Space Oddity: Bowie's Cosmic Breakup

0:00On April 18th, back in 1968, David Bowie caused Stanley Kubrick's 2001 colon, a space odyssey three times at a London theater, totally stoned, and mesmerized by its isolation vibe. That sparked his first top 10 hit, Space Audity, about astronaut major Tom drifting alone in space. The song pulled from Bowie's rough breakup with his actress girlfriend Hermione Farthing Gale, plus breezy courts he borrowed from Simon and Garfunkels. Old friends track. He cut a basic demo late that year for a promo film, mimicking rocket sounds himself, which landed him a deal with mercury records. His buddy producer Tony Visconti passed on it, calling it a moon landing gimmick, so young engineer Gus Dogen stepped up. They nailed the full version on June 20th, 1969, at Trident Studios in London, with killer bass from Herbie Flowers and Melotron. And Rick Wakeman, all for under 500 pounds. It dropped July 11th, just nine days before Apollo 11's moon landing, rushed out to ride

1:02that NASA wave. British TV even used it as backdrop for the broadcast, ignoring the stranded astronaut lyrics. Bowie chuckled about some BBC suit picking the space. Tune without checking the words. Space Audity became Bowie's biggest UK single, his signature jam, kicking off decades of wild characters and hits like Ziggy Stardust, still echoing. As a rock classic today, music news, today, powered by AI bringing you what's trending in sound.