Artists
Musicians featured in this piece are:
David Bowie – lead vocals, 12-string acoustic guitar, Stylophone
Mick Wayne – electric guitar
Herbie Flowers – bass
Terry Cox – drums
Rick Wakeman – Mellotron
Paul Buckmaster – orchestral arranger (8 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 2 arco basses, 2 flutes, organ)
Written by David Bowie. Produced by Gus Dudgeon (produced separately from the rest of the album, which was produced by Tony Visconti), recorded at Trident Studios, London, June 1969. Released as a single on 11 July 1969 (Philips/Mercury Records) and as the opening track of the album David Bowie, also known as Space Oddity (November 1969); reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart.
Notably, Tony Visconti, who produced the rest of the album, initially refused to work on “Space Oddity” itself, dismissing it as a novelty cash-in on the upcoming Apollo 11 moon landing. He handed production duties to engineer Gus Dudgeon, who mapped out the arrangement in painstaking detail with Paul Buckmaster, despite being unable to read music. Mercury rushed the single out just five days before the actual Apollo 11 launch, and it became Bowie’s first UK hit.
David Bowie – Space Oddity Lyrics
Ground Control to Major Tom
Ground Control to Major Tom
Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
(Ten)
Ground Control
(Nine)
To Major Tom
(Eight, seven, six)
Commencing countdown
(Five)
Engines on
(Four, three, two)
Check ignition
(One)
And may God’s love
(Lift-off)
Be with you
This is Ground Control to Major Tom
You’ve really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear
Now it’s time to leave the capsule if you dare
This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today
For here am I sitting in a tin can
Far above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do
Though I’m past one hundred thousand miles
I’m feeling very still
And I think my spaceship knows which way to go
Tell my wife I love her very much
She knows
Ground Control to Major Tom
Your circuit’s dead, there’s something wrong
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you hear me, Major Tom?
Can you he—
Here am I floating ’round my tin can
Far above the Moon
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do
To listen to other songs from the Teleskop 12 program and the full program, click here.