Released
on November 14th, 1969, David Bowie's sophomore solo LP, sometimes
known by its eponymous title - sometimes known as "Space Oddity", turns
55 years old today. It's the album that gave the world its first proper
glimpse of the superstar that would emerge over the next few years.
David
Bowie had made his debut on LP in 1967 with an album that was also
released with an eponymous title. That album was focused on mostly
British music hall inspired pop songs, offering up a kinda of "song
& dance" version of Bowie that really had little to do with the kind
of artist he'd eventually become. The album sold poorly, which is why
it took two years to muster up enough interest to release a second
album. This time around, he was going for a kind of psychedelic tinged
folk rock that seemed to be far more indicative of what he was truly
capable.
The centrepiece of the
album was the Space Oddity single, which was rush-released on July 11th
of that year, in order to leverage the Apollo 11 moon landing. The
song was inspired by Stanley Kubrick's 2001, A Space Odyssey. It
received critical praise and was used by the BBC as background music
during its coverage of the event. It initially sold poorly but soon
reached number five in the UK, becoming Bowie's first and only chart hit
until three years later, when Starman hit the top ten in 1972. Though
Tony Visconti produced the album, he actually passed on producing the
Space Oddity single, claiming at the time it was too much of a "novelty
song". Instead, production for that song was handled by engineer, Gus
Dudgeon.
Despite the success of
the Space Oddity single, the album still failed to make much of an
impression, even with Bowie making appearances on Top of the Pops and
other shows to promote it. Bowie's label simply didn't put anything
behind the album's promotion, so it effectively tanked on the charts.
It wasn't until RCA reissued the album in 1972 that it finally charted,
reaching #17 and hanging on to the listings for 42 weeks. In terms of
the critics, the response was mixed and has remained so throughout the
album's lifespan. While it has moments and support from some quarters,
it is often seen as unfocused, even by Bowie himself. He was simply
still lacking the confidence to take charge of his vision, and that
showed in the final product. Ultimately, it stands as the first real
indication of the artist to come, showing glimpses of the style and
flair that would soon propel him to the stratosphere as one of the most
revered respected rock musicians of all time.
