I prefer the ISS astronaut version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOC9danxNo&feature=player_embedded

This song takes me back in time, great song!

Most excellent, Sir! 

 cmarcan wrote: 
8.6 from the RP listeners says not, I'm afraid. It's just you.

 Toke wrote: 
British Tabloid headline:    UK football fan found black and blue in his bathtub.  Apparently he was beaten up by a streaming music DJ working in California. 

Overrated, maybe, but .... 1969! This is NOT what anyone else was doing in 1969.

I knew David when he lived near Beckenham, South London  (I'm talking about before he became famous).  He and some mates used to run an open-mike night at the Three Tuns pub and I used to go along with my guitar (hey, David Bowie heard me sing!).  One night he brought along the just-recorded version of Space Oddity.  We never saw him again after that week!

Rediscovering Bowie is great!!!

 WonderLizard wrote: 
You made me look!!  Found (the Bowie interview at least, not the comments from the actor — though I didn't see Bowie storm off in a huff.  Was there another interview w/Cavett?) on YouTube in 2 parts here and here.  What a blast....

 WonderLizard wrote: 
That is really funny. And really mean.

I honestly never noticed the teeth until I read these comments. Really ... who cares?

 kaybee wrote: 
The Soyuz 11 tragedy occurred a couple of years after this song was written and released, but I agree that there is pathos in this tune.

One of my all-time faves. Have to turn the volume up whenever it's on.

 djengs wrote: 
I agree that the song is about all these things:  addiction, celebrity etc.  But I think he is alsp referencing the Soyuz 1 and 11 disasters:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_%28spacecraft%29

I love this piece for many reasons but also for the element of pathos in it.

I don't know why this song doesn't have a round ten.

 RParadise wrote: 
Pretty sure you got it right. For a time being an astronaut trumped anything else you could possibly be, celebrity-wise, and then as now the press/fans/etc. wanted whatever inane info possible from the idols du jour. Perfect fodder for the dreams of a junkie heading for an all-time low...

I read it as a description of drug addiction.  Makes it a powerful peice for me.

I perfectly understand those that never want to hear this again, for some reason it does not bother me though.

Ground control to Major RP, this is one of those famous, popular and more-or-less universally beloved tunes — that I never found very engaging and anyway has been so drastically overplayed that if I never heard it again I would not miss in the least. Better for its wry title and its connection to Bowie's very intriguing turn as The Man Who Fell to Earth than as music. 

I actually heard this on the car ride into work today.  Re-listening with a great pair of headsets really does make a difference with this song.  Mind= blown.

 photolew wrote: 
Such a schmaltzy song. Why is still on the air?

Clear vinyl...

 Stratocaster wrote: 

Help me dear RP listeners.  Is this a cover of his Ziggy Stardust version of this song that was recorded in the 1970s?  Or is this the exact same recording that was repackaged and issued later? Bill's notes at the top of this page say that this was released in 1990

your circuit's dead, there's something wrong, can you hear me Major Tom.

now classic that took a few years and further fame in England to catch on with the populous

Oh, so lovely.  The sound of an era.

 craigh wrote: 
Years ago when Bowie was going through his "thin white duke" guise, he was on Cavett. The interview was a disaster with Bowie walking off in a huff. The next guest was some esteemed British actor, whose name I forget. He sits down and says to Cavett, "Remarkable young man. I didn't know whether to shake his hand or feed him a cube of sugar."

 craigh wrote: 
Can you say superficial ? You are kidding, right ?
Please tell me your'e kidding............. I'm betting you are still single.
If I had that talent I could look like, hmmmmmmmmm, let me think..........feckin' fuggly. And be happy with it.