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{{quote box|quote=The publicity image of a spaceman at work is of an automaton rather than a human being{{nbsp}}... and my Major Tom is nothing if not a human being. It came from a feeling of sadness about this aspect of the space thing, it has been dehumanized, so I wrote a song-farce about it, to try and relate science and human emotion. I suppose it's an antidote to space fever, really.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=255}}|source=—David Bowie discussing the writing of "Space Oddity", 1969|width=30%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}
By the end of 1968, Bowie had begun to feel alienation from his career. Knowing ''Love You till Tuesday'' did not have a guaranteed audience and would not feature any new material, Pitt asked Bowie to write something new to "demonstrate David's remarkable inventiveness".{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=60}}{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} Bowie wrote "Space Oddity", a tale about a fictional astronaut named [[Major Tom]].{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=255}} Its title and subject matter were influenced by [[Stanley Kubrick]]'s film ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'',{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=59}}<ref name="mtv-rosenfield">{{cite web |
One of the first people to hear "Space Oddity" was Calvin Mark Lee, the head of [[Artists and repertoire|A&R]] at [[Mercury Records]] in London
==Composition==
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The demo's instrumentation uses only acoustic guitar and Stylophone, which were played by Hutchinson and Bowie, respectively.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} Bowie had used the [[Stylophone]], a recently released electronic instrument that was mainly marketed to children, to compose the song's melody.{{sfn|Doggett|2012|p=60}} Both Bowie and Hutchinson sang vocals. They recorded further acoustic demos in March<ref name="2019 Conversation Piece liner notes">{{Cite AV media notes |title=''Conversation Piece'' |others=David Bowie |year=2019 |publisher=[[Parlophone]] |location=Worldwide |type=Album liner notes |id=DBCP 6869|p=41}}</ref> or April{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}}{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=334}} 1969.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=256}}
The first full studio version of "Space Oddity", which was for ''Love You till Tuesday'', was recorded on 2
===Album version===
{{quote box|quote=In those days a gimmick was a big deal and people who had gimmicks were taken more seriously than those who hadn't. Bowie's was that he'd written a song about being in space at a time when the first US moonshot was about to take place. I listened to the demo and thought it was incredible. I couldn't believe that Tony didn't want to do it.<ref name="Classic Rock">{{cite web |last1=DeMain |first1=Bill |title=The Story Behind The Song: "Space Oddity" by David Bowie |url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/story-behind-the-song-space-oddity-david-bowie |website=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |access-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917011243/https://www.loudersound.com/features/story-behind-the-song-space-oddity-david-bowie |archive-date=17 September 2021 |date=13 February 2019}}</ref>|source=—Gus Dudgeon|width=30%|align=left|style=padding:8px;}}
In June 1969, Pitt negotiated a one-album deal, with options for a further one or two albums, with [[Mercury Records]] and its UK subsidiary [[Philips Records|Philips]].{{sfn|Gillman|Gillman|1987|p=172}} Mercury executives had heard one of the "Space Oddity" demos earlier in 1969. After [[The Beatles|Beatles]]' producer [[George Martin]] turned down the project,{{sfn|Trynka|2011|p=113}} Pitt hired [[Tony Visconti]], who produced Bowie's later Deram sessions. "Space Oddity" had been selected as the [[lead single]] in advance.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=335}} Visconti, however, saw it as a "novelty record"
Work on the album version of "Space Oddity" and its [[A-side and B-side|B-side]], "[[Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud]]", began at [[Trident Studios]] in London on 20
Dudgeon outlined a plan for the Stylophone and Mellotron parts by scribbling notes on paper, later telling the biographer [[Paul Trynka]]: "When we hit that studio we knew exactly what we wanted – no other sound would do."{{sfn|Trynka|2011|p=114}}{{sfn|Buckley|2005|p=57}} At one point, Wayne thought he had finished his guitar take early so he began retuning one of the strings. Dudgeon liked the warped effect of the retuning and asked Wayne to repeat it on the next take.{{sfn|Trynka|2011|p=114}} Wakeman recorded his part in two takes after hearing the demo once;{{sfn|Cann|2010|p=153}} he later said; "it was one of half a dozen occasions where it made the hair stand up on your neck and you know you're involved in something special. 'Space Oddity' was the first time it ever happened to me". Cox also felt a sense of excitement after the session finished.{{sfn|Trynka|2011|p=114}}
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Following the commercial breakthrough of Bowie's fifth studio album ''[[The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars]]'' in 1972, Bowie's then-label [[RCA Records]] undertook a reissue campaign for his Mercury albums that included repackaging ''David Bowie'' with the title ''Space Oddity''.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=338}} To promote this release, RCA rereleased "Space Oddity" as a single, with "[[The Man Who Sold the World (song)|The Man Who Sold the World]]" as the B-side,
In December 1979, Bowie re-recorded "Space Oddity" for the [[ITV (network)|ITV]] New Year special ''[[The Kenny Everett Video Show|Will Kenny Everett Ever Make It to 1980? Show]]''. The idea came from the show's director, [[David Mallet (director)|David Mallet]]. Bowie recalled:
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{{blockquote|I agreed as long as I could do it again without all its trappings and do it strictly with three instruments. Having played it with just an acoustic guitar on stage early on, I was always surprised at how powerful it was just as a song, without all the strings and synthesisers. I really wanted to do it as a three-piece song.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}}{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=258–259}}}}
Visconti produced this new version, which solely featured acoustic guitar, bass, drums and piano.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|pp=258–259}} The new recording has a number of differences from the original; the liftoff sequence was replaced with 12 seconds of silence and a snare drum fade-out ends the song. O'Leary said while the original "Space Oddity" ends "unresolved", the 1979 version leaves empty space.{{sfn|O'Leary|2015|loc=chap. 3}} This version was issued
In July 2009, [[EMI]] issued the digital-only [[extended play]] (EP) "Space Oddity 40th Anniversary EP" to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the original single. The EP includes the original UK and US mono single edits, the 1979 re-recording and eight [[Stem mixing and mastering|stem]] tracks that isolate the lead vocal, backing vocals, acoustic guitar, string, bass and drums, flute and cellos, Mellotron and Stylophone. These stem tracks are accompanied with a [[mobile app]] that allows users to create their own remixes. Pegg said the EP "provid[es] a fascinating insight into the component sounds of a classic recording".{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=260}} In 2015, the original UK mono single edit was included on ''Re:Call 1'', as part of the box set ''[[Five Years (1969–1973)]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.davidbowie.com/news/five-years-1969-1973-box-set-due-september-54571 |title=Five Years 1969 – 1973 box set due September|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160218235114/http://www.davidbowie.com/news/five-years-1969-1973-box-set-due-september-54571 |archive-date=18 February 2016 |website=David Bowie Official Website |access-date=16 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |
===Related releases===
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==Live versions==
"Space Oddity" remained a concert staple and a live favourite throughout Bowie's career.{{sfn|Pegg|2016|p=259}} On 22
A version of the song that was recorded at [[Santa Monica Civic Auditorium]] on 20
A concert performance that was recorded on 12
==Music videos==
On 6
[[File:David Bowie Space Oddity 1972.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|alt=A red-haired man with a guitar against a red backdrop|Bowie in the 1972 music video for the song. His disinterest in the video reflected in his performance.]]
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* {{cite book |last=Buckley |first=David |year=2005|orig-year=1999 |title=Strange Fascination – David Bowie: The Definitive Story |location=London |publisher=[[Virgin Books]] |isbn=978-0-7535-1002-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Cann |first=Kevin |year=2010 |title=Any Day Now – David Bowie: The London Years: 1947–1974 |location=Croydon, Surrey |publisher=Adelita |isbn=978-0-9552017-7-6}}
*{{cite book |last=Clerc |first=Benoît |year=2021 |title=David Bowie All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track |location=New York City |publisher=[[Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers|Black Dog & Leventhal]] |isbn=978-0-7624-7471-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Doggett |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Doggett |year=2012 |title=The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e27t-ag4NakC |location=New York City |publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperCollins Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-06-202466-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Gillman |first1=Peter|author1-link=Peter Gillman |last2=Gillman |first2=Leni |year=1987|orig-year=1986 |title=Alias David Bowie |publisher=New English Library |isbn=978-0-450-41346-9}}
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