam Rock scene from early 70’s. My song suggestion is for Ziggy Stardust. Starman is also a great song.

[@kentnottingham9635]

“Fame” was a HUGE HIT, as was “Golden Years”. (Featured in the movie, Knights Tail) both 70’s hits. Let’s Dance, featuring Stevie Ray Vaughan, was a big 80’s hit and a host of others. Big career from this mastermind!!!

[@petercoy1813]

Yes. Do Ashes to Ashes. Sonically quite different to Space Oddity, but lyrically linked. Funk to funky.

[@Problembeing]

David Bowie is everything.

[@joelliebler5690]

This is the tune that began his legend! It is still played all over even today!

[@becuzitsthere4484]

Big thumbs up for making "Ashes to Ashes" and "Hallo Spaceboy" your next two Bowie selections.

[@dana_brooke_27]

David Bowie was a musical genius and a great man. He touched my life in so many ways. Everyone's saying Ziggy and yes it's outrageous..Station to Station is great too.

[@robertjewell9727]

The oddity is that in achieving such an extraordinary event, this is when space exploration first started, about discovery into a new realm, all Major Tom discovers is loneliness and expressed beautifully in the musical composition and instrumentation. For your first album listen I'd suggest STATION TO STATION from 1976, it's flawless IMO, although others will suggest other albums like ZIGGY. My personal favorite album though is SCARY MONSTERS. Best wishes.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

I agree Station to Station is super solid.

[@Katehowe3010]

Released in '69, in honour of the moon landing, this was Bowie's first hit, and reached a respectable number fiv in England! After this, he struggled to find a follow up, and although he eventually broke through again three years later, 'Space Oddity' was reissued in '75, and surprisingly reached the top of the charts! Released in '80, the sonically groundbreaking 'Ashes To Ashes' became his second chart topper, and in a case of conceptual continuity, continued the theme of 'Major Tom'!

[@melthebell33]

Year i was born, great song

[@Christoff070]

!

[@Katehowe3010]

?

[@dalem8332]

Excellent Bowie song! He was AMAZING! 'ALADDIN SANE' was a PHENOMENAL David Bowie album!♥️ 🎼🎵🎶🇨🇦🇨🇦

[@gary7223]

Space oddity is a fictional character he created and later in his career he wrote a song called Ashes To Ashes which is follow up of Major Tom in space oddity

[@markbishopmusic]

What happens next? You may be interested, Peter Schilling did a response song/video called Major Tom which is really good. Bowie embraced it. Love your reactions. Note that the song is Oddity, not odyssey, a change in meaning. Thanks so much for your work!

[@jkmenegay]

Keep going with Bowie. You'll really enjoy and appreciate his genius. Saw him in concert - an all white light show, white suit with his red hair which had a blond swath in it. Really great concert! Grew up with Ziggy Stardust, etc. Creative Genius.

[@pierrevaillancourt1803]

A Canadian astronaut recorded a cover of this song from the International Space Station

[@peircedan]

Chris Hadfield. He also did a video where he breaks down his version of Space Oddity. He says it was endorsed by Bowie himself! He did the music video after requests on the internet (it was not his fist music video up there. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZqWgnasg8akqZo break down kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZKydGyaltOrhNE Chris Hadfield's version

[@sertaki]

Congratulations for finding your way to Bowie! The hole left by his departure still feels fresh.

[@johnandrews3151]

Space Oddity was the first top 40 hit for David Bowie in the USA. A top 20 hit in 1973.

[@seanie002]

Recorded in 1969 - got to UK no 1 in. 1975 - an absolute slow burner.

[@poppad331]

"floating in a most PECECULIAR way" ( not peculiar) that extra added syllable made this line. I love that line

[@mikkomfi8643]

If you will pick up a Bowie album, Ziggy Stardust was/is...something epic. By the way, I never felt something bad happened to Major Tom in Space Oddity, vice versa. He opened up to the new universe, which "Ground control" could not understand. The experience was vivid, phenomenal and beautiful.

[@karentargaryen7959]

So glad you are going to react to Davie Bowie. Growing up in the 1970s my first influences were Queen, Elton John, and David Bowie, and still love them to this day.

[@Codex7777]

He picks up Major Tom's story, 11 years later, in 1980, in his hit, 'Ashes to Ashes'. :)

[@alirox4172]

After all these years, I did not know that a video existed for this song. Thanks for playing it, ds9.

[@EiriUesugiKun]

9:54 - The song "Lazarus" especially (last video he made) took a different tone after he died. It was "amazing"... On Friday he had the publishing party of his last album and on Monday he died.. He was such an artist to the end.. And the video for "Blackstar" kind of relates to this song...

[@Flatwoodsdad]

I'd say for albums "The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars". There's lot's of good tracks prior to that album but that was the breakout for him. Then at the time of his death he released "Blackstar". A truly unique and groundbreaking artist.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Station to Station is a great solid Bowie album. Heroes is a wonderful song. Superb reaction, thanks for doing Bowie.

[@sr1285]

Rocket Man, is my favourite Elton John song, so many great songs to choose from by David Bowie, Space Oddity is a great place to start, maybe stay on the space theme, Starman, Life on Mars , Ziggy Stardust ( he played guitar ).

[@davidglass4227]

Another classic in which Rick Wakeman did the keyboards. David asked Rick if he would join his band for the Spiders from Mars tour... Yes invited him into the band the very same day. We know he chose wisely.🤗

[@savethelighthouse]

That was an oscilloscope, kiddies. And an analog mixing console. Steam-Space Punk

[@erikkennedy8725]

I met Bowie once- he was a producer of a video game I was working on (Omikron). He was exceptionally down to earth and just geeking out over the game. His final album was a gift to all of us. He was an absolute genius and is sorely missed.

[@timlynch5710]

Wow. Now you're onto Bowie!!! Fasten your seatbelt Daniel. The hits won't tell you nearly as much as the albums themselves will. And they go from egg, to larva to pupa to adulthood. His and your own metamorphosis will share moments of confusion, brilliance, joy, jaw-dropping wonderment and overall awe. No one influenced more artists (or me) in his time on earth than our dear David. If you can, like I do, think of Eminem as Mozart and Dylan as Beethoven, Bowie is clearly Bach. My best as ever Daniel. Have a safe trip.

[@tommarr3884]

So glad that you finally got around to David Bowie. You chose MY personal favorite of all his vast library. What a major hit and listening experience. Thank you for your reaction. As always you have done a magnificent job of expressing your thoughts and description of the music and the breakdown of this song.

[@enchantedwooddesigns3462]

I wore out this record track as a kid at the local library with headphones on in 70's.

[@realjaxon]

It's so amazing to me that someone hasn't heard of David Bowie. It's a big wow to me. But having said that, I'm glad that you have now been introduced to him.

[@tonybennett4159]

One cannot underestimate the influence that Kubrick's "2001 a Space Odyssey" had not only on Bowie, but on generations of artists. Because it is philosophical science fiction, it undoubtedly interested Bowie who was always a thoughtful creator. The strangeness of "Space Oddity" is very much a part of "2001" and has the same trippy vibe, in fact some people got stoned before going to watch the movie. There are so many themes and images carried through from "2001" into "Oddity", the parallels are clear. I would say that if you watched "2001", you should listen to "Oddity" and if you've listened to "Oddity" you should certainly watch "2001".

[@Isleofskye]

As always that was a good reaction. I remember EXACTLY where I was when I first heard this. I was in M8's Parents' house in Clapham, South West London in 1969 though I think this video is 1972. Out of the 4 of us, i is in Cumbria, 2 in Kent, and, sadly, the other passed suddenly @ 60 years old. An INTERESTING fact was that The MELLOTRON was used here for one of the first occasions and only Rick Wakeman knew how to play it so he kept it a secret from the sound engineers and got paid £6 or $7 many times for his session work. He became World Famous with YES and is considered with Keith Emerson the greatest Keys player of Rock Music

[@lydiawilson5068]

this was his first charting song (early on) and Major Tom is in Ashes to Ashes and makes a visual appearance in a video from his Black Star album.

[@mikethipthorp9971]

FYI John Lennon is backing vocals on David Bowie's song 'Fame' on the Young Americans album.

[@your_local_dummy4137]

So great for you to start with Bowie at the start. This song really launched his career globally big time. It was released at the height of the space race to the moon. It is best to track through Bowie's career chronological order as Bowie morphed and changed so much. Picking random songs from Bowie will just confuse you on how he evolved and changed. But he has a great body of work. RIP David Bowie, a great talent so missed. The ending leaves you hanging to fill in your own ending. In the lyrics he is far above the Earth. Then after the mishap he is far above the Moon heading for deep space. Love your reaction.

[@happymethehappyone8300]

AN ABSOLUTE MUST HEAR, DAVID BOWIE "FAME"

[@CuzKatieSaysSo]

This song is also used in the movie Valerien.

[@stevenmurano7863]

great place to start with bowie as this was his first hit (from his second album). this was actually released in 1969 but the video was made in '72 when he was in full blown 'ziggy stardust' mode. More than any other artist I would say you are best served by taking in his music in chronological order...and when possible, an album at a time. there are too many GREAT albums to just pick individual songs. it is the best way to see just how this guy morphed every album or two. The next album (the man who sold the world) saw the addition of the great Mick Ronson (guitar) and Woody Woodmansey (drums) which made up 2/3 of the future 'spiders from mars'....bass by Tony Visconti...and was a Much Heavier album...especially musically. VERY heavy jams (to my ears reminiscent of Cream)...dark topics. Went absolutely nowhere on the charts but it's great. after that...'Hunky Dory' which was a total about face...more singer/songwriter based with all sorts of other influences brought in....you'd never know it was the same artist. critically acclaimed on almost ALL accounts....didn't break him big as it should have. and then...ZIGGY. from there the rest of the 70s were just incredible. every few albums (if not every single album) a change in direction, style. mindblowing that one artist did all this. dive in kid and enjoy the ride!!!!

[@christianguerin9460]

there is so much great Bowie songs. The Ziggy Stardust album should be the first you listen. But my favorite Bowie song is Life on Mars? from the album Hunky Dory (1971). I knw Bowie for a while, but its with his album Outside I really started to love his music. I dont think ive listen to all his music yet, But ive never heard a bad song from him. And I think the more you'll listen of him, the more you'll like it.

[@d2dMiles]

For me, Ray Bradbury's Mars Chronicles have a similar emotional approach to space "odditys". Well, you can't go wrong with Bradbury anyway, but really, when I hear this song it always reminds me of this book.

[@rickeyjay7164]

I used to think that something went wrong and they lost him. I’ve come to believe he intended to escape…”planet earth is blue and there’s nothing I can do “ …. refers to his disillusionment with life on earth and he’s given up…. “Tell my wife I love her very much she knows”…. Also signifying his intent to disappear…. There is a sadness deep within this tune.

[@rogeracosta2684]

I'm glad you've started your journey with David Bowie's music. Bowie is a magical musical genius that transcends music with his influences in pop culture and style. I hope you'll take the time to explore his vast category of music and all the different styles he's touched. I know of no other musical artist who has delved into so many styles of music as much as he has.

[@floydshambles]

I always thought of it as a song about isolation

[@stylebook6503]

“Golden years “ another great example of Bowie’s prowess in music. “Young American “ , “Fame” check these out too. Great reaction! I find your opinion and genuine interest in actual music gives me hope in your generation. Thanks. Peace. ✌🏼

[@Lwize]

Welcome to the rabbit hole of Bowie. Ziggy Stardust is a great place to start, full-album wise.