David Bowie Space Oddity CD

SPACE ODDITY was originally released as MAN OF WORDS, MAN OF MUSIC on Mercury in 1969.

SPACE ODDITY is an Enhanced audio CD which contains regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Digitally remastered by Peter Mew & Nigel Reeve (1999, Abbey Road Studios, London, England).

SPACE ODDITY was the first record on which David Bowie looked and sounded like the Bowie whom the world has come to know. One glance at the spooky, androgynous face that adorns the record was enough to signal that the Anthony Newley-influenced, light-pop singer who sang the novelty number "The Laughing Gnome" a few years earlier was a thing of the past. Leaving behind the mannered, English music hall-isms of his initial recordings, Bowie roughened up the sound, creating a ragged, eclectic mix of folk and rock tinged with electronic sounds. The record yielded his first American hit, and began the singer's soon-to-be meteoric rise to international rock icon-hood.

The title track, a sci-fi mini-epic, is an enduring classic in which Bowie squeezes every bit of drama from both his dour low range and the soaring upper reaches of his voice. Even after decades of continued airplay, "Space Oddity" is surprising for its intricate arrangement, nifty guitar playing, and palpable sense of interplanetary estrangement. Other fine and lesser-known musical moments include the sublimely subdued "Letter to Hermione," and the sprawling and strange "Memory of a Free Festival."

The expanded double-disc 40th Anniversary reissue of David Bowie's Space Oddity -- for all intents and purposes, his first true album, originally appearing in 1969 as Man of Words, Man of Music and following a largely forgotten 1967 debut for Deram -- contains 15 bonus tracks, all gathered on a second dsic. Eight of these tracks are previously unreleased, highlighted by a pair of demos -- billed as never bootlegged -- that open the disc: one of the first versions of "Space Oddity," followed by "An Occasional Dream." The other unreleased cuts are largely different mixes: an unreleased stereo mix of "Conversation Piece," alternate album mixes of "Wild Eyed Boy from Freecloud" and "Memory of a Free Festival," an alternate stereo mix of "London Bye Ta Ta," and a full-length Italian version of "Space Oddity." There's also a BBC session of "Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed" that somehow escaped compilers of 2002's Bowie at the Beeb and that, along with the other two BBC sessions, are a highlight here. Like the proper album, this bonus disc is a little bit of a hodge-podge but enjoyably so, as the formative moments and alternate-take repetitions are goosed along by several true gems

2009 remaster of his 1972 album. Includes a bonus disc with rarities, alternate mixes, demo's & live tracks. 24 tracks.

Personnel: David Bowie (vocals, 12-string guitar, organ, stylophone, kalimba); Keith Christmas (acoustic guitar); Tim Renwick, Mick Wayne (guitar); Paul Buckmaster (cello); Tony Visconti (flute, recorder, bass); Benny Marshall and Friends (harmonica); Rick Wakeman (electric harpsichord, Mellotron); John Lodge, Herbie Flowers (bass); Terry Cox, John Cambridge (drums).

Producers: Gus Dudgeon, Tony Visconti.

Engineers: Ken Scott, Malcolm Toft, Barry Sheffield.

Personnel: David Bowie (vocals, 12-string guitar, kalimba); Tim Renwick (guitar, flute, recorder); Mick Wayne (guitar); Keith Christmas (acoustic guitar); Paul Buckmaster (cello); Tony Visconti (flute, recorder); Benny Marshall (harmonica); Rick Wakeman (electric harpsichord, Mellotron); Terry Cox, John Cambridge (drums).

Liner Note Author: Kevin Cann.

Recording information: Morgan Studios (06/1969-??/1970); Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, New Bond Street Longon (06/1969-??/1970); Trident Studio (06/1969-??/1970); Morgan Studios (06/1969/??/1970); Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, New Bond Street Longon (06/1969/??/1970); Trident Studio (06/1969/??/1970); Morgan Studios (12/20/1969); Studio 2, Aeolian Hall, New Bond Street Longon (12/20/1969); Trident StudMojo (Publisher) (3/00, p.122) - "Bowie's second album, the one on which he finally ditched all iontentions of becoming a second Anthony Newley..." n
Record Collector (magazine) (p.91) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's mish-mash of styles and strummy experiments suggest he was still trying to settle on an identity."