David Bowie - Space Oddity | Singer Reacts & Musician Analysis

[@stevedahlberg8680]

David Bowie is his own genre. A huge catalog and a highly influential artist, I bet you two have fun going down the rabbit hole. This was his first big hit but there were so many more to follow and a string of really fantastic albums as well.

[@charlestaylor3027]

The Laughing Gnome was his first hit.

[@krishanpaul2]

this song would be in the "filk" genre :)

[@pakalupapito3202]

Many modern bands draw inspiration from David Bowie, and you can see the similarities across all genres today. In my opinion, David Bowie is the most influential artist.

[@firedoc5]

This is David at his prime with glam rock and crossing over to progressive and pop. That's just how diverse he could be, even his look is still like Ziggy Stardust. When this came out space exploration was still relatively new, and people's imaginations were expanding to how deep space would be like, and this song captures that.

[@TheSmittenman]

I think you mean pre-ziggy

[@bobmessier5215]

The beauty of rock music in the 60's and 70's is that it came in many forms and colors. Today's music seems limited in comparison.

[@c1ph3rpunk]

It’s formulaic, they have a list of things to do that they know bring in a certain amount of revenue. They build those lists simply to hit P&L targets, it’s soulless now.

[@vanessabryan786]

@@c1ph3rpunk There are a handful of writers who write hits for a large number of artists or bands that don’t have the hits their music labels want in their repertoire’s. Bowie created his own trends .. personas music and collaborations. He read avidly and constantly and was always more than just a brilliant musician/ writer.😎🇬🇧

[@namjoonssexybrain1679]

I mean, rock music, sure, it’s gotten pretty stale, there’s fun in the sub genres but mainstream rock is on life support. Experimentation is live and well in most other genres and in the smaller sub genres of rock, though a lot of metal has this issue as well.

[@edwardlongshanks827]

A performance of this song by Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut on the International Space Station, was recorded in May 2013 when he was coming to end his tour in space. It received the blessing of David Bowie.

[@B1ackmice]

"...Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do..." Love this song.

[@keithmoore8702]

There is no genre. You can never put Bowie in a box

[@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars]

Yes there is. It's Bowie! He's a genre all on his own. 😉

[@oli9881]

nobody puts Bowie in a corner

[@Kits-Seven]

It's called art and music.

[@foljs5858]

Well, this one in particular is not that far from the subgenres of prog rock and space rock

[@caphowdy666]

Bowie lived by his own set of rules. The variation of styles throughout his career is rarely matched by anyone. If he wanted to record a song in a certain style, he just did it and did not care who liked it or not. Also, you have to remember that he started in the 60s and was part of an ever changing and evolving music scene. He could pretty much turn his hand to anything musically.

[@bobwoolerOriGinal]

The video is from 1972. The song recording is from 1969👍

[@johnpublicprofile6261]

There are some tweaks between the two releases, but 99٪ from the same recording session. One specific area of change was the launch sound effects.

[@Willem2761]

since it was faked any way it doesnt matter 😄😄😄

[@cdfdesantis699]

Pop/psychedelic fits as well as anything. The "thin white duke" was a chameleon, changing his style constantly, staying one step ahead of everybody else. An influential innovator par excellence. Thanks for your reaction.

[@mvjonsson]

This song was inspired by seeing Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey. Bowie did a follow up to the song, Ashes to Ashes, on the Scary Monsters album 1980, which tells what happened to the astronaut Major Tom. The theme of isolation, was one of Bowie's favourite motifs which he returned to in various songs. Here is the official video to Ashes to Ashes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fqqwnmeof8qgqqs

[@humbertocastro8088]

That was awesome and was my first time seeing the music video for him. Thank you

[@bumperu]

Genius song writing and produces the sensation of floating in space which is what the lyrics are all about.

[@blastingweevil2968]

bowie was a musical genius he is missed RIP david hope you having fun up there !!

[@bobbugwithoneeyeskingiskin8974]

It’s from the Early 70’s and it was part of a British musical explosion called Glam Rock! With Roxy Music, Queen, Sweet etc. also being a part of this movement!

[@genagg5248]

along with the mellotron, which might account for the unusual quality you reacted to, this song also features the toy instrument, the stylophone (responsible for the sine-wave like stepping sound towards the end)

[@dagmar.6954]

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 had a lot of great songs including "Ziggy Stardust", "Rebel Rebel", "Young Americans", "Changes", "Fame", "Golden Years", "Ashes To Ashes", "Under Pressure", Let's Dance", "Modern Love", "China Girl", "Heroes" etc.

[@glennwisniewski9536]

And Rick Wakeman (the future Yes keyboardist) on the mellotron, an electronic keyboard that mimics the string section of an orchestra with a bit of a flat, sour sound.

[@wpl8275]

Both Elton John's Rocket Man and David Bowie's Space Oddity came out in 1972. Both exploring the emptiness of space, separation from family and the dangers of space travel.

[@petergray2588]

Space Oddity originally was a hit in 1969

[@barrynelson7613]

Bowie at his best, one of the great metaphysical pop songs.

[@bendancar]

A famous publicity poster when the Heroes ablum came out read, "There's Old Wave. There's New Wave. And there's Bowie." Perfect, he was a genre of one. RIP

[@GinMae]

Thanks, Millie! This is only one example of the genius of Bowie.. .I hope you react to more!

[@jaxminame]

This was near the start of time quadraphonic / Synthesizer music came into being where the trend was to go away from stereo , two speakers to pick up different sounds and musical instruments , moving listeners to four speakers , listeners would have four speakers instead of the two for stereo on the four walls of their rooms and be surrounded by sound , the original surround sound concept. The Moog Synthesizer was a new somewhat magical creation for the times anyway that could produce many different musical sounds. A great time for artists experimenting with new variety of music forms. Listen to , Yes , Pink Floyd, Emerson Lake and Palmer and Todd Rundgren to name a few of the early artist to feature Quadraphonic / Synthesizer music into their sounds. A great time to be around listening to the new music.

[@commentatron]

At 3:19 ('today') and 4:34 ('she knows') it always sounded to me like he was channeling John Lennon. Which, given the time, he probably was.

[@robskitlz4391]

He is a true Legend...

[@Augustus-j1m]

Bowie is the coolest artist and his song are on another plane you should listen to a man who sold the world, starman , under pressure too

[@coreywickramasekera9968]

This ismy favorite Stuff by David Bowie, his best work in my opinion. 😊

[@rogerbianchini2982]

Look at that, you've already done what I suggested a minute ago ...... You GO, girl!!! And while you're GOING, see if you can find the movie "The Man Who Fell to Earth" which Bowie stars in as an alien who's crashed & taken up corporate residence on Earth to try to develop the resources to get back to his home planet, I believe (it's been a while since I've seen it) Mars. EXCELLENT use of Bowie's image of Ziggy Stardust (& the Spiders from Mars)

[@PaulG.x]

Make sure you listen to The Laughing Gnome by Bowie Possibly his Magnum Opus

[@jaumepiquebernaus1853]

The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the spiders from Mars , for me the best Bowie album. And Bowies live was in Hammersmth Odeon in 1973 his best performance with Diamond Dogs tour. Hammersmth concert it's legendary , epic and icònic. He breack up the band in short speach just before sing Rock and Roll suicide. Check It it's gonna blow your mind❤❤ Keep on rocking

[@vicprovost2561]

The Spiders From Mars are legends, the live concert movie of Bowie in 1973 being Ziggy Stardust is dope as is Mick Ronson on scorching guitar!

[@Salomon-pi8cb]

Such creativity. David Bowie was musical genius. He played all genres. He will be missed .R.I.P my friend... James Zrenjad Desjardins

[@Salomon-pi8cb]

Great song. David Bowie will be missed. Such a creative mind. A true genius ❤R.I.P my friend James Zrenjad Desjardins

[@cdronk]

When this was recorded, artists and studio engineers were way more experimental. Producers and record executives were more willing to take risks. Music today is much more profit motivated and producers are less willing to take chances. They use sounds and techniques that have already been proven to work for them. They also want it to hit with the listener immediately. That is why so much of today's music sounds the same. Most music today is also very compressed and don't allow for much space around the instruments. As our attention span gets smaller and smaller, music is going to continue to become less and less interesting. Of course there are exceptions.

[@Tampahop]

I first saw David Bowie on the TV show The Midnight Special in 1973. It blew my mind. I became a fan and followed him through his many musical transitions, but Ziggy Stardust was my favorite Bowie persona. I stayed with him up through his last album, Blackstar. He was a musical genius and always seemed to be ahead of his time. The world is a sadder place without him.

[@jdscottphd]

The genre is "Bowie." Nothing compares.

[@warrenbfeagins]

David Bowie is his own genre. That's his genius. Great reaction!

[@bobbugwithoneeyeskingiskin8974]

It was a musical movement in Britain called Glam Rock! Big in the Early 70’s with Queen, Roxy Music, Slade, The Sweet etc. being part of this style of music!

[@direnova6284]

The video was1972, when it was re-released, the record came out in 1969.

[@iamdinkel]

There are no rules in recording only how it makes you feel. The right mike for the feeling.

[@johnlongenecker7779]

Space Oddity was my first exposure to David Bowie many, MANY moons ago. I was hooked permanently.

[@neilphelan145]

Saw him three times in the 70s. Nobody else like David Bowie!!! Super showman with a stellar back up band !!!!

[@adamblackwelder1963]

David Bowie is one of my Top 5 favorite artists. 😊

[@vicprovost2561]

The genre is David Bowie my dear, this is the tip of the iceberg! This is from his early days, personified by his Ziggy Stardust personality along with his crack band, the Spiders From Mars. He has some spectacular rockers from them, with Mick Ronson on killer guitar, including Moonage Daydream, Panic in Detroit and the Jean Genie. His musical yearning broke up the band too early but he was a musical chameleon and set on his own diverse journey, crossing paths with many amazing musicians and cementing his legend with many great songs. He will always be listened to, glad I was around when he was, brilliant artist. Enjoy! 🎵🎸🎤🎹🎶

[@CaffeineNightOwl]

some mentioned it already: David Bowie is his own genre.

[@Lixallot]

Kudos, Millie.... You're on a journey to finding rare gems of the past. Before the age of Auto-tune, before digitization. When unique talents, were true to their creativity. Bowie was always a genre onto himself. Glad to see it being appreciated.

[@bobbyboko6317]

The world's coolest man , Bowie was a Superstar 💥💥

[@markstokes1401]

Bowie was a musical genius.

[@aldoayhoniz190]

This has some of progressive, some of psichedelic, some of country, some of rock, some of pop. Bowie is a genius, he can use many genres in one song and create his own genre mixing them all.

[@Calamity_Jack]

It's funny, I suspected the strings part of this song sounded like they were played on a Mellotron, and it turns out they were - recorded in 1969 by Rick Wakeman (most famously, keyboardist for Yes).

[@endless013]

This is my favorite Bowie song

[@bashab3098]

All recorded and mixed with analogue technology . It has a warmth to the digital sounding sections .

[@johnpublicprofile6261]

The BBC played this during their coverage of the Apollo 11 mission a few days later.

[@tonybaker55]

If you enjoyed that, then definitely listen to the Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars album.

[@mangasky7]

You call this genre the Genius of BOWIE.

[@enchantedwooddesigns3462]

I discovered this song in the town library at age 13 in 1978. I did not know Bowie before that but I probably wore out the song on the record. I played it a ton )

[@leewafer6583]

So many great songs, one of my favorite is suffragette city, changes, and Fame.

[@2JorgeBeat]

This is art rock!

[@chrislane3375]

Psychedelic Glam-Rock if you need to put it in a category. Bowie is pure genius. IMHO

[@terryfowler4893]

Five years live on The Old Grey Whistle Test to see his genius

[@michaelnicholas2417]

They weren't 'breaking' any recording rules, they were 'inventing' them. 😊

[@RonniePeterson]

Genius.

[@carlop.7182]

Thanks for your reaction. Want to watch another version of this song ?--look for astronaut Chris Hadfield version, recorded in the International Space Station, with permission from Bowie himself--with stunning images taken from space. Have a nice day.

[@Linda-y9h]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤ miss him so much.

[@junkyardheaven]

Very, very far ahead for it's time. Don't really know if we've caught up yet...

[@vegdagol2843]

Another longer epic song by mr. Bowie: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b32VqJWpf52eipY “Cool to be different” is pretty much Bowie’s gift to the world

[@iamdinkel]

Last one. You place mice with different tones on purpose because you know their tanalify and depth. AEG because they have deep and rocky response. sm57 because the are clear on a guitar with good flavor, uA87 when highs matter. I’d always mike…the deep voice with high overtones with a hmmm… Always loved that SM57 gonna go with that

[@Isleofskye]

They DID break "recording views" in that it was the first use of the MELLOTRON and only (then) Session Musician: Rick Wakeman knew how to use this complicated piece of kit and he wanted to keep getting his £6 Fee to have solo access to any later song involving this instrument. Eventually, Rick joined YES and other Civil Engineers worked it out, This was 1968 ORIGINALLY and I remember, exactly where I was when I first heard this: In Killyon Road, Clapham, South West London when playing Football games with my schoolmates in their living room. At "3.57" os my favourite musical note of all time. What happened to these last 55 years since I heard it though?

[@sinelo3965]

Bowie was one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century

[@user-ky6vw5up9m]

The keyboard and Stylophone were played by classically trained Rick Wakeman

[@1R3TR0]

At the time this was made genres in this musical direction were still experimental and not yet established! RIP David!

[@JAMESMOORE-gq4vv]

YOUNG AMERICANS, and SRV was his guitarist for the hits LET'S DANCE and CHINA GIRL.

[@1sizefitzall-bf8yf]

As a 64 year old guy, I vividly remember the impact DB had. REN is doing this from now.

[@iancremmins4727]

one of the pioneers

[@WineSippingCowboy]

This genre is known as modern rock. Thus, the late David Bowie is known as The Father 👨 of Modern Rock. This genre overlaps with classic rock 🎸, which David Bowie is also a part of. During the 1960s, Davy Thomas Jones was in The Monkees 🐒 🐵 🙊 🙈. Thus, the late David Robert Jones changed his name to David Bowie in order to avoid confusion. Written by David Bowie. Produced by Tony Visconti and Gus Dugeon. T Visconti and David Bowie produced Black Star 🌟, last album of David Bowie. Gus Dudgeon produced early albums of Elton John. Great 👍 song 🎵. Suggested videos 📹: 1 David Bowie and Queen perform Under Pressure. 2 David Bowie sings Let's Dance 💃

[@Richardkv2112]

The ending reminds me of Pink Floyd's Astronomy domine - Interstellar overdrive

[@mattblatchley2061]

such an unbelievable classic...could never be recreated at this level today...Ziggy SD ftw

[@mattblatchley2061]

Inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odessey

[@mattblatchley2061]

straight GLAM baby

[@mattblatchley2061]

yeah...my man David wasn't trying to have a viral tiktok hit🤷‍♂

[@JosephNordenbrockartistraction]

Maybe I can't trust my recognition of artist voices that close, but I suspect DAVID sang his own dubbed over harmony to get this song the way he wanted. I know I would . Like singing along with the dream world inner child with that same voice you share. "the bad idea kid, but it's just an amusing note to self"

[@hobbypassion]

The astronaut Chris Hadfield performed this while on the space station. It was EPIC! You can see it on youtube.

[@thekevindeucey]

I found you because of Depeche Mode, i follow you with David Bowie. I love irony. ❤

[@timwestcott361]

Rick Wakeman on keys.

[@darkingstom]

Idk why but i cry everytime i 😢 hear it

[@danielbenincasa770]

!972, a legend!

[@geraldharkness8830]

this is david bowie he is his own genre

[@Rembrant65]

It's Rock. There are no rules. Bowie was a Rock God. My recommendation for your next Bowie reaction is to pick a song at random from his catalog and you'll be fine.

[@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars]

This genre is genius!

[@jn9604]

That was the late 60s and 70s with rock exploding with experimentation and different sounds and styles. It is unlikely that music like this would get made today. It seems today's music is doing the opposite in that music seems to be converging so many performers and many songs sound very similar (at least popular music). I think the diversity of that time was my favourite period in rock music. You had so many different genres and even big differences in sound and style within genres.

[@nigelralphmurphy2852]

"Rules were made to be broken." Bowie (could have/ should have) said this.

[@lextownes1042]

When I saw this on TV, I knew shit had changed!

[@J.Bardavio]

AMAZING SONG, AMAZING!!!

[@gamesman0118]

In the 60's and 70's they were experimenting with new technology and new ways to make music.

[@cap.luisfigo9401]

Why you must have a Genre? Enjoy the Music, enjoy David Bowie. 💖🎵☮

[@coreywickramasekera9968]

The whole album is excellent

[@kevinwalsh9483]

david b was so cool!!! i am sure that a young bowie would have asked milli to marry him.

[@coreywickramasekera9968]

They used this song for the opening of a HUGE BUDGET, box office bomb 💣, VALERIAN, AND THE CITY OF 1000 PLANETS, not sure if the name is correct, I love the movie though

[@greenbluemonkey]

Yeah Bowie reinvented himself for every album. Uncategorizable but if I were to pin him down for this song IMO it was a foray into prog rock genre that was happening at the time. Experimental sounds. Exploring the new fangled synthesizers just coming out then.

[@helenmick5053]

Bowie was not afraid of change. If he felt things were starting to get stale he would go away and reinvent himself and his band

[@Jaseph2]

It’s called David Bowie. He has a wide variety of music but it’s original

[@srt8rocketship241]

Great reaction Millie , great look as well.

[@BruceEssig]

I was waiting at the music store for this album to be put out, in 1972 as I was part of the Long Haired Student Anti-War Movement at that time. While later following alternative lifestyles to create a healthy lifestyle and communal environment later

[@richardkint6531]

If you want some David Bow-ie rockers, checkout "Rebel Rebel" or "Suffragette City"

[@scotthouston6621]

This was space rock!🪐🎸