Album
David Bowie
David Bowie's second album, released on 14 November 1969, is also known as Space Oddity. Mercury paid for it on the back of the single of that name, a tale of a fictional astronaut that gave Bowie his first hit and reached the UK top five. It was recorded at Trident Studios in London between June and October 1969. Gus Dudgeon produced the single, Tony Visconti the rest, and the session players included Herbie Flowers, Rick Wakeman and Terry Cox, plus the band Junior's Eyes.
It marks a clear move away from the music hall style of his 1967 debut, towards folk rock and psychedelic rock, with songs drawing on past relationships and festivals he had attended. Poor promotion left it a commercial failure at the time, and later reviews have often found it patchy, a view Bowie shared, saying it lacked direction. After Ziggy Stardust, RCA reissued it as Space Oddity, and it charted in both the UK and the US. It's a fascinating record to hear Bowie still finding his way.
David Bowie: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 46:15Tracklist
- 1Space OddityDavid Bowie5:16
- 2Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly DazedDavid Bowie6:12
- 3(Don’t Sit Down)David Bowie0:44
- 4Letter to HermioneDavid Bowie2:37
- 5Cygnet CommitteeDavid Bowie9:36
- 6JanineDavid Bowie3:25
- 7An Occasional DreamDavid Bowie3:01
- 8Wild Eyed Boy From FreecloudDavid Bowie4:52
- 9God Knows I’m GoodDavid Bowie3:22
- 10Memory of a Free FestivalDavid Bowie7:11
- Produced by
- Gus Dudgeon, Tony Visconti
- Recorded at
- Trident Studios (London)
- Recorded
- 20 June, 16 July – 6 October 1969
- Engineered by
- Barry Sheffield, Malcolm Toft
- Labels
- Mercury Records, Philips
- Length
- 46:15
Line-up
- David Bowie · 12 string guitar, handclaps, Dubreq Stylophone, lead vocals, background vocals, vocals
- Paul Buckmaster · cello · guest
- Terry Cox · drums (drum set) · guest
- Herbie Flowers · bass · guest
- Rick Wakeman · mellotron, harpsichord · guest
- Mick Wayne · electric guitar, guitar
- John Cambridge · drums (drum set), percussion
- Keith Christmas · 12 string guitar · guest
- John Lodge · bass guitar · guest
- Benny Marshall · harmonica · guest
- Tim Renwick · guitar · guest
- Tony Visconti · bass guitar · guest
- Marc Bolan · background vocals · guest
- Bob Harris · background vocals · guest
- Tony Woollcott · background vocals · guest
Singles
- “Space Oddity” · 11 July 1969
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Hungarian Albums | 11 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom · 2016 | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
89.0
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
12k
ListenBrainz listeners
182k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
11k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 14 November
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Full discography →
David Bowie
1967
The World of David Bowie
1970
The Man Who Sold the World
1970
Hunky Dory
1971
Do Anything You Say
1972
The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
1972
Rebel Rebel / Queen Bitch / Sorrow / Amsterdam
1973
Images 1966–1967
1973
Aladdin Sane
1973
Pin Ups
1973
Diamond Dogs
1974
David Live
1974
Young Americans
1975
Station to Station
1976
ChangesOneBowie
1976
Low
1977
“Heroes”
1977
David Bowie Narrates Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf
1978
Stage
1978
Lodger
1979
David Bowie
1980
Scary Monsters… and Super Creeps
1980
The Best of Bowie
1980
Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo
1981
ChangesTwoBowie
1981
In Bertolt Brecht’s Baal
1982
Rare
1982
Supergroups
1983
Serious Moonlight
1983
Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture Soundtrack
1983
Let’s Dance
1983
Golden Years
1983
Fame and Fashion (David Bowie’s All Time Greatest Hits)
1984
Love You Till Tuesday
1984
Tonight
1984
Labyrinth: From the Original Soundtrack of the Jim Henson Film
1986
Never Let Me Down
1987
Glass Spider
1988
Sound + Vision
1989
Changesbowie
1990
Early On (1964–1966)
1991
Black Tie White Noise
1993
The Singles Collection
1993
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993
Live Santa Monica ’72
1994
RarestOneBowie
1995
1.Outside: The Nathan Adler Diaries: A Hyper Cycle
1995
Earthling
1997
The Deram Anthology 1966–1968
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1969/1974
1997
The Best of David Bowie 1974/1979
1998
‘hours…’
1999
Liveandwell.com
2000
Bowie at the Beeb: The Best of the BBC Radio Sessions 68–72
2000
All Saints (Collected Instrumentals 1977–1999)
2001
Heathen
2002
Best of Bowie
2002
Reality
2003
Club Bowie: Rare and Unreleased 12″ Mixes
2003
Live EP (live at Fashion Rocks)
2005
The Collection
2005
The Platinum Collection
2005
Bowie 1965!
2006
The Best of David Bowie 1980/1987
2007
Outside / Earthling / Hours / Heathen / Reality
2007
iSELECT
2008
VH1 Storytellers
2009
Space Oddity
2009
A Reality Tour
2010
The Next Day
2013
Pin-Ups Radio Show
2013
The Next Day Extra EP
2013
Nothing has changed.
2014
Five Years 1969–1973
2015
★
2016
Who Can I Be Now? 1974–1976
2016
Lazarus
2016
Legacy
2016
No Plan
2017
Live Nassau Coliseum ’76
2017
Cracked Actor (Live Los Angeles ’74)
2017
A New Career in a New Town (1977–1982)
2017
Welcome to the Blackout (live London ’78)
2018
Loving the Alien (1983–1988)
2018
Glastonbury 2000
2018
Conversation Piece
2019
Is It Any Wonder?
2020
ChangesNowBowie
2020
I’m Only Dancing (The Soul Tour 74)
2020
The Width of a Circle
2021
Toy
2021
Brilliant Adventure (1992–2001)
2021
Brilliant Adventure EP
2022
Toy E.P.
2022
Fun Mix
2022
Moonage Daydream: A Film by Brett Morgen
2022
Divine Symmetry
2022
Rock ’n’ Roll Star!
2024
Ready, Set, Go! (live, Riverside Studios ’03)
2025
I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002–2016)
2025
The Shel Talmy Recordings
2026
The best of 1969
All of 1969 →
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Satisfaction
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Honky Tonk Women
The Rolling Stones · 1969
Sympathy for the Devil
The Rolling Stones · 1969
Ummagumma
Pink Floyd · 1969
Tommy
The Who · 1969
In the Court of the Crimson King
King Crimson · 1969
More on Mercury Records
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Hysteria
Def Leppard · 1987
2112
Rush · 1976
New Jersey
Bon Jovi · 1988
Crazy World
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The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re‐Revisited
Metallica · 1987
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi · 1984
Permanent Waves
Rush · 1980
These Days
Bon Jovi · 1995
Crush
Bon Jovi · 2000
A Farewell to Kings
Rush · 1977
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 1969-11-14; musicbrainz + wikidata 1969-11-04 (10 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 4 November 1969 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 14 November 1969 | |
| Wikidata | 4 November 1969 | |
| US release | 1969 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 4 November 1969 | earliest UK or European date |
38 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | GB | EMI | 0077779183524 | other |
| 1969 | US | Mercury Records | other | |
| 4 November 1969 | GB | Philips | original | |
| 10 November 1972 | US | RCA | other | |
| 1973 | FR | RCA | other | |
| 1976 | JP | RCA | other | |
| 1984 | US | RCA | 078635481327 | other |
| 1984 | XE | RCA | 0035628481320 | other |
| 1990 | XE | EMI | 0077779183524 | other |
| 1990 | XE | EMI | 077779183524 | other |
| 1990 | CA | Rykodisc | 014431013126 | remaster |
| 30 January 1990 | US | Rykodisc | remaster | |
| 30 January 1990 | US | Ryko Analogue | 014431013119 | remaster |
| 9 May 1990 | JP | EMI | 4988006644632 | other |
| 1999 | US | Virgin | other | |
| 1999 | XE | Simply Vinyl | 643346026312 | other |
| September 1999 | XW | EMI | 724352189809 | other |
| 29 September 1999 | JP | 東芝EMI 株式会社 | 4988006775237 | other |
| 6 July 2005 | JP | 東芝EMI 株式会社 | 4988006831919 | other |
| 10 January 2007 | JP | EMI | 4988006849778 | other |
| 2009 | XE | EMI | 5099930753013 | other |
| 12 October 2009 | XE | EMI | 5099930752221 | other |
| 28 October 2009 | JP | EMI Music Japan Inc. | 4988006875968 | other |
| 17 November 2009 | US | EMI | 5099930752221 | other |
| 2015 | US | Parlophone | other | |
| 2015 | — | Parlophone | 825646286119 | remaster |
| 25 September 2015 | XW | Parlophone | 825646288458 | other |
| 25 September 2015 | US | Parlophone | 825646283453 | remaster |
| 25 September 2015 | XE | Parlophone | 0825646283453 | remaster |
| 6 November 2015 | US | Parlophone | 825646286133 | other |
| February 2016 | XE | Parlophone | 825646287390 | other |
| 14 November 2019 | US | Parlophone | 190295410711 | other |
| 15 November 2019 | XE | Parlophone | 0190295405731 | other |
| 15 November 2019 | XW | Parlophone | 0190295410735 | deluxe |
| 27 November 2019 | JP | Parlophone | 4943674305407 | other |
| 13 March 2020 | XW | Parlophone | 190295276188 | other |
| 19 June 2020 | — | — | 190295468743 | other |
| 2023 | XE | Parlophone | 5054197591815 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 702×705 | upscaled |