David Bowie releases Space Oddity

David Bowie releases Space Oddity in the UK for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the UK (but not until 1973 in the US) on July 11, 1969.

David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for five decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s, and is known for his distinctive voice and the intellectual depth of his work.

David Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart.

After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture." The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.

David Bowie Space Oddity was released on 11 July, five days ahead of the Apollo 11 launch, to become a UK top five hit.

Bowie's second album, Space Oddity, followed in November; originally issued in the UK as David Bowie, it caused some confusion with its predecessor of the same name, and the early US release was instead titled Man of Words/Man of Music. Featuring philosophical post-hippie lyrics on peace, love and morality, its acoustic folk rock occasionally fortified by harder rock, the album was not a commercial success at the time of its release.

"Space Oddity" was a largely acoustic number augmented by the eerie tones of the composer's Stylophone, a pocket electronic organ. The title and subject matter were inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey and introduced the character of Major Tom. Some commentators have also seen the song as a metaphor for heroin use, citing the opening countdown as analogous to the drug's passage down the needle prior to the euphoric 'hit', and noting Bowie's admission of a "silly flirtation with smack" in 1968. His 1980 hit "Ashes to Ashes" declared "We know Major Tom's a junkie".


Retro History for July 11 The 50s 60s 70s 80s


Retro History For The Decade 1980

1989 60th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 5-3 at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim All star MVP: Bo Jackson (Kansas City Royals)
1989 President Ronald Reagan sportscasts All Star Game
1988 Mike Tyson hires Donald Trump as an advisor
1987 Heart's "Alone," single goes #1 for 3 weeks
1987 Orioles Cal Ripkin becomes 1st to manage 2 sons, as Billy joins Cal
1986 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway runs 10,000 m in world record 30:13.74
1986 Maricica Puica of Romania runs 2,000 m in 5:28.69 (record for women)
1986 Mary Beth Whitehead christens surrogate Baby M, Sara
1985 Astros' Nolan Ryan, 1st to strike out 4000 (Mets' Danny Heep)
1985 Refurbished Columbia moves overland from Palmdale to Dryden
1985 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R.
1984 55th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 3-1 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco
1984 All star MVP: Gary Carter, Mont Expos
1984 England's MusicBox begins satellite transmission to Europe
1984 Government orders air bags or seat belts would be required in cars by 1989
1984 Lucas Mangope re-elected president of Bophuthatswana
1983 Lorraine Elizabeth Downes, 19, of New Zealand, crowned 32nd Miss Universe
1982 "7 Brides for 7 Brothers" closes at Alvin Theater New York City after 5 performances
1982 3rd U.S. Seniors Golf Open: Miller Barber
1982 Hollis Stacy wins West Virginia LPGA Golf Classic
1982 Italy beats West Germany 3-1 for soccer's 12th World Cup in Madrid
1981 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1981 Neva Rockefeller is 1st woman ordered to pay her husband alimony
1981 Sebastian Coe of U.K. sets record for 1K (2:12.18)
1980 American hostage Richard I Queen freed by Iran

Retro History For The Decade 1970

1979 U.S. Skylab enters atmosphere over Australia and disintegrates
1978 49th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 7-3 at San Diego Stadium
1978 All star MVP: Steve Garvey, Los Angeles Dodgers
1978 Auto with liquid gas crashes and explodes in Spain, 160 killed
1977 Medal of Freedom awarded posthumously to Martin Luther King, Jr.
1976 1st U.S. football club in Austria forms (FAAFC-1st Austrian American)
1976 31st U.S. Women's Open Golf Championship won by JoAnne Carner
1976 France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island
1976 In pre-game promo at Atlanta County Stadium, 34 couples wed at home plate followed by Championship Wrestling "Headlocks and Wedlocks"
1975 Chinese archeologists discover a 3-acre burial site with 6,000 clay statues of warriors dating as early as 221 BC
1974 House Judiciary Committee releases evidence on Watergate inquiry
1974 World Football League plays 1st games
1973 Brazilian Boeing 707 crashes near Paris, 122 killed
1971 Chilean parliament nationalizes U.S. copper mines
1971 Jane Blalock wins LPGA George Washington Golf Classic
1971 Phillies Deron Johnson 3 home runs caps his 4 in a row

Retro History For The Decade 1960

1969, 'Space Oddity' by David Bowie was released in the UK for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the UK (but not until 1973 in the US).
1969 Rolling Stones release "Honky Tonk Woman"
1968 Earl Weaver replaces Hank Bauer as manager of Orioles
1968 Start of Colin Cowdrey's 100th Test, 1st person to do so
1967 38th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 2-1 in 15 at Anaheim Stadium, CA
1967 All star MVP: Tony Perez (Cincinnati Reds)
1967 Kenny Rogers forms 1st Edition
1965 Israeli Mapai-party nominates David Ben-Gurion
1965 Kathy Whitworth wins LPGA Lady Carling Midwest Golf Open
1963 South African ANC Walter Sisulu/Andrew Mlangeni/Govan Mbeki arrested
1962 1st transatlantic TV transmission via satellite (Telstar I)
1962 Brothers Hank and Tommie Aaron homer in same inning
1962 Cosmonaut Micolaev set then record longest space flight - 4 days
1962 Fred Baldasare is 1st to swim English Channel underwater (scuba)
1962 U.S. performs atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island
1962 U.S. performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1961 30th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-4 in 10 at Candlestick Pk, SF
1961 Gene Kiniski beats Verne Gagne in Minneapolis, to become NWA champ
1960 28th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 5-3 at Municipal Stadium, KC
1960 Czechoslovakia adopts Constitution
1960 Ivory Coast, Dahomey, Upper Volta and Niger declare independence
1960 Moise Tsjombe declares Congolese county Katanga independence

Retro History For The Decade 1950

1955 Congress authorizes all U.S. currency to say "In God We Trust"
1955 New USAF Academy dedicated at Lowry AFB in Colorado with 300 cadets
1954 1st White Citizens Council organizes in Indianola, Miss
1952 General Eisenhower nominated as Republican presidential candidate
1950 17th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 4-3 in 14 at Comiskey Park, Chicago Ted Williams breaks his elbow; 1st extra inning All Star Game

Have a groovy vintage retro day!


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Vintage Retro Music & Retro Pop Culture is our passion and what we LOVE. We keep it going everyday for the love of producing it for you to enjoy. Thanks for viewing. Much Peace! David Bowie releases Space Oddity in the UK on July 11, 1969.