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On this day in 1973, the David Bowie single “Space Oddity” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #71 (February 2)
The single was originally rush-released just ahead of the Moon landing in July 1969.
However, it initially sold poorly in the UK and was even banned by many radio stations in the US and the UK, including the BBC.
Ultimate Guitar.com said,
“The BBC were not the only ones wary of the song’s ominous lyrics. Mercury sent the song to radio stations all over the US.
No one would play it, considering it a novelty song that might seek to capitalize on, and cheapen, one of the greatest accomplishments of mankind, with a song with vague ties to emptiness and failure.
That simply wouldn’t do.
The song completely bombed (topped out at 124 on the Billboard Charts) and led to Bowie being dropped from Mercury Records.”
Interestingly, BBC radio banned the song, but BBC TV used it as background music during its coverage of the landing.
According to Bowie, “It was picked up by British television and used as the background music for the landing itself in Britain,” Bowie said, then continued with a chuckle: “Though I’m sure they really weren’t listening to the lyrics at all; it wasn’t a pleasant thing to juxtapose against a moon landing.
Of course, I was overjoyed that they did. Obviously, some BBC official said: ‘Right, then. That space song, Major Tom…’ blah blah blah,‘ That’ll be great.’
Nobody had the heart to tell the producer: ‘Um… but he gets stranded in space, sir.’”
Allegedly, the BBC eventually realized this oversight and did not use the song again until after the Apollo 11 crew slashed down into the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969.
Buoyed by its inclusion as background music on the official BBC coverage, the song climbed to #5 in the UK.
Later, in 1972, after the commercial breakthrough of Bowie's fifth studio album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, RCA Records undertook a reissue campaign for his Mercury albums that included repackaging David Bowie with the title “Space Oddity”.
To promote this release, in the US on 13 December 1972, RCA rereleased "Space Oddity" as a single backed by "The Man Who Sold the World".
The single reached #15 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming Bowie's first hit single in the country.
RCA again reissued the track in 1975 as part of a maxi-single, which then became Bowie's very first UK #1 single.
The song featuring the iconic, recurring Major Tom character was partly inspired by Stanley Kubrick's film “2001: A Space Odyssey”…
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