David Bowie Space Oddity
Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
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URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=5756
Printed Date: 25 October 2025 at 5:22pm
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Topic: David Bowie Space Oddity
Posted By: jimmydead
Subject: David Bowie Space Oddity
Date Posted: 01 July 2010 at 9:35am
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Hello
according to the db, 2 CDs contain "the non-charting 1969 version recorded for Mercury Records." As a longtime Bowie fan, I can tell you all that there is no such version. The 1969 version is the exact same recording that was issued as a single by RCA in 1973. The 3'31" version that is called the "Mercury" version in the db is actually just an edit of the regular album version. Now there are actually different versions of Space Oddity as at least 4 versions have been released. If you include the different edits, there are many more. There's the "Love You Till Tuesday" version which was never released commercially until 1984. There's the original 1969 version, re-issued as a hit single in 1973. There's a demo version released on the Sound + Vision box set, recorded in 1969 and there's Bowie's 1979 re-recording that was issued as a B-side and later showed up as a bonus track on Scary Monsters. The 4 versions are very easy to differentiate as they all sound very different. Here's a list of the complete edits as taken from the DB Illustrated Discography... * Love You Till Tuesday version - 4'31" (a/o Love You Till Tuesday CD, London Boy) * Love You Till Tuesday version - 3'45" edit (a/o Love You Till Tuesday LP, The Deram Anthology) * Space Oddity demo #1 (Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Edition) * Space Oddity demo #2 (Sound + Vision; with longer spoken introduction) * Space Oddity demo - alternate take (bootlegs only) * Space Oddity version - 5'14" album version (Space Oddity) * Space Oddity version - 3'23" edit (mono version: 1969 US Mercury DJ-133 promo 7", 1969 US Mercury 72949 7", 1972 US RCA EP-45-103 promo 7", Space Oddity EP) * Space Oddity version - 3'23" edit (stereo version: 1969 US Mercury DJ-156 promo 7") * Space Oddity version - 3'31" edit (The Singles 1969 To 1993) * Space Oddity version - 3'53" edit (1973 US RCA 74-0876 promo 7", Space Oddity EP) * Space Oddity version - 4'33" edit (1969 Philips BF 1801 7", Space Oddity EP) * Italian version - 'Ragazzo Solo, Ragazza Sola' (1969 Italian Philips 704208 BW 7", Space Oddity 40th Anniversary Edition) * 1979 remake (a/o 1980 UK RCA BOW 5 7", 1991 Scary Monsters Rykodisc reissue, Space Oddity EP) If this is way too much info, I apologize :) |
Replies:
Posted By: Pat Downey
Date Posted: 01 July 2010 at 8:25pm
| The 1969 version may very well be an edit of the later RCA release of "Space Oddity" but nevertheless it is an edit and therefore qualifies as its own "version". I did not mean to imply it was a different recording. |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 02 July 2010 at 4:39am
| The phrase "recorded for Mercury records" could be replaced by "released by Mercury records" to make it completely clear that nothing different was recorded for Mercury. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 02 July 2010 at 5:51am
| Has anyone compared the RCA promo edit with the 1973 single? I only have a stock copy of this, but ISTR the promo edit had a different mix. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 02 July 2010 at 9:56am
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Jimmy writes:
"according to the db, 2 CDs contain "the non-charting 1969 version recorded for Mercury Records." As a longtime Bowie fan, I can tell you all that there is no such version. The 1969 version is the exact same recording that was issued as a single by RCA in 1973. The 3'31" version that is called the "Mercury" version in the db is actually just an edit of the regular album version." You're new to our chatroom, but Pat has always defined "version" as a recording that's either been edited or remixed (as opposed to being simply faded early for the 45.) So even though you say the 3:31 recording is an edit, it would still be labeled a 'version' here. All edits are "versions" by Pat's terminology. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, as far as I know, there is a 1969 recording of "Space Oddity" that's different from a 1973 recording (which was the hit everyone knows) - thus, the 1969 recording would even be labeled "version" by any sense of the word. I have a promo music video that Bowie made - it is known as the "1969 version" and it contains a completely different recording than the hit version, definitely not a longer unedited version of the recording we all know from the radio and CDs. It has a different vocal, different instrumentation - one recording is not a remix or an edit of the other, but completely different. I've heard this version occasionally and not just from the video I have. So if Bowie did a recording of this in 1969, and it's on an LP or 45 or EP (and not just this music video), then I really think there is a 1969 version, which is completely different from the more famous 1973 version. Does anyone else remember there being two completely different versions of this song, and not just an edit? If my memory is correct, then I think the entry in Pat's database could be labeled: "the non-charting original 1969 version released on Mercury Records" -or simply- "the non-charting original 1969 version" |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 02 July 2010 at 10:05am
| P.S. Jimmy - thanks for all the info on ALL the recordings of "Space Oddity" - you've listed over 10 versions and I was unaware of most of them - I thought there were just the 2. |
Posted By: Plastic Steel
Date Posted: 23 June 2016 at 7:52pm
| Just chiming in on the chat board that my 1973 RCA (74-0876) commercial 45's label states 5:05 but in fact runs the full 5:15 LP time. Both the beginning of the long fade-in and the ending of the fade-out are pretty quiet. With all the talk about the 1969 release, and the promo, I don't think that was mentioned here. |
Posted By: Alvin
Date Posted: 08 September 2025 at 8:40am
I could be wrong about this but I actually think you have made two errors in regards to the information about this particular version of "Space Oddity" that appears on your list. Firstly, I don't think that this particular version is a "promo". I think it was the "actual" RCA release of the song as a single in the US in 1973. Secondly, I think it was actually the b-side ("The Man Who Sold The World") that was 3'53 in duration. I think that this particular version of "Space Oddity" was 5'05 in duration. It would be great if someone could confirm my suspicions.
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jimmydead wrote:Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 08 September 2025 at 11:28am
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RCA 74-0876 was issued as a stock 45 with "The Man Who Sold The World" as the B-side (3:53 printed run time for "Man"). "Space Oddity" on this 45 does have a printed time of 5:05. RCA also issued a promo 45 with the same catalog number, and it has only "Space Oddity": Long Version (5:05 printed) and Short Version (3:49 printed). https://www.discogs.com/release/5374302-David-Bowie-Space-Oddity" rel="nofollow - https://www.discogs.com/release/5374302-David-Bowie-Space-Oddity Welcome to the forum, Alvin! ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: Alvin
Date Posted: 11 September 2025 at 10:40am
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Thanks very much for providing me with that information Aaron. I actually find that very interesting because as well as confirming my suspicions that the duration of this particular version was 5'05 and that there was no 3'53 version (the same duration of "The Man Who Sold The World" on the stock 45 release b-side), you have also informed me that there was a 3'49 version (which was omitted from the list on the original post on this thread, as was the 5'05 version). There was also a stock 45 release of the stereo version of the song in Belgium, The Netherlands and Italy, which have been omitted from the opening post on this thread. See: https://www.discogs.com/release/10051220-David-Bowie-Space-Oddity?srsltid=AfmBOopYmTKzfYAb4FzOt9cCTSX8dA8rGhh_2va75kLtivr8x0YBjq8I" rel="nofollow - https://www.discogs.com/release/10051220-David-Bowie-Space-Oddity?srsltid=AfmBOopYmTKzfYAb4FzOt9cCTSX8dA8rGhh_2va75kLtivr8x0YBjq8I and https://www.discogs.com/release/1642148-David-Bowie-Space-Oddity" rel="nofollow - https://www.discogs.com/release/1642148-David-Bowie-Space-Oddity and https://www.bowie-singles.com/Italy/Space_Oddity_%2869%29.html Also, the 1969 US Mercury DJ-156 promo 7" - which had "Space Oddity" on both sides - was only in stereo on the b-side. It was in mono on the a-side. This particular catalogue number has been omitted from the list of catalogue numbers for the "mono version" in the opening post on this thread.
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